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Team By Team Opportunistic Turnovers

Late last week I reported on individual leaders from last season in terms of offensive chances generated from Takeaways and Hits, so now it's time to present the numbers on a team-by-team basis. What's interesting here is that some teams generated offense out of their hits and takeaways much more effectively than others. On average, 19.2% of Takeaways and 7.5% of Hits resulted in an offensive chance within 10 seconds (defined as a Shot, Goal, Blocked Shot, or Missed Shot). So let's take a look...

If you compare these results with the table here, which shows total Hits and Takeaways from the 2005-6 NHL season, you'll see some teams failed to generate much offense out of their physical game. The Boston Bruins, for example, had the 3rd-most hits in the league, but were near the bottom in offense generated, producing shots less than 5% of the time after making a hit. The Philadelphia Flyers, on the other hand, produced shots almost twice as often, jumping from 16th in the Hit rankings to 5th on the list here.

The story is similar regarding Takeaways. Tampa Bay was in the middle of the pack in terms of Takeaways, but dead last in chances generated from them. Instead of getting shots 19% of the time, they struggled below 12%. At the opposite end of that scale were the Ottawa Senators, who were 12th in Takeaways, but 3rd in offense generated from them, converting at a 22.45% clip.

Offensive Chances Generated From Takeaways & Hits (2005-6)
TEAMTAKEAWAYSHITSTOTAL
Montreal Canadiens213113326
Ottawa Senators141131272
New York Islanders129133262
Washington Capitals128130258
Calgary Flames129117246
Philadelphia Flyers115123238
Atlanta Thrashers132104236
Colorado Avalanche16568233
Toronto Maple Leafs82147229
New York Rangers13195226
Detroit Red Wings13194225
New Jersey Devils13985224
Edmonton Oilers12399222
Dallas Stars106115221
Nashville Predators11399212
Anaheim Ducks12090210
Columbus Blue Jackets11586201
Boston Bruins11286198
Phoenix Coyotes81113194
Carolina Hurricanes11377190
Los Angeles Kings76110186
Chicago Blackhawks9094184
San Jose Sharks83101184
Pittsburgh Penguins8498182
Vancouver Canucks82100182
Buffalo Sabres9682178
St. Louis Blues8989178
Florida Panthers9379172
Minnesota Wild10356159
Tampa Bay Lightning7267139


These are just a couple elements that I'll be using in the coming weeks to provide detailed analyses for each of the NHL teams as we approach the quarter-pole of the 2006-7 season. It's about time for teams to start making roster moves as they realize that training camp dreams just won't work out (isn't that right, Flyers fans?), and a thorough look inside the numbers might help assess where each team truly needs some help.

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