Everyone is number one (even CH)

You know the drill: every radio station is number one. This one, among the English speakers of Saguenay who fish for landlocked salmon on Thursdays. This one, among the teenage girls of Sainte-Apolline-de-Patton on the evenings of the Northern Lights.

What if sports clubs employed the same marketing strategy? Can we find, for each team, a category in which it leads the National Hockey League this season? Let’s try, from best to worst team overall.

1. Winnipeg Jets : Fafa baby. At 44%, their power play is the best in history so far.

2. Florida Panthers : Four shorthanded goals is already more than the Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals, New Jersey Devils, Winnipeg Jets, San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild last year.

3. Wild you Minnesota : Most goals by a goalkeeper (1, Filip Gustavsson)

4. Rangers de New York : This is the best shorthanded team (92%). Defenseman K’Andre Miller didn’t allow a goal in nearly half an hour short a man.

5. Golden Knights de Vegas : Their forwards have scored more goals (48) than anyone else, tied with those of the Jets.

6. Carolina Hurricanes : Their defense has the wind in its sails, with only 23 goals allowed.

7. Capitals de Washington : More saves by goalkeepers who catch with the right hand.

8. Devils du New Jersey : Hmmm… You know that it won’t be easy anymore when, from eighth place, you end up congratulating the team which scored the most goals in the second period.

9. Los Angeles Kings : This is the highest team in the standings without a 15-point scorer.

10. Dallas Stars : The stars align in the shootout — 3 goals in 3 attempts.

11. Lightning de Tampa Bay : Most points scored by second-round picks (30).

12. Toronto Maple Leafs : First in the sub-sub-sub-segment in the percentage of faceoffs won in offensive territory during games abroad (62%), just ahead of… the Canadian.

13. Canucks de Vancouver : The team with the most hits per 60 minutes of play. Thanks to Kiefer Sherwood who, alone, made more tackles than Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble and Juraj Slafkovsky combined.

14. Oilers d’Edmonton : Difficult start to the season for the Stanley Cup finalists. Let’s see the glass half full: they have fewer denied punts than any other club in the NHL. The equivalent of the merit awarded to the student who gets dressed the fastest after their gym class.

15. Flames de Calgary : The Canadiens’ visitors to the Bell Center on Tuesday evening are those whose Quebec players are the most productive (15 points).

16. Utah Hockey Club : It is the best team in the faceoff circle. It also relies on the two best centers in the NHL in this phase of play, Kevin Stenlund (65%) and Barrett Hayton (63%).

17. Bruins de Boston : From here, it’s as difficult to find positives as for a radio station with market shares less than 1%. Best thing I have for the Bruins? Most goals by players born in the Czech Republic (7). I know, it’s thin.

18. Ottawa Senators : They benefit from the best offensive production of players from the 2020 draft, with 27 points.

19. Blues de St. Louis : This is the team that has won the most games by just one goal (4).

20. Blue Jackets de Columbus : Their undrafted players scored 18 points. This is the highest total, tied with those of the Rangers. Or, more precisely, with Artemi Panarin.

21. Red Wings de Detroit : It is the team which has the most victories (5) when the opponent shoots more often than it. (Read aloud three times to fully understand.)

22. Blackhawks de Chicago : Surprise, this is the team that lost the puck the least often per 60 minutes of play. And no, this is not the result of the generosity of the local statistician. The ratios at home and abroad are almost identical.

23. Pittsburgh Penguins : No club wins proportionally more faceoffs on the power play.

24. Cracking the Seattle : the Kraken won three games while losing after the first period, an NHL high.

25. Ducks d’Anaheim : Is your brain ready? The Ducks are the ones who gave up the fewest goals in the first AND second period. So how can there be 25^es ? Because in hockey, there are three periods.

26. Avalanche du Colorado : This is the team which, according to the compilation of the Natural Stat Trick site, generated the most chances to score at home.

27. Islanders de New York : Patrick Roy’s team is disciplined. It has the best penalty differential in the league (+16 penalties).

28. Predators de Nashville : This is the club that attempted the most slap shots — by far. It must be said that this is the shot most often used by Roman Josi and Steven Stamkos.

29. Buffalo Sabers : Eight times the Sabers scored the first goal of the game. Their problem is that they give away a lot afterwards.

30. Montreal Canadiens : I found not one, not two, but three categories in which the Habs lead the NHL. For blocked shots (247), for points produced by players drafted since 2022 (15) and for points scored by rookie defenders (10). Big contribution from Lane Hutson for the last two segments.

31. Philadelphia Flyers : More goals scored by rookie attackers (4, all the work of Matvei Michkov).

32. Sharks de San Jose : Yes, the Sharks lead the league in one category. That of the goals scored by Swedish attackers aged 30 and under, with 10.

So, dear readers, even in the darkest moments of a season, there is always a little light.

All statistics were compiled before Monday night’s games.