I couldn't tell you why I had this on the brain, but after reading this Toronto Star piece on how moving faceoffs after a penalty call has resulted in more power-play goals, I wanted to take a look at just how many faceoffs there were per game.

Measuring the number of faceoffs in a game is really a look at the number of stoppages, something the league has sought to limit by getting rid of the two-line pass rule and reinstating the tag-up offside rule.

Post-lockout, it's been working:

Faceoffs per game

Now, obviously every hockey game on earth will have at least three faceoffs (one to start each period) and then there's also another after every goal is scored (and the NHL has averaged about 5.5 goals a game in recent seasons).

The other faceoffs come from all sorts of other calls, namely penalties, goaltenders holding the puck, offsides, icing and for pucks out of play.

Here's a look at the number of stoppages per game for all 30 teams so far this season, from most to least, and the average time, in seconds, between faceoffs:

In general, games with fewer stoppages are considered to be more "free flowing," but it's tough looking at the teams here and coming to that conclusion. The numbers are obviously influenced by teams' opponents and the type of game they play as well.

The Rangers lead the way in fewest stoppages mainly because they don't take many penalties, don't score all that much and are solid defensively.