Storm Tracking: Changes

Sorry for the delay in posting, but sometimes life happens and I'm not able to dedicate my time appropriately.  But this past week saw the Canes pick up 2 impressive wins over Eastern Conference playoff teams in the Capitals and Islanders and then getting beaten like a red-headed stepchild in Chicago (sorry if that was offensive to anyone, it's just a saying).  The wins actually moved the Canes past the Maple Leafs in the standings, but somehow the sun finally broke the clouds and Toronto picked up a road victory in Florida against 2 injured goalies to move back on top of Carolina.  Now the Hurricanes start a 5 game home stretch and have 6 of their next 7 against current non-playoff teams.  It's going to be interested to see where they are in the standings after this stretch.  Now on to the stats for the week of 2/25/15 through 3/3/15.

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

Andrej Nestrasil – The waiver wire pickup had a pretty outstanding week.  The 5 points he collected were the most he’s ever had in a 3 game stretch.  And his +4 rating was also the best he’s ever had in a 3 game stretch.  Nesty either led or tied for the lead in points, assists, +/-, All Situations Corsi and All Situations Fenwick.  He was also 4^th on the team in shots on goal.  The versatile rookie continues to perform well in any situation he is asked to play.  And that versatility will prove even more important down the road, since he can fill multiple positions this team needs.  Nestrasil will get to show even more down the stretch, its fun watching him develop.

John-Michael Liles – Liles was pretty much forced into a more prominent role with the departures of Sekera & Gleason and he rose to the occasion.  Liles tied Nestrasil with a team high +4 rating, he also contributed a goal and an assist.  JML ranked in the top 5 in every possession category, every number being above 61%.  Given the situation his role has increased and if he can keep this up, he might be more than just a seat warmer for this squad next year.  We all know he has the talent, now he has the chance to display it, let’s hope most weeks were as good as this one.

Jay McClement – The defensive center had a little bit of an offensive outburst just before the trade deadline.  While many thought he would be on the move, Jay netted 2 goals in his last game before the deadline.  Then the next day, he signed a 2 year extension to stay in Carolina.  It’s nice significantly contributing to a win and then getting a nice payday.  His 3 points tied for 2^nd on the team, his 2 goals led the team and his 9 shots tied for 5^th on the team.  Now he will be tasked to keep doing what he is doing while also helping bring the younger players along.  McClement is the type of guy that will be able to do both.  Congratulation on the new contract.

Weekly Duds

Staal/Staal/Semin – The Canes top line didn’t exactly have a top line week.  Each player was a -3 and only collected a combined 4 points.  Semin at least got back to shooting, but also had a team worse 3 penalties.  Typically these guys are pretty good possession players, but all were in the bottom half of the team in 5 on 5 Close Situations.  The team needs more of these guys, they need to be better.  Maybe it’s just adjusting since they haven’t played a whole lot together, but we need to see improvement from this line this upcoming week.

Cam Ward – While Ward did pick up a win on Long Island, he didn’t really play all that well.  And the 2 periods of the Chicago game showed his inconsistencies.  Cam has had a nice rebound year, but like he has his whole career, he is consistently inconsistent.  A 0.833 save percentage is plain bad and he didn’t even face a PP shot against.  With over $9.3 million in actual salary going to the Canes goaltenders next year, you have to think that Francis is looking to move one of the guys.  Dobby was poor last week, good this week.  Cam was good last week, poor this week.  Neither of these guys are making the decision easy.  Someone needs to step up and take control of the net, will it be Ward or will it be Khudobin.

Ron Hainsey – Only 1 guy played in all 3 games this week and didn’t register a point, that was Ron Hainsey.  And if not for the Staals/Semin line, he would have tied for a team worse -2 rating.  His possession numbers were better than they normally are, but given the team’s impressive number during the week, he still finished in the bottom half in every category.  Like it or not, Hainsey’s role is much bigger now and he must step up.  His former companion Bellemore took his game up, now Hainsey needs to do the same.  He’s going to be instrumental in helping some of the younger defensemen adjust to the NHL, let’s hope he capable of helping them progress.

Weekly Team Stats

Former Canes Weekly Stats