KOSICE – In the first 20 games of this year’s World Championship referees have already called six penalty shots, a pace that will likely break the record of eight set in 2002 and 2008. An even stranger quirk finds that Canada has been involved in one penalty shot in all of its three games to date.

One thing is certain, though. Penalty shots are not leading to wins or losses. Only one player of the six has scored, Canada’s Jeff Skinner beating Fabrice Lhenry in the final period of a 9-1 win over France. Since 2000, there have been 26 penalty shots in World Championship play, and nearly half (12) have been successful.

Of course, the vast majority of penalty shots are the result of a player being fouled while having a clear break in on goal. And the IIHF rule states that even if a player gets a shot on goal, he can still be awarded a freebie if the referee feels he was fouled or his chances of scoring impeded in any way.

It’s a valuable lesson for young players who see that if you drive hard to the net, a defender caught out of position will have a tough time making a legal play. If a player has speed, it’s always smarter to use it, go as hard to the net as possible and either create a scoring chance or draw a penalty (or penalty shot).

Chris Stewart of Canada missed his shot against Belarus in the third period while his team was winning, 4-1, so it wasn’t a costly miss. Patrick Reimer of Germany had his chance on Slovakia’s Jaroslav Halak in the first period and missed. Germany won the game, 4-3, but that opening period was goalless and if Reimer had scored it might have made the game a little easier. But no matter, his team won.

Patrik Elias of the Czech Republic had a penalty shot against Denmark’s Patrick Galbraith late in the second period while his team was enjoying a 5-0 lead. The miss didn’t affect the game one way or the other.

Not so with Matthias Bieber of Switzerland. He was awarded a penalty shot after blowing by Canada’s Dion Phaneuf, who was forced to hook him in desperation. Canada was leading 2-1 at the time, so a goal would have been huge. Bieber missed, but as it turned out the Swiss tied the game four minutes later anyway (before losing in OT).

Then, last night, Andrei Stas split the French defencemen and was hooked by Kévin Hecquefeuille from behind while in the clear. The score was 1-0 France at the time in a game of huge importance, the winner moving to the Qualification game and the loser to the Relegation Round. Goalie Cristobal Huet made the save, and, ironically, Hecquefeuille wound up scoring the winning goal in overtime.

So these penalty shots tell a bit of a story. Four of the six were called in the third period. Four were called at important times – all misses. Four were awarded to the team that won the game. The only successful goal was from Skinner during a rout, when there was no pressure.

Add to this the fact that three games have gone to a shootout, and produced 27 more penalty shots. Only seven shots of that number were successful, suggesting further that when the pressure is on, the goalie has a clear and huge advantage. And, while speed might produce penalty shots, penalty shots definitely don’t guarantee a goal.

ANDREW PODNIEKS