Statistics show that the number of tackles has exploded in the NHL playoffs compared to the regular season.
SpongeBob Forsberg,
Sami Laine
Ice hockey’s real games in the NHL have gotten into full swing as the remaining teams battle for the Stanley Cup in the playoffs. Talk about physical solution games is not just a bogus myth. The difference between the playoffs and the regular season is clearly visible, for example, in the tackle statistics.
The number of tackles has increased explosively in the playoffs compared to the regular season. Pittsburgh, which had the most tackles per game in the regular season, would be the team with the fewest tackles in the playoffs.
The current opening round of the playoffs (an average of 85.7 tackles per game) is also tougher in terms of tackles than last spring’s opening round (75.1).
Urheilu’s NHL reporter Tommi Seppälän according to the emphasis on the tackling game means that we are starting to play for victory.
– 82 regular season games is an awfully long stretch. There will inevitably be backwater stages at the individual and team level. Yes, at the climax of spring, the gas is pushed to the bottom in a completely different way, Seppälä said at ‘s NHL evening.
Also ‘s hockey expert Ismo Lehkonen is of the opinion that the tackling game rises to its value precisely in decisive games.
– The players are even faster, more durable and stronger. Infinitely skilled. What kills skill? Hardly. Space and time are immediately taken away. When a hockey player at his best skates 40 kilometers per hour, a distance of ten meters is covered in a second. Play with it when someone comes your way, Lehkonen said.
According to Lehkonen, Winnipeg Saku Mäenalanen is a model example of a good tackler.
– This is dueling and loose puck playing. Try to get stops in the offensive zone. Do not give mercy at any point. That’s the kind of thing that ignites the team and takes the character away from the opponent.
On the borderlands of the rules
According to Seppälä, they want to hurt their opponents in the playoffs. You can’t stay healthy in the NHL for a long time.
– We want to take a piece off the board. Yes, that must be able to be said out loud. We don’t want to offend or harm, but to hurt, says Seppälä.
– The borders must be such that it is somewhat safe to go there. It is problematic with the rules if the Tackle first hits the body and then the head, because then according to the NHL rules it is not a head tackle. Then, in principle, a suspension cannot be demanded, Seppälä reminds.
One of the most talked about tackles of the playoffs has been Minnesota’s Matt Dumban rivet Dallas conker To Joe Pavelski in the first match of the series. Pavelski has not been seen on the ice more comically.
– Everything starts from the position. You have to understand at a very early stage that you have to constantly protect yourself. The gaze must be 360 degrees all the time. Can’t freak out for a second. Not even when the whistle blows. There are actually enemies out there who want to knock you off the board so that your season ends, Lehkonen reminds.
Lehkonen says that he would like to play physical NHL playoff games himself if he were younger.
– It would be the best time in the world to be able to play one shift at a time. It would be a good feeling to survive there and dare to play. Money can’t buy that. You have to be a little crazy to jump into that game and still enjoy it.