Oleg Petrov Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 http://www.nhl.com/nhlstats/app?fetchKey=2...=scoringLeaders Power-play points are by no means gimmes. You need a skilled power play to make goals happen, and the good power-play stats of Souray, Markov, Koivu, Ryder and Kovalev are nothing to reproach them for. But the fact remains that you can't get power-play points if you're not on the power play, so looking at the even-strength points of a team tells a lot about the offensive performance of players when considered on a more equal footing. Doing this with the Habs leads to some very surprising results: Quick quiz: Who leads the Habs in even-strength goals? The answer to this question will be the player you have to consider your most dangerous scoring forward when you don't have the benefit of the extra man. If this player has a comparable amount of even-strength ice-time to those who also get the creamy minutes on the PP, these stats may be more informative about his performance relative to his teammates than his total points will be, particularly if he doesn't get much PP icetime. So somebody please explain to me why the Habs' top even-strength sniper is Sergei Samsonov... While they're at it, maybe they can explain to me why the only player who has more even strength points than SS - ie, the Habs' top 5-on-5 forward - is considered a checking winger (Mike Johnson). The answer, as I see it, isn't that these two are lighting it up 5-on-5, just that even the forwards who aren't getting as much heat for a mediocre season as Sergei Samsonov is are having just as bad seasons, if not worse. SS doesn't spend much time on the PP, and rarely when Souray is at the point, which is when a lot of the other forwards pick up assists for passing the puck back to the point. But something else worth thinking about is the possibility that maybe Samsonov and Johnson should be the core of the second PP unit. As crazy as it sounds, these guys might actually be the Habs' most threatening forwards, and there sure isn't a book on them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonus Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 very interesting idea. Your logic is quite attractive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aebischer4life Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 http://www.nhl.com/nhlstats/app?fetchKey=2...=scoringLeaders Power-play points are by no means gimmes. You need a skilled power play to make goals happen, and the good power-play stats of Souray, Markov, Koivu, Ryder and Kovalev are nothing to reproach them for. But the fact remains that you can't get power-play points if you're not on the power play, so looking at the even-strength points of a team tells a lot about the offensive performance of players when considered on a more equal footing. Doing this with the Habs leads to some very surprising results: Quick quiz: Who leads the Habs in even-strength goals? The answer to this question will be the player you have to consider your most dangerous scoring forward when you don't have the benefit of the extra man. If this player has a comparable amount of even-strength ice-time to those who also get the creamy minutes on the PP, these stats may be more informative about his performance relative to his teammates than his total points will be, particularly if he doesn't get much PP icetime. So somebody please explain to me why the Habs' top even-strength sniper is Sergei Samsonov... While they're at it, maybe they can explain to me why the only player who has more even strength points than SS - ie, the Habs' top 5-on-5 forward - is considered a checking winger (Mike Johnson). The answer, as I see it, isn't that these two are lighting it up 5-on-5, just that even the forwards who aren't getting as much heat for a mediocre season as Sergei Samsonov is are having just as bad seasons, if not worse. SS doesn't spend much time on the PP, and rarely when Souray is at the point, which is when a lot of the other forwards pick up assists for passing the puck back to the point. But something else worth thinking about is the possibility that maybe Samsonov and Johnson should be the core of the second PP unit. As crazy as it sounds, these guys might actually be the Habs' most threatening forwards, and there sure isn't a book on them yet. People think just because Sammy has the most es points means he'll instantly be great on the pp. Well reality check folks... thats not true! Samsonov rushes plays way too much. Hes so weak on the halfboards that he easily gets checked off the pucks UNLIKE Kovalev. Whenever he's out there on the pp nothing happens. He just stickhandles too quickly and loses the puck. He also has the weakest shot for a winger on the top 2 lines on this team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobRock Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Here's a couple of other stats to consider. 29th in the league in goals scored 5-on-5, 2 more than Columbus. When you take the number of goals scored at even strength as percentage of total goals scored, it comes out to 51% (86 ES, 169 TTL). That's the lowest percentage in the league, and the league-wide average is 63%. The Habs are getting about 4.5 PP per game. If you allow for 1.5 minutes per powerplay, that's 6:45 per game playing with the man advantage, or about one-ninth of the game. That one-ninth of the game is providing almost half of the offence. It's a dangerous way to play when you are basically trying to win the game in seven minutes while not losing it in the remaining 53. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smon Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Well, this is essentially why Montreal is 9th. Absolutely atrocious 5 on 5 play; good special teams for most of the year was what was keeping the team up there. The special teams have been pretty bad during the slump especially during the just snapped losing streak, so the team lost games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeLassister Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Why did you post that, i'm depressed now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BTH Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 That is a surprising. Now we know why Samsonov makes the big bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smon Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 It's painful to watch Montreal sometimes. As it much as it pains me to say this, sometimes I question whether the team is really gunning to be the best. Le bleu, blanc et rouge have the best reputation and track record in all of professional sports but we've just been consistently mediocre for years. The team hasn't had a true gamebreaking player (or a superstar, call it what you want) since Patrick Roy. We haven't had an offensive superstar since what, Guy Lafleur? And unfortunately, when I look at the team's prospect system I don't see anyone who's projected for that kind of offensive role. Don't get me wrong, guys like Grabovski, Higgins and Latendresse are cause for future hope but they all project to be good players, not great ones. Kyle Chipchura will be a great third liner, but he's not going to score. Andrei Kostistyn is hit-or-miss and even if he makes it he's unlikely to be the talent he was pegged to be. Alexander Perezhogin has just stagnated this season, his potential is not that of a superstar, and the clock's ticking at 24...I hope that the team builds on the win against Columbus, but long-term this team will need to be built into a contender before we can win the Cup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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