Stats And Surprises From Around the NHL

by Cory Lavalette on Oct 22, 2008 4:16 PM EDT

As many already probably know, I can sometimes get lost in quirky stats and trends from around the league. Here's a bunch that might be of interest:

• The most boring team in the league? How about New Jersey. In their four games played, the teams playing have scored only 14 total goals! That's 3.5 goals per game. Gotta love those 3-1 and 2-1 games. The low-scoring efforts can probably be attributed to the Devils' top two blueliners — Colin White is a plus-4 in 20 minutes per game while Paul Martin is eating up 26 minutes a night.

• On the opposite side of things, how in the world have Stars allowed 24 goals in six games? Look no further that Marty Turco's stats: His save percentage is a woeful .844 and his goals against is at more than four per game. Dallas is lucky to be 2-3-1 so far this year.

• The Alex Burrows-Ryan Kesler-Jannik Hansen line in Vancouver has been the surprise of the season. If this line can continue to perform like a legitimate second line, the Canucks might finally have a complement to the Sedin twins.

• Drew Doughty — who Canes fans got to see last week on TV — has been very impressive, logging 21 minutes a game and registering a plus-3 on a bad team. Toronto rookie Luke Schenn has also lived up to the hype, eating up 21:39 per game for the Leafs. The big disappointment in the early part of the season — or rather big mystery — is the pointless Steve Stamkos, who is getting an average of only 10:41 a game through six games. Surprisingly, the best of the bunch has been Chicago's Kris Versteeg, whose six points (one goal, five assists) in six games leads all rookies, and he's also tied with Doughty and St. Louis newcomer Patrick Berglund for the early season lead in plus/minus with a plus-3.

• Mike Smith has been stellar for the Lightning, going 1-1-2 with a 1.92 GAA and .943 save percentage. I figured the Lightning would stink, but I thought it would be the other way around — high-scoring games that resulted in Tampa Bay losses. Instead, Smith and Olaf Kolzig are getting shelled but standing tall. The offense, in the meantime, has been terrible.

• On the flip side, goalie Martin Biron has been dreadful, sporting a 5.74 GAA and .824 save percentage for the winless Flyers. Antero Niittymaki may very well steal the starting job from him.

• The Canadiens have gotten points in all six of their game thus far, winning five. Look no further than their blueline for the reason why: Mike Komisarek leads in the NHL in hits (30) and blocked shots (27), while Andrei Markov is near the top in the league in plus/minus at plus-seven. Curiously, Markov also leads the league in giveaways with 12 — not usually the way to go about a good plus/minus. Montreal has also benefited from Saku Koivu's play. The Habs' captain has three goals and six assists — plus is a league-leading plus-8 — while playing only 15 minutes a night through six games.

• Saku's brother Mikko Koivu has been a revelation for the Wild. His nine points— eight of which come from assists — in just four games gives him the top points-per-game numbers on the young season (2.25). Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Koivu's teammate in Minnesota, and Boston's Chuck Kobasew are the only other players averaging two points per game.

• Out in the Western Conference, there haven't been bigger disappointments than Anaheim and Calgary. The Ducks problems are on offense, where Ryan Getzlaf, Chris Kunitz, Brendan Morrison, Teemu Selanne and Corey Perry have totaled one goal and five assists and are a combined minus-21. Calgary has had troubles in net, but having Andre Roy as your only plus player is a good indicator of the team's overall struggles.

• Bizarro Ducks? How about those St. Louis Blues?! The Blues' top five forwards (Brad Boyes, Paul Kariya, Andy McDonald, Keith Tkachuk and David Perron) have a combined 12 goals and 22 assists. That's 34 points in five games — 6.8 points per game from that fantastic five. Think Anaheim wouldn't like MacDonald or Kariya back in a Ducks uniform right about now?

