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Pavol Demitra, flying under the radar


Andrew Bucholtz

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[You can find the original post with video here].

One of the stars of the Winter Olympics’ men’s hockey tournament was <b>Pavol Demitra</b>, who finished first in overall scoring with 10 points (three goals and seven assists) in seven games and played a crucial role in Slovakia’s eventual fourth-place finish. It was an interesting showing from Demitra, who had barely featured at all with the Canucks this year thanks to injuries and was playing on the fourth line in the days before the tournament. Was Demitra’s play at the Olympics an aberration, or a sign of things to come, and can he be effective for the Canucks down the stretch? Let’s take a look.

Demitra certainly has the talent to star offensively at the NHL level, as he’s shone on many occasions. He’s had three seasons with 30 or more goals and 10 seasons with 20 goals or more. He's also had four seasons with 70 points or more and 10 seasons with 50 points or more. However, one of the main knocks on him has been his consistency. He’s often struggled with injuries, and for every night where he’s been outstanding, there have been other nights where he’s been invisible. Last season with the Canucks, he put up a very efficient line of 20 goals and 33 assists in 69 games, but he looked brilliant in some games and was hardly noticeable in others. This year, he only has seven points in the 14 games he's played.

Linemates often have a considerable influence on a player’s success, though, and for much of his Canucks’ career, Demitra hasn’t exactly received the cream of the crop. The best offensive player who he’s seen regular time with is probably <b>Ryan Kesler</b>. Kesler can be very good offensively at times, but he often plays as a two-way guy with a focus on defence. Still, he's much better than some of the other players who have been paired with Demitra, guys like <b>Taylor Pyatt</b> and <b>Jannik Hansen</b> who are capable in their own right but hardly offensive dynamos.

What often flies under the radar is that Demitra can be an effective defensive player, though. Using <em>Behind The Net</em>'s <a href="http://www.behindthenet.ca/2009/new_5_on_5.php?sort=28&amp;section=goals&amp;mingp=&amp;mintoi=&amp;team=VAN&amp;pos=">advanced stats</a>, we can take a look at how many goals the Canucks scored per 60 minutes of even-strength time that certain players were on the ice (GFON/60) and how many goals they allowed (GAON/60) during that same period. This gives you a sense of how the team would do if they played that player for the entire game (without fatigue), and allows for a more effective isolation of a particular player's skills than the standard plus-minus system. This season, Demitra has an unremarkable 2.21 GFON/60, but a sparkling GAON/60 of 0.74. That's the best mark on the team (except for <b>Evan Oberg</b> and <b>Guillaume Desbiens</b>, who both saw brief ice time in the one game they played without having a goal scored against them). Demitra also has a +/-ON/60 of 1.47, the seventh-best mark on the team. His numbers are necessarily prone to small sample size, given the limited number of games he's played in this year, but they suggest that he can be a capable and useful player even when he isn't registering points.

Demitra's performance in the Olympics showed that he still has that offensive talent, though, and gave plenty of hope that he can contribute offensively during the playoff push. He also has three points in his three games since the break. However, even if he doesn't display the same sort of scoring prowess he did during the Olympic tournament, don't write him off yet. His contributions this year have gone well beyond the offensive end, and that bodes well for the Canucks. Despite his limited presence on the stat sheet and his injury concerns, there's every reason to believe this won't be a wasted year for Demitra.

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