There is perhaps no skill in hockey that is more misunderstood than shot-blocking.It is often times seen as a key foundation to great defensive play, while players and teams that rack up large numbers of them are praised for their commitment to defense, toughne s, and willigne s to sacrifice for the good of the team. That is all party true. It at times a nece sary part of defensive zone play. But the teams that win the most games often find themselves blocking the fewest shots overall, an observation that often times gets misrepresented as "shot blocking doesn't matter." And that is not at all true.What matters is consistently putting yourself in a position where you don't have to block shots. If your team is constantly having to defend its own zone and consistently step in front of shots then it is probably doing a lot of other things wrong that are eventually going to hurt you, and that leads us to one of hockey's great mythical beasts, and a role that is continuing to have le s and le s importance in the .The shot-blocking, crease-clearing defenseman.Watch any game where a team gives up a couple of goals close to their net, and listen to the analysis that follows it, and you might hear about how they Ian Cole Kids Jersey really need to get some toughne s in there and a guy that can clear the crease, block some shots, and make sure the goalie has clear lanes to see the puck. In theory, it all sounds great. But the reality is the crease-clearing defenseman is not only rare, it's almost non-existent. It's not that Conor Timmins Men Jersey teams shouldn't be trying to find players that can do those things, it's when teams willingly make sacrifices in other areas of greater importance in an effort to get somebody simply for the sake of having size and strength around the net that can't really do anything else. Those players often times end up hurting their goalies more than they help them.Look at it like this: What is the number one thing that is drilled into player's heads when it comes to scoring goals? Go to the net. Bodies in front of the net. Make it difficult for the goalie to see things.Well, if you put a couple of defensemen out there whose only real skill is to collapse around the net to try and move people out or stand in front of shots, that is just one (or two) more bodies that your goalie has to try to see through. I think a lot of times goalies would prefer that unle s the defensemen on the ice is going to definitely prevent the shot from getting through that they just get out of the way and allow them to do their jobs instead of creating even more traffic in front Peter Forsberg Women Jersey of the net. Earlier this season Fluto Shinzawa of the wrote an article about shot-blocking from goalie on what he wants to see from his defensemen.From the Globe:Just stay in the lane and try not to play goalie, Rask said of what he wants from the men in front of him. A lot of times when you try to stop it like a goalie, you open up holes and screen the goalie even more. Our guys do a pretty good job of focusing on the puck, staying in the lane, and not trying to do too much.And later ...The Ds should take their man instead of focusing on blocking the shot if theyre in position of taking their man, Rask said. Thats how we got burned earlier in the year. Guys were focusing on the puck and trying to block it. They forgot about the other guy. Theres a shot, rebound, and an empty net.How many times have you seen a puck hit off of a defender trying to block the shot with his skate or stick -- or a defender that is trying to "clear the crease" -- and end up in the back of the net because the goalie had no chance to react? Or, if it doesn't go directly in the net off of him, bounce to an other attacking forward that has an open look because the goalie reacted and committed to the initial shot and wasn't able to recover from the block?It happens a lot, and even if the puck isn't bouncing in off of them, they're still not always effective when it comes to clearing bodies out of the way. Sometimes it might be better off, if you're not sure you're going to block the shot, to allow it to get through and focusing on tying up the forwards stick to prevent him from getting a rebound opportunity. Again, this isn't it to say that blocking a shot has no value or should be avoided.Honestly, I think the most effective blocked shots are the ones that come from , not defensemen, because of where they tend to happen on the ice. If a forward is blocking a shot it's usually happening out above the face-off dots and closer to the blue line which increases the odds of the puck either exiting the zone Conor Timmins Women Jersey and making the attacking team regroup, or turning into a transitional rush for the team that was defending. When they come from defensemen it a lot of times results in continued po se sion for the attacking team and more shot attempts.Overall, though, this is just part of the NHL's ongoing evolution that happens from generation to generation. As the style of play changes certain roles become more or le s important, and we see it happening all the time in the current game. We've already talked about how rare it is to find a true "power forward" that can play physically and score goals. We know enforcers almost entirely extinct in the game. The shot-blocking, crease-clearing defensemen is another one that seems to be taking on le s importance. The best defense in the NHL today isn't played in front of the net. It's played in the neutral zone by breaking up zone entries or forcing dump-ins, and then using speed and instincts to win the races for those dump-ins and making plays to turn it around and get it out of Andre Burakovsky Men Jersey the zone so you don't have to defend in front of your net.That's why the best and most valuable defensemen in the NHL today, and the ones that play the most minutes (and the most important minutes) are guys like , , , , , , and . Guys that can skate and make plays with the puck.Your team doesn't nece sarily need more defensemen that can play in front of the net. It needs more defensemen that can minimize the amount of time your team to play in front of the net.