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Every year, no matter what, everyone in the sport, whether you’re a coach or just in the media, is screaming about early season penalty calls, myself included. I hate it.

And this year at least,  it seems a little more brutal than usual.

But doesn’t it every year? Are we getting a little too excited about that whistle goin’ off? Are we just being critics for the sake of being critics?

Well, this year, four weeks in, it is in fact at an all-time high, so I guess most of us are onto something.

Four weeks in, aka 13 games played on the docket, we’re lookin’ at a total of 778 PIM. Last year? 528 minutes, 250 total minutes less than just a year ago.

I know, I know, there’s a few penalties that the league wants the boys in black-and-white crackin’ down on, but 250 more minutes! That’s a lotta crackin’ no matter how you look at it.

But to be fair, last year’s first 13 was relatively low in the PIM department. In fact the lowest we’ve seen in years. Over the last four years, it’s looked liked this during those first 13 starts…

2008: 778 PIM
2007: 528 PIM
2006: 704 PIM
2005: 640 PIM

It’s also interesting to note that this is the only year in the last four that has actually seen the home team sent to the box more often than the visitors, at this point in the season at least. Here’s how the home and away average penalty minutes per game shakedown…

2008: Away (29 PIM) vs. Home (31 PIM)
2007: Away (21 PIM) vs. Home (20 PIM)
2006: Away (28 PIM) vs. Home (26 PIM)
2005: Away (25 PIM) vs. Home (24 PIM)

Nothing too earth shattering, definitely some subtle figures, but so far this year, the home boys aren’t getting any favors, which is actually nice to see. At least in my books.

And so far this year, there’s been a few teams that have almost seemed to live on the power play, but not always pulling out the win. Although I think most would probably guess the hottest team on the power play usually wins, here’s the numbers for this early part of the year over the past, you guessed it, four years (identical power play percentages not included in win-loss record). Below are the records of teams who had a better PP percentage in each game.

2008: 9-3
2007: 11-2
2006: 8-3
2005: 8-5

Again, nothing too crazy, most would say the better PP wins games, but I do think it’s interesting to note that the year with by far the least amount of penalties called, 2007, also saw what appears to be a more effective power play winning unit. Why? Could it be stop-and-go lacrosse kills the flow and momentum of games, ultimately killing the amount of decent scoring chances both on set plays and on the break? I personally think so. Is it goal scoring or flow that makes this game great? I know stuff like high shots are being cracked down on, which is good, but these increased calls are really creating a brand of ball, that to me at least, is less crowd pleasing.

And was 07’s power play unit really more effective in the first part of each of the last four seasons as the win-loss records suggests? The averages are below (total league power plays vs. amount of goals a man-up)…

2008: 41.89%
2007: 44.79%
2006: 37.13%
2005: 36.67%

This year doesn’t seem too bad, but again, no surprise 07 came out on top.

And although these numbers are way inflated because of a number of dust ups and what not, it certainly looks like Brian Reese’s 98 PIM in 2002 could be in jeopardy. Here’s a look at the top PIM leaders and what they are currently on pace for. Again, inflated, but… (factored in suspensions to Merrill and Hill)

Cam Woods, Toronto: 46 PIM in 4 games, on pace for 284 PIM
Travis Hill, Minnesota: 42 PIM in 2 games, on pace for 315 PIM
Geoff Snider, Philadelphia: 32 PIM in 2 games, on pace for 256 PIM
Pat Merrill, New York: 21 PIM in 1 game, on pace for 315 PIM
Kyle Laverty, Buffalo: 19 PIM in 3 games, on pace for 101 PIM
Sean Pollock, Minnesota: 17 PIM in 2 games, on pace for 136 PIM

Not sure if we’ll see any single season scoring records fall in 2008 (unless it has PP attached to it), but it certainly seems like the penalty numbers are in trouble.

Check back 13 or so games from now and I’ll make sure to stack up the last four years to see how everything continues to shakedown at that point in the year.

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