Originally Posted by Scorponok
I got into a semi-heated discussion with one of my buddies recently regarding breakaways vs. penalty shots. I play defense in ball hockey, and during a competitive game, if a player dangles and beats me, I will purposely take out his legs from under him every single time.
The reasons for this are plentiful, and I believe it's the right hockey play. (Of course, not getting beat like a rented mule is first priority, but if it happens, whatyagonnado?)
When a player goes in on a breakaway, a lot can happen. He can score, he can miss the net, the goalie can make a save, the goalie can make a save and the rebound comes to the player again and he scores, the rebound can go to his teammate and the teammate can score, and a whole other host of outcomes, with the common variable that your goalie is usually down and out, and there is a prime scoring chance with the ball lying loose. A penalty shot, on the other hand, negates these other outcomes, and play is whistled dead as soon as the goalie touches the ball.
It seems that it's the correct play both in ball and ice hockey, and I was wondering, are there stats that give an account of breakaway vs. penalty shot goals? In shootouts, the ratio of saves to scoring is around, I believe, 60:40. (60 saves to 40 goals for every 100 attempts) I'm not sure shootouts should be taken into account here as it's not the same thing as a penalty shot within a game, but even if we did take that statistic, how does it stack up against goals scored on breakaways?
I'm guessing breakaway goals might be a little lower due to sometimes them counting partial breakaways in the statistics, and sometimes defensemen make a sliding poke check or taking the guy down and getting the penalty but not getting a penalty shot getting called against them. They probably also don't count rebounds, scrambles, and jam-it-in goals that happen in the ensuing mayhem of the breakaway as a breakaway goal.
For myself, I drag down the player because I feel it's advantageous to do so. That even if they get a penalty shot, it's a lower percentage that they score compared to a breakaway. There's also the possibility that the referee won't call a penalty shot, but rather just a regular tripping call, in which case, even the best power plays in the NHL hover around the 25% to 30% mark. The other advantage is the player being tripped might get hurt and be unable to continue playing, therefore also giving your team a numbers advantage for the rest of the game. (Also a possibility that the opposing player slides into your goalie and one or both are injured, but this is more likely in ice hockey) Of course, I'll only do this during league play, but I find after awhile, players won't even try to beat you because they know on the off chance they do, you are going to bring them down.
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