Something I’m going to do a little more of is in the 2nd half of the season is to include a few more statistical updates. I might even get around to updating the stats page, but no promises.
That’s how everyone’s fared over the last 10 days. Svatos and Bruno are leading the way with 8 points each. Jeff Finger has as many points (4) as Milan Hedjuk does. Guite, McLeod and McCormick have 56 hits between them - or about 35% of the team total (158).
In just 6 games since coming back from the IR, Tyler Arnason has matched his hit total from last year (2).
Speaking of hits, in the last week John-Michael Liles has surpassed his LY totals in both hits (33 this year, 31 last year) and block shots (71, 68). His offensive struggles have been well-documented, which, unfortunately overshadow the fact that he has improved substantially in his own end.
Liles has done a lot better in his own end for sure. He’s clearing the puck from his own zone a lot better as well. He can still get caught (ie his “heroic” poke-check to save a 1 on 1 chance in the Columbus game. That was Skrastins-like in the fact that he wouldn’t be a hero in the first place if he didn’t get caught in a bad pinch). The one thing Liles has never done with his offense on a regular basis is get his shot on net. He really blisters some shots but a lot of those ring off the back boards for some reason. I’ve said since the beginning of the year that Finger doesn’t have a hard slap shot that will intimidate any goaltender. What he does have is an accurate shot that he gets on net and through traffic. This may be the only place where they are ever mentioned in the same breath but Lidstrom does the same thing. His shot is nothing spectacular but he always gets it on net. I think because his shot isn’t lightning fast Holstrom has more chances to tips and screens as well. Finger is not too fast, nor too slow..it’s juuuuuust right. Liles could easily do the same thing but I think he’s aiming for corners or trying to slap shot out of his skates at times.
Hejduk is really hot/cold, how many of his four points are off empty net goals or secondary assists?
“The one thing Liles has never done with his offense on a regular basis is get his shot on net. He really blisters some shots but a lot of those ring off the back boards for some reason.”
maybe he took shooting lessons from Rob Blake.
Yeah, even in his heyday Blake couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat…
Glad to see him scuffing the boards in LA instead of here. I miss his veteran presence at the blueline and his penchant for shooting first and asking questions later (my favorite being “Who’d I hit?”), but he seems to have lost a step the last couple of years. Maybe the Avs made the right decision with him.