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NHL

Which Team Do NHL Officials Favor?

Posted Mar 29, 2009 11:30AM By Adam Gretz (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Flyers, Hurricanes, Penguins, Rangers, NHL Fans

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For about three years now, tin foil hat wearing, conspiracy theorist hockey fans have been living under the delusion that the Penguins have commissioner Gary Bettman, and the league's officials, in their back pockets. It's all part of a diabolical scheme designed to push the Penguins into the postseason, or so I've read.

Saturday's 4-3 win over the Rangers, which saw the Penguins get nine power plays (including a very questionable call on Colton Orr) sparked those feelings from more than a few Rangers fans across the web.

Take, for example, the fist-shaking reaction from Rangers blog, Rangers Report:
You all just saw why I don't want to play the Penguins in the playoffs. In a game where it looked like Crosby's parents were refereeing the game, the Rangers had to kill off 10 separate penalties; including an unmerited major on Colton Orr. I have said it before and I will say it again: the Rangers didn't play a great game but there is nothing you can do about bad refereeing. I don't care that Sidney Crosby is the NHL's golden boy and the Penguins are the NHL's team; call the game fair. The Penguins had 10, you read that correct 10, power plays to the Rangers five. Yeah that's really fair. Especially when I watched Antropov get tripped up and Crosby pull a blatant pick and nothing is called. Yet somehow Orr checks Eaton, granted the check was a little high, and he gets a five minute major penalty. Then the ref looked at Tortorella and basically said: "I just called it because it's against the Penguins." Good work NHL, keep on keeping on.
Yikes.

While he's correct the Penguins had nine power plays on Saturday, it's worth pointing out two of them came in the final minute of regulation on obvious tripping calls as the Rangers attempted to prevent the Penguins from scoring into an empty net. Plus, two of them (including the very questionable five-minute major to Orr) were cut short by penalties on the Penguins, as one of those "power plays" lasted all of four seconds.

Scotty Hockey has a far more rational recap of the game, placing the blame for the Rangers' loss where it belongs -- on the Rangers -- but still manages to sneak in one quick line regarding the black helicopters that circle Mellon Arena on game day:
Much like the other three games in Pittsburgh, the Blueshirts had no chance at winning this one, being outworked by a more talented team from the start. The usual tough officiating in Pittsburgh didn't help, but wasn't as painful as the two incredibly soft goals Henrik Lundqvist allowed.
Ah, the usual "tough officiating in Pittsburgh." Of course, I'm not sure I'd say the Rangers had "no chance" of winning. After all, it was a one-goal game, and the Rangers had a great scoring chance late in the third period to potentially tie the game, only to have Marc-Andre Fleury come up with a huge save.

Having said all of that, let's take a look at every team in the NHL and compare their power play opportunities to the times they've been shorthanded. Do the Penguins have a favorable advantage over the course of the season? A slight one, yes. But they're not the only team, and certainly not the team benefiting the most. These numbers are as of prior to this weekend's action.


Power Play vs. Shorthanded Comparison
Team Power Play Shorthanded Dif.
Carolina Hurricanes 344
 288 +64
San Jose Sharks 325
 281 +44
Phoenix Coyotes 308
 265 +43
Dallas Stars 327
 295 +32
Minnesota Wild 297
 267 +30
Chicago Blackhawks 330
 301 +29
Detroit Red Wings 329
 301 +28
Toronto Maple Leafs 304
 281 +23
Buffalo Sabres 326
 306 +20
New York Rangers 320
 300 +20
L.A. Kings 339
 325 +14
Edmonton Oilers 328
 317 +11
Pittsburgh Penguins 328
 318 +10
Boston Bruins 281
 272 +9
Colorado Avalanche 297
 292 +5
Calgary Flames 328
 326 +2
Montreal Canadiens 337
 337 0
Ottawa Senators 304
 308 -4
Columbus Blue Jackets 303
 308 -5
Florida Panthers 281
 289 -8
Atlanta Thrashers 319
 329 -10
St. Louis Blues 317
 329 -12
New Jersey Devils 279
 295 -16
Vancouver Canucks 323
 344 -21
Nashville Predators 289
 315 -26
New York Islanders 292
 325 -33
Washington Capitals 311
 361 -50
Tampa Bay Lightning 312
 369 -57
Anaheim Ducks 289
 354 -65
Philadelphia Flyers 288
 365 -84


Didn't expect to see the Hurricanes or Coyotes at the top of that list.

Instead of the NHL having some sort of bias toward any one individual team, the more logical explanation is that officiating across the NHL is alarmingly inconsistent (and I think we'll all agree on that point).

The other logical explanation is that, simply, some teams are disciplined, while others, are not. For example, is it really a surprise to see Philadelphia in its current position? This is a team that went out and traded for Daniel Carcillo, the most penalized man in the NHL the past two years, at the trade deadline. This team absolutely embraces the rough stuff. They're also one of the better penalty killing teams in the league, while also scoring a league-leading 16 shorthanded goals. At least they can back it up.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have failed to really capitalize on their numerous advantages, currently possessing the No. 20 power play unit in the NHL, converting at a 17.7 percent clip.

Tags: Colton+Orr, ColtonOrr, Daniel+Carcillo, DanielCarcillo, Gary+Bettman, GaryBettman, Henrik+Lundqvist, HenrikLundqvist, Marc-Andre+Fleury, Marc-andreFleury, Sidney+Crosby, SidneyCrosby

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