but it’s an interesting one. Personally, I’ve not noticed it, but I suppose I’ll be watching for it more closely now. I’m not sure what you consider a “long distance” shot, but I feel like anything 30 yards or longer is a much longer than average shot. As for why guys would take them more now than before, I can’t see why that would change other than guys just want to shoot more because I don’t know of anything that has changed in offensive or defensive strategy that would make it more likely. Attacking defensive players seems to be on the rise a bit, but that seems like it would lead to more defensive vulnerability thereby eliminating the need to take long shots. Usually long shots are taken because a player notices a goalie coming a little too far off the line and they catch them when they’re a little lazy. Not sure why goalies doing that would be on the rise. The other possibility is that the attacking team can’t break through the defense, so they take the shots they’re given hoping for some good rebounds and follow up goals (defensive strategies change frequently depending on the opponent and the score of the game being played. Some defenses “park the bus” by dropping extra players into the defensive half to clog up lanes and eliminate an aerial attack with additional tall players so it can be nearly impossible for an attacking team to penetrate the defense with quick passes or crosses leaving longer shots the only option).

Cool question you’re asking, and now I’ll be watching for it, but I’ve not noticed it. I know there are some notable examples of long shots/goals, but do you have any specific examples of where you’ve seen more long shots taken in games? It’s possible the answer lies in the opponents you’ve seen play and how the respective teams’ specific strengths and deficiencies matchup.