| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Guest4178 |
Posted - 03/02/2011 : 14:35:26
Not unlike most first line forwards, approximately 35-40% of Joe Thornton's points were scored on the power play the past three seasons. (He tallied 271 points the past three seasons, and 101 of those points were scored on the power play.)
But not this year! Thornton currently has 52 points, and more than half of his points (28) have been scored on the power play. He's near the bottom of his team in plus/minus, and to put things in perspective, his teammates Logan Couture and Ryan Clowe have more even strength points than Thornton with 33 and 39 points respectively.
When scrolling through the stats, it's rare to see a forward with more power play points than even strength points. A few players jump out – one is Dany Heatley who has about the same number of power play points as even strength points. (24 of his 50 points have come on the power play.) Matt Cullen has 20 power play points out of his 36 points, and Vincent Lecavalier has only 14 even strength out of his 36 points.
Getting back to Heatley and Thornton, their even strength stats are incredibly low. Heatley currently sits in 109th place overall, and Thornton is even further back at 146th in even strength points. This should be worrisome for Sharks fans. These stats appear to show a weakness at even strength, and when your top players are not performing 5-on-5, you better hope your other players pick up the slack. (Or pray for lots of power plays!) |
| 5 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Beans15 |
Posted - 03/03/2011 : 06:36:48
San Jose out in the first round??? I smell a bet coming.......
I've always liked Thornton but it's hard to argue with the points Willus has made. Few things are more frustrating than seeing a guy who is 6'4" and 220 lbs skate to the back of the scrumb in the corner and wait for the puck to come out. He plays big when he has the puck and small most other times. |
| n/a |
Posted - 03/03/2011 : 04:58:58
Well, it really depends on the team, and frankly, some championship teams in the past have lived and died by their power play. It can work like that.
That being said, I agree with Willus - Thornton is too often a perimeter player, and those guys are easier to neutralise in the playoffs. That is why a guy like Pavelski did so well in the playoffs, mucking it up going strong to the net, and digging in the corners. And . . . there is a certain lack of what I will call "hyper-tenacity" in the playoffs from Thornton, and from what I have seen, Heatley as well.
I think San Jose will fold like a cheap chair in the first round this year.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
| willus3 |
Posted - 03/02/2011 : 19:07:06
Thornton is a perimeter player. This makes him an easy player to defend which really shows come playoff time every year where people say he under performs. It's not so much that he under performs it's moreso that the oppositions coaching staff over 7 games comes up with a game plan to neutralize him. He won't go to the dirty areas and coaches know it. |
| TheRC |
Posted - 03/02/2011 : 18:52:46
I took a road trip out to Detroit last week and saw the Red Wings host the sharks. I was impressed with what I saw from San Jose. It was a very, very close game, but the Sharks played with some serious intensity, and it seemed like they simply refused to lose.
I wonder if that will make a difference come playoff time? In previous years it seemed like they walked over their opponents with ease in the regular season, but then didn't know how to handle that much more desperate playoff style hockey. Maybe all these close, scrappy games where they win as much by willpower as skill will come in handy in the spring.
"If at first you don't succeed, you fail" |
| Guest0288 |
Posted - 03/02/2011 : 17:42:22
but yet they're currently on a 7 game winning streak and just continue to win hockey games and in the past month have gone from a team that looked like they wouldn't make the playoffs to a 3rd place team. Say what you want about thornton and heatley, but the sharks are a very different team than from past years. This is coming from someone who has watched pretty much every game since the lockout. I know a lot of people think the sharks are the same every year, kill it in the regular season and then tank it in the playoffs, but for the 1st time since they've been a top team, they are finally playing as a team, rather than a team that is carried by a couple superstars. In past years I think the sharks have been reliant on Thornton, Heatley and Marleau to score all there goals, but this year they've finally got it, everyone is chipping in and everything is coming together.
So ya maybe the sharks aren't beating teams as handily as in years past and ya maybe guys like Thornton aren't putting up big numbers and ya maybe the sharks don't put up huge number's 5 on 5, but they've been winning a lot of games recently by 1 or 2 goals, and right now they are one of the toughest teams to beat in the NHL. for the 1st time in a long time the sharks don't expect to be given games, they go out and take them. They're playing harder than i've ever seen them play before |
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