  Pace of play is an important characteristic in hockey as well as other team
sports. We provide the first comprehensive study of pace within the sport of
hockey, focusing on how teams and players impact pace in different regions of
the ice, and the resultant effect on other aspects of the game.
  First we examined how pace of play varies across the surface of the rink,
across different periods, at different manpower situations, between different
professional leagues, and through time between seasons. Our analysis of pace by
zone helps to explain some of the counter-intuitive results reported in prior
studies. For instance, we show that the negative correlation between attacking
speed and shots/goals is likely due to a large decline in attacking speed in
the OZ.
  We also studied how pace impacts the outcomes of various events. We found
that pace is positively-correlated with both high-danger zone entries (e.g.
odd-man rushes) and higher shot quality. However, we find that passes with
failed receptions occur at higher speeds than successful receptions. These
findings suggest that increased pace is beneficial, but perhaps only up to a
certain extent. Higher pace can create breakdowns in defensive structure and
lead to better scoring chances but can also lead to more turnovers.
  Finally, we analyzed team and player-level pace in the NHL, highlighting the
considerable variability in how teams and players attack and defend against
pace. Taken together, our results demonstrate that measures of team-level pace
derived from spatio-temporal data are informative metrics in hockey and should
prove useful in other team sports.
