If you have been watching a lot of intermission and post-game bits during MSG Networks telecasts, or have simply watched this video, you have seen Steve Valiquette discuss how blocking shots can be detrimental. The argument essentially boils down to this; shots from the point go in only 97-percent of the time, and that's assuming the puck isn't shot wide. They are routine saves for the goalie. By getting in the way a defending player is risking a screen of his own goaltender or the creation of a bad bounce. Furthermore, a player leaving his skates to block a shot immediately takes him out of the play.
How Kevin Hayes Created Rick Nash's Game-Tying Goal
