For my research, I am looking specifically at NHL shot data from the years 2011-2018. For my research, I want to look how the offense and scoring has changed recently. To research this, I need to look at data that shows if players are using different types of shots throughout the years. By conducting this research, I hope to find out any reasons on how offense is being changed throughout shooting techniques. The second question I will be looking into is how offensive shooting styles change from each country. For the research, I retrieved the data from moneypuck.com.
As the latest year in the data is from 2018, some might need a refresher of who were the top players in the league at the time. The table below shows the top ranked players from the 2018 by NBC Sports.
| x |
|---|
| Alex Ovechkin |
| Auston Matthews |
| Brad Marchand |
| Claude Giroux |
| Connor McDavid |
| Evgeni Malkin |
| John Gibson |
| Mikko Rantanen |
| Nathan MacKinnon |
| Nikita Kucherov |
| Patrik Laine |
| Pekka Rinne |
| Sidney Crosby |
| Taylor Hall |
| Victor Hedman |
The game of Hockey has seen lots of changes throughout the years. In the first organized hockey game in the late 1800’s, we saw them using a wooden block for the puck and heavy wooden sticks. In today’s game, pucks are crafted out of rubber, which must be stored in a freezer before being used in a game. Hockey sticks today are made from composite material which make them lighter and more effective.
Equipment isn’t the only thing that has changed throughout time. I find this research interesting because the game itself is constantly adopting and evolving. Even within 10 years, we have seen multiple changes. The game is faster, and players are more skilled than ever. Throughout my life playing hockey as a forward, I have seen this firsthand.
In the data, it shows every player from the years 2011-2018 (besides 2013) in the NHL with their shot data. I took out the 2013 season data because of the lockout. I didn’t want that season to skew the data, since the NHL only played 48 games that season. Some key shooting variables that will be used are shown below and with their meaning/significance are:
Key Variables Used in Research
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| goalsSlap | |
| goalsSnap | |
| goalsWrist | |
| shotsSnap | |
| shotsWrist | |
| shotsWrist | |
The Best Scorers Shoot the Puck, a Lot!
| playerName | seasonId | shots | Goals in a Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steven Stamkos | 2012 | 303 | 60 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2015 | 395 | 53 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2014 | 386 | 51 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2016 | 398 | 50 |
| Corey Perry | 2011 | 290 | 50 |
| Evgeni Malkin | 2012 | 339 | 50 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2018 | 355 | 49 |
| Patrick Kane | 2016 | 287 | 46 |
| Steven Stamkos | 2011 | 272 | 45 |
| Patrik Laine | 2018 | 241 | 44 |
The purpose of this graph is just to show reference of how important it is to get pucks on net and why shooting is important….shooting leads to goals. The top goal scorers in the years 2011-2018 all had over 240 shots in that season. Different types of shots will get different results for each player. Some players may be really comfortable with snapshots and other maybe wrist shots.
Shooting Trends
Snapshots
In hockey, snapshots are a quick way to get the puck off for a shot. The snapshot takes characteristics from both wrist shots and slap shots. In a snapshot, players get the puck off their stick quicker then a wrist shot but maintain more accuracy then a slapshot. The bar chart above shows how we are seeing a trend in goals by snapshots. We saw an upward trend throughout the 2011-2018 seasons.
From 2011 to 2018, there was an increase in 400 snapshot goals. As the game is getting quicker, players need to get quick shots as they have less reaction time. The 2013 season would have continued the trend as well, as there was a lockout. The NHL only played 48 of 82 games during the 2013 season.
Slapshots
Hockey is going away from slapshots. The league is taking less slapshots year by year, other then the slight increase in 2018. Well why? Once again, the league is getting faster. Players are quicker on their feet in order to block or interfere with shots. In order to take a slapshot, you need time. I would expect this number to continue to decrease because the game isn’t getting slower.
