[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5CNYsmAJwI&w=420&h=315]
This is Lennart Petrell.
Petrell was an unmitigated disaster as a even strength performer. In his two year span with the Oilers, not a single teammate posted better numbers with Petrell.
That said, there’s some evidence Petrell was a pretty good penalty killer. As an example, in 2011-12, Petrell ranked 6th in the league in Fenwick Against per 60 (>50mins; smallish sample size).
[As we’ve discussed here and here, Fenwick rates per 60 are the best indicators of special teams success, though in the case of the PK, luck is a much stronger factor].
David Staples, using Neilson Numbers, championed the Petrell Penalty Kill throughout his tenure (see, for example, here, here and here). While Jonathan Willis found some room to question Petrell’s PK prowess based on poor year-over-year shot metrics (his FA/60 hops from c. 54 up to c. 76 from 2011-12 to 2012-13), Petrell’s time in Edmonton largely saw him feted as a penalty killing genius.
“In talking to [Oilers European Scout] Matti [Virmanen], who was very firm on his getting an opportunity here, he suggested that he was an outstanding penalty-killer”
“It was his work as a checker and on the penalty kill that earned him a return trip.”
“First off, Petrell, 27, is a brilliant penalty killer. He’s a bulldozer blocking shots and clogging passing lanes. His positional play on the kill is near perfect.”
“Petrell is a terrific penalty killer by eye”
“What about PK? Well, I don’t see a lot of positives in the 4×5 numbers via Gabe but he looks good doing it and David Staples errors say that he’s been very good at the discipline.”
The Look of a Penalty Killer
The last two quotes from Lowetide hit upon what interests me about Petrell. Regardless of his effectiveness (and, there’s some evidence he was effective), the guy looked like a penalty killer.
He skated in straight lines, got into lanes, blocked shots, hit things, dumped the puck up the glass and out. The skated his bag off every night. You never questioned his effort level, or his commitment to clear the defensive zone.
The problem for Petrell… he looked exactly the same at even strength. That is, he looked exactly like you’d expect a guy fiercely and solely dedicated to clearing the defensive zone would look. He played at even strength like he was killing a penalty. And, as the numbers above indicate, the results were horrid.
So, What’s the Point?
The point, buddy, is that Petrell’s even strength play was the Platonic Form of the “smart, simple, dump and chase hockey” we keep hearing so much about.
With all we now know about the importance of maintaining possession of the puck and zone entries, the skill-set of Petrell looks decidedly anachronistic, harkening back to a time of “checker” hockey. To put the matter straightforwardly: Petrell’s style is essentially puck allergic.
Clogging lanes, blocking shots, hitting players, clearing the zone.
All these attributes assume the puck is either primarily the rightful possession of one’s opponent, or something which is dangerous to possess oneself. The aim of this skill-set is to re-direct the possession of the opposition by either forcing them to change the approach of attack (change passing/shooting lanes, recover blocked shots), or to regroup from their defensive zone. At no point is this skill set primed to actually gain possession of the puck.
The reason this skill set works on the penalty kill is obvious. The rules of the game are rigged: you simply don’t have an even chance of gaining possession of the puck at 4×5. Under those circumstances, the best you can hope for is to frustrate the plans of the guys that control the puck.
At even strength, however, such a skill* is so much wasted energy. And, the philosophy of “checker” hockey is so much hot air. As Dallas Eakins notably suggested, “No team in this league is going to survive by getting up to the red line and just dumping it in. You’ll get killed.”
Branding a Folly
It isn’t novel to challenge the philosophy of “checker” hockey. Nor, is the philosophy something we can expect to lose ground among the hoi polloi.
What I hope this article accomplishes is a branding effort. The “smart, simple, dump and chase hockey” championed nightly by Don Cherry, Glenn Healy, Drew Remenda, etc., is really just “Penalty Kill Hockey.”
It is, however, penalty kill hockey played at even strength.
* NB: the exception here is the LA Kings. A team grounded in a philosophy of possession and uniquely built to win possession, while losing zone entries.
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