Post by swervinmervin123 on Jun 11, 2011 12:46:22 GMT -5
I went to the official Thrashers website, and reviewed the stats.
It's very clear that the number 1 need for this team is to have a coaching staff and organization that can DEVELOP the young players in this organization. This is maybe the over-riding need.
Other posters on this site have also talked about the idea of adding 1 or 2 seasoned veteran players - ideally players who would be good MENTORS for the young players. This would be like the role that Randy Carlyle played when he joined the Jets, during those NHL days.
What follows are some reflections on the statistical story from 2010-11:
Total goals scored ranking:
-overall - 20th
-home - 27th (!!)
-road - 8th (!)
Total goals against
-overall - 28th (!! - ouch)
-home - 25th
-road - 30th (!! - ouch)
Power play effectiveness (%)
-overall - 12th (! - not bad!)
-home - 20th (!?)
-road - 7th (!!?)
Penalty killing effectiveness (%)
-overall - 27th (!! ouch!!)
-home - 24th
-road - 29th
The above statistics show that the Thrashers' biggest issue in 2010-11 was DEFENSE. They were 28th in the league - and 30th on the road. The penalty killing mirrors this almost exactly.
This may reflect a youthful team that needs to learn how to play a disciplined defensive system at the NHL level. The fact that they were worse on the road EVEN ON A COMPARATIVE BASIS may also reflect the same issue. All things being equal, you would expect a veteran team to know how to "ride out" the opposing home crowd and momentum, and focus on playing a disciplined game, even (or especially) on the road.
To look at this as a "glass half full" type issue - there is a lot of room for improvement in the defensive aspects of the game - especially on the road. If they can achieve a big improvement here, they could improve their team record dramatically.
The offense was a little below NHL average at even strength, and a little above NHL average on the power play (!). Wow!! Unlike the goals against, the Thrashers seemed to score better than usual on the road, compared to home games. Overall, a tighter road game with fewer goals against might be more effective in earning wins, or ties/overtime losses on the road. But the overall offensive performance is already closer to average for the NHL. Whatever is already working on the power play - keep it up!!! Even strength scoring could still improve some, but is OK. The scoring at even strength and on the power play were both better on the road than they were at home - could it be that the Thrashers will get more of a home-crowd boost for their scoring at home in 2011-12???
Individual player stats -
It is good, I think, to consider the individual player stats with all of the above comments in mind. They are a young team. They could benefit from training and mentorship. They could benefit from a tighter road game approach and from some veteran road warriors.
The individual stats reflect some of those principles. You can't help but notice Bogosian's -27 plus/minus. I DON'T believe in giving up too quickly on young players with potential. I would like to see what Bogosian can do in a Winnipeg uniform with some veteran mentorship (is there a modern Randy Carlyle in the NHL?) for a couple more years! Really, if we can see on average a 10-15% hockey improvement each year from all of these young players, and improve on the defense (especially on the road), this can be a SUPER hockey team in a few years, and could be very competitive over the next couple of years.
There are some surprisingly good individual statistics (e.g. Little and Wheeler are +10 and +11, for example), but since I really don't know these players much at all, I feel like it is better to focus on the team statistical analysis for now - for myself, anyway.
GO WINNIPEG GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's very clear that the number 1 need for this team is to have a coaching staff and organization that can DEVELOP the young players in this organization. This is maybe the over-riding need.
Other posters on this site have also talked about the idea of adding 1 or 2 seasoned veteran players - ideally players who would be good MENTORS for the young players. This would be like the role that Randy Carlyle played when he joined the Jets, during those NHL days.
What follows are some reflections on the statistical story from 2010-11:
Total goals scored ranking:
-overall - 20th
-home - 27th (!!)
-road - 8th (!)
Total goals against
-overall - 28th (!! - ouch)
-home - 25th
-road - 30th (!! - ouch)
Power play effectiveness (%)
-overall - 12th (! - not bad!)
-home - 20th (!?)
-road - 7th (!!?)
Penalty killing effectiveness (%)
-overall - 27th (!! ouch!!)
-home - 24th
-road - 29th
The above statistics show that the Thrashers' biggest issue in 2010-11 was DEFENSE. They were 28th in the league - and 30th on the road. The penalty killing mirrors this almost exactly.
This may reflect a youthful team that needs to learn how to play a disciplined defensive system at the NHL level. The fact that they were worse on the road EVEN ON A COMPARATIVE BASIS may also reflect the same issue. All things being equal, you would expect a veteran team to know how to "ride out" the opposing home crowd and momentum, and focus on playing a disciplined game, even (or especially) on the road.
To look at this as a "glass half full" type issue - there is a lot of room for improvement in the defensive aspects of the game - especially on the road. If they can achieve a big improvement here, they could improve their team record dramatically.
The offense was a little below NHL average at even strength, and a little above NHL average on the power play (!). Wow!! Unlike the goals against, the Thrashers seemed to score better than usual on the road, compared to home games. Overall, a tighter road game with fewer goals against might be more effective in earning wins, or ties/overtime losses on the road. But the overall offensive performance is already closer to average for the NHL. Whatever is already working on the power play - keep it up!!! Even strength scoring could still improve some, but is OK. The scoring at even strength and on the power play were both better on the road than they were at home - could it be that the Thrashers will get more of a home-crowd boost for their scoring at home in 2011-12???
Individual player stats -
It is good, I think, to consider the individual player stats with all of the above comments in mind. They are a young team. They could benefit from training and mentorship. They could benefit from a tighter road game approach and from some veteran road warriors.
The individual stats reflect some of those principles. You can't help but notice Bogosian's -27 plus/minus. I DON'T believe in giving up too quickly on young players with potential. I would like to see what Bogosian can do in a Winnipeg uniform with some veteran mentorship (is there a modern Randy Carlyle in the NHL?) for a couple more years! Really, if we can see on average a 10-15% hockey improvement each year from all of these young players, and improve on the defense (especially on the road), this can be a SUPER hockey team in a few years, and could be very competitive over the next couple of years.
There are some surprisingly good individual statistics (e.g. Little and Wheeler are +10 and +11, for example), but since I really don't know these players much at all, I feel like it is better to focus on the team statistical analysis for now - for myself, anyway.
GO WINNIPEG GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!