Curmudgeon Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Written by David Staples at the Edmonton Journal, the following article measures the Canucks defence against LA in the first round. I wonder if the Canucks use this kind of metric in assessing thier players. "The Vancouver Canucks were the team that many of us loved to hate in last season's playoffs. This year, I saw them as the team to beat. After all, the Canucks entered the playoffs as the NHL's most successful team, having come out on top in 51 of 82 regular-season games. Of course, the Canucks were also facing a rapidly improving Los Angeles Kings team. The Kings had utterly dominated the Oilers twice in the final weeks of the season. My own take was the Kings had become one of the league's three or four best teams. The Kings dominated the Canucks in the first round of the playoffs. L.A. beat Vancouver four games to one, outscored them 12-8, and outchanced them 101-72, at least according to our count at The Cult of Hockey. So where did it go wrong for Vancouver? We recorded two metrics at The Cult of Hockey that shed some light: how each Vancouver player contributed to scoring chances for and against; and how each player did when it came to puck possession. These statistics point at one problem area for Vancouver, the even-strength play of their top-end defencemen Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Alexander Edler and Sami Salo. These four are all fine, sturdy hockey players, but they were up against a roster of skilled and large or larger L.A. forwards, players like Dustin Brown, Jarret Stoll, Dwight King, Anze Kopitar, Dustin Penner, Jordan Nolan and Jeff Carter. The individual scoring chance numbers paint an unflattering picture of how this contest ended up. Hamhuis chipped in on 10 chances for the Canucks at even strength, but made mistakes that contributed to 25 scoring chances against, making him -15 for scoring chances plus/minus. From recording this stat for two years on the Edmonton Oilers, and for two Stanley Cup finals, it's evident that if a defenceman is facing the toughest opposing forwards each night, he's doing a hell of a job if he can help create one scoring chance for every chance he makes a mistake on. That's what the superlative Zdeno Chara managed to do against the Sedins in last year's Stanley Cup final. But Hamhuis didn't come anywhere close to that marker of excellence. The same goes for Bieksa, who chipped in on six chances and made mistakes on 20, -14 overall. Edler was -11, Salo -5. The only Canucks defencemen who did well by this metric were the bottom-pair duo Chris Tanev, who was even, and Keith Ballard, +1. Tanev and Ballard played about 10 minutes less per game than Hamhuis, Bieksa and Edler, and also played against the least difficult competition. But at least the bottom pair got the job done, something no Oilers bottom pair has been able to do for years now. Edler's struggles can also be seen in his weak puck possession numbers (the full results for each player are now posted at The Cult blog). As a team, Vancouver made 1,773 plays on the puck in those five games, making a successful play 82 per cent of the time. The defencemen, except Edler, all were above that 82-per-cent mark, partially because they often make relatively simple side-to-side passes in their own end. Edler handled the puck more per minute than any other Vancouver defenceman other than Tanev. Yet while Tanev made a successful play 86 per cent of the time, Edler succeeded just 78 per cent of the time. Again, Edler faced much more difficult competition than Tanev did, but Edler didn't come close to excelling in his more difficult assignment. At forward, Henrik and Daniel Sedin both did well when it came to their possession game and their scoring chances plus/minus. Henrik was +9 on scoring chances, Daniel +3, in his two games. Jannik Hansen was a solid, +11, David Booth, +8, though one expects wingers to have high plus/minus numbers with this stat, given their more limited defensive responsibilities. Not so strong for the Canucks were Mason Raymond, who was just +4 and Chris Higgins, -3, not at all close to what a winger needs to achieve. In the end, the Canucks lack what almost every NHL team lacks - a star defenceman who can dominate at both ends. If general manager Mike Gillis can somehow find one - or if there's still room for growth with the 26-year-old Edler - Vancouver's storyline in the first round next year won't be so disappointing." Copyright - The Edmonton Journal Link: http://www.canada.co...4590/story.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lappykass Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Nice article. We have too many GOOD defencemen. We need to have a GREAT defencemen. We have the tools and players to get a trade done. That's really all we need and I think we all know it. Not exactly Weber, but somebody that can log 28 minutes and anchor our team. Actually, Weber sounds nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodee Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Good to know Ballard was up to standard (even on less minutes) It goes to confirm what many sensible people feel on here. He has vastly improved on his natural side and he is probably ready for more minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
17's heart&hustle Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Nice article. We have too many GOOD defencemen. We need to have a GREAT defencemen. We have the tools and players to get a trade done. That's really all we need and I think we all know it. Not exactly Weber, but somebody that can log 28 minutes and anchor our team. Actually, Weber sounds nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithers joe Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 that was interesting.....we all know edler, kesler and booth and raymond had off years.....having them at the top of their games would have surely change those numbers....it makes it hard on the sedin line when there is no secondary scoring.....LA's big forwards took it's toll on our top 4 defense for sure......willie mitchell, would have looked good for us out there... gillis said they need to get bigger, faster and stronger....that will take some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-ROD Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Wow- great article. This is what some of us have been complaining about for some time, yet the many here always point at goaltending. I really hope Gillis makes some moves to improve our defense, if not expect the same result next year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russ Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Good to know Ballard was up to standard (even on less minutes) It goes to confirm what many sensible people feel on here. He has vastly improved on his natural side and he is probably ready for more minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etsen3 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 That was a good read. I think I could already see the same problems by watching the games, but it was interesting to see it confirmed in stats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naslund.is.king Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Gillis summer should be focused on packaging luongo out of town for decent return then shifting his focus to a legit #1 shutdown d-man to play with edler or Dan. I dont care if he overpays a little no risk no reward. Best team we have ever had it's time to bring home the cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucksbiggestfan Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 It's time for Gillis to look at Suter this off season, he is the guy that we need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicklasjensen46 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 It's time for Gillis to look at Suter this off season, he is the guy that we need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Industrious1 Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I thought Ballard was playing well...but I didn't realize *how* well. Good to see...those other stats though will keep me up at night..ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordfish Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 It's time for Gillis to look at Suter this off season, he is the guy that we need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILL BILL NECRO Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 No he's not. They need a puck mover that can run the powerplay, first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronning4center Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 Gillis summer should be focused on packaging luongo out of town for decent return then shifting his focus to a legit #1 shutdown d-man to play with edler or Dan. I dont care if he overpays a little no risk no reward. Best team we have ever had it's time to bring home the cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucksbiggestfan Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 No he's not. They need a puck mover that can run the powerplay, first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordfish Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 It's funny that people say we need a puck moving d and a shut-down d.... We kinda need both.... So we should take the best player available to fit one of those roles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erkayloomeh Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 saying we need a stud dman is one thing...getting one is another.(especially with no current cap room) Even though we won the presidents trophy I think we had a year where you could see that the team just wasnt jelling from January on. From the time we beat the bruins in boston we looked like a disorganized team and we need to be carfeful before taking assesments of certain players too seriously (Kesler, edler) In my opinion the defense we had last year was a good enough d to win a cup. the only significant pc. from that group we are missing is erhoff who was not a stud dman but rather a good pp 1/4 back and a good puck mover. if ballard is only going to be a third pairing then he has to go whether he is playing well or not. I seem to recall MG saying that Raymond and Malotra were going to get another chance to return to form. I say its time to clean house from our weak spots, clear up cap space and go after replacemets for those three players (assuming KB is going to stay third pairing) Are we in the mood for another season to see if Raymond and malhotra can return to form?? Are we in the mood to see if AV can work Ballard into a more prominent role? Im not. Cap space is just to valuable. We need to move all three of these in my opinion and start filling the holes with other players that we trade for or with our youth. Our ace in the hole is that one of our goalies has to go. I say trade the goalie that brings you the greatest return. Just bcuz RL wants to go doesnt mean we have to trade him. I believe that if cory goes then Roberto will settle down over the next few months and return with a better attitiude next year. So to sum up my diagnosis for this offseason i would say we need to stabilize our goalie situation and maximize our return. Trade ballard for the most return we can get (if thats not a player that fits, then picks) Trade Raymond for the most return we can get (if thats not a player that fits, then picks) Trade Malhotra for the most return we can get (if thats not a player that fits, then picks) Then start filling in the holes. we can replace ballard with someone who is currently making 2-2.5 aucoin, bryan allen type guys (2 of them) Malhotra can be replaced by resiging pahlson Raymond needs to be replaced with a playmaking winger who has hockey smarts and can bring chemistry to booth and kesler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schlaBAM Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 By the numbers our biggest problem has been scoring goals. I feel we need a game changing forward who can turn the tide with energy all on his own. Someone to play with Kesler. So i'll bend on the d man if we can free up enough cash to add a big powerforward who can score..... I propose... Deal edler, ballard ( though id rather have him than hamhuis), luongo, don't qualify raymond. Try and aquire webber and Nash. I know it looks funny but we have to free up 15 million to get those two. Signing Schneids, moving lu, saying bye to raymond, and moving two of our five million dollor D men that just arent getting the job done.....then with the new CBA we can afford both easily. Now the lines look like this Sedin Sedin Burrows Nash kesler booth Higgens Paulsen Hanson Kassian Lapierre malholtra Webber bieksa ballard salo tanev connauton/rome/alberts Schneider Auld or whoever.... This to me is a far better line up on the ice that lost in the first round in 2012*** Not only that...but we now have set lines and pairings....should be no need to juggle lines every game. It will give everyone time for find consistancy in thier roles. For once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourlinesdeep Posted April 28, 2012 Share Posted April 28, 2012 I'll agree with this however we'll need to thin down the money we already have spent on D man. If you look at the other teams with high payed guys on the back end, the supporting cast is usually average guys or prospects. If everyone on CDC is dead set on a webber then we'll need to get rid of either Bieksa, Hamuis, or edler who is due for a big pay raise and I'm not so sure he's worth it. By the numbers our biggest problem has been scoring goals. I feel we need a game changing forward who can turn the tide with energy all on his own. Someone to play with Kesler. So i'll bend on the d man if we can free up enough cash to add a big powerforward who can score..... I propose... Deal edler, ballard ( though id rather have him than hamhuis), luongo, don't qualify raymond. Try and aquire webber and Nash. I know it looks funny but we have to free up 15 million to get those two. Signing Schneids, moving lu, saying bye to raymond, and moving two of our five million dollor D men that just arent getting the job done.....then with the new CBA we can afford both easily. Now the lines look like this Sedin Sedin Burrows Nash kesler booth Higgens Paulsen Hanson Kassian Lapierre malholtra Webber bieksa ballard salo tanev connauton/rome/alberts Schneider Auld or whoever.... This to me is a far better line up on the ice that lost in the first round in 2012*** Not only that...but we now have set lines and pairings....should be no need to juggle lines every game. It will give everyone time for find consistancy in thier roles. For once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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