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By-Tor · 01-21-2025, 01:33 PM

All-Time Takeaways Leaders and Analysis

A statistic that is often cited in defensive Hall of Fame references, Bojo Biscuit awards, Scott Stevens awards, and All Star nominations is the takeaway, or the takeaway-giveaway ratio. Despite the prevalence of this statistic in regular discussions of who the best defensemen are any given year, the takeaway statistic is not one that is compiled by our league historical resources. Despite the immense databank of knowledge we currently possess on the past statistics of the SHL and career accomplishments, takeaways (and giveaways) have fallen through the cracks. As far as I know, there is not a single place a regular site user can go that will show career totals of these statistics. Until now.

Takeaways and giveaways entered the league with the switch to FHM in Season 53. Levels of takeaways and giveaways fluctuated quite a bit under the different engines of FHM6 and FHM8. We will look at both, then all together.

Takeaways and Giveaways under FHM6

The SHL used FHM6 for 13 seasons from Season 53 to Season 65. During the use of FHM6, average takeaways per season among all skaters was 22.1 while giveaways averaged 31.5 (yes I also think they should match, but alas I don't make the rules). Only two times during that entire era did a skater average more than one takeaway per game in a season and both were by forward Collin Gibbles (S55: 68 TA and S58: 66 TA). Of the top 25 individual seasons with the most takeaways in FHM6, 9 were forwards (4 of those Gibbles) and 16 were defensemen. It was extremely rare to finish a season with more than 50 takeaways. For giveaways in the FHM6 era, the maximum was 76 and the minimum among full season skaters was was 1. The average TA/GA ratio for all skaters in FHM6 was 0.79 (0.79 takeaways per 1 giveaway).

The entirety of the FHM6 era can be seen below. This includes all skaters. The more impressive campaigns are found in the top left quadrant of the chart.

[Image: 4vttBdL.png]

Among defensemen in the FHM6 era, takeaways averaged 24.7 and giveaways averaged 29.1. Slightly better TA/GA ratio than the forwards. In FHM6, only 38.6% (559 of 1,448) of defensemen's individual seasons resulted in a takeaway total greater than or equal to their giveaway total. The top performance of takeaways in FHM6 by a defenseman was Cassius Darrow in Season 57 with 61 takeaways. Only three times was a defenseman's TA/GA ratio higher than 5-to-1 (this is important for later). Two of those seasons were Ti-Guy Emond in Season 53 and Season 54. The other was a remarkable 18-1 ratio by Mikas Bieska in Season 56 with 18 takeaways and only one giveaway. On average the best ever seasons a defensemen could hope for was somewhere around the 10 GA - 30 TA ratio.

[Image: lNoJKXG.png]

When looking at the composite results of the seasons, the following players emerge as the takeaway leaders of FHM6:

Top 10 Total Takeaways, FHM6:
1. Collin Gibbles - F - 596 TA
2. Mathias Seger - D - 467 TA
3. Lyle Odelein III - D - 463 TA
4. Alex Petrenko - D - 447 TA
5. Cassius Darrow - D - 432 TA
6. Mika Kandinsky - F - 422 TA
7. Eko van Otter - F - 417 TA
8. Samuel Michaud - D - 415 TA
9. Tom Fiddler - F - 393 TA
10. Satoshi Zizagooney - D - 390 TA

Collin Gibbles is far and away the best takeaway artist of the era. The fact that Gibbles only received one Dar nomination during this entire era is criminal. His point totals were not "jump off the page." but man was he a defensive machine. Our #2 and #3 on the list, Seger and Odelein III, were also some of the greatest at takeaways and were extremely impressive in the shots blocked category. What makes my mind boggle even more is the fact neither of them were ever nominated for a defensive award. Petrenko and Darrow did win two Bojo awards each.

The takeaway to giveaway ratios for that era show a slightly different picture, but still have similar highlights:

TA/GA Leaders, FHM6 (min. 300 GP):
1. Alex Petrenko - F - 1.65
2. Collin Gibbles - F - 1.48
3. Cassius Darrow - D - 1.45
4. Oliver Klozoff - D - 1.38
5. Leopold Lockhart - D - 1.36
6. Mathias Seger - D - 1.35
7. Tom Fiddler - F - 1.35
8. FR Finn-Rhys - D - 1.31
9. Alexander Selich - F - 1.30
10. Darnell Johnson - D - 1.30

A lot of the same leaders emerge within the list, but a few newbies also appear. These players, especially the top 3 for how great their ratios are, are the kings of FHM6 takeaways.

If you are curious, the bottom three players in TA/GA ratio with minimum 300 games played are Alexei Rykov (0.16), Clean Andrei Kostitsyn (0.20), and Alex Marshall (0.24).

Takeaways and Giveaways under FHM8

In Season 66, SHL moved to FHM8. We have been operating in this era for the past 15 seasons. This drastically changed how takeaways and giveaways operated. While FHM6 had averages of 22.1 takeaways and 31.5 giveaways, FHM8 shifted to 41.9 takeaways and 37.8 giveaways on average. Instead of positive takeaway/giveaway ratios being a rare thing, they are now achievable by even those below average in skill. Average seasonal TA/GA ratios jumped from 0.79 in FHM6 to 2.75 in FHM8. The takeaway record in the FHM8 era is Rikard Bjerg's Season 66 performance of 106 takeaways. 36 times in the era has a defenseman recorded 80 or more takeaways. There have been 209 (!) instances of a player breaking Gibbles' FHM6 record of 68 takeaways.