Hitting the Net
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” As obvious as it sounds, players can’t score if they don’t hit the net. The graph above shows players seasons in relation of their to total shots to missed shots. The more you shoot, the more you will score and miss the net. If you are a player, you are striving to be in the lower right part of the graph, below the line.
In this graph, we see a positive correlation. We learn that Alex Ovechkin, Erik Karlsson, and Brent Burns love to shot the puck.Which makes this even more interesting, 2 of the top 3 players who shot the puck most are defensemen (Karlsson, Burns.) I would consider these outliers since they shoot around 200 pucks more a season then the rest of the players shown on the graph.
The Two Most Popular Shots- Wrist and Snap
Shown on the graph, we see the popularity of players taking snapshots in a season vs wristshots. In the graph, we learn that wristshots are the most frequently used shot in the NHL during this times span. The majority of NHL players are taking 60 less snapshots a season while taking around a 100 wrist shots a year.
There are a few players however that are using the snapshot more then others. Phil Kessel, Alex Ovechkin, Jeff Carter, Austin Matthews, Taylor Hall and Brandon Saad. Saad stands out the most to me out of all his shots one season, he had more snapshots then wristshots. As we saw the snapshot trend in the NHL earlier, I would expect more players to be like Brandon Saad in the future with his shot choices.
| playerName | seasonId | playerDraftYear | Snapshots in a Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor Hall | 2018 | 2010 | 103 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2014 | 2004 | 102 |
| Auston Matthews | 2017 | 2016 | 98 |
| Brandon Saad | 2016 | 2011 | 92 |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | 2012 | 2001 | 89 |
| Jeff Carter | 2011 | 2003 | 88 |
| James Neal | 2012 | 2005 | 87 |
| Alex Ovechkin | 2011 | 2004 | 84 |
| Zach Parise | 2012 | 2003 | 83 |
| Morgan Rielly | 2017 | 2012 | 81 |
The graph above shows the players with the most snapshots in a season. Out of the top 10, 40% of the seasons were the last 3 seasons in the data set (2016-2018). All 40% of these players were drafted on or after the 2010 draft. The rest of the top 10 in snapshots were all drafted in the years before 2005. This is something that one might guess would happen because younger players are entering the league. These players grew up in a much faster game then players who were drafted before 2005.
Shooting Trends Within Countries
For this next area I want to research, I want to know if different parts of the world are shooting the puck differently. In the hockey world, players from different countries play differently. In Europe, physicality is not emphasized as much then countries like the United States and Canada. Players who come from Europe need to adopt to fit the North American system. I want to see if there is any correlation more differences between players who come from different countries.
In the NHL, players who most frequently use snapshots come from the countries in Europe. The top 5 in order are in order are Slovenia, Estonia, Austria, Norway and Ukraine. I found this interesting because some of these countries in the graph are geographically near each other. This means we may have a correlation between shooting styles throughout countries and areas in hockey. For example, Slovenia and Austria border each other, as they are both in the top 3. We see very similar numbers between players of Russia and Kazakhstan. The United States and Canada almost have the same exact amount of average snapshots in players as well.
Through slapshots in countries, we don’t see as much of a correlations in comparison to snapshots The players with the highest amount of average slapshots in a season come from the countries of Czechoslovakia, Brazil, Ukraine, Italy, and Slovakia. I found this very interesting as Brazil and Italy aren’t known for producing NHL talent. One of the most notable players from Brazil was Robyn Regehr, a defensemen. As a defensemen, you are likely to have more opportunities to take slap shots because you have time on the blue line in the offensive zone. Slapshots and shots from the point help make deflections and tips for goals. As shown on the table below,
Conclusion
Through time, we see a change in shooting in the NHL. Snapshots are increasingly becoming used more frequently by players. As they are gaining more popularity within the league, players are using less slap shots. s the game of hockey continues to change, players will continue to adjust techniques to play. Through research, we even see that a players nationality has an impact on his offensive shooting styles. There is evidence that players from certain countries and countries close all shoot the puck a certain way. This is interesting because the game is being played and taught uniquely throughout the world.