The Avs started the preseason on the right foot last night, dropping the Phoenix Coyotes 4-3 in OT. I did not see the game, but that isn’t going to stop me from looking over the box score and event summary to help me make some astute observations.
First of all, kudos to the NHL for coming up with some slick looking new box scores. I didn’t really have much issue with the old style box scores and event summaries, but the new ones are much improved and infinitely easier to read. It looks like they’ve added a new stat - blocked attempts - and better faceoff and powerplay breakdowns. And, oh yeah, they’ve also disabled right-clicking on their pages.
It’s terrific that they are giving more information to the fan. So, why would the NHL do something lame like disabling the right-click? I’m not really sure why the league would want to do keep people from right-clicking on their box scores. To prevent the data from being copied? Brilliant! Considering the fact that it is ridiculously simple to overcome the script (such as, for example, simply disabling javascript), and that there’s really no good reason to even try to disable it in the first place, I have to say that, yet again, the NHL just continues to look foolish with every move they make.
And now, comments on the game. Again, these are just based on the box score.
The Good:
Paul Stastny scored 2 goals. Kyle Cumiskey - who had a great rookie camp - had 3 assists. Jaroslav Hlinka had 2 assists as well. Karlis Skrastins and Johnny Boychuk seemed to be playing together a lot, and were a combined +5. Cody McLeod fought the punk-ass Danny Carcillo. Peter Budaj and Tyler Weiman both seemed to play solid games. Stastny was 50% on his faceoffs - an area he struggled at last year. He also had 4 blocked shots, tied for tops on the team with Jordan Leopold. Jeff Jillson had over 23 minutes of ice time (2nd to Leopold), had 3 shots and 2 block shots. Tyler Arnason had 4 takeaways, and even contributed a hit (he had all of two last season). The team blocked 21 shots.
The bad:
Arnason was an awful 3 of 12 at faceoffs (25%). Matt Hussey was a barely-better 4 of 13 (31%) and TJ Hensick was 6 of 14 (43%). The team was at 42% overall - 31% at 5 on 5. This was one area that JF Giguere failed to improve this summer, and I think it will hurt us all season long. Scott Parker landed 2 interference penalties, both in the 2nd period (a frame where the Avs collected 5 minor penalties). Gotta stay out of that box, Sheriff. Hensick and Chris Stewart both played sparingly (13 and 10 minutes, respectively) - perhaps an indication that neither really have a shot at making the team despite strong camps. Although the goalies played well, they faced too many shots - the Coyotes outshot the Avalanche 45-22; that won’t work in the regular season. Finally, the team registered just 5 hits (the same number Shane Doan managed on his own). Overall, the Avs were outhit 14-5…and one of the 5 hits was from little Kyle Cumiskey.
As near as I can tell from the TOI sheet, the lines were as follows:
- Hlinka - Stastny - Jones
- Wolski - Arnason - Svatos
- Roche - Hussey - Parker
- Hensick - McLeod - Stewart
- Leopold - Sauer
- Skrastins - Boychuk
- Jillson - Cumiskey
There’s a lot of favorable things to take out of the game. Stastny seems ready to pick up right where he left off, and his performance is one of the keys to a succesful season. And Kyle Cumiskey has shown all month long that his short stint with the team last year was just the beginning. Still, despite many positives, the team still is struggling with some key deficiencies from last year - faceoffs, the lack of physical play, and too many shots given up. It’s just the first exhibition game, but, obviously, there’s still some work to be done.
Is it just me, or does the blocked shots column not add up correctly?
I see a BS for Jilson and for Leopold, and the total says 5?
OH. The superstats page thinks that it’s 6 minutes into the first period. That explains things. But even then, 1+1 != 5
that’s a little screwy. it was working this morning (although I noticed that some things - like shots - didn’t add up quite right). nowhere near as messed up as it is now, though.
Kind of strange to not have Cody McCormick playing preseason games. He’s been the staple preseason fighter for several seasons now, it just seems wrong.
So far so good. It’s pretty interesting that Skrastins is 1. Playing in a preseason game when a lot of vets got the night off and 2. He’s playing with Boychuk who has little to no chance of making the team. I don’ t know what to read in to that. We know Clark is on the second line but I’m not convinced it’s with Skrastins at this point. If Clark plays with Finger or Sauer on a second pairing that makes Skrastins a third pairing which is almost hard to believe. I have my critisms of him but he’s really not so bad as to be a 3rd pairing. Does Liles go on the second with Clark? Does Finger, Sauer or Cuminsky pair with Skrastins on the third? With that kind of depth, in what world does Jillson or Boychuk ever have a chance to crack the lineup? That’s a lot of defensive depth and good depth at the 5 and 6 position.
I read that Richardson limped off the ice during training camp but is now reported with a wrist injury that may keep him out “a few weeks”. Kind of mysterious that.
There are a plethora of problems with the stats in the NHL. Stuff that should correlate like shots taken, blocked shots, saves, and goals never add up. The Forechecker and several others have pointed this out in the past. Add in the fact that stats reporting is swayed heavily depending on the arena and it just muddies the water even further.
I’m pretty sure that part of the blocked shots stat (who shot the blocked shot) is new for this season, so maybe they are working the kinks out of that one.