Differences in Penalties for & against

[chrisdetroit 189]

The WIngs have had 79 PPO which ranks them 25th in the league. This compares to 110 for the Rangers and 109 for the Sharks.

That's a HUGE difference. I'm not suggesting a conspiracy but how can it be that the team with the 2nd best record in the league gets so few PPO's?

The Refs are just not calling many penalties against our opponents.

[The Mule 0]

Not that a couple more games would even things out, but the Sharks and Rangers have played two and four more games than us respectively.

[Penky26 2]

yea ive noticed that as well. You generally will see the Wings gets about 3-4 while the other team get around 5-7

[thedisappearer 291]

I don't think it is an anti-Red Wings thing, but I think it is league mandated.

Remember back in the day when there were damn near no penalties in the 3rd? Then, ater the lockout, they called penalties in the 3rd. Now, I think, they call "penalties" that may not really exist on the winning team so the games are closer and there's more offense.

[12Newf 0]

thats pretty interesting but then again if they gave detroit that many PPs they would never lose. our PP is running at almost 35% and that is completely insane.

it was interesting what the commentators said during the second oilers game this week (i think it was craig simpson but it might have been daniels) when they talked about how detroit's PP seems to have interchangeable parts. they were talking about how kopecky was seamlessly thrown in front of the net and without homer and kronner the PP was still lethal. very impressive.

Edited November 22, 2008 by 12Newf

[Chunkylover 26]

I don't think it is an anti-Red Wings thing, but I think it is league mandated.

Remember back in the day when there were damn near no penalties in the 3rd? Then, ater the lockout, they called penalties in the 3rd. Now, I think, they call "penalties" that may not really exist on the winning team so the games are closer and there's more offense.

The only reason the Wings get more penalties in third is they've been sitting back on their leads. No conspiracy there, unless they're in on it too.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

It's not an anti-*insert favorite team* thing at all. Just inconsistent officiating and too many instances of "evening out" calls or questionable calls when a team might have a big lead, regardless of who the team is. Not saying that all referees are incompetent, their jobs are hard enough as it is, but there's got to be ways to address the inconsistency etc.

[Antilles328 0]

I was looking through the team stats on ESPN.com and I found an interesting stat regarding Penalty minutes for/against.

Detroit has won all these games, despite having 19 more penalty minutes called against them than for them.

San Jose however, has had the advantage of 84 more minutes (the equivalent of 42 more penalties or 2 extra PPs a game)

I have a feeling if this 103 PM discrepancy was evened out, San Jose is behind Detroit in the rankings.

As a side note. Anaheim is the dirtiest team in the league. Who would have guessed? Oh wait, everyone.

[Dabura 12,232]

I think there's a mandate to "level the playing field" in the 3rd. I'm not convinced that this is an anti-Wings mandate -- it's just that the Wings tend to lead going into the 3rd...and they're really hard to bear 5-on-5 and down a goal or two....

[Drake_Marcus 890]

I was looking through the team stats on ESPN.com and I found an interesting stat regarding Penalty minutes for/against.

Detroit has won all these games, despite having 19 more penalty minutes called against them than for them.

San Jose however, has had the advantage of 84 more minutes (the equivalent of 42 more penalties or 2 extra PPs a game)

I have a feeling if this 103 PM discrepancy was evened out, San Jose is behind Detroit in the rankings.

As a side note. Anaheim is the dirtiest team in the league. Who would have guessed? Oh wait, everyone.

I have to disagree there. The Sharks are getting way more power plays than penalty kills because they're playing Red Wing hockey. Remember last year? We'd almost always get more PPs than PKs.

The power play vs penalty kill situation with the Wings is 80% the fault of the Wings playing bad hockey but still scoring lots of goals and about 20% the fault of questionable calls.

[2probert4 8]

I have to disagree there. The Sharks are getting way more power plays than penalty kills because they're playing Red Wing hockey. Remember last year? We'd almost always get more PPs than PKs.

The power play vs penalty kill situation with the Wings is 80% the fault of the Wings playing bad hockey but still scoring lots of goals and about 20% the fault of questionable calls.

I would like to see Nashville numbers, along with the number of PP's they get at home vs against. Seems like they get tons of calls at home.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

The WIngs have had 79 PPO which ranks them 25th in the league. This compares to 110 for the Rangers and 109 for the Sharks.

That's a HUGE difference. I'm not suggesting a conspiracy but how can it be that the team with the 2nd best record in the league gets so few PPO's?

The Refs are just not calling many penalties against our opponents.

The Wings also are not playing typical Wings hockey. We've had bad 3rd periods which see us sitting back on our leads and not moving our feet, which results in penalties. And, IMO, we spend most of our time leading hockey games and the league tends to call penalties for the team that is trailing on the scoreboard. And that's nothing against the Wings. It appears to be happening to most teams that are winning games, that the refs give the losers more opportunity to tie the score and the same losers tend to move their feet more and draw more penalties when trailing.

