HE’S COMING! HE’S COMING! THE MARCEL IS COMING!
November 10th, 2009, 10:22 am
Marcel Goc makes his triumphant return to the Sharks Tank tonight after signing a one year deal with the Nashville Predators in the offseason. When you take a look at how much the Sharks bottom six forwards have improved, one has to tip their hat and give an assist to Predators GM Dave Poile for not resigning Scott Nichol and underutilizing Jed Ortmeyer, allowing them to fall into the clutches of our own Doug Wilson. Nichol and Ortmeyer have been two major keys to the transformation of the Sharks third and fourth line. Last season, the Sharks got limited offense and very little grit from their bottom six and this year these former Preds have brought a new attitude and work ethic to the mix. So, welcome back Marcel Goc. We may miss your blogging, but we do not miss your consistently disappointing play. I hope Poile is happy with your stat line and the $250,000 he saved by letting Nichol walk. Let’s look at the difference with the three stats that really matter for a bottom six center like Goc and Nichol: Hits, Faceoff % and PK time.
Marcel Goc (2009-10) 8 hits, 55.5% and 1:23 PK time.
Scott Nichol (2009-10) 53 hits, 64.2% (2nd in the NHL behind Paul Gaustad) and 2:07 PK time
Not to mention that Scott Nichol is a whopping 62% on PK faceoff draws and Goc is under 50%. Doug Wilson has delivered change in a big way with a player that might not get the press, but Nichol for Goc was a remarkable and much needed upgrade.
The Predators will be without their star blueliner, Shea Weber, tonight while the Sharks are getting back Seto and Vesce. I could see this causing semi-chaos upfront initially with the Sharks falling behind early, and I could also see this as what they call in the betting world a “trap game” with the Sharks perhaps looking ahead to a date with Dallas on Thursday. It’s for this reason that I hope McLellan starts Thomas Greiss tonight to keep the Sharks focused in their own end, forcing them not to check out against the weaker, hoe down dancing opponent. While the Preds are 2-9 against the Sharks in their last 11, I still smell trouble and a tight 3-2 win by the Sharks.
How do you like the new blog and sexy features? Just in case you were having trouble getting up for the game, a little dance down memory lane for you. Will McLellan play Staubitz tonight and scratch McGinn? We’ll have to see…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTpl_SuXygw[/youtube]
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Wow, pictures and youtubes, somebody is moving up in the world.
It’s funny, the stats that most people care about (goals, assists and +/-) are about equivalent for Goc and Nichol, yet their actual difference on ice seems like the Pacific ocean. Nichol hasn’t potted a goal but, unlike when Clowe hadn’t, I don’t actually care at all and love every minute the guy is on the ice. Nichol has a motor that just won’t quit.
I don’t think the team will have any trouble getting up for this game. Nichol and Orts want to beat their old team and the Sharks will want to help them do it. Kind of like Tampa last year for Boyle.
One minor question… how can Goc have a 55.5% face percentage and still be under 50%?
Go Sharks!
Great question and here’s the answer. Goc is 55.5% overall on faceoffs but on the penalty kill, he is only 7 for 16, which is 43.7%. Those are the draws that really matter in your own zone and when the pressure is on and Goc just plain doesn’t excel there. He is doing well at even strength but on the kill, 43% can be murder on your team. Could this be a reason why the Preds PK has slipped from the top ten last year (82%) to the bottom ten this season (77%)?
Bottom line Evil, you are correct. It doesn’t take any stat to see that Nichol has ten times more of an impact than Goc on this team.
Ah, that explains it, thanks.
Since Weber is the Preds’ highest scorer, and the Preds are already last in the league in scoring, I don’t anticipate the Sharks coming back from a deficit tonight.
According to Pollak Greiss will be between the pipes tonight and Mitchell has been shipped to Worcester for conditioning.
Lets hope we don’t get another round of Mitchell injuries while on a conditioning assignment.
Love the new digs guys, I’ll get to updating my links later today.
Funny you mentioned faceoff percentages shorthanded/even strength, I have something for tomorrow that goes over the same thing (with the article on sjsharks.com being the basis for it). I guess you can call me Ryan Garner.
Can’t wait to see Stauby and Tootoo go nose to “elbow” later tonight.
By admitting to finding inspiration or topics from others, you’re already not Garner.