First of all, congrats to Sweden for the Gold, besting my nation of Norway 8-3, who in turn get the Silver medal. Second of all, congrats to Finland for the Bronze medal. Now that Season 73 of IIHF is done and dusted, let’s compare this season with the previous one. We will analyze some of the stats from the regular season of both seasons, comparing them and stating some teams’ strengths along the way in the form of some silly awards. I’ll preface this by stating that I’m a total newbie when it comes to hockey and hockey stats. I have obviously done my fair share of research on the topic while writing this, but I’m certainly not exempt from stating something completely wrong. If that’s the case, please let me know below. Without further ado, let’s begin.


Most Improved Offense Award

This award goes to the team with the most goals in Season 73 compared to Season 72. The winner is Team Canada with +11 goals, going from a respectable 8th in Goals Scored in Season 72 with 46 goals, to 2nd in Season 73 with 57 goals; 1 goal less than the leader Finland. This improvement helped them go from 5th in their Conference in S72 to 3rd in S73 and a playoff berth. Kudos for a job well done on this front. Honorable mention to Latvia for being the runner-up with a +8 goal improvement.


Most Improved Defense Award

This award goes to the team with the lowest goals against differential. In other words, the team that allowed the least amount of goals from S72 to S73. The winner is Team Great Britain with -24 goals against differential, going from 10th (least to most) with 48 goals against to the 1st place, conceding only 24 goals during the regular season (2 goals conceded per game!), and looking at their S73 goal differential of +2, I’m sure they are glad to have a great defensive squad, as it helped them to go into the playoffs and ensure a good season overall for the British team. The runner-up honorable mention goes to my nation of Norway with -17 goals against differential.


Something’s Gotta Go In Award

This award goes to the team with the most Shots For differential. They shot a lot more this season than the previous one. The winner is Team Finland with +59 Shots For Differential, going from 10th with 382 shots to 8th with 441 shots. Given that those additional 59 shots resulted in 5 more goals this season, I’d say that’s a good thing. Honorable mention to Team Latvia for shooting 55 more shots in this season, which translated to 8 more goals.


Can’t Even Begin To Try Award

This award goes to the team with the least shots against differential. Their opponents were not even allowed the opportunity to score. The winner is Independent Russia with -76 Shots Against Differential, going from 13th place (second to last) with 489 shots against in S72 to 7th with 413 shots against in S73. Given that they conceded 10 less goals this season, they are going through the right path with their defense. Honorable mention to Team Great Britain, being the runner-up with -51 Shots Against Differential, which is pretty notable as per the Most Improved Defense Award stated earlier.


You Shall Not Pass Award

This award goes to the team with the most shots blocked differential. The winner is the Gold Medal team of Sweden with +59 Shots Blocked Differential, going from last place (14th) with 129 blocks to 12th with 188 blocks. That’s a big improvement, even though they are only in 12th place for S73. However, it is a consequence of something I’ll talk about later. Honorable mention goes to Team Latvia with +59 shots blocked differential.


Strength and Finesse Award

This award goes to the team with the most hits differential. The winner is Independent Russia with +34 Hits differential, going from 12th with 210 hits to 5th with 244 hits. Honorable mention goes to Team Norway with +22 hits.


Most Improved Manners Award

This award goes to the team with the least penalty minutes per game differential. This team has made an improvement in not putting its players in a disadvantageous position when playing. The winner is Team United States with -5.17 penalty minutes per game differential. More than 5 whole minutes in the course of 12 games is a great improvement. Honorable mention goes to Team Norway with -3.42 penalty minutes per game differential.


Yoink Award

This award goes to the team with the most takeaway differential. This team has improved their reads and are able to steal the puck more effectively than before. The winner is Team Japan with a +50 takeaway differential, almost double of the runner-up Team Sweden which has a differential of +26.


No Presents For You Award

This award goes to the team with the least giveaway differential. In this holiday season, sharing is caring, but this team is especially selfish and didn’t like to share the puck with other teams. The winner is Team Norway with a -20 giveaway differential. It was actually a close race for this award, since Team Latvia ended up in second place with -19. I guess the holiday spirit is not for them.


How does S73 compare to S72 as a whole?

First of all, there were 68 less goals in S73 but not for lack of trying, mind you; since there were 5 more shots attempted and most importantly 107(!) more shots blocked. As someone who wants to build a player focused mainly on blocking shots, this improvement made by the defenses of some teams have my seal of approval, and a sigh of relief by the goalies of these teams. Funny enough, there were 246 less hits in S73, a significant number. However, I cannot comment much regarding this change, since being a total hockey newbie, I read some definitions of what is considered a “hit” and my conclusion was that it was like errors and/or balks in baseball. Who the fuck really knows what is considered one of them. Let me know below if I’m totally wrong on that assessment. All in all, defense was king in the regular season of S73.


Conclusion

I will conclude this now extensive piece by saying that I enjoy a lot digging through stats and trying to make some creative and niche additions to the community. I am infinitely more familiar with baseball terminology and its sabermetrics. However, I know I’m just digging the surface here with what I can do with some of the tools this league has at its disposal. I hope to write more media of this kind in the future. Let me know if you enjoyed this. I’m open to any suggestion, constructive criticism and the like from people that know more than me about hockey (about 99% of you, I bet).