What is Penalties Taken?

The number of times a player commits a rule violation and sends the opposing team to the power play.

What this tells us

When a player takes a penalty, his team plays at a disadvantage for the next two minutes (or more). A player who racks up penalties is hurting his team's chance to win that shift — and the next one, since the opponent gets a free chance to score. Players who avoid penalties stay on the ice more and don't gift the other team free looks at the net.

Limitations

Penalties taken doesn't capture *why* a player took the penalty — a clutch hook to stop a breakaway is strategically smarter than a cross-check in the neutral zone, but both count the same. It also doesn't account for referee bias or how aggressively officials are calling the game on a given night. Some players play a more physical style and will naturally rack up more minor penalties.

Example

A shutdown defenseman typically takes 0.5 to 1 penalty per 60 minutes of ice time. A forward who plays an aggressive but clean game might be closer to 0.4 per 60. A player averaging 2+ penalties per 60 is spending a lot of time in the box.