Quote:
Originally Posted by GranteedEV
The frustrating thing about penalties as a stat is that there are so many penalties that all players get away with every game. Look no further than the game where Gaudreau broke his wrist for an idea of how arbitrary these calls are and how much they depend on the mood of an official. Meanwhile this season alone Bennett has been dinged for:
- Skating beside a goalie and not touching him
- A legal stick lift
- A textbook hit (twice I think, actually)
I also think it's telling that as a rookie he had a +13 penalty differential and this coincided with our most competent coach, and then last year he has a -1 penalty differential and this coincided with our second-most competent coach. He's had his worst penalty differentials under our two least competent coaches. It's almost as if penalties have to do with what the coaches are telling the players to do. This has tended to be true across the board, not just specific to the player.
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I dislike looking at penalty totals for this reason. I like looking at the calls. Bennett used to get a bunch of offensive zone holding and hooking penalties, which meant he was behind the play and reaching. He now gets more penalties (deserved or not) because of exuberance. Hard hits that border on roughing/charging, etc. Ones that he gets away with in the POs.