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Blocking Shots Is Like Killing Rats... |
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Kent Wilson, a great writer had this quote, "blocking shots is like killing rats. Doing it is preferable to not, but if you're doing it all the time it suggests you have a bigger problem.
That is the case with the Edmonton Oilers who lead the league right now in blocked shots. Edmonton has blocked a total of 448 shots this season, that is 137 more than the team that has blocked the fewest shots in the Buffalo Sabres. Considering Edmonton has allowed so many fewer goals than the Sabres, it is easy to point out blocked shots as the reason...
Wait... Edmonton has allowed 83 goals this season to the Sabres 82?!!!!
Hmmmmm.
Digging a little bit deeper, Edmonton and Buffalo are actually very interesting comparables. In terms of total shots against, that is actual registered shots on net, Edmonton has allowed the 7th most in the NHL with 918, while the Sabres sit 8th with 916.
Lastly, looking at total SV% the Sabres and Oilers sit tied with a total SV% from their goalies of 0.910%.
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So, what does this mean? What can we infer from all this information about blocking shots?
Not much, and that is kind of the point. Unlike pretty black and white stats like "goals for" and "goals against" there isn't any correlation between blocking shots and team success.
Last season the team that blocked the most shots in the NHL were the Ottawa Senators, a team that finished dead last in the league. This isn't surprising, they Senators were a horrible team and the opposition spent a large portion of games in their zone so obviously the players were going to spend a large amount of time blocking shots.
The team that blocked the second most amount of shots per game were the Colorado Avalanche, who went on to the second round of the playoffs.
The St Louis Blues, who won the Cup last season finished 24th in the league in blocked shots.
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The one thing we can guarantee about blocking shots? It drastically increases the chances of a player getting injured.
Adam Larsson missed the first 7 weeks of the season after blocking a shot with his foot. Ryan Nugent Hopkins was out for a few weeks back in 2017/2018 after breaking his hand blocking a shot. There is a time and place for shot suppression but there really isn't a strong case most of the time to not simply allow your goaltender to make a save on a visible shot.
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Who are the big shot blockers this season for Edmonton? Obviously Kris Russell is up there as his stay at home, inability to make a complete pass style of game is indicative of the amount of shots he blocks. Russell sits 6th amongst all players with 60 blocked shots.
It is Oscar Klefbom who leads all players in blocked shots with 93.
Now a couple things in defense of Klefbom, who remains Edmonton's top defenseman.
Klefbom leads the league in TOI. He plays a huge role for the team on 5 on 5, on the first unit PP, and on the penalty kill. Klef has been an absolute warhorse for Edmonton this season and is also on pace for a 50+ point season. The more he is on the ice, the higher chance there is going to be of him putting his body on the line.
This extra icetime is also reducing Klef's effectiveness.
Since 2016/2017, Oscar Klefbom has been a positive force on the ice and when he is on the ice with Connor McDavid, their on ice CF% has always been above 50%. This season, despite his numbers he is not playing as strong as we have seen and has actually had a negative impact on the Oilers best players. McDavid has a 51.25 CF% without Klefbom but that number drops to 41.84% with Klefbom on the ice.
Suddenly jumping to CF% might seem out of place here but they are all related. Klefbom is being served a buttload more icetime, blocking more shots and his overall play has taken a dive as a result.
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There are some MSM guys who will talk about guys like Kris Russell as a "warrior" and speak of the Oilers leading the league in blocked shots as some sort of honour they should be proud of, but I'm not buying it.
Edmonton sits 23rd in the league with total shots on net and spend way too much time, especially as of late playing defense in their own zone, generating most of their attempts on the rush as opposed to sustained play.
As Kent himself said, killing rats every now and then is fine. But as the corpses start piling up one has to admit there are bigger problems at hand.
Thanks for reading.
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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