The Return of the Shutout
Last post I wrote about posting some shutout numbers, so let me just toss them out there:
2001-02
Games with shutouts: 183
0-0 games: 2
2002-03
Games with shutouts: 171
0-0 games: 3
2003-04
Games with shutouts: 187
0-0 games: 5
So the 2003-04 season had 192 shutouts. I separated the numbers just in case that interested anyone.
2005-06 as of games played Jan 6, 2005
Games played: 621
Games with shutouts: 47
0-0 games: 1*
Shutout pace for 2005-06: 93
* With the shootout, there are no more games that end 0-0 in the recordbook. However, there was one game this season that ended with no goals being scored in regulation plus overtime.
Sherry Ross in the NY Daily News wrote about how defense is once again winning games:
Consider this: In the first 150 NHL games of the season - roughly three weeks - there were 12 shutouts league-wide. In the past six days going into this weekend’s action - a total of 40 games - there have been seven shutouts.
That is a small, unscientific sampling, but it is also significant that at the halfway mark of the season, Calgary’s Miikka Kiprusoff has five shutouts. If he matches that pace in the second half, he will be close to Martin Brodeur’s league-leading 11 shutouts in 2003-04, the last season before the lockout and before the “new NHL.”
Are shutouts increasing?
Here’s a month by month look:
Oct
Games: 174
Shutouts: 13
Nov
Games: 199
Shutouts: 14
Dec
Games: 200
Shutouts: 12
Jan
Games: 36
Shutouts: 8
Outside of a few extra at the beginning of this month, shutouts appear pretty steady over the season so far.
What about goals? Well, they’ve been pretty steady over the past month.
On Dec 6 I wrote about how the increase in scoring was, well, decreasing. Goals per game for the season at that time was 6.15. Adding in another month of games and the average goals per game for the season is now 6.15. Nothing going on there.
So the return of the shutout isn’t the return of the frequency of the shutout. With about half as many as we’ve seen in the past few season we’re returning to a time when a shutout actually means something. If things remain the same, you might just want to re-adjust those bonus fantasy points before next season.
Next entry: iNHL
Previous entry: Have Some Nothing
Comments