Hold Your Horses! New Podcast Coming This Weekend.
March 15th, 2011, 9:06 am
The Sharks have technically lost four out of five with a crucial battle against division rival Dallas on tap tonight. The Dudes will return to the pre-recorded podcast airwaves on Saturday with a special double episode as we head for the playoff push to talk all things Sharks, playoff positioning, possible opponents and a preview of Sharks prospects and their OHL, WHL, QMJHL and NCAA hockey playoff battles.
Look for us then. Go Sharks!
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Fellas…
per Brodie Brazil via twitter… “PK: last 4 games (64.7%), last 16 games (70.2%), last 22 games (73.5%)”
It’s getting worse.
Ouch… Are you guys concerned? Becuase I am. If there is anything that can sink this ship faster I’d love to know… The PK is foundational to success, especially in the PO’s. If they can’t get this hemmoraging stopped soon it’s really gonna affect this team’s ability to compete night in and night out……. 🙁
Interesting that most of poor performances coming from who we think of as PK studs. Marleau, Vlasic, Mitchell and Pavelski have been our worst PKers, while Heatley, Thornton, Couture and HUSKINS are only giving up about 4 goals per 60 minutes, which comes out to a PK rate of about 87%. In other words, if everyone killed penalties at the rate of those last 4, the Sharks would be #2 in the league in PK%.
Marleau is playing at a 70% PK rate, while Mitchell, Pavs and Vlasic are at around 75%. Those are AWFUL numbers (as a team, ATL is the worst at 76%).
What do Scott Nichol’s numbers look like? During the Dallas game their announcers cited that the Sharks had given up at least 2 PP goals in 3 of the last 4 games (or something like that). I tried to mentally chalk that up to part Scott Nichol, part statistical variance, and part sheer panic that they’re going to eff this thing up in the playoffs…
So I’m able to impartially look at the fact that CHI and VAN have great PP numbers and those are two of the teams we’ve played lately. But I do think getting guys back like Nichol and Huskins back will help… Did I just type that?
The thing that bothers me is the way it kinda sinks the team emotionally and in their confidence. I thought giving up those two PP goals in Chicago really screwed them up in their heads and had a major influence on that game. The PK has ALWAYS historically been a strength of this team’s core and it’s concerning to see it struggle. Especially when the success we’ve had this year has come from a defense-first mentality.
Scott Nichol is at about 81%, about average. I think he serves his role well as the 2nd PK unit on the ice, but certainly nothing to get carried away about.
You want to know something else about Heatley on the PK? Not only do the Sharks give up the fewest goals when he is on the PK, they score the most shorthanded goals when he is on the ice as well! They score a shorthanded goal 8% of the time he kills penalties. I know, small sample size, but it is almost criminal how little PK love Heatley has gotten this year.
Too little content these days guys! Been listening for years and it looks like you’re fading. Thanks to Tom for trying to beef it up a bit.