The Hockey News looks at the most and least penalized teams in the AHL, discovering if time in the box leads to rising and falling stock in the standings.
Pro hockey clubs can live and die by spending time in the box. But are winning and losing, and current or future placements in the standings, dictated in such a large way by penalty minutes (or lack thereof), that we can form overarching trends or opinions?
The Hockey News looks at the top five most, and least, penalized teams in the AHL, looking at various penalty statistics and where each club ranks in the current standings for the league overall, conference, and division.
Northland HockeyMost Penalized Teams in the AHL:
Lehigh Valley: 18 Games, 357 PM 19.83 Average, 106 Minor, 11 Major, 7 10 Min Misconduct, 2 Game Misconduct, 255 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 11th in League, 6th in Eastern Conference, 3rd in Atlantic Division
Laval: 18, 309 PM, 17.17 Average, 97 Minor, 8 Major, 4 10 Min Misconduct, 2 Game Misconduct, 323 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 24th in League, 13th in Eastern Conference, 6th in North Division
Tucson: 17 Games, 285 PM, 16.76 Average, 90 Minor, 9 Major, 5 10 Min Misconduct, 1 Game Misconduct, 213 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 15th in League, 7th in Western Conference, 6th in Pacific Division
Toronto: 17 Games, 277 PM, 16.29 Average, 76 Minor, 8 Major, 5 10 Min Misconduct, 2 Game Misconduct, 300 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 18th in League, 10th in Eastern Conference, 4th in North Division
Grand Rapids: 15 Games, 233 PM, 15.53 Average, 64 Minor, 5 Major, 4 10 Min Misconduct, 4 Game Misconduct, 204 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 28th in League, 13th in Western Conference, 6th in Central Division
Least Most Penalized Teams in the AHL:
Hershey: 19 Games, 174 PM, 9.16 Average, 67 Minor, 6 Major, 0 10 Minute Misconduct, 1 Game Misconduct, 175 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 1st in League, 1st in Eastern Conference, 1st in Atlantic Division
Texas: 16 Games, 156 PM, 9.75 Average, 63 Minor, 2 Major, 0 10 Min Misconduct, 2 Game Misconduct, 203 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 12th in League, 6th in Western Conference, 1st in Central Division
Bridgeport: 18 Games, 181 PM, 10.06 Average, 73 Minor, 2 Major, 1 10 Min Misconduct, 0 Game Misconduct, 156 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 27th in League, 15th in Eastern Conference, 8th in Atlantic Division
Colorado: 18 Games, 185 PM, 10.28 Average, 65 Minor, 7 Major, 1 10 Min Misconduct, 1 Game Misconduct, 176 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 10th in League, 5th in Western Conference, 5th in Pacific Division
Abbotsford: 17 Games, 180 PM, 10.59 Average, 75 Minor, 4 Major, 1 10 Minute MIsconduct, 0 Game Misconduct, 215 Opponent PM
Current Ranking: 6th in League, 3rd in Western Conference, 3rd in Pacific Division
The verdict? Of the most penalized teams in the league, only one of them (Grand Rapids) is in the bottom five, while the Phantoms, despite leading the league in penalty minutes by a large margin, sit 11th in the AHL and sixth in the east.
Conversely and perhaps not all that surprisingly, teams that are less penalized continue to pick up wins and pile up points.
The white-hot Hershey Bears, the least penalized club in the AHL, sits atop the standings with 30 points while only allowing an average of 9.76 PM a game.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the third least penalized club, Bridgeport, currently sits 27th in the league and at the bottom of the east.
So while not taking penalties certainly provides more room for success, it's not a make-or-break proposition. Good teams can, and usually do, kill penalties too.