Storm Tracking: Turning the Page

Christmas certainly didn't bring the Carolina Hurricanes any offense as the team continued their scoring woes.  Only 3 times out of 13 did they score more than 1 goal this month and they only averaged 1.31 goals per game in that span.  While the goaltending/defense has generally been good enough to squeak out some wins, if you can't score, wins simply won't happen.  So now were heading into 2015 with some players returning from injury and the playoffs off in the far, far distance.  The question is what Ron Francis is going to do and what this team will look like heading into the future.  I hope everyone has a great New Year's and be safe, here are the stats for the week of 12/24/14 through 12/30/14.

Canes Weekly Stats

Weekly Advanced Stats

The chart is arranged by the highest 5 on 5 Close Corsi For Percentage.

Here is a little key to some of my abbreviations. AS – All Situations, 5C – 5 on 5 Close, CF% - Corsi For Percentage, FF% - Fenwick For Percentage, SF% - Shots For Percentage, OZst% - Offensive Zone Start Percentage, NZst% - Neutral Zone Start Percentage and DZst% - Defensive Zone Start Percentage. If you would like more advanced statistics, this information was collected from www.war-on-ice.com.

Weekly Studs

Eric Staal – It was only 2 games and the Canes only scored 2 goals, but Eric factored in on both.  He had a secondary assist and a PP goal, leading the team with 2 points.  Eric also had a team high 9 shots and had 2 hits, blocks and takeaways.  While this certainly wasn’t a great offensive week for Carolina, I did like the look of Eric on Jordan’s wing.  He really seemed to start playing the game he was known for multiple years ago.  The results could be better, but it’s a step in the right direction.

Jordan Staal/Jiri Tlusty – They played is just 1 game, but both contributed on the only score and both showed signs of what they can do.  Tlusty registered 4 shots on goal and 2 hits, Jordan played his solid overall game.  Both players also had good possession numbers against Montreal.  They didn’t light the world on fire, but it was their first game back from injury and they showed signs.  Jordan seems to be a big part of the future plans in Carolina, so him finding chemistry and developing more scoring is key for the rest of the season.  Tlusty will likely be traded, so the better he performs the better return Francis & Co can expected.

Cam Ward –Cam continues to be the best Canes on the ice, who would have thought that last season or even this past summer?  Ward is the reason Carolina is even in a number of these games, because it sure isn’t the horrible offense.  While he isn’t at the top of the goaltending statistics, his 0.912 save percentage is higher than his career average and his 2.41 goals against average is lower than his career average.  Cam’s contract still makes it unlikely for him to be traded this season, but he has definitely increased his trade value and you never know what can happen.

Weekly Duds

Jeff Skinner – Some might say that I’m picking on Jeff, but hear me out.  Skinner didn’t register any points this week (which isn’t completely his fault), he tied for a team worse -3 rating, had 2 giveaways and 0 takeaways, but the thing that stands out the most to me are his shots on goal.  He only registered 4 and those were all against Montreal.  Skinner didn’t have a SOG against Tampa and that is what Skinner does!  This team is desperate for scoring right now and cannot afford to have it’s best shooter not even register a shot on goal in a game.  Peters needs to make sure Skinner is looking for his shot and make sure he lines him up with playing partners that can help Jeff score.

Zach Boychuk –Boychuk really started out playing pretty well this season, but his game couldn’t find consistency and now is just not working at all.  The former 1^st round pick has been given multiple opportunities, but he just cannot hang on to a full-time NHL job.  I would not be surprised to see him waived soon and that may be the end of his Hurricane career.  I’m sure someone else will give him a shot, but Boychuk just might be a career AHLer.  Another draft pick missed by the Carolina Hurricanes.

Jay McClement/Brad Malone – There are others that could easily fill this 3^rd Dud spot, but I need to talk about these 2 signings.  McClement has his good games and bad and is generally good in the faceoff department, but his possession numbers low.  This week alone those numbers were basically in the teens and for the year he’s one of the lowest on the team, against some of the weakest competition.  Malone on the other hand is basically what I thought he was, a 13^th forward.  He has no points on the season and really doesn’t provide much but some hitting.  But even those hits aren’t really making us tougher to play against, so what really is his point.

Weekly Team Stats

Former Canes Weekly Stats