Right-Handed Compliment

There are plenty of mysteries in hockey. For instance, are pucks filled with caramel or chocolate cream? Does rooting for the Red Wings cause impotence? Why did Gary Bettman get fired from "Sesame Street"?

Well, in order, chocolate cream, yes, and he shanked Snuffleupagus in the shower.

But not every question has an easy answer. One query continues to haunt most hockey observers. Why are there so few right-handed shooting defensemen?

Of the 245 defensemen in the NHL, only 72 shoot right-handed, comprising a meager 29.4% of all blueliners. Considering about 87% of the general population is right-handed, it seems like a rather paltry percentage. Before we further break down the raw numbers, let's take a look at what it means to shoot right-handed, the importance of having a right-handed defenseman, and some possible explanations for the dearth of right-handed shots. Wow, it's like I'm back in junior high. Maybe afterwards we'll all watch a brief film strip about our changing bodies.

RIGHT OR WRONG
In hockey terms, you're right-handed if your right hand is lower on the stick. But this is where things get sketchy. Just because someone is right-hand dominant doesn't necessarily mean they'll want their right hand lower on the stick.

I'm right-handed, and I shoot right-handed. But I was born and raised in the United States and didn't start playing hockey until I was about 14. In my case, the first time I reached for a hockey stick, I naturally picked it up like a baseball bat, with my left hand at the butt-end. It was impossible to imagine holding it any other way.

In Canada, most children play hockey before anything else, making a naturally right-handed child's transition to shooting left much easier. If a three- or four-year-old kid is right-handed, he'll probably reach for the end of the stick with his strong hand, since that would be the easiet way to control it, making him a left-handed shot for life.

How a child first picks up a hockey stick really is the deciding factor. The younger they are when they start playing, the more likely they'll use their dominant hand at the end of the stick. The later in life a right-handed person learns to play hockey, the more likely they'll shoot right-handed.

In the United States, a lot of kids start out playing baseball or football. If you're already right-handed, pitching, batting, and passing will only strengthen your reliance on your right hand, meaning you'll find it natural to place your right hand lower on the hockey stick.

It's also important to note my first hockey experiences were playing pick-up games with my friends. There were no coaches or adults around to influence my decision to shoot right-handed. When most kids are first exposed to the game, they're little fellas and blindly do whatever their coaches or parents tell them. And since a lot of those coaches and parents probably shoot left, the kids will shoot left, perpetuating the left-handed cycle.

Typically, if you have your dominant hand lower on the stick, you'll be able to shoot and pass harder. Of course, when right-handed kids learn to shoot left at an early age, the years of practice and development make the difference negligible by the time they're competing at a high level.

When it comes to defensemen, the old-school thinking was they'd need their stronger hand at the end of the stick to poke-check and control onrushing forwards. Offensive skills were always an afterthought. That thinking has altered over the years, but change takes time.

Looking at this year's rookie crop, 17 of the 69 (24.6%) defensemen shoot right-handed. That's actually 4.8% below the current league average. Then again, of the 17 rookie defenders from the United States, six (35.3%) shoot right-handed, so that's progress.

But if you look at the overall data, there appears little to support my theory American defensemen are more prone to shoot righty since they grow up playing baseball and football. There are 52 American-born defensemen in the NHL, and only 16 shoot right-handed (31.0%). Of the 121 Canadian blueliners, an impressive 44 (36.4%) shoot right-handed. Seventy-two NHL defensemen were born outside North America, with only 12 shooting right-handed. And one of those is Richie Regehr, who was born in Indonesia before moving to Saskatchewan. His older brother Robyn was born in Brazil, but he shoots left-handed, so who cares? But feel free to use that obscure Regehr family trivia to win a few bar bets.

Despite stats to the contrary, I still think nationality plays an important role in all this. Let's face it, if you're in the NHL, chances are you started playing hockey at an early age. And even if you're in the United States, there's a pretty good chance your youth hockey coaches are Canadian or were brought up under Canadian coaching themselves, increasing the likelihood of left-handed instruction. But if you look at NHL skaters as a whole, regardless of position, there could be something to the nationality argument.

