The 2009-10 Washington Capitals with bullets and statistics

by TylerG on Dec 25, 2009 12:08 AM EST

Random statistical musings in bullet form (minimum nine games played for defensemen, 10 for forwards).

Washington Defensemen

The WSH defenseman with the best 5-on-5 GFON/60 is Mike Green (4.39). Jeff Schultz is next (3.57).
Green leads NHL D in this category. The gap between Mike Green and runner-up Pavel Kubina: 0.57 GFON/60.
Number of defensemen who are as close to second-ranked Kubina in GFON/60 as Kubina is to leader Green: 13.
The WSH defenseman with the second-worst 5-on-5 GAON/60: Green (2.59). Worst: ShaMo (3.11).
The WSH defenseman with the best 5-on-5 GAON/60 is John Erskine (1.01), followed by Brian Pothier (1.41). Erskine ranks sixth among NHL D in this category.
Next is Jeff Schultz (1.57), who has played against the third-best competition of any WSH D. Erskine has played against the worst competition of any WSH D, followed by Pothier.
One reason John Erskine's 5-on-5 GAON/60 is so fantastic?: Erskine leads WSH D in PIMs (45). ShaMo is second (27).
Green has taken more minor penalties than any WSH D (13). Twenty-seven NHL defensemen have taken more minor penalties than Green.
Startling: The Caps have three defensemen who have exactly the same 5-on-5 GAON/60 and GFON/60: Milan Jurcina (2.53), Tyler Sloan (2.42) and Karl Alzner (2.20).
Green scores 1.70 points per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play, best on the team. Schultz is second (1.15). ShaMo is last (0.31).
Green is fifth in the NHL in that category. One of the players ahead of him is Staffan Kronwall. In three games for WSH last year, Kronwall scored 0 points. Kronwall has played 11 games this season for Calgary.

Washington Forwards

Alex Ovechkin leads WSH F in 5-on-5 GFON/60 (4.76). He is second in the NHL in this category, .06 GFON/60 behind Patrick Elias.
Ovechkin's +/-ON/60 is 3.04. (This means that over the course of 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play, Ovechkin is on-ice for 3.04 more WSH goals than he is on-ice for goals-against.) This leads the league. Mike Knuble is second (2.71).
Knuble has taken 10 minor penalties, third among WSH Fs. (Semin 11, Morrison 11.)
Quintin Laing leads WSH F in GAON/60 (1.27). That is good for 37th in the NHL. The Caps' worst F in GAON/60 is Tomas Fleischmann (2.67), followed by Chris Clark (2.45) and Nick Backstrom (2.36).
Backstrom plays against the second-best competition of any WSH F (Semin).
Clark plays against the worst competition of any WSH F.
Ovechkin scores 2.25 goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play. This is second in the NHL behind Anaheim's Dan Sexton (2.40). Ovechkin is trailed by Joffrey Lupul (2.14) and then Fleischmann (1.91). (Sexton has played 10 NHL games. He has scored five goals. Last year Sexton played much of the year in Bakersfield of the ECHL. Bakersfield is in California, which is not on the East Coast.)
Among Caps, David Steckel has scored the fewest goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play (0.16). Next is Brooks Laich (0.37).
Eric Fehr has scored more goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play than Alex Semin (1.47 to 1.44). Fehr also has a higher GFON/60 than Semin (3.78 to 3.75) and a lower GAON/60 than Semin (1.47 to 2.16).
Semin: 14:52 TOI at 5-on-5 per game.
Eric Fehr: 10:35.
Semin and Brendan Morrison lead WSH Fs with 11 minor penalties. Fehr has taken 5 minor penalties.
Semin plays against the best competition of any WSH F. Fehr plays against the fourth-worst.

If this FanPost is written by someone other than one of the blog's editors, the opinions expressed in it do not necessarily reflect those of this blog or SB Nation.

Tweet Comment 23 comments | 2 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

tyler, can you explain the connection between erskine’s excellent 5-on-5 GAON/60 and his 45 PIMs?

by Natty Bumppo on Dec 25, 2009 12:37 AM EST reply actions

I just tried looking that up to find a connection. 33 of his 45 PIMs were condensed into four games:

1 Oct vs BOS (7 PIMs, no GA while in the box);
6 Oct vs PHI (4 PIMs, no GA while in the box);
20 Nov vs MON (5 PIMs, 1 5-on-5 GA), and;
15 Dec vs COL (17 PIMs, 1 PP GA as a result of a Semin penalty).

The only connection I can see between PIMs and 5-on-5 GA is if he takes a lot of offsetting majors or gets 10 min misconducts a lot, which he doesn’t.

by Cluster on Dec 25, 2009 9:14 AM EST up reply actions

He fouls someone every time they’ve beaten him and have a scoring chance, thereby keeping his GAON/60 low and his PIMs high?

Japers' Rink: Hockey blogging from the most powerful city in the world

by J.P. on Dec 25, 2009 10:23 AM EST up reply actions

Bingo.

Also, I think the Erskine stat indirectly points to the adventure that is Mike Green, who has a high GFON/60 and who takes a lot of minor penalties.

Modern Art Notes

by TylerG on Dec 25, 2009 10:48 AM EST up reply actions

One way or another, the following reorderingwould be more intuitive…

One reason John Erskine’s 5-on-5 GAON/60 is so fantastic?…
Erskine has played against the worst competition of any WSH D, followed by Pothier.

