The Declining Offensive Defenseman

from Mike Sielski of the Wall Street Journal, Though it might seem counterintuitive, there was a time when it wasn?t that unusual for an NHL team to have a defenseman who eschewed his job description and made scoring goals more of a priority than preventing them. In fact, the presence of such a player was a terrific advantage in the quest to win the Stanley Cup.

From 1969 to 1994, five defensemen surpassed 100 points in a single season?Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis and Leetch?and those five players won a collective 12 titles. Perhaps the most famous goal in the league?s history was Orr?s overtime Cup-winner in the 1970 Finals against the St. Louis Blues, in which he slipped the puck into the net as a Blues player tripped him, sending him sailing through the air like a would-be superhero.

That goal capped a season in which Orr amassed 120 points in 76 regular-season games and 20 in 14 playoff games. The following year, he had 139 regular-season points, an NHL record for defensemen that now appears untouchable.

As a percentage of total scoring, defensemen?s offensive contributions have remained relatively constant over the league?s history, according to QuantHockey.com, a website that analyzes NHL-related data. Since 1926, they have never accounted for more than 20% of all NHL goals in any season. But overall scoring has fallen 10% over the last six years, and NHL analysts and talent evaluators said that several additional factors have limited the ability of any single defenseman to collect points at so rapid a pace.

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Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/the_declining_offensive_defenseman/

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