Consistency, Part Two: Goals and Points Scored Per Minute Played

Did the scoring leaders for the Carolina Hurricanes also play the most minutes?

Last week, I published a report with some statistics indicating that Eric Staal was more apt to score a point in each game he played in, than any other Cane.  Some of you asked me to dig a little bit deeper, thinking that maybe the reason Staal scored more points was simply because he played more minutes per game than any other forward.

Let's see the results when we look at  these new ratios.

The following three charts show the total minutes each forward played for the season, number of minutes played at even strength, and number of minutes played while on the powerplay.  Included are the appropriate goals and points each player scored for each category.

Simply dividing one column by the other gives us a ratio of goals or points scored, per minute played for each criteria.

Our first table shows total time on the ice along with total goals and points scored per minute.  Jussi Jokinen scored the most goals per minute played followed by Staal and Sutter.  Interestingly enough, Ray Whitney's numbers seem inflated due to his extra time on the ice.  His per minute goal ratio was also lower than Samsonov's, Ruutu's, and Cole's.    

Whitney played 80 games while Jokinen played in 81, yet Whitney played 170 more minutes.  That difference is simply a coaching decision.  No doubt about it, Jokinen needs more time on the ice.  

Jokinen tied Staal for most points scored per minute.   Tuomo Ruutu came in second while Whitney placed third.

This time we will look at even strength time on the ice.  Again, Ray Whitney leads the way with time on the ice, but not so much in production. 

Jussi Jokinen is first with most goals scored per minute followed by Brandon Sutter and Erik Cole.  Eric Staal comes up fourth.

This is a good picture perhaps indicating that Erik Cole has not lost his game as much as some have thought.  If he could stay healthy and play more minutes, according to this table, his goal scoring numbers should go up.

Eric Staal is number one with most points scored per minute played, (at even strength).  Jokinen was second, Matt Cullen was third. 

Finally, let's look at the highly coveted powerplay time.  Once again Ray Whitney led the way with most time on the ice, but he showed his mettle here with a second best 12 goals and .038 ratio.  ( Corrected -- Whitney scored just seven PP goals for a .022 ratio).   Eric Staal led the way with the most goals scored and the highest ratio of goals scored per minute played. 

Jokinen came in second with Brandon Sutter close behind in third. 

The Finns also showed their skill here with total points scored as Jokinen placed number one, Staal second, and Ruutu third.  Brandon Sutter was in fourth.

What does this comparison show us?  Each of us can take what we want from the numbers, but here is my take.

1. Jussi Jokinen definitely needs more ice time.  He was among the leaders in every category even though his ice time was third best.  
2. Brandon Sutter also needs more ice time, especially on the powerplay.  While some might think he does not have enough experience or skill to be productive there, the ratios indicate otherwise.  He will surely get more time as second line center this winter.
   
3. Eric Staal was the leader, or among the leaders, in every "per minute" scoring category.  That indicates to me that his scoring results are not just based upon the number of minutes he plays.  
   
4. On the other hand, the team might not miss Ray Whitney as much as some of us think.  The extra minutes played seem to have helped to inflate his numbers more so than any player.  His per minute scoring ratios were much lower than I expected.  
   
5. Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole had fairly good results.  It looks like their overall scoring numbers were low primarily because of the missed time on the ice.  Their "per minute" ratios were fairly close to the leaders in most categories.