It’s pretty clear that Erskine’s low GAON is because he’s being protected by Boudreau. Basically, Erskine can’t be trusted against the other team’s top line, but he makes up for it by being useless on the power play and not very good as a penalty killer.

Credit Boudreau — he knows what he’s got when he’s behind the bench during a game, and he’s using Erskine appropriately in-game. Now, why he doesn’t apply that knowledge earlier in the day when he’s deciding who is going to start — that’s a mystery.

Atta dinnin stick a who!

by Gould Old Days on Dec 25, 2009 10:48 AM EST up reply actions

Whatevs. I was trying to note more than one thing about more than one player. The point is there. Complain about the order if it makes you happy.

Modern Art Notes

by TylerG on Dec 25, 2009 11:11 AM EST up reply actions

Good work here Tyler, I enjoyed reading it. I guess we owe you a sincere apology for trying to engage you on one of your points about a player you don’t like. Sorry to have bothered.

Happy Holidays, buddy.

by Cluster on Dec 25, 2009 12:09 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

I think this point is bolstered by the number of times Erskine picks up his PIMs in 5s and 10s. Those aren’t the “oops, I just got beat” variety. I think you may both be right, though. He could be protected by BB and still take PIMs when he’s beaten.

In an ideal world all ten fingers would be on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.

by Rob Parker on Dec 27, 2009 2:37 PM EST up reply actions

I guess I’m missing the point re: his PIMs, then. I don’t see how his PIMs can be considered high in the context of GAON/60. Only 14 of his PIMs are the non-aggression type, or as you put it, penalties when he’s been beaten and given up a scoring chance. A quick glance at the game logs for other Caps D show roughly the same number of minors taken. Erskine doesn’t appear to be an outlier.

by Cluster on Dec 25, 2009 12:07 PM EST up reply actions

Erskine does take 26% more restraining fouls per minute than any other Caps defenseman, though.

by David Getz on Dec 25, 2009 12:13 PM EST up reply actions

And that’s even in spite of the fact that he plays against weak competition and almost solely limits his game to the defensive side of things.

by David Getz on Dec 25, 2009 12:14 PM EST up reply actions

I’m with ya on his penalties taken rate, but it’s just not clicking in my head how that translates to GAON/60. It’s so much more of a compelling argument, like you say below, that quality of competition accounts for his high GAON/60.

Out of all of Erskine’s penalties, only five minors were restraining (I count four holdings and one holding the stick). Serious question: Erskine is also tied for best on the team in Penalties Drawn/60 at 0.8. How does that factor into GAON/60?

by Cluster on Dec 25, 2009 2:25 PM EST up reply actions

I’m not saying it ‘translates’ to GAON/60. See JP’s comment. I’m also comparing Erskine’s GA to others who get it done with fewer PIMs and to others who have high GAON/60 and high GFON/60.

Modern Art Notes

by TylerG on Dec 27, 2009 11:01 AM EST up reply actions

He’s saying that when Erskine gets beat he holds the guy and takes a PIM instead of a GA. So his higher PIM levels indicate he’s getting beat but the punishment to the team is a PK not a GA. It may or may not be true, and even if it is I’d take a PK over a GA every time.

In an ideal world all ten fingers would be on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.

by Rob Parker on Dec 27, 2009 2:39 PM EST up reply actions

Eric Fehr has scored more goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play than Alex Semin (1.47 to 1.44). Fehr also has a higher GFON/60 than Semin (3.78 to 3.75) and a lower GAON/60 than Semin (1.47 to 2.16).

Look, we get it, he’s good. But at the end of the day, he’s still no Tomas Fleischmann.

Happy Holidays,
Gabby

by David Getz on Dec 25, 2009 11:43 AM EST reply actions 2 recs

Wellthe silver lining is that he’s getting more ice time now than last year…albeit not top 6 minutes, but baby steps.

by Yoshietree on Dec 25, 2009 12:39 PM EST up reply actions

And I’d still like to see the two of them paired up consistently.

by Yoshietree on Dec 25, 2009 12:40 PM EST up reply actions

This point is surprising, and highlights something that I think a lot of people may be overlooking. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Sure, the team needs the creative offensive types, but you can be just as productive without being the creative guy if you know how to use your skill set and compliment the creative player. Fehr certainly seems to be getting better at that, and if he keeps producing like this I don’t particularly care if he can’t dazzle with his curl-n-drag or snipe a corner from 50 feet.

In an ideal world all ten fingers would be on my left hand so my right hand could just be a fist for punching.

by Rob Parker on Dec 27, 2009 2:41 PM EST up reply actions

David Steckel is playing himself into the 4C role, and I’m starting to buy into the evidence that the Caps need another pivot for the stretch.

Support your local bakery!

by bigonetimer on Dec 26, 2009 11:33 AM EST reply actions

Starting? I haven’t thought of him as a third line center this entire season.

With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another.

by zephyr on Dec 26, 2009 9:54 PM EST up reply actions

I was unclear: I meant another pivot currently outside the organization. I don’t mean to imply that Steckel won’t be plenty useful down the stretch—he will be, as long as he’s killing it in the dot and PKing effectively—but as much as I love 85, that is not the hole card I necessarily want at the big table in April.

Support your local bakery!

by bigonetimer on Dec 27, 2009 1:38 PM EST up reply actions