News Article: 30 Thoughts: Canadiens more than a one-man team

[SB164]

What really surprised me about this is what opposing coaches were saying about Montreal. It was mentioned in a previous blog, but a few of them noted how the Canadiens are more willing than most to simply throw the puck out of their zone if there is no play to make. Their players will tell you Michel Therrien prefers chasing it or regrouping to keeping it under duress. In today’s NHL, that goes against conventional wisdom.

It also doesn’t seem to mesh with Montreal’s offensive-zone possession time. If you’re throwing the puck down the ice, shouldn’t you have fewer opportunities to play with it?

First, are the coaches correct? Survey says: Yes. Sportlogiq’s data shows that no team dumps the puck out of its zone more than the Canadiens.

It’s really something to watch. The Canadiens do one thing you have to do (control the puck in the offensive zone) and one thing people frown on (throw it out of your zone). But they turn that supposed negative into a positive, because it plays to their strengths. And it gives a clearer idea of why they are more than a one-man team.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/30-thoughts-canadiens-more-than-a-one-man-team/

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[Sorinth]

You do have to be careful because one value is a %, and the other is raw numbers.

For example, even if the % is high on breakouts, chances are because of the high o-zone possession, we simply breakout out of our zone less often than other teams do per game. So if we breakout 40 times a game, and another team has to breakout 80 times, even if they have a better % it's meaningless.

Now it's certainly possible that we are better at collecting dump outs then other teams like the article alludes to, another explanation could be we cause more Neutral zone turnovers which allows us to spend more offensive zone time without needing to break out of the zone.

There is probably also some subjectivity between making a pass and a dump out. Subban quite often flips it high for a winger to race to which I would consider a pass and not a dumb out (Even if our player loses the race).