Mrs. Ranger Ric and I have returned from a 3+ week holiday to Australia and New Zealand. I learned that men’s field hockey is a big sport in Australia but not ice hockey.
Thanks to Clark for posting the Hartford highlights and to the posters who watched some games and provided their thoughts. I was able to follow the team from afar but haven’t watched a game in over a month.
To recalibrate my thoughts I decided to do some stat surfing to try to evaluate where the team is heading into Thanksgiving.
The Team
Hartford is 8-5-1-1 going into this weekend’s games. The team is second in the division in points but only fourth in percentage. But hiding behind that record is that the team only has three regulation wins. If there were no overtime, the team record would be 3-5-7.
Hartford has scored five less goals than it has given up (46-51). It’s power play is 14th in the conference and 27th in the league at 11.9% and it’s penalty kill is 14th in the conference and 29th in the league at 73.8%. Hartford has given up nine more goals that it has scored on penalties (9-16). When you subtract the overtime and penalty goals the team’s 5X5 scoring is 34-33. All in all a mediocre record.
Goalies
I read with approval the postings about the need to play Garand more than Domingue. Garand is in his third year meaning that next year he will not be waiver exempt if he doesn’t make the Rangers. You would think the Rangers would want to be comfortable that Garand could be back up next year if Quick retires.
Garand’s record is far superior this year to Domingue’s. Garand is 5-1-1 with a 2.52 GAA and 0.918 save percentage. Domingue is 3-4-1 with a 3.82 GAA and an 0.884 save per percentage. Just based on stats it appears that this year Garand gives the team a better chance to win.
Defense
Before the season I suggested that a weakness on the defense was a puck moving defenseman who could run a power play. No Hallowell, Jones, Reunanan, Pionk in site. While I won’t say that the lack of a PP QB is the cause of the poor PP numbers this year it likely is a factor. And when you look at the Ranger defensive prospects, Fortescue, Emery, Kempf, none shows much offensive upside. The lack of a puck moving defenseman is an organizational weakness.
I saw Victor Mancini play parts of a few games while he was in college and I remember writing that fans should not sleep on this guy. I think nyr2K2 posted similar comments. I was excited to see Mancini when he signed last year and his play was very good. It was great to see him make a strong impression in Rangers camp. And he also showed an offensive flair that he didn’t show in college.
But it’s really hard to jump from college right to the NHL and I think it’s even harder for defensemen than forwards. I think Mancini needs more time in the AHL and I was glad to see that the Rangers sent him down rather than scratching him as the seventh defenseman. I’m high on Mancini and expect him to replace Trouba next year.
Unless you consider Scanlin (25), who I like a lot, and Robertson, in his fourth season, as prospects, Hartford is going with a veteran defense except for Mancini, who was called up yesterday. You would expect to see fewer goals given up with an experienced defense. I don’t know what is the problem but the defense as a whole is off to a slow start.
Hartford did sign three young defensemen, Case McCarthy, Ryan Siedem and Carter Berger to AHL contracts with the first two getting two year deals. But all three are in Bloomington. While McCarthy was called up with the Harpur suspension, he didn’t get into any games with Blake Hillman replacing Harpur. I would have liked to have McCarthy be given a shot before being sent back to Bloomington.
Forwards
Brennan Othmann’s long-term injury is very unfortunate. Given the Rangers’s cap situation next year, it’s likely that Othmann, Berard and/or Perreault will need to play forward for there Rangers. Othmann shows signs of talent but he hasn’t been consistent and he needs to play. Meanwhile, Berard is having another good season with 12 points in 15 games while shooting at 13.3%.
When Chytil was injured, the Rangers called up Jake Leschyschen. As the lowest earning forward the Rangers were able to save a few dollars to continue to accumulate cap space for the trade deadline. But with Jake playing second line center and contributing little offense, his call up gave Dylan Roobroeck the opportunity to play on a higher line with better players and have ore opportunities. Roobroeck has responded and I hope with Jake’s return he doesn’t move Roobroeck back to the fourth line.
I have been less of a fan of Sykora because of the lack of offense but this year he has scored 9 points in 15 games shooting at 13%. The increased production is encouraging.
I like Chmelar. He’s big, physical, a good skater and has some skill. His seven points in 15 games shooting at only 7.4% is fine for a rookie. His +/- of -8 sticks out even acknowledging that +/- has its weaknesses.
BMB has 5 points in 11 games playing left wing on the fourth line. At some point I would like to see him move over the center even if he stays on the fourth line.
Matt Rempe. 8 games, 2 points , -6. It certainly doesn’t look great. Maybe things will get better as he plays more.
I would be interested in hearing from those who have watched any games over the last month about my stat surfing comments.