Here is the entirety of takeaways and giveaways in FHM8 for skaters:

[Image: 5DJi1bf.png]

First reaction: WOW. OOTP developers decided they didn't want one blob, but instead two. The blob on the left in all defensemen and the blob on the right is all forwards. What a drastic change from the past! While we noted the leaguewide average of takeaways and giveaways above at 41.9 and 37.8 respectively, the numbers are very different based on skater group. Forwards have averages of 38.6 takeaways and 55.7 giveaways. Defensemen have averages of 46.9 takeaways and 10.9 giveaways. By the way, this is very opposite of the NHL where defensemen usually average more giveaways than forwards.

[Image: tXbo9uB.png]

You may be wondering: who the heck skewed that defenseman graph? Well that was the Season 75 performance of Montreal defensemen Ethan Bouchard. No other defenseman in the FHM8 era had more than 29 giveaways ever. Bouchard had 69 that season. Ouch. There is a greater conformity of expectations around TA/GA ratios for defenseman than there is for forwards. Forwards could be all over the board while defensemen mostly know what to expect.

When we sum all the takeaways of those 15 seasons of FHM8, we get out Top 10 list:

Top 10 Takeaway Leaders, FHM8:
1. San-sam Emerson - D - 947 TA
2. Tommi Koivu - D - 915 TA
3. Jay O'Neil - D - 895 TA
4. Wide Peepo Happy 3 Koivu - D - 847 TA
5. Dirty Boots - D - 818 TA
6. Marcel Beck - D - 798 TA
7. Ivan Lacksamus - F - 733 TA
8. M'Baku Olubori - F - 720 TA
9. Konstantin Selich - F - 702 TA
T-10. Landon Fischermann - D - 700 TA

T-10. Pass Forfeit - D - 700 TA

San-Sam Emerson of Philadelphia has the most takeaways in the FHM8 era. That is just one accolade that can be heaped on his successful career. There are a number of defensemen here, more than the previous list. Interestingly, there are a number of pairs: Koivu brothers of Hamilton, O'Neil and Beck of Winnipeg, and Emerson and Forfeit of Philadelphia. Emerson, Boots, Beck, and Lacksamus are the only four to have played in all of the FHM8 seasons. O'Neil is the only defenseman on the list to win the Bojo award for best defensive defenseman. None of these forwards ever won a Dar award, although Lacksamus was nominated thrice and Selich twice.

The TA/GA ratio leaders for FHM8, minimum 400 games, are:

1. Jay O'Neil - D - 6.78
2. Jonas Kahnwald - D - 6.73
3. Mit Wobet - D- 6.46
4. Kermit Murphy - D - 6.40
5. Daryl Urquhart - D - 6.04
6. Christian Kinsinger - D - 5.87
7. Isaac Forty-One - D - 5.85
8. Louise St. Martin - D - 5.84
9. Tommi Koivu - D - 5.83
T-10. Borje Samuelsson - D - 5.75
T-10. Jonathon Hagan - D - 5.75
12. Marcel Beck - D - 5.70 (yes I threw myself in there just outside the top 10, I wrote the article so I can do what I want)

All defensemen on the list, this is expected under FHM8. Jay O'Neil is the undisputed champion of takeaways in FHM8. Followed closely by Jonas Kahnwald, it drops off after those two. Beck played all 15 seasons, O'Neil, Kinsinger, and Koivu played 13 seasons and the rest played 12 or less. Of those on the list, only O'Neil and Koivu averaged over 1 takeaway per game played. Mit Wobet is the only one on the list that is a genuine surprise to me. Interestingly, Outside O'Neil and Beck, none of them have a Bojo Defensive Defenseman nomination. Stevens trophy is another thing: there are 5 wins and 5 nominations split between 7 of these defensemen.

Overall Takeaway Record

Combining both eras of FHM, we see the total career leaders of takeaways in SHL history:

1. San-sam Emerson - 963 takeaways (active)
2. Slip McScruff - 946 takeaways (active)
T-3. Jay O'Neil - 915 takeaways
T-3. Tommi Koivu - 915 takeaways
5. Marcel Beck - 883 takeaways (active)
6. Collin Gibbles - 874 takeaways
7. Dirty Boots - 849 takeaways (active)
8. Wide Peepo Happy 3 Koivu - 847 takeaways
9. Lord Raiden - 835 takeaways
10. William Salming - 766 takeaways (active)

Who will be the first to 1,000? All indications point to San-Sam Emerson being the first to cross that line. McScruff is just behind Emerson, but went unrostered this season. Lord Raiden and William Salming are the only forwards from FHM8 on this list, with longevity aiding them in their journey into the top 10. Gibbles makes an appearance, with FHM6 dominance helping accumulate high numbers. Congrats to all of these players, and may the takeaways keep flowing!

Spreadsheet here. Overall totals are under the sheet "Player Careers." FHM6 and FHM8 are split out on their own tabs. Individual season records can be found on FHM6 and FHM8 "Seasons" tab.

Cheers