• San Jose's acquistion of Rob Blake and Dan Boyle was all the hubbub leading into this season, but it's been youngster Marc-Edouard Vlasic's play that has been the most impressive. Through five games he has a goal and four assists in an average 23:13 a night, and he's a team-high plus-4.

• Speaking of impact defensemen, Florida and Nashville have to be thrilled with a couple of young blueliners that have been among the league's best in the early going. Keith Ballard, acquired for franchise player Olli Jokinen in the offseason, has been a rock on the Panthers blueline. He's played 25 minutes a night and has chipped in a point per game. Nashville's Shea Weber leads the Preds with 18 hits, is tied for first on the team with 15 shots and has three goals and four assists while registering a plus-4 through six games. Both might be Norris contenders sooner rather than later if they can keep up this pace.

• Also on the back end, Ottawa newcomer Filip Kuba has logged 25 minutes a night and already has seven assists in the Sens' five games. Andrej Meszaros, the guy Kuba was traded for, has just three assists and is minus-2.

• Two guys not known for scoring a lot have had big starts. The Islanders' Trent Hunter has four goals already while still filling his role as a penalty killer and checker, while new Ranger Aaron Voros has five goals and four assists in just 12:36 of ice a night through nine games.

• Two veterans are early candidates for comeback player of the year. Miro Satan (four goals and two assists in seven games) is thriving with the Penguins — but who wouldn't playing with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? In Edmonton, captain Ethan Moreau has been great this year after struggling with injuries the past two seasons. He has a goal and three assists, helping fuel the Oilers' 4-0 start. They're doing it with balance (no one on the team has more than two goals) and defense (they've allowed just nine goals in those four games).

• The MVP? It has to be Alex in Washington. But not Ovechkin ... Alex Semin. Semin has six goals and four assists in just six games. Of those 10 points, only one was notched on the power play. Impressive, to say the least.

• The Least Valuable Player? Little-known Andrew Murray's number aren't impressive. The journeyman is minus-6 in six games for the Blue Jackets despite getting just 14 minutes on the ice each night, while notching just a goal and an assist. But his (lack of) contribution is nothing compared to Toronto's Ryan Hollweg. Hollweg's stat line this season:

1 game, 4 minutes, 15 PIMs and five games suspended (broken up over two separate suspensions)

We have a winner!

• I didn't think Patrick Kane would be a superstar when he went first overall in the 2007 NHL Draft. I was horribly wrong. Kane already has four goals and four assists for the Blackhawks. In the meantime, the already over-publicized Jonathan Toews has just three assists. I like Toews, and he's incredibly talented and already Chicago's captain. But I really don't need to here about how great he is anymore, especially when Kane looks like he might be better.

• A final fun fact: Since Chris Chelios is recovering from injury, the oldest person to play this year is 42-year-old Tampa Bay winger Gary Roberts. The youngest? Atlanta's Zach Bogosian, who edges out Columbus' Nikita Filatov. Bogosian was born July 15, 1990.

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Comments

Thanks for the info, it helps us fantasy hockey players. As for Toews, he might be suffering from the Mike Madano affect. This being that the ‘C’ might be more than he needs. Remember back when Dallas made Madano their captain? It was probably the worst season of his hall of fame carrer. The next season, they gave the ‘C’ to Branden Morrow, Madano has done a lot better since then.

by puckheadjones on Oct 22, 2008 6:02 PM EDT reply actions

Chris Drury might be suffering from the “Modano effect,” as well. The new Rangers captain has one assist and is a -5 in 9 games.

by John on Oct 22, 2008 6:56 PM EDT reply actions

Gotta disagree with you about low scoring games being boring. I don’t subscribe to the Gary Bettman / let’s turn the NHL into the NBA and have 90 pt games philosophy. I was at the Bruins season opener, a 1-1 game that went to a shootout, and it was non stop exciting action all night long.

by repenttokyo on Oct 23, 2008 1:15 AM EDT reply actions

I don’t find all low-scoring games boring. I do find NJ’s trap-driven low-scoring games boring.

