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Storm Tracking: Typical January

Here in Raleigh, weather in January is completely unpredictable. It could be snowing with temperatures in the low teens and less than two weeks later, it's sunny with temperatures approaching 70 degrees. For the Hurricanes, January is when they actually start playing hockey. They can suck between October & December, but January roles around and the Canes almost always look pretty good.

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

When you want this team to be good, they generally disappoint you.  When you finally accept who they are, they put together a good stretch.  When the new year roles around, for whatever reason, the Hurricanes usually play some of their best hockey.  Over the past 5 seasons (this one included), the Canes have a 31-17-6 record in the month of January, a 0.574 winning percentage.  All the rest of the time over the past 5 seasons, the Canes record is 113-132-41 for a 0.395 win percentage.  It seems like it is too late now, but everybody needs to figure out what their doing in January that is bringing their level of play up and start doing those things throughout the entire season.  Now onto the stats for the week of 1/14/15 through 1/20/2015.

Canes Weekly Stats

Player

GP

TO/G

G

A

P

+/-

PIM

S

Hits

BkS

GvA

Tka

FO%

Jordan Staal

3

15:57

0

2

2

1

0

3

2

1

2

3

56.9

Eric Staal

3

16:25

2

0

2

1

11

10

1

0

2

0

0

Nathan Gerbe

3

14:54

1

1

2

E

0

7

2

1

2

2

Jay McClement

3

15:25

0

2

2

1

0

0

3

6

1

2

56.8

Brad Malone

2

11:02

2

0

2

1

5

3

1

1

0

0

100

Justin Faulk

3

22:00

1

1

2

1

0

11

6

5

2

3

Patrick Dwyer

3

14:26

0

2

2

1

0

3

5

2

2

0

Victor Rask

3

14:33

0

2

2

2

0

3

3

2

1

2

54.5

Andrej Sekera

3

21:45

0

1

1

2

0

4

3

7

4

0

Tim Gleason

3

16:42

0

1

1

E

2

5

8

5

1

0

Elias Lindholm

3

14:03

1

0

1

E

0

5

6

1

1

1

75.0

Jiri Tlusty

3

14:54

0

1

1

-1

2

3

9

1

1

1

Ryan Murphy

3

17:02

0

0

0

-2

0

5

3

3

1

3

Andrej Nestrasil

1

11:35

0

0

0

E

0

2

0

0

0

0

Riley Nash

3

16:13

0

0

0

-1

0

4

3

2

1

2

61.8

Chris Terry

2

11:45

0

0

0

1

0

4

4

0

1

1

100

John-Michael Liles

1

21:45

0

0

0

-1

2

0

1

0

0

0

Alexander Semin

1

17:30

0

0

0

E

0

3

0

1

0

1

0

Jeff Skinner

3

13:43

0

0

0

E

2

5

3

0

2

2

60.0

Ron Hainsey

3

21:46

0

0

0

3

2

6

5

5

3

1

Brett Bellemore

2

17:21

0

0

0

1

4

2

5

1

2

1

Goalie

GP

GS

W

L

OTL

Shots

GA

Sv

Sv %

GAA

Ev Sv %

PP Sv %

Anton Khudobin

3

2

2

0

0

71

3

68

.958

1.29

.967

.900

Cam Ward

1

1

0

1

0

13

3

10

.769

4.50

.769

1.000


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.

