A Look at the Powerplay: October

[Thirty One]

A Look at the New York Rangers Powerplay

This year, I'm doing some micro-analysis of the Rangers' powerplay, tracking each players' touches in six discrete sections of the offensive zone.

Click to read more...

 

[Gardner McKay]

A Look at the New York Rangers Powerplay

This year, I'm doing some micro-analysis of the Rangers' powerplay, tracking each players' touches in six discrete sections of the offensive zone.

Great article. I have never seen the PP broken down this way before.

 

[McDonagh]

Very interesting. Not saying I'm dumb but thanks for making it easy to understand for someone who has never looked at anything like that before. I'll check the rest of your stuff out on there man

 

[Thirty One]

Very interesting. Not saying I'm dumb but thanks for making it easy to understand for someone who has never looked at anything like that before. I'll check the rest of your stuff out on there man

Well thanks! But it's not that I made it simple, but what I'm looking at is simple, I'm just counting it.

But I know what you mean about making things unnecessarily complicated. I think some do that so no one challenges them, which is a foolish strategy, because people will try to poke holes in things even without a basic understanding of them.

 

[silverfish]

As always, great work, BB -31-!

Anything that helps prove how bad G is on the PP is good by me

Would love to see a player image for Nash too, as the season goes on if possible!

 

[HockeyBasedNYC]

Great analysis. I wonder how many teams in the NHL keep data like this.

I'm eager to see the Dump-in vs. Carry/Pass success percentages once theres enough data to get some hard evidence. I've always been against dumping the puck in on the PP unless you absolutely have to. There are simple ways to flood the ice on one side and easily out man the PK units for open entry.

Dumping the puck with a man up is ok, but only if it is done precisely with 2 or 3 forwards into the corner quickly to retrieve the puck. Its rare that teams have that sort of speed coming into the zone with numbers because after a clear of the puck is made, its usually brought up by a defenseman and once they cross the red line to make the dump, the forwards are waiting at the blue line flat footed. Its a timing play that needs the correct conditions to maximize its effectiveness.

I agree with your assessment / prediction regarding Brassard. I think hes the most dynamic PP player and more touches for him will result in more scoring opportunities. St. Louis should not be a quarterback,, he should be the one transporting the puck into the zone and taking one timers from his strong side. Brassard is very effective inside of the "home plate" region. He's good at sneaking into areas of open ice within that area better than any Ranger, draws a PKer to him and then dishes it off for prime chances - or he finds a way to snake in there and retrieve a pass for a shot.

 

[Mac n Gs]

This article was a great read! It definitely shed some light on how subpar our zone entries have been so far this season. I mentioned in another thread how they need to design some form of a set zone-entry play (something similar to what the Devils do). Another thing I've had an issue with is how they've been force-feeding the puck into the "home plate" area, which has led to turnovers rather than getting a shot on net to attempt to force s rebound. They've just appeared too stagnant compared to how some other teams have looked.

http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2014020124

For example, watch Lucic's goal in the second period. Look at how they're set up, and how quickly they move the puck. Their formation leaves a gap in the defense to defend, which Lucic' exploits by parking in front of the net. I feel like we'd be successful running a power play similar to this. We definitely have the skilled passers to make the plays, and we have two great net presences in Kreider and Malone. I'm sure the power play will regress back to around league average as it was last year, but if it doesn't, hopefully Arniel makes some tweaks similar to this.

 

[BroadwayHustle]

Wonderful article, confirms my hate for Girardi on the PP.

Also, Kreider has done great in his short time standing in front of the net, but when he played at BC he was in the slot on the PP. We saw that setup used in one game this season I believe, if they ever do go back to that setup who do you think would be best at it?

 

[Thirty One]

Here's Nash through October:

 

[MysticLeviathan]

I got a better way to describe the power play:

bad.


nuff said.

 

[Zil]

Great analysis. I wonder how many teams in the NHL keep data like this.

I'm eager to see the Dump-in vs. Carry/Pass success percentages once theres enough data to get some hard evidence. I've always been against dumping the puck in on the PP unless you absolutely have to. There are simple ways to flood the ice on one side and easily out man the PK units for open entry.

Dumping the puck with a man up is ok, but only if it is done precisely with 2 or 3 forwards into the corner quickly to retrieve the puck. Its rare that teams have that sort of speed coming into the zone with numbers because after a clear of the puck is made, its usually brought up by a defenseman and once they cross the red line to make the dump, the forwards are waiting at the blue line flat footed. Its a timing play that needs the correct conditions to maximize its effectiveness.

I agree with your assessment / prediction regarding Brassard. I think hes the most dynamic PP player and more touches for him will result in more scoring opportunities. St. Louis should not be a quarterback,, he should be the one transporting the puck into the zone and taking one timers from his strong side. Brassard is very effective inside of the "home plate" region. He's good at sneaking into areas of open ice within that area better than any Ranger, draws a PKer to him and then dishes it off for prime chances - or he finds a way to snake in there and retrieve a pass for a shot.

The numbers on dump-ins versus carry-ins are very clear:

And the Winner Is …
If you’re familiar with advanced stats, you know how much emphasis they place on possession. In the case of dump-in vs. carry, you might suspect that that gives away the answer, and you’d be right. It turns out that crossing the blue line with possession is worth more than a dump-in.

How much more? Quite a bit, according to this paper presented at the 2013 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.10 After tracking more than 300 games from the 2011-12 season, the authors found that, even when accounting for the higher failure rate of carry attempts, that approach still generated roughly twice as many shots, scoring chances, and goals as dumping in the puck and trying to retrieve it.

http://grantland.com/features/zone-entry-nhl/