Peter Puck Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I have a question about assists. In our last victory over Carolina, Koivu scored our 3rd goal on a 2 man advantage when the Hurricanes Dman deflected Saku's cross crease pass into his own net. Although a {H a b} had passed Koivu the puck, the goal was ruled unassisted. Some posters here said this is usual on "own goals". Tonight in the leaf's game, Sundin threw the puck out front from behind the net in the last minute of play. The puck bounced off a NJ defenceman and then off Brodeur into the NJ net. I don't think it can be claimed that Sundin was trying to bank the puck in - he was trying to feed the puck to the front of the net. Two assists were awarded. In our win against the Flyers, Kovalev scored our second goal on the PP goal. The puck was passed to him (by one of our Dmen) and Kovalev held it for 7 or 8 seconds skating back and forth along the boards before launching a great wrister. No assists were awarded. Can anyone explain these decisons? Is our official scorer more stingy than most? A quick search of the rule book turned up this paragraph in rule 34.2: "An assist is awarded to the player or players (maximum two) who touches the puck prior to the goal scorer, provided no defender plays or possesses the puck in between." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I really think it is Stingy well especially in Montreal. Toronto and Detroit are famous for adding phantom assists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I have to admit I am usually wary of the second assist. I really think the second assist should be discounted when calculating points. It's not like I'm not about to recalc the stat, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doktor Kosmos Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 In my opinion the prime example that shows that secondary assists should not be awarded is from game 5 of the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals. LA defendseman Charlie Huddy or Tim Watters or Mark Hardy (or whoever it was, I don't remember exactly) had the puck at the faceoff circle on Kelly Hrudey's stick hand side. John LeClair runs over him like a freight train - he isn't interested in the puck at all, he just runs over the LA defender. Gary Leeman comes in and passes the puck to Paul DiPietro who puts it in the net behind Hrudey. DiPietro gets the goal, Leeman gets the primary assist and LeClair gets the secondary assist without ever touching the puck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mont Royale Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 The NHL should tighten up on its awarding of assists, if the stat is going to keep any credibility. A couple of weeks ago, Sundin was awarded an assist that put him past Sittler in all-time Leafs scoring - and he was given a standing 'o' and everything, and then someone realized he never touched the puck! It was corrected, and he was given a legitimate assist later in the game... but would the originally-awarded assist have been rescinded if it wasn't noteworthy? Not likely. Since there's already a proliferation of stats, I also agree that first assists could be tracked separately from second assists (they would both still count as points for consistency with previous years). I don't care what they tell you in Atom, a goal > an first assist > a second assist! P.S. Leafs suck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I really think it is Stingy well especially in Montreal. Toronto and Detroit are famous for adding phantom assists. Yeah just like Boston Bruins do for the shots on goal by their team. That being said, gotta pick some Detroit and Toronto players in your fantasy pool... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punkned Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I don't agree with you guys' opinion about the second assist. Great plays often begin before the first assist. For example, a few games ago Brisebois score a great PP goal on a pass from Plekanec. On that play, Kovy has the puck at his usual spot along the board. Then you see Brisebois pointing Plekanec to Kovalev with his stick just before he rushes to the net. Kovy passes to Plek who immediatly passes it to Breezer who scores. That was a great play, and both Kovy and Pleks deserved a point. Both assists had the same value. The examples about Sundi and LeClair not even touching the puck do not convince me to view the second assist as of less value. The fact is that these are not assists... The second assist also reward puck moving defensemen. Making a good pass out of the zone that leads to a goal IS offense contribution and should be counted as such... Whitney to Malkin to Croby to Malkin to Crosby and he scores... if that doesn't remind you anything, check the highlights of last saturday's game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobRock Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 If the goalie stop the puck behind the net, a forward takes it from there, rushes it up ice and scores, the goalie gets an assist, even thought he didn't actually do anything other than stop the puck. The rule is that the last two players from the scoring team, other than the scorer obviously, get assists. I've think that a player should either actively advance the puck up ice himself or attempt to make a play with the puck, either by passing or taking a shot on goal, to earn an assist. Just touching the puck shouldn't be grounds for one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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