Rick Kehoe didn't need to crunch numbers to determine why the Penguins fell from No. 2 in NHL scoring last season to No. 23, from 281 goals to 198. Trade Jaromir Jagr for prospects, then lose Mario Lemieux, Martin Straka, Robert Lang and Alexei Kovalev for long stretches, and the zeroes are certain to stack up on the scoresheets.
Still, the Penguins' massive misfortune comprises only a fraction of the reason the NHL produced its lowest-scoring season since 1955, with games averaging a paltry 5.24 goals.
"You saw it everywhere," Kehoe said in his Southpointe office earlier this week. "It seemed nobody was scoring."
The statistical evidence was overwhelming. Five nuggets:
The Canucks' 254 goals led the league, but they produced 41 fewer than the No. 1 Devils last season. No league-leading team scored less in a non-lockout year since the Black Hawks' 240 in 1965-66.
The Flames' Jarome Iginla won the scoring title with 96 points, only the second time no one reached 100 in a non-lockout year since 1969. Iginla's average of 1.17 points per game was the lowest for a scoring champion since the Black Hawks' Bobby Hull had 1.16 in 1959-60.
Power-play goals dipped from 1,877 last season to 1,601, with conversion rates sliding from 16.6 percent to 15.8. The Kings and Red Wings tied for the league lead with 73 power-play goals, a pittance next to the Penguins' record of 119 in 1988-89, set in two fewer games.
Last season, the NHL had 14 individual scoring streaks of 10 games or more. This season, there were only six. Iginla and the Canucks' Todd Bertuzzi had the longest, each reaching 15. Wayne Gretzky went 51 games in a row with a point in 1983-84, and Lemieux hit 46 six years later.
Goaltenders recorded 179 shutouts this season, one every seven games. By comparison, there were 57 hat tricks, one every 22 games.
Kehoe has heard countless explanations for this seemingly endless decline in the game's fundamental act -- to shoot the puck into the net -- and he has heard just as many proposals to solve it.
The one he likes best might be the simplest to implement.
"I really like the idea of making the nets bigger," he said. "Not too much bigger. Just by the width of the post, so little that nobody would even notice it at the arena. That way, you don't ask the goalies to wear smaller equipment and jeopardize their safety, and you don't have to do anything drastic to change the game."
To reinforce his point, Kehoe reached into a folder on his desk, grinning as he pulled out a black-and-white photograph of assistant coach Ed Johnston from his days as the Bruins' goalkeeper.
"Look at those pads," he said, pointing to legwear smaller than that worn today by shot-blocking defensemen. "The upper body, too. It's so small. And look at E.J.'s face. There's no mask. It's no secret that the goalies got bigger and better. Well, that's fine. But the nets should get bigger, too. A shot that now hits the post would instead be a goal. That would make a big difference, I think."
Icy chips
In an address to the Economic Club of Detroit this week, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stated the league has no plans to expand or contract in the near future. He also spoke of the need to level the competitive field for teams that produce low revenues and of the importance of using high-definition television to help the sport translate better to viewers. He did not mention the diminishing scoring. When he took over as commissioner in 1993, the NHL averaged 7.2 goals per game.
The 2001-02 season summary in the NHL's weekly news release to media also avoided the topic, instead focusing on Bettman's oft-repeated emphasis on close scores. The gist of it: Of 1,230 games, 72 percent were decided by two goals or less. And, of nearly 75,000 minutes played, the score was tied or one goal apart 74.3 percent of the time. The league's season summary a year ago crowed of the increase in goals per game from 5.5 to 5.52.
Despite the decline in entertainment value, the NHL set attendance records with 20,614,613 overall fans and an average crowd of 16,760. The previous highs were set last season. Eleven teams -- the Avalanche, Blue Jackets, Stars, Red Wings, Wild, Oilers, Rangers, Flyers, Blues, Sharks and Maple Leafs -- reported crowds of 99 percent or more of capacity for the full year. The greatest increase was the Islanders' 28 percent.
Konstantin Koltsov, the Penguins' first choice in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, had a four-goal game Wednesday for Belarus in a preliminary game for the Worlds. But before anyone begins thinking Calder Trophy for next season, bear in mind he did so in a 15-4 rout of the Netherlands. He had seven goals, one assist in five games as Belarus reached the main tournament yesterday by beating France in the final.
Herb Brooks is leaning toward accepting the Rangers' coaching position if it is offered, but he might have a tough time convincing the interviewer. The latest to declare himself a candidate is Glen Sather, who is entertaining the idea of being coach and general manager.
Ivan Hlinka is in line to become coach of the Russian Super League team in the Siberian city of Omsk, but his pending court dispute with the Penguins is preventing him from signing a deal. He claims the Penguins owe him $800,000, but the team will contest that his refusal to learn English last summer constituted a breach of contract. Pavel Barta, European correspondent for Faceoff.com, wrote that Hlinka "preferred Omsk's expressions of respect toward himself to Pittsburgh's view he's a stupid moron and a village idiot."
Would anyone who picked the Canucks in the first round have been labeled a stupid moron?
Dejan Kovacevic can be reached at dkovacevic@ post-gazette.com.
NHL Notebook: Kehoe's solution for NHL scoring drought would be net gain 
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