Player

GP

ASCF%

ASFF%

5CCF%

5CFF%

OZst

DZst

Liles

1

68.2

66.7

68.2

72.2

10

2

Nestrasil

1

55.6

53.8

58.3

60.0

3

1

Semin

1

66.7

69.6

57.1

60.0

8

4

Tlusty

3

64.7

66.0

54.1

51.9

11

12

Gleason

3

52.6

55.7

52.0

52.6

16

14

E. Staal

3

58.0

59.4

51.2

50.0

20

15

Rask

3

54.1

55.4

51.2

56.7

11

13

Faulk

3

50.0

53.5

48.4

53.3

15

27

J. Staal

3

52.6

56.9

45.9

48.1

19

17

Sekera

3

45.8

51.6

43.1

48.8

15

25

Malone

2

39.1

43.2

42.9

50.0

7

9

McClement

3

32.1

34.3

42.6

46.2

11

24

Lindholm

3

48.2

46.0

42.1

41.9

20

7

Hainsey

3

39.3

39.8

42.1

44.4

14

23

Dwyer

3

31.1

33.3

41.9

47.1

11

20

Gerbe

3

31.1

33.3

41.9

47.1

11

20

Skinner

3

51.7

50.0

38.7

37.5

17

9

Nash

3

51.1

52.1

37.5

37.9

13

10

Murphy

3

54.8

57.6

36.8

37.9

21

13

Terry

2

43.8

55.6

35.7

47.4

2

8

Bellemore

2

27.3

27.3

32.5

32.3

7

12


Weekly Studs

Anton Khudobin – After last season, I was pretty certain that Khudobin was going to be the Canes #1 goaltender.  But so far, Ward has generally performed pretty well and Dobby hasn’t been given a lot of starts.  This is the first time that Dobby actually played in every game this week, despite one of them only being for a period.  His numbers were quite impressive with a 0.958 save percentage and a 1.29 goals against average.  He did end up letting in a PP goal in Toronto, breaking the Hurricanes PK streak, but you cannot complain about the results.  Carolina finds themselves in a difficult situation, because Dobby appears that he can easily be the #1, but they have a lot of money dedicated to Ward.  That money could be used to help fill other, more pressing holes in the lineup.  I don’t envy Ron Francis with the decision that will need to be made, but I think I have more faith in Dobby right now than I do Ward.

Brad Malone – Malone really didn’t have a good start to his Hurricane career, but like the team, he’s picked it up in January.  After being healthy scratched against Vancouver, Malone responded with a goal and his highest TOI this season against the Senators.  He followed that up with another goal against the Maple Leafs.  His 2 goals this week double what Semin has produced this season.  Malone isn’t ever going to be a top 9 guy in the NHL, but he has been contributing regularly this month.  Whether it’s a goal, a hit, a fight or just energy play, he is proving his worth to this team.  And depending on what Francis does, he could be asked to do more the rest of this season.

Eric Staal – Overall, I would say Eric took a step back this week as compared to his past couple of weeks.  But he did have one hell of a game in Toronto.  He notched 2 goals and registered a fight against Dion Phaneuf.  Eric didn’t do so well in the fight, but he actually sought Phaneuf out and that says something there.  His 2 goals & 2 points tied for the team lead and he was 2nd on the team with 10 shots, despite not have 1 against Ottawa.  He also recorded a team high 11 penalty minutes, which isn’t good, but 7 were a result of the fight.  Eric also had some pretty good possession numbers, ranking 2nd, 2nd, 3rd & 5th among players that played in all 3 games this week.  It’s nice seeing Eric back, but if he’s sticking around, he & the coaching staff need to figure out how to get him jumpstarted in October rather than January.

Weekly Duds

Cam Ward – Cam only played 40 minutes this week, but they were not a good 40 minutes.  Ward only stopped 10 of 13 shots he faced against the Canucks and his play has really dropped off since 2015 started.  It’s really weird, the team started putting up more than a goal a game and Cam’s save percentage dropped accordingly.  Maybe it was all tied to the rumors that he was going to Minnesota, who really knows, but it is very perplexing.  The sad thing is that Ward has played pretty well this season, but with Dobby heating up, who knows what type of action Ward will see over the second half of the season.

Riley Nash – I really feel guilty about putting Nash on the Duds list.  All he has done this year is do whatever is asked of him.  He recently has been saddled with the hot & cold Skinner & Semin and plays in difficult situations.  But the bottom line is his production has fallen off a cliff.  After starting the first 2 months of the season with 15 points, he has only collected 4 more since then.  He didn’t even get a shot on goal against Vancouver or Ottawa and his possession numbers are horrible.  Was he just performing over his head at the start of the year or has he been slumping the past 2 months or what?  I guess the bright side is that his faceoff numbers continue to look pretty good, 61.8% for the week and over 51% for the year.

Jeff Skinner – Skinner is January temperatures in Raleigh.  He’s hot for a few days, then cold for a few days, hot, then cold, then hot again.  The only consistent thing about Jeff is that he’s consistently inconsistent.  Skinner had no points this week and is pointless in 4 straight after getting 3 points in his previous 2 games, which followed a 7 game scoring drought.  If he were doing other things on the ice, it might make up for his consistency issues, but he’s still pretty poor in his own zone and just seems to mail it in at times.  We all know he has the ability, but if it’s drive or not really understanding Peters system, this team needs more from Skinner.  Jeff has another 4 years left on his contract at $5.75M per season.  As a budget franchise, Skinner has to be more than a 3rd liner that goes on scoring streaks from time to time.

Weekly Team Stats

Goals Per Game

Goals Against Per Game

Ranking

Team

G/PG

Ranking

Team

GA/PG

1.

NY Islanders

5.67

1.

Anaheim

1.00

2.

Detroit

4.50

2.

Vancouver

1.25

3.

Minnesota

3.75

T3.

Boston

1.33

T4.

Anaheim

3.67

T3.

St. Louis

1.33

T4.

Chicago

3.67

T5.

Calgary

1.67

T4.

New Jersey

3.67

T5.

Tampa Bay

1.67

7.

Calgary

3.33

7.

Columbus

1.75

8.

Dallas

3.25

T8.

Carolina

2.00

T9.

Montreal

3.00

T8.

Minnesota

2.00

T19.

Carolina

2.33

T8.

NY Rangers

2.00

Shots Per Game

Shots Against Per Game

Ranking

Team

S/PG

Ranking

Team

SA/PG

1.

