![]() In 2014-15 there were 24,947 hits more than were recorded in 2005-06. It does scale up significantly here in the same way. You can see a pretty stark increase in hits over that same span. That's a lot of available fantasy points. Overall, it's enough of an increase that in, for example, 2017-18 there were 7,771 more blocked shots than in the down year of 2007-08. Maybe players didn't want to risk getting hurt when the playoffs were just around the corner from Day 1. By much? Not in 2020-21, but perhaps that's an aberration brought on by the shortened COVID season. ![]() Here's how the league's blocked shots per game look since then. The data from before 2005-06 on blocked shots is apparently spotty enough to be excluded from the NHL's website. Have blocked shots gone up since the traditional NHL grinders started leaving the league? Hard to say. Every shot that doesn't make it to the net is a save the goalie doesn't have to make. Instead of fighting and hitting from the fourth line, grinding, as it were, exists more in the realm of the defenseman throwing their body in front of pucks. But the general sense of the term, referring to a player that works hard, but maybe doesn't exude offensive skills in the form of scoring, can still apply to the league. ![]() Grinder was a more common term when the NHL used to be populated by fourth liners that were more likely to drop their gloves and throw a hit than make a pass. Today we are talking about the grinder fuel. There are plenty of opportunities to still craft how your squad of fantasy NHLers is comprised. It's still early enough in the campaign that discussing some overall team-shaping strategies still has plenty of merit. ![]()
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