I'll try and explain the tradeoffs of the puck handling as someone who did it A LOT
It's a true risk/reward style and I'll break down the in game risk/reward as opposed to bring up helping your D getting smacked too much (which is valuable)
#1 The obvious risk is you are going to give up bad goals playing the puck that much. It's something you have to accept. So you have to make playing the puck a better percentage play than leaving the puck alone.
#2 When I was doing this I would prevent about 5 SOG's per game simply by handling dump-in's etc. In the NHL that number is on average around 3 SOG's per game so lets go with that.
#3 You take your 3 SOG and multiply by game played. We'll say 60 for a nice round number. Giving us 180 shots against we didn't have to face by playing the puck.
#4 Now if we faced those shots and say 15 go in that gives us a .917 save % on those shots we have played. Which is around high average.
#5 Now how many goals does Mike Smith let in on average per season on bad puck handling gaffes? I'd say 1 out of every 5 games it'll happen once. (Probably not that high but I like easy numbers)
#6 So based on his 60 games he'll give up 12 goals as opposed to the 15 before making the 'playing the puck save %' a .933 save % so it's a little better but it helps.
#7 Add to that he will get some points from assists that aren't cheap points. Every one of those should count against the bad goal total but we won't add those and just acknowledge that yes he will generate the occasional piece of offense.
At the end of the day that style of play is completely based around allowing fewer chances and goals simply by killing the play before it starts. Sometimes it isn't pretty but if you can handle the puck the numbers will generally end up in your favor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by calgaryblood
That's what I'm most worried about. He isn't as good at playing the puck as he thinks and makes so many mistakes. Some will say because he plays the puck so much, he's bound to make mistakes but I'd rather he not play the puck if he's going to be so risky and make so many mistakes. Just in the last two seasons mike smith has gifted the Flames at least 4 goals.
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