I'm glad you are not suggesting a conspiracy against the Wings b/c that would be just another sign of spoiled-rotten Wings fans not being able to handle the fact that our s*** does indeed stink like everyone else's and that we're nothing but a bunch of arrogant pricks b/c we think everything in the hockey universe should revolve around the Wings and the Wings should be the only team getting any breaks.

[Konnan511 1,736]

Idol Hands are the Devil's playground. In this case idol hands are the Wings playing not to lose in the third period instead of playing to win and the Devil's playground is penalty killing.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

The Wings also are not playing typical Wings hockey. We've had bad 3rd periods which see us sitting back on our leads and not moving our feet, which results in penalties. And, IMO, we spend most of our time leading hockey games and the league tends to call penalties for the team that is trailing on the scoreboard. And that's nothing against the Wings. It appears to be happening to most teams that are winning games, that the refs give the losers more opportunity to tie the score and the same losers tend to move their feet more and draw more penalties when trailing.

I'm glad you are not suggesting a conspiracy against the Wings b/c that would be just another sign of spoiled-rotten Wings fans not being able to handle the fact that our s*** does indeed stink like everyone else's and that we're nothing but a bunch of arrogant pricks b/c we think everything in the hockey universe should revolve around the Wings and the Wings should be the only team getting any breaks.

I agree that's probably the heart of it.

Not to mention with how good the Wings power play is at the moment, calling a penalty on the other team is practically like giving Detroit a penalty shot.

[rick zombo 3,739]

Not to mention with how good the Wings power play is at the moment, calling a penalty on the other team is practically like giving Detroit a penalty shot.

Exactly.

But surely you agree that this is unfair. This is how Detroit builds their teams. No nedd to punish them for being succesful. Other teams spend their money on goaltending, or stock their team with size and grit.

What's next? I know, let's make all the Sharks players loose weight because they're too big. It's clearly unfair.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Exactly.

But surely you agree that this is unfair. This is how Detroit builds their teams. No nedd to punish them for being succesful. Other teams spend their money on goaltending, or stock their team with size and grit.

What's next? I know, let's make all the Sharks players loose weight because they're too big. It's clearly unfair.

It's not fair in the sense that a penalty is a penalty regardless of which team is in the lead. I just think to single out the Wings and say that since we've had so many more penalties against, then the league must have it in for us is a conspiracy theory that IMO doesn't hold water. It's happening to more than just the Wings.

[rick zombo 3,739]

It's not fair in the sense that a penalty is a penalty regardless of which team is in the lead. I just think to single out the Wings and say that since we've had so many more penalties against, then the league must have it in for us is a conspiracy theory that IMO doesn't hold water. It's happening to more than just the Wings.

For sure.

I was just stating that the idea of calling less penalties on Wings opponents, because their PP is so dominant, is not fair.

It's possible that the Wings get dinged on more borderline calls than their oponents because, like harold said, the Wings are capitalizing on their PPs at an alarming rate. So, as a ref, to remain guilt-free, you better be sure you're calling a clear infraction. Thus the other team only goes to the box for obvious calls and the Wings get tagged for more of the borderline stuff. Generally speaking. Just a theory. And I'm not sure I even buy it.

[BlueMonk 102]

I tend to think these problems have more to do with inconsistent officiating and the (seemingly real) tendency for officials to call penalties on the team that has the lead than on a bias against the Wings.

That being said, the Wings have the puck almost all the time, so there's something not right with the balance of penalties for and against.

I posted a blog entry a year or two ago about how the Ducks benefit from playing on the edge of dirty all the time when it comes to penalty calls. With the Ducks taking liberties with borderline play all game long, the officials may start out blowing the whistle but eventually stop calling all the penalties they should on the Ducks. If they called them all game long, the game would become a parade to the penalty box, and the officials just aren't going to allow that (even if they should). So, the end result is teams like the Ducks eventually end up getting away with more than they should through the course of the game.

I think the Wings' style of play has the opposite effect. If every infraction against them was called, they'd be on the PP constantly. I don't think it's a mandate against the Red Wings specifically, but they pay a higher price for it than most teams because they're so skilled and so good at possessing the puck. They should get more calls than they do.

[Guest Shoreline]

Inconsistent officiating has LONG been a complaint. This is actually a constant.

However, what is overlooked is the Wings have played very undisciplined hockey, and that does in fact lead to penalties. Penalties should be indicative of who's working hardest. Wings have been caught numerous times flat footed and chasing the puck, which leads to penalties. Only need to be thankful that they ease up in the 3rd period, when the Wings tend to choke against good teams (still not surprising to see the Wings still called for a few).

Edited November 26, 2008 by Shoreline