Has been discussed lately pertaining to guys like Gretzky and McDavid. I’m not asking about them specifically but in general. I’ve often thought empty net points or pp minutes in the 3rd of a blowout are stat padding but what about something like a 2 period breakaway in a 5-1 game? By those metrics I don’t think it’s fair to call McDavid a stat padder.
When is it stat padding?
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is it stat padding when mcdavid only gets a handful of shifts in the third every time there's a blowout, or when the oilers put out their 2nd unit pp for a full 2 min so mcdavid doesn't risk injury?
Mickey Marner
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I don't think it's a common as one would think, but perhaps points on goals that exceed a two-goal margin of victory could be used as a shorthand. It cuts both ways though, as points on goals where your team is getting blown out would be 'worth' the same. So, a goal that gives you a three goal lead would be worth the same as a goal that cuts the lead to three.
If I were to try to quantify the value of points I would begin from the other direction, starting with the first goal of the game.
If I were to try to quantify the value of points I would begin from the other direction, starting with the first goal of the game.
Sweetpotato
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when its in your beer league and your team is beating another team by 8 goals and you keep piling it on, its stat padding. When a professional paid athlete continues scoring he is only helping the possibility of obtaining more income for his career.
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Haven't you ever seen a team with a late lead trying to get a guy a hattie?
Akrapovince
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In my opinion it becomes stat padding when:
a/ the other team is just intentionally allowing you to score (which quite frankly doesn’t happen)
b/ you are up so much that you’re just cherry picking at the red line (even then I don’t consider it stat padding, because players play like this even if they’re down)
c/ if it were so easy to “stat pad” why not just use that effort to gain a lead? just because you’re up, does that mean you should intentionally miss an empty net?
Honestly, in a game that is 8-1, most of the time Goals 4, 5, 6 or whatever is just as hard to score as the first goal.
At the end of the day, these are professional athletes whose performance and number basically equates to their livelihood. You don’t want to be the team that loses a 5-1 game because you don’t want to “stat pad” aka playing at your best.
However there is a caveat when talking about international play. If you’re Canada and are up 7-1 at the end of the first against Team Zimbabwe maybe dump the puck in the corner.
a/ the other team is just intentionally allowing you to score (which quite frankly doesn’t happen)
b/ you are up so much that you’re just cherry picking at the red line (even then I don’t consider it stat padding, because players play like this even if they’re down)
c/ if it were so easy to “stat pad” why not just use that effort to gain a lead? just because you’re up, does that mean you should intentionally miss an empty net?
Honestly, in a game that is 8-1, most of the time Goals 4, 5, 6 or whatever is just as hard to score as the first goal.
At the end of the day, these are professional athletes whose performance and number basically equates to their livelihood. You don’t want to be the team that loses a 5-1 game because you don’t want to “stat pad” aka playing at your best.
However there is a caveat when talking about international play. If you’re Canada and are up 7-1 at the end of the first against Team Zimbabwe maybe dump the puck in the corner.
Spirit of 67
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It's only considered Stat Padding if you don't like the player.
Pittsburgh was the top team in their division yesterday. Let's round up and call them the best in the league.
NJ is a really bad team, near bottom of standings and just lost 10 straight or so. Let's round down and call them the worst team in the league.
Around a week ago - the best team in the league almost gave up a 6-0 3rd period lead to the worst team in the league, and barely won the game 7-6.
In my opinion - there is no stat padding at the NHL level. If you can score, you should score.
NJ is a really bad team, near bottom of standings and just lost 10 straight or so. Let's round down and call them the worst team in the league.
Around a week ago - the best team in the league almost gave up a 6-0 3rd period lead to the worst team in the league, and barely won the game 7-6.
In my opinion - there is no stat padding at the NHL level. If you can score, you should score.
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Sweetpotato
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That's actually a fair point but I see that as just trying to get a guy the hat trick I don't think it's meant to be a cumulative total thing on the season or career. I also don't think that's the situation being defined here. I think the intended topic is players scoring points more often when they don't matter than when the games on the line.
SPF6ty9
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When people do that it's usually at the expense of making a smart decision to force a higher risk play.
It's the NHL, these guys are getting paid to be the best at what they do. Stat padding doesn't exist. If you don't like it, stop it. This shouldn't be like baseball where everyone whines if you don't follow unwritten rules and someone's feelings get hurt.
- Jan 23, 2017
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'Stat padding' is much more a coach thing than a player thing. Some teams' stars will see very minimal ice time in a 4-0 3rd period game while other teams will continue to ice their stars till the end. This will obviously have an effect on their point totals.
serp
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Oh yes it does. The year Benn won the Art Ross it was because the Stars team played specifically for him to get as many points as possible. The team was eliminated from the playoffs and that was all they had to play for and they did.
In college football, it's when Bama runs their starters out against Samford in the second half. In college basketball it's basically Gonzaga's entire regular season. In pro sports, it doesn't really exist. The playing field is fairly level. Every once in a while you get those blowout games where everything seems to go your way. When that happens, your best players tend to lead the way. For ENG goals, I think it make perfect sense to have your best players out there trying to ice a game w/ a 1/2 goal lead.
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serp
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By the way i remember reading a Gretzky quote or an interview where he said when opposing teams had their 4th line out he would quite often just jump off the bench and on the ice without the coachies telling him to because he knew he could so easily score on those players.
barriers
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Yes, but on the other hand, haven't you ever seen a team blow a late lead in a game they had mistakenly assumed was in the bag? Treating your opponent like they don't deserve your team's full effort is much more disrespectful than adding to your own lead.
no idea. Are teams only supposed to do dump the puck in to the other team and not try to score goals when they have a 4 goal lead in the third? Kinda dumb if you ask me
Paperbagofglory
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North Cole
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When your team is losing and you're tired of seeing them scored on. It's a figment, this is a pro league not Canada vs Iceland.
McDavid is the biggest stat padder. he's always out there when up 6-1 or down 6-1.
Look at the minutes he plays.
Just lot of garbage meaningless points.
Look at the minutes he plays.
Just lot of garbage meaningless points.
- Feb 10, 2010
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FTR, I don't think stat padding is significant even if it does exist. It's just a non-issue IMO.
