The Contrarian zeroes in on the importance of shot blocking. 

This week I take a look at a few articles but we start with a piece by Kevin Allen of USA Today. His article is found on their site, called "Shot blocking becoming more important in NHL" and on The Toronto Star’s article “Shot blocking booming these days in NHL hockey”. The difference between the two is that there are external links to other articles in the Star's version.

Basic premise is that players are blocking more shots now than ten years ago and that it is making life more difficult for teams to score. "Shot blocking has evolved to the point that a shooter needs luck as well as accuracy" writes Allen.

Well my first argument to that is that of the collection of the shot blocking statistic. It was never really a common statistic unless you were speaking in terms of total blocked shots by a team. When fantasy leagues started to use this category its influence got the stat to be recorded with much more emphasis on getting it right.

How do I know?

In my article on May 25, 2014 called "When the whistle blows" there is a column that shows the average goals per game for the last 24 NHL seasons. The average goal per game rate is about the same as it was ten season's ago. If they were actually blocking more shots then the average rate would be significantly lower. 

My argument is not that the players are not blocking more shots. I'm only saying that the method in which the statistic was recorded previously was not as accurate or complete as it is now.

Continuing with the article he discusses ways shooters try to get by the blockers, "Forwards are faking more, similar to the pump fake in basketball, with the hope of getting the defender to drop to the ice to block the shot. If the defender takes the fake, the shooter moves around him and fires from an open area" and "Another strategy shooters use, although it is not common, is banking the shot off the boards, like a billiards player." Travis Zajac confirms that second option "You can shoot off the sideboards or backboards."

Is this really new though? Maybe since the size of the net was shortened to create more room behind it, the idea of shooting off-target in order to not only get by the shot blockers and also get the goalie to move out of position, so when the puck bounces back it goes to a teammate who has more of the unobstructed net to shoot on.

Almost expectedly, the best shot blockers (by total number of shots stopped) are defensemen. Following one of the links provided in the Star's version got me to the ESPN.com website where it lists defensive statistics like shot blocking.

I scanned through the seasons and almost always the best defensemen have twice as many shots block as the best forward. That is understandable.  I also noticed that the statistics on shot blocking are not in their system for seasons prior to 2007.

The other link in the Star article goes back to another one of their reporters, Mark Zwolinski, Nov 8^th, 2008 article, "Leafs tops in taking bullet bound for net". Maybe that is a benefit of not being a puck possession team.

That article discusses the topic of injuries from blocking shots and the proposal by Bob Gainey about restricting players from falling down to stop a shot from getting to the net. One of the positive aspects of a shot that is stopped by a defender is that is can pump up a team. Allen also states this in his article when quoting Kevin Bieksa "It's considered a big thing and you usually get the pat on the back when you get back to the bench. It can galvanize a team". Ryan McDonagh adds "When you see a block, it motivates you as a player to make sure you are doing your part".

I am not sure if this qualified as an official shot block but this video of Ottawa's Daniel Alfredsson shooting the puck deliberately at Scott Niedermayer did just that for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. An interview by the Sportsnet HockeyCentral crew, posted on the6thsens.com by their blogger Nichols, gets Brad May to explain "Yeah, he shot it and hit Scotty there late in the second period – which actually fuelled our team. And Scott Niedermayer, think of all the excitement and energy and emotion, he settled us down with one of the greatest speeches in our locker room. It was a terrific moment."

Wayne Simmonds said to Allen, "I'm all for sacrificing your body if that is what you need to do to win. … You see guys putting their faces in front of pucks." 

What if there was a third strategy by shooters? What if they deliberately shot pucks into the body of blocker?

Would it be unethical? Would it be legitimate if the guys face was along the ice? In the drive to winning a Cup you can see how a player can get so riled up that those thoughts do go through their head, even a calm guy like Alfredsson.

What if the result of Alfredsson's shot at Niedermayer turned out to be more like this video instead and that then allowed the Ottawa Senator's to win the Stanley Cup that season? 

Some would say that all is fair in love and war even though it could end a career. Teams, coaches and players do not deny that they will dump the puck into a particular corner to go after a specific defenseman with body check after body check to wear them down. So if shooting a puck into the defender's body causes them to second guess ever doing it again or worse an injury so they cannot be on the ice then hasn't the opposition done their part? Will they not create more future scoring chances?

So defenders can quote that Pat Benatar song "Hit me with your best shot" but add, 'just as long as I don't get injured along the way'.