by Cory on Oct 23, 2008 8:43 AM EDT reply actions

1) Just to clarify Zach Bogosian was Born Jul 15 1990, not 1980. It was hard enough getting used to players born in the 80’s, now we have a bunch from the dam 90’s! LOL

by fauxrumors on Oct 23, 2008 12:43 PM EDT reply actions

LOL … yes. I’ll fix it ;)

by Cory on Oct 23, 2008 12:59 PM EDT reply actions

Time goes by too fast..

by Bubba on Oct 23, 2008 1:16 PM EDT reply actions

Time DOES go by too fast sometimes…

It would seem that one of the more intelligent / schooled coaches would be able to devise a system that circumvented the trap. I also thought the the “rules changes” and “referee directives” would have all but eliminated teams from using the trap, yet it still exists. Maybe I’m just a bit ignorant on this, but is there any effective gameplan or system that has been devised that can effectively crush the trap system? Anyone?

by marc on Oct 23, 2008 1:51 PM EDT reply actions

Stretch passes … but they are risky and you face the possibility of the opposition counterattacking. And that plays right in to what trapping teams thrive on.

Also, good puck-moving d-men, even w/o attempting the stretch passes, help penetrate the neutral zone trap.

Of all people, Barry Melrose mentioned a couple years ago implementing a rule like basketball’s three-second rule … if you had all five guys defending in the neutral zone for X seconds, you’d get a delay of game. Don’t know if it was his idea, but he’s the one I saw bring it up. That would kill the trap for good.

by Cory on Oct 23, 2008 2:06 PM EDT reply actions

I think Christian Ehrhoff should also be considered for a surprise player this year. With the acquisitions of Boyle and Blake, he was forgotten about. In 7 games, he has 2g, 4a, and is a +5 while averaging about 20 mins a night.

Philly’s 0-3-3 start also has to be one of the biggest disappointments along with Anaheim. Biron has been terrible, let’s see how long they ride him.

by Adam on Oct 23, 2008 2:23 PM EDT reply actions

Niittymaki got yanked last night, too … that’s a terrible mess in Philly, for sure.

by Cory on Oct 23, 2008 4:15 PM EDT reply actions

Cory-
Stretch passes and good puck moving d-men are more personnel and personal playing styles than a system. I was thinking along the lines of the Wings using a left wing lock – how does that play against the trap? (Obviously very well when Detroit uses it – this is just an example). I’m kinda surprised that I haven’t heard of a system, or that one of those “student of the game” type of coaches hasn’t come up with an effective, actual game plan to counter the trap. I do love seeing those long stretch passes though, and agree that puck moving D help to break it. I don’t think the basketball type rule that Melrose suggested would work – the game moves too fast, and it is one more thing the overburdened refs would have to look at. I"m gonna have to try some of this out on my X-box – my beer league team is lucky enough to have any more of a game plan than “clear the zone!”

by marc on Oct 23, 2008 4:32 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t know that you can play a system for beating the trap b/c not every team you face will use the trap. If you do that, you’re being reactive instead of proactive. You need to find ways to beat it within the system you play. The only way to really neutralize a trap in most cases, I’d say, is to run it yourself — which makes for muddled hockey.

The left wing lock is a defensive scheme, like the trap. The Wings have success against the trap, IMO, b/c they thrive on puck possession and crisp passes on offense. That’s not really related to running the left-wing lock (though using the LWL contributes to them getting the puck, and they’re the best at holding on to it). You need to find ways offensively to beat the trap, and the best way to do that is by good passing. As a defensive set up, you can run the LWL or trap, not worry about offense and hope you get enough chances on forechecking-enduced turnovers and converting on the PP to hope to win. But that’s not really “beating the trap.” That’s surviving it.

by Cory on Oct 24, 2008 9:02 AM EDT reply actions