It’s never fun for fans to see their favourite team hit the post of the crossbar; in fact, whichever level you play hockey at, you hate posts. Just think about Gordon Bombay’s fantastic minor hockey career coming to a grinding halt after his triple deke hit the post on a penalty shot in the Mighty Ducks. It’s drama nobody likes, but nobody escapes it.
Each fanbase feels like their team is hard done by and is undoubtedly the one who’s hitting the most posts and/or crossbars, but who’s actually hitting the most? Where do the Montreal Canadiens rank in that category?
Well, the team that has fallen victim to iron the most so far this season is the Carolina Hurricanes, with 80 occurrences as of January 23, 2026, followed by the Washington Capitals at 72, the Buffalo Sabres and the Anaheim Ducks with 69, and, in fifth place, the Canadiens with 64, just like the Detroit Red Wings.
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At the other end of the spectrum, the San Jose Sharks have only been robbed by iron 29 times this season, that’s twelve fewer times than the St. Louis Blues, who have suffered that fate 41 times, and 14 fewer times than the Philadelphia Flyers, who are 30th in the category with 43 times.
Why have the Hurricanes hit the post so much? Well, they have taken the second most shots in the league so far this season, with 1649 shots, meaning that they’ve been frustrated by the goal on just five percent of their shots. As for the Capitals, they’ve taken 1487 shots, meaning they struck iron on five percent of their shots as well. The Sabres? Their percentage is five percent as well, while the Red Wings’ is also five percent. The Canadiens? Well, with 64 posts/crossbars on 1339 shots, they’ve also fallen victim to the net on five percent of their shots.
Meanwhile, with just 29 misfortunes on 1239 shots, the Sharks have only hit iron on two percent of their shots, while the Blues have done the same on three percent of theirs and the Flyers on three percent of theirs.
In other words, those who shoot less, hit iron less, and those who hit the post most often all do it 5% of the time; no one is jinxed or plagued by players with sub-par accuracy. Oh, and no, the Bell Centre ghosts can’t move the goal posts…
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