Here's another way to look at power play opportunities, especially for
people who like to keep track of those things.
 
First, when a PPG is scored, it gets "charged" against a player who took
a penalty.  This isn't a stat that anybody keeps (that I know of), but
on things like the period shot charts, there are little boxes that can
be checked off if a goal is scored on that opportunity.
 
So, you can consider a single PP opportunity to exist for as long a
period of time as it would have been possible to charge a PPG against
a player. (excluding majors)  Put another and more correct way, you
need to determine who the player was who caused the shorthanded
situation.  He/she is the player against whom the PPG would be charged.
When another player (on either team) becomes the player who caused the
SH situation, then that is when a new opportunity begins.
 
EXAMPLE 1: Minors are assessed to A1 at 10:00 and A2 at 10:30.  TeamB
does not score at all during the entire special teams situation.  We
already know there were two opportunities.  When did they occur?
 
ANS 1: Opp#1 took place from 10:00 to 12:00 (including 5x3 play from
10:30 to 12:00), while Opp#2 took place from 12:00 to 12:30.  Note
that one opportunity can cover one or more situations (5x3, 4x3).
 
EXAMPLE 2.1: Minors are assessed in the following order: A1 at 10:00, A2
at 11:00, B1 at 11:30.  No goals are scored.  a) How many PPs were
there?  b) When did they occur?
 
ANS 2.1: a) *1* for each team.  b) TeamB's only opportunity took place from
10:00 to 12:00 (and covered a 5x4, 5x3, and 5x4 in that order).  TeamA's
only opportunity took place from 13:00 to 13:30 (and covered a 5x4).  The
situation was 4x4 from 12:00 to 13:00.
 
EXAMPLE 2.2: In the previous situation, everything is the same except
that TeamB scores at 11:15.  a) How many PPs were there? b) When did
they occur?
 
ANS 2.2: a) *2* for TeamB, *1* for TeamA.  b) TeamB had one
opportunity from 10:00 until their goal at 11:15, which came on a 5x3
and caused A1's penalty to expire.  Then, TeamB's 2nd opportunity
(5x4) started and ran from 11:15 until 11:30, when B1 took a penalty.
TeamA's only opportunity ran from 13:00 (when A2's penalty expired)
until 13:30.
 
(The previous two examples illustrate that it is not correct to just
evaluate how many opportunities there would have been if a team had
scored on each one.  This was what I had said yesterday.  Rather, you
need to consider, during any given time, who was the player whose
penalty caused the shorthanded situation?  When it *changes* from one
player to another, then that is when one PP opp ends and another
begins.)
 
EXAMPLE 2.3: In a similar situation, let's change the time of the
penalties.  Minor penalties are assessed as follows: A1 at 10:00, A2
at 11:00, and B1 at 12:30.  No goals are scored.  How many opportunities
does TeamB have?
 
ANS 2.3: TeamB had 2 opportunities.  The first lasted from 10:00 to
12:00, when A1's penalty expired.  The second lasted from 12:00 to
12:30, when B1 was assessed a penalty.
 
DISCLAIMER: I have no rule book here at work, and this is all from
memory.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93
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