Chicago

41.7

1.

Minnesota

22.8

2.

Dallas

36.0

2.

St. Louis

23.0

3.

NY Islanders

35.7

3.

Anaheim

23.7

4.

Nashville

34.3

4.

Los Angeles

24.7

5.

Ottawa

34.0

5.

Edmonton

26.7

6.

Minnesota

33.5

T6.

Vancouver

27.0

7.

San Jose

33.3

T6.

Washington

27.0

8.

Edmonton

32.3

8.

San Jose

27.3

9.

Anaheim

32.0

T9.

Calgary

28.0

T19.

Carolina

29.3

T9.

Carolina

28.0

PowerPlay Percentage

Penalty Kill Percentage

Ranking

Team

PP %

Ranking

Team

PK %

1.

New Jersey

44.4

T1.

Ottawa

100

2.

Anaheim

42.9

T1.

St. Louis

100

3.

Detroit

41.7

T1.

Vancouver

100

4.

Montreal

38.9

4.

Tampa Bay

92.9

5.

Columbus

33.3

T5.

Arizona

92.3

T6.

NY Islanders

30.0

T5.

Winnipeg

92.3

T6.

Washington

30.0

T7.

Boston

91.7

8.

Minnesota

27.8

T7.

Florida

91.7

9.

Pittsburgh

27.3

T9.

New Jersey

90.9

T29.

Carolina

0.0

11.

Carolina

88.9

Hits

Blocked Shots

Ranking

Team

Hits

Ranking

Team

BkS

1.

Philadelphia

181

1.

Washington

78

2.

NY Islanders

145

2.

Dallas

71

T3.

Los Angeles

119

3.

Vancouver

65

T3.

Pittsburgh

119

4.

NY Rangers

64

5.

Columbus

109

T5.

Montreal

61

6.

Winnipeg

108

T5.

San Jose

61

7.

Colorado

105

T7.

Pittsburgh

58

8.

Arizona

104

T7.

Winnipeg

58

T9.

NY Rangers

102

T9.

Arizona

56

22.

Carolina

73

20.

Carolina

44

Giveaways

Takeaways

Ranking

Team

GvA

Ranking

Team

TkA

1.

Florida

11

1.

Washington

33

2.

Colorado

12

T2.

Dallas

30

3.

Buffalo

14

T2.

San Jose

30

T4.

Chicago

19

T2.

Toronto

30

T4.

Edmonton

19

5.

Montreal

29

T4.

Tampa Bay

19

6.

Carolina

26

T4.

Toronto

19

T7.

Minnesota

23

8.

St. Louis

20

T7.

NY Islanders

23

T9.

Anaheim

23

T7.

Ottawa

23

19.

Carolina

31

T7.

Vancouver

23

Team Faceoff Percentage

Team Save Percentage

Ranking

Team

FO %

Ranking

Team

Sv %

1.

Washington

60.3

1.

Boston

0.959

2.

Carolina

57.8

2.

Anaheim

0.958

3.

San Jose

54.9

3.

Vancouver

0.954

4.

Colorado

54.2

4.

Tampa Bay

0.951

5.

Arizona

53.8

5.

Winnipeg

0.946

6.

Florida

53.7

T6.

St. Louis

0.942

7.

Los Angeles

53.1

T6.

NY Rangers

0.942

8.

Boston

53.0

8.

Columbus

0.941

9.

Minnesota

52.9

9.

Calgary

0.940

10.

Chicago

52.7

10.

Carolina

0.929


Former Canes Weekly Stats

Player

Team

GP

TOI/G

G

A

P

+/-

PIM

S

Hits

BkS

GvA

Tka

ASCF%

Cole

DAL

4

11:32

2

1

3

2

0

3

3

3

1

2

45.0

Ladd

WPG

3

20:35

1

2

3

2

2

7

7

2

0

1

42.9

Williams

LAK

3

15:47

1

1

2

E

0

6

2

3

6

1

62.1

Carter

MIN

4

11:17

0

2

2

2

0

7

2

1

0

1

42.9

Vrbata

VAN

4

14:49

2

0

2

-2

4

11

4

0

1

4

58.9

Jokinen

FLA

3

17:08

0

1

1

E

2

4

5

1

2

0

53.5

Seidenberg

BOS

3

21:47

0

0

0

1

2

2

7

5

3

0

36.6

Malhotra

MTL

4

9:49

0

0

0

-1

2

6

3

5

4

1

39.4

Cullen

NSH

3

11:44

0

0

0

1

0

8

2

0

3

5

50.0

Sutter

PIT

3

17:26

0

0

0

-3

0

4

3

3

0

0

36.8

Adams

PIT

3

11:47

0

0

0

E

2

1

11

5

1

0

23.7

Bodie

TOR

3

5:02

0

0

0

E

0

1

2

0

0

0

54.3

Harrison

WPG

3

16:19

0

0

0

3

0

2

5

8

2

2

26.8