When I went through the rosters a few weeks ago, I found 680 skaters, 373 of which were Canadian, 179 were born outside North America, and 128 were American. Right-handers made up 34.9% (130) of the Canadian total, 29.1% (52) of the World total, and a whopping 43.0% (55) of the American total.

So this begs the question, if more US-born players shoot right-handed, presumably because they grow up playing baseball and football, how come the same percentage doesn't carry over into American defensemen?

Well, generally, if a youngster is right-handed and shoots right, chances are he'll be able to shoot harder at an earlier age, meaning he'll likely get placed at forward. Usually the skilled kids always want to score goals, while the lads who aren't so good with the puck get stuck playing defense, eliminating the vast majority of potential candidates. If the number of right-handed defensemen is ever going to grow, it will have to start at the grassroots level, with youth coaches placing their skilled kids along the blue line.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING RIGHT
The big benefit in having right-handed defensemen is they can play the right side and go hard to the boards on their forehand, making clearing attempts and outlet passing a snap. If a left-hander has to play the right side, when he goes into the boards or into the corner, he has to play the puck up the wall on his backhand, which is tricky for a lot of guys, or ring it hard around the boards on the forehand, which is equally problematic.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were the only two NHL teams without a single right-handed shooting defenseman. They were also two of the worst teams in the league at getting the puck out of their zone.

Dallas had six right-handed defensemen on its roster, with righties Sergei Zubov, Philippe Boucher, and Stephane Robidas all among its top six blueliners. Not coincidentally, the Stars allowed a mere 197 goals, the second-lowest number in the league. And a lot of that is because they didn't waste time getting the puck up ice.

The Nashville Predators were one of the best transition teams in hockey. Their blue line boasts Shea Weber and Marek Zidlicky, two of the game's elite right-handed shooting defensemen.

But right-handers also pay dividends in the offensive zone, particularly on the power play. A right-handed shot at the left point paired with a lefty at the right point will open up any man-advantage, creating the threat of one-timers galore.

When I think of great point combinations over the past 20 years, the first one that comes to mind is Al MacInnis and Gary Suter in Calgary. MacInnis was right-handed, Suter left. An underrated combo, but one of my personal favorites, was Winnipeg's Fredrik Olausson and Phil Housley, with Freddy O being the right shot. And who can forget Al Iafrate and Kevin Hatcher in Washington? Planet Iafrate was the man, but Hatcher's right shot often set the table.

The next premier point combination could be in Pittsburgh where the right-handed shooting Kris Letang is set to join fellow stud blueliner Ryan Whitney on the Penguin power play in 2007-08, providing even more options for Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Jordan Staal. Wait, I'm sorry, Michel Therrien will still be coaching the Pens, so I guess Letang will help open things up for Crosby, Malkin, and Michel Ouellet.

BY THE NUMBERS
All the following stats were researched on April 21, 2007. Obviously, it's a fluid situation, with new players continually being called up and whatnot, but any changes would be superficial at best.

And while it may not be pertinent to the discussion, in case you're wondering, goaltenders are deemed right-handed if they catch with their right hand. Only six of the 72 NHL netminders catch right-handed. They are Jose Theodore, Mathieu Garon, Josh Harding, Tomas Vokoun, Rick DiPietro, and Jean-Sabastien Giguere.

NHL RIGHT-HANDED SHOTS 


NHL SKATERS
Right-handed  237  (34.9%) 
Left-handed   443  (65.1%) 
Total         680 

FORWARDS
Right-handed  165  (37.9%)
Left-handed   270  (62.1%)
Total         435

DEFENSEMEN
Right-handed   72  (29.4%)
Left-handed   173  (70.6%)
Total         245

GOALTENDERS
Right-handed    6   (8.3%) 
Left-handed    66  (91.7%)
Total          72  


