Two games left in the regular season for the Blackhawks and they are in a tie for most points in the conference and the #1 seed. They have set a franchise record for most points in a season with 109 (not goals, but points--in hockey it's 2 points for a win and one point for a tie). They have set a record for most wins in franchise history with 50. They have also set a record for most road wins in a season with 22 and this brings me to my issue.
A hockey season is 82 games and you play 41 on the road. The Blackhawks have been around since 1926. So in 84 years, no Hawks team has won more than 22 games on the road which is only slightly better than 50/50!! If you go 21-20, that's not very good in any sport except if you play hockey on the road. To go 22-19 means you've done something worthy of a franchise record!!
That means to me that the rules are slanted too far in favor of the road team, if other teams have these type of stats at least and I'd have to believe that they do given the Hawks were one of the original 6 teams in the league so they've been good and bad as much as anyone.
What are those rules? Well, you're at a disadvantage with line changes. As the road team, you have to put your players on the ice and then the home team gets to match up against you, always putting their players out last. That's a pretty unfair advantage. If there isn't too much stoppage during the game though, it becomes less of an advantage.
The other advantage is with faceoffs. The visitor has to put their stick down on the ice or be ready first. I'm not sure how big of an advantage that is in reality. The home team also gets to decide whether to shoot first or second in a shootout now, but the shootout is a relatively new development anyway.
Why such bad road records? Anyone know?
7 comments:
it is the tender atmosphere at Chicago no doubt.. lol
I never knew hockey was such an ind-depth sport!
First off, going .500 on the road is generally pretty good in any sport. In some sports, the home field advantage is so high that going .500 on the road is considered very good. I believe hockey may be one of these sports.
The fact that the Hawks haven't won 22 road games before (a) reminds me that, historically speaking, the Hawks have been pretty rotten and (b) makes me wonder how long the schedule has been 82 games.
As for why there is such a HFA in hockey, you point out two reasons, but others would be the perils of road travel and also home-town officiating.
Also, keep in mind that it wasn't that long ago that there was no OT or shootouts and games did end in ties. In the past, the Hawks might have been more willing to play for a tie on the road (and pick up a point). Now, they can do that, then also potentially pick up the win in OT.
Hmm, I don't buy that .500 on the road is considered "very good", especially to the point where if you're 1 game over .500 it's an 86 year high mark. And the Hawks were pretty good for a stretch of 7-10 years in the 70's and played for the stanley cup in the early 90's.
However, I DO ACCEPT the argument that many teams on the road, prior to the recent OT rule changes, might have played for the tie to get the one point. That was the impetus for the rule change actually.
It still seems a bit absurd though. Maybe I'll check into other team's records.
Here's the reason 22 road games is a franchise record -- at the time the Hawks came into the league, the season was only 44 games. It increased over the years, but wasn't as much as 80 games until 1974.
There we go. So it's only been 40 years of inadequacy. Ha! Thanks for looking that up Mike.
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