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Denis Gauthier

BEHIND THE NUMBERS - Body Checking

D'Arcy McGrath

September 6, 2001

As training camp approaches, Calgarypuck will take one final look back at the season that was by looking into a variety of stats and a more detailed analysis of the Calgary Flame's players. This week's feature deals with hitting, it's frequency of occurrence and the Flames leading bangers.  

Statistics can be a very valuable tool in assessing the performance of an athlete or sports team. Often however, the statistics that are available are too flat, offering little analysis beyond the actual numbers. For example it's easy to determine who led a team in points, but sometimes it's more interesting to find out who led the team in points based on other factors like games played, and ice time. In doing so, a reader can determine who did the most with limited ice time, and conversely, who did the least with ample ice time.

In the past Calgarypuck.com has used these "time between" numbers to look at the performance of the team through the season. With camp just around the corner, a camp which will feature many new faces, applying the same formulas will give us a look at how these new players fit with the current squad in many statistical categories.

Though hitting statistics aren't the only determinant of physical play, a peek at the changes in hitting numbers may give some insight into what type of team fans can expect this season. Will the bone crushing play of Jason Wiemer be replaced, or are the Flames still needing toughness up front? How does Bob Boughner fit into the defence core in terms of body contact?

Hitting

Denis Gauthier has been the Flames "hit king" for a number of seasons. The hard hitting defenceman has been on the side lines for almost a third of each of the past two seasons, due in part to his hitting nature. His totals would rival league leaders if he managed to play a full season.

Over the summer the Flames moved the team's leading hitter up front, Jason Wiemer. It's interesting to look at how the new faces fit with the team in term's of body contact. 

It appears the 2001-02 Flames might be a much more physical squad.

Two of the players acquired by Button this summer would have sat in the team's top five in overall hits; Boughner with 171 and Niedermayer with 149. Jason Wiemer, who was traded to Florida in the Niedermayer deal had 143 hits last season, six less than the player he was trade for. Overall the Flames appear to have taken a step up on the punishment scale.

On the noncontact end of the team's list Phil Housley brought up the rear for Flames defencemen, only throwing a hit 25 times last season. Val Bure finished last for the forwards with more than 20 games played. He had 21 hits for his season total. With Phil Housley put on waivers yesterday, and Val Bure moved this past summer, it appears the Flames have added to the top while subtracting the bottom of the scale. This should make for a more rough and tumble overall squad. 

A more interesting look at hits can be accomplished by finding a time duration between each body check for each player.  

Denis Gauthier, to no one's surprise, led all the Calgary Flames with just over four minutes of time between stepping into an opposing player. Given that Gauthier played close to 24 minutes per night down the stretch last season, that would work out to roughly six hits a night, quite a number when you think a player like Bure only had 21 in a season.

Imagine a season where Denis Gauthier plays 80 games at an average of 20 minutes per night? That would translate into a staggering 400 hits for the season, 27 more than league leader Zdeno Chara last season.

Dwayne Hay finished second with 4:35 between his hits, followed by Ron Petrovicky, the newly acquired Bob Boughner and Robyn Regehr. Jason Wiemer would have been in the team's top five as he had 6:11 between hits last season. Two new forwards, Rob Niedermayer and Dean McAmmond had 9:03 and 9:07 between their hits. 

Val Bure had over an hour of ice time before throwing a body check, coming in at 69:53. Tommy Albelin was last in terms of defencemen with 58:45 between his hits. 

Steve Begin in his short stint in Calgary actually led the team, having only 3:14 of duration between his hits, but was excluded due to his total of games played.

The Flames likely group of forwards for the upcoming season average 12 minutes of ice time between hits. Or in other terms, the average Calgary Flame forward will throw a body check every 12 minutes. The top seven defencemen average just over 20 minutes between hits.

Summing It Up

Overall it appears the Flames will be a much more physical team when they hit the ice October 3rd against the Edmonton Oilers. Three of the least physical players on the team; Val Bure, Tommy Albelin, and Phil Housley have all moved on or will be moving on in Housley's case, while more physical players have been added in Rob Niedermayer, Dean McAmmond and Bob Boughner. A second wave of contact play can be expected from Saint John with the likes of Steve Begin, Rico Fata and Ron Petrovicky seeking full time duty this fall. The Flames may struggle to score goals this season, but it doesn't look like they'll lack in the hitting department.