Hockey - The Ultimate 5 on 3 Go Blue Edition

Hockey has a fairly unique way of handling penalties, being slightly similar perhaps only to soccer. In football, you lose yards or give yards up to your opponent if a penalty is called on your team. In basketball, the other team gets the ball or gets to shoot free throws. If you get enough penalties (or fouls as they call them), a player may be removed from the game but other players can still play and both teams keep the same number of players on the court.

In hockey, however, usually the player getting the penalty gets a time out and has to sit in the penalty box out of the play for a number of minutes depending on the severity of the penalty. The player's team has to play short a person for the time of the penalty. This creates a separate sort of "mini-game" for the time of the penalty for both the team on the power play (with more players on the ice) and the team on the penalty kill (down one or more players). The idea, obviously, is that when you have more players on the ice than the other team does, you should be able to score - an obvious disincentive to cross-checking your opponent. The goal of the team with fewer players is simply to "kill" the penalty by shutting down the offense of the other team.

With the University of Michigan, however, being on the penalty kill is not necessarily a disadvantage. You might be able to say they play better on the penalty kill than the power play, but that's not my topic for discussion today. I have never seen a team execute a penalty kill better than Michigan over the last two years (this means college hockey, pro hockey, semi-pro hockey, etc.). Even when in a 5-3 situation where Michigan has three skaters against five opposing skaters, Michigan has the ability to control the game and the puck. Smart play, skilled players, and the backing of the home crowd all contribute Michigan's penalty kill. It may be the most exciting thing in hockey watching your team kill a 5-3 penalty and we witnessed a great one tonight against the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Go Blue!