RIGHT-HANDED SHOTS BY TEAM

Team          F    D    T
Boston        9    3   12
Carolina      7    4   11
Dallas        5    6   11
Los Angeles   6    5   11
Phoenix       7    4   11
Washington    7    4   11
NY Islanders  7    3   10
Ottawa        8    2   10
Buffalo       8    1    9
Chicago       6    3    9
NY Rangers    6    3    9
Toronto       6    3    9
Vancouver     5    4    9
Anaheim       6    2    8
Calgary       6    2    8
Colorado      6    2    8
Edmonton      4    4    8
Nashville     6    2    8
Minnesota     5    2    7
St. Louis     6    1    7
Florida       4    2    6
New Jersey    5    1    6
San Jose      5    1    6
Atlanta       4    1    5
Columbus      3    2    5
Montreal      3    2    5
Pittsburgh    5    0    5
Tampa Bay     3    2    5
Detroit       3    1    4
Philadelphia  4    0    4

Totals      165   72  237 


MOST RIGHT-HANDED DEFENSEMEN

Team          D
Dallas        6 
Los Angeles   5
Carolina      4
Phoenix       4
Washington    4
Vancouver     4 
Edmonton      4 


FEWEST RIGHT-HANDED DEFENSEMEN

Team          D
Philadelphia  0
Pittsburgh    0
Atlanta       1
Buffalo       1 
Detroit       1
New Jersey    1
San Jose      1
St. Louis     1 


RIGHT-HANDED SHOTS BY COUNTRY

              F    D    T
Canada       86   44  130  (54.9%)
USA          39   16   55  (23.2%)
World        40   12   52  (21.9%)

Totals      165   72  237


PERCENTAGE OF NATIONALITY RIGHT-HANDED

              T   RH     RH%
Canada      373  130   34.9%
USA         128   55   43.0%
World       179   52   29.1%


PERCENTAGE OF RIGHT-HANDED DEFENSEMEN BY COUNTRY

             TD  RHD    RH%  
Canada      121   44  36.4%
USA          52   16  31.0%
World        72   12  16.6%


RIGHT-HANDED DEFENSEMEN

Joe DiPenta, Anaheim
Ric Jackman, Anaheim
Shane Hnidy, Atlanta
Aaron Ward, Boston
Dennis Wideman, Boston

Jason York, Boston
Teppo Numminen, Buffalo
Richie Regehr, Calgary
Rhett Warrener, Calgary
Anton Babchuk, Carolina

Mike Commodore, Carolina
Andrew Hutchinson, Carolina
David Tanabe, Carolina
Adrian Aucoin, Chicago
Brent Seabrook, Chicago

James Wisniewski, Chicago
Patrice Brisebois, Colorado
Ken Klee, Colorado
Adam Foote, Columbus
Duvie Westcott, Columbus

Nolan Baumgartner, Dallas
Philippe Boucher, Dallas
Lars Helminen, Dallas
Jon Klemm, Dallas
Stephane Robidas, Dallas

Sergei Zubov, Dallas
Chris Chelios, Detroit
Matt Greene, Edmonton
Mathieu Roy, Edmonton
Jason Smith, Edmonton

Steve Staios, Edmonton
Steve Montador, Florida
Mike Van Ryn, Florida
Rob Blake, Los Angeles
Kevin Dallman, Los Angeles

Jamie Heward, Los Angeles
Aaron Miller, Los Angeles
Mike Weaver, Los Angeles
Brent Burns, Minnesota
Kurtis Foster, Minnesota

Mathieu Dandenault, Montreal
Mike Komisarek, Montreal
Shea Weber, Nashville
Marek Zidlicky, Nashville
Brian Rafalski, New Jersey

Bruno Gervais, NY Islanders
Sean Hill, NY Islanders
Radek Martinek, NY Islanders
Dan Girardi, NY Rangers
Karel Rachunek, NY Rangers

Michal Rozsival, NY Rangers
Joe Corvo, Ottawa
Tom Preissing, Ottawa
Nick Boynton, Phoenix
Zbynek Michalek, Phoenix

Derek Morris, Phoenix
Travis Roche, Phoenix
Craig Rivet, San Jose
Matt Walker, St. Louis
Dan Boyle, Tampa Bay

Cory Sarich, Tampa Bay
Wade Belak, Toronto
Pavel Kubina, Toronto
Ian White, Toronto
Kevin Bieksa, Vancouver

Rory Fitzpatrick, Vancouver
Sami Salo, Vancouver
Brent Sopel, Vancouver
Ben Clymer, Washington
Steve Eminger, Washington

Milan Jurcina, Washington
Brian Pothier, Washington

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