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+---- Thread: The not-so-subtle art of Hitting and how to make them count (/showthread.php?tid=138482)
The not-so-subtle art of Hitting and how to make them count - Fluberwusterdinge - 08-15-2024
Wings do consistently get more Hits than Defencemen, to my surprise. However, Defencemen consistently get far more takeaways, especially those who do focus on such stats. But this is not just an intrinsic advantage of the position, but likely the result of a different stat-prioritization and position on the ice. Centers, however, rarely ever get any meaningful amount of Hits, and should be avoided barring the bare minimum investment (Worth to keep most relevant stats at 9, 11 on DRead if you feel generous, and of course, you do need FO. It's true that at the end of the day, Wings are a forward, and should not neglect that aspect of the game, but for the same of trying to push the boundaries and get a better understanding of the system, I've collected several data from a handful of players (Estimating 30 players with remarkable performance, across diverse teams/rosters from seasons 72-78). However, I don't aim to get into the statistical aspects of the matter, but to give insights and hopefully help in guiding people who would like to build and better interact with the system.
There's quite a few stats that get involved in the likeness of achieving a Hit, I'll explain my thesis of effective Hits and TA's, but first things first. As far as I've observed, it is far more important to have a bare minimum in most relevant stats in order to achieve a certain level of pressure and reliability with Hits. Such minimums will go between the first set of parentheses "()", and the maximum level of cost-efficiency for someone who's actively interested into it in a set of brackets "[ ]", though again, these are not hard-and-fast rules, and maybe you or your team have a specific plan or concept in mind, at the end of the day, remember to have fun and enjoy your player. Now, let's get into it.
•Balance: (13)[14] - This one caught me off-guard, as Strength is the main stat associated with contesting and clearing a path, I'd have imagined it'd have been far more important, and yet, my research seems to indicate otherwise. First of all, among the studied highly proficient hitters (Either Huge Hit count or High Hit AND TA count) I've not seen ONE soul bump their Balance to 15, but neither I've seen ONE successful Hitter/Checker without at least 13 Balance, in fact, I've seen people achieve pretty solid results with as low as 10 Strength (Not that I recommend it for performance overall, but explicitly for the sake of Hits, it seems Balance is a more important factor).
•Speed: (11 for draftees, 13 otherwise)[13~15] - You need to reach the player you wish to check. High speed means you can reposition yourself and get to the target player to even try an interception or check. Moreover, my thesis is that you can keep Positioning at a measly 9 if your speed is on the 14-15 territory (min. 13 Acc too, but always prioritize Speed). Both your and rival team's tempo should be kept in mind, as high-tempo favours speed in lieu of cautious precision and stamina.
•DRead: (12)[13~14] - You need to be able to read the ice if you wanna do your thing. Most Physical stats may be more useful for your general role as a Wing, but neglecting it would be harmful. Now here's something peculiar. Past 13, there's VERY little return in Hitting likelihood and effectiveness if you have strong physical stats, but again, you don't win the game or defend the puck JUST by hitting. So if you look into helping the defence further, don't be afraid to invest further.
•Checking: (11)[13] - While 14 is valid if you really wish to spec into a defensive role, I'd rather not sacrifice the many other needed stats with the tight TPE cap we work with. Checking 11 seems like the bare minimum, but 13 is by and far the most common on anyone that has decent or even amazing performance. You see people hitting 200 and even 250 Hits on the occasion with 13 in Checking. So that's as good as you get it for now.
•Stickchecking: (11)[13] - Checking encompasses all means through which one may intercept or interfere with a rival player in the possession of the puck, but Stickchecking seems to be a huge factor for effectiveness to boost your checking. In fact, every high hit-count player has a minimum hit 11 in SC, but the HUGE majority of the effective high TA-count players shared this as one of the very few distinctions. So I'm led to believe that Checking 11 and SC at 9~11 are enough to at least allow you to help, but the jump from that to 13 on both is, based on data, several orders of magnitude above. The least effective results are in fact, anywhere in between, for the most part. I'm led to belive this is bc Puckhandling is such a powerful stat that most people keep it pretty high, so at 13 you reach a breakpoint in which you can actually CONTEST the puck against people with as high as 15 in Puckhandling, which isn't the case for lower SC values.
Honorable Mentions:
•Stamina (14 for draftees, 15 otherwise): If you're tired, you're worse at the ice. Don't pinch-pennies, pay taxes, hit the gym.
•Hitting (9)[11]: Hardly ever found in any other value. 9 is the bare minimum for Hits to be impactful and a liiiiiittle bit more reliable (though rare exceptions can be found), 11 is just a trait for a 425 tp player.
•Bravery: (9)[11-13]: This will be one of the hot takes on my end, but as I'm looking into data, I'm coming to correlate Bravery with a certain kind of proactivity that I can't quite put into words. Maybe it'll give you a marginal increase in PIM, but I'm fairly sure it's worth it for the options it opens up for you. If you are very physically oriented, somewhere in the 11~13 territory will make it so you are far more eager to utilize your physical superiority to achieve checks and Hits. Try to keep a 9 otherwise. This is a stat that is difficult to rank but is certainly worth considering and at least not entirely neglecting.
•Physical Stats (All): [13] - Super effective for the juniors, remarkably cost-efficient, necessary to get them to a bare minimum to compete. Acceleration is more necessary as you focus more on speed, Agility on slow-tempo and methodical schemes, and Strength is rather versatile too. Not explicitly tied to Hitting, but in one way or another, they reflect your capabilities to do pretty much anything on the field.
RE: The not-so-subtle art of Hitting and how to make them count - HabsFanFromOntario - 08-15-2024
Great read, love the data fluber!