Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

GM Meetings: Gillis hopes to penalize defensive zone hand passes

Mike Gillis; Rick Rypien

Vancouver Canucks President and General Manager Mike Gillis speaks to reporters about the recent death of NHL player Rick Rypien in Toronto Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Aaron Vincent Elkaim)

AP

If Canucks GM Mike Gillis gets his way, players who perform a defensive zone hand pass will get a minor penalty. The motivation, as you might have guessed, is to improve the attacking team’s chances of scoring. So this might be a small step towards addressing a bigger problem: despite all the chances made following the lockout, scoring is on the decline once again.

Based on figures from hockey-reference, the number of goals scored per game has dropped significantly since it spiked in the season following the lockout. You can notice that change easily enough by just looking at the leaderboard. Last season Daniel Sedin was the only player to exceed the 100-point mark and Corey Perry was our only 50 goal scorer. Back in 2005-06, we had five guys hit or exceed the 50-goal milestone and seven players finish with at least 100 points.

There’s likely no single reason for the decline in goals, but one of the glaring differences between the 2005-06 campaign and today is the number of power-play opportunities. We’ve seen a steep decline in the number of power plays during the last seven years. That’s relevant because in addition to aiding the attacking team, this new rule might lead to more penalties per game. It probably won’t enough to make a major dent, but it might help as part of a larger effort.