The Habs re-discovered the winning touch this
week, taking all 3 of their home games while Mike Cammalleri turned Montreal’s
first hat trick of the season. Hamilton also continued their hot streak
remaining undefeated in regulation through the first 8 games. Faceoffs are
the focus of this week’s Stat Pack, while the Final Thought takes a closer look
at Kyle Chipchura. This, plus the weekly Power Rankings, in the Recap.
|
Power |
The PPR’s are on a cumulative basis with
some bias towards the current week. The prev. column represents the last
ranking for the player; players not on last week’s list will be slotted back
where they were when returning from injury/benching/recall (italicized numbers).
Thus, multiple players may have the same previous ranking.
Rk |
Player |
Prev. |
Comments |
1 |
Mike Cammalleri | 3 | Has taken the top line to a whole new level, 4 goals this week alone. |
| 2 | Scott Gomez | 6 | He may not be scoring much, but he’s setting the others up at least. |
3 |
Brian Gionta | 5 | Pretty much the only reason the Habs beat Atlanta on Tuesday. |
| 4 | Tomas Plekanec | 1 | 9 points notwithstanding, I’ve been most impressed with his defence. |
5 |
Jaroslav Halak | 11 | Shaky at times, but 3 wins from the backup goalie? Can’t complain. |
| 6 | Roman Hamrlik | 2 | A couple of shaky moments, but he is stepping up and earning his pay. |
7 |
Glen Metropolit | 7 | Is he really the glue guy that holds the offence together? |
| 8 | Paul Mara | 9 | Solid in every facet and bailed out Bergeron a few times along the way. |
9 |
Josh Gorges | 7 | Leaps and bounds better than the first few games of the season. |
| 10 | Maxim Lapierre | 15 | I don’t think him in an offensive role works long-term, but it did this week. |
11 |
Guillaume Latendresse | 13 | Woke up from his trance to actually play well on the 4th line. |
| 12 | Travis Moen | 8 | Didn’t play poorly, but he was barely visible, the aggression wasn’t there. |
13 |
Marc-Andre Bergeron | – | Just as advertised: There’s never going to be dull moments with him. |
| 14 | Jaroslav Spacek | 12 | Actually appears less and less comfortable by the game. |
15 |
Kyle Chipchura | 17 | Proved he can play when he’s flanked with actual NHL talent. |
| 16 | Max Pacioretty | 11 | Scored one game, benched the next. How soon before he’s in Hamilton? |
17 |
Hal Gill | 15 | Strong on the PK but for the time he gets, his 5-on-5 play must improve. |
| 18 | Matt D’Agostini | 19 | By far his best week of the young season, the drive was back. |
| 19 | Andrei Kostitsyn | 10 | One of the ‘pure snipers’ on the team and he’s benched when they’re down. |
| 20 | Georges Laraque | 18 | His performance vs Atlanta showed why he’s not needed each night. |
Dropped from the rankings: Carey Price
(4) who did not play and Shawn Belle (14) who was sent back to Hamilton.
|
The Dog |
Hamilton continues to be the only team in the
AHL not to lose in regulation so far this season. Despite this, they’re in
3rd in the division.
|
Results: |
| October 19 | 1 |
2 | 3 | OT | Tot |
PP |
SOG |
| Manitoba | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0/4 | 18 |
| Hamilton | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0/7 | 32 |
Attendance: 2,350
3 Stars: 1) Baumgartner – MAN 2) Schneider – MAN 3)
Russell –
HAM
| October 20 | 1 |
2 | 3 | Tot |
PP |
SOG |
| Manitoba | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/5 | 15 |
| Hamilton | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1/4 | 29 |
Attendance: 2,547
3 Stars: 1) Darche – HAM 2) Trotter – HAM 3) Pettinger –
MAN
| October 23 | 1 |
2 | 3 | Tot |
PP |
SOG |
| Hamilton | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2/8 | 36 |
| San Antonio | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/4 | 24 |
Attendance: 4,650
3 Stars: 1) Sanford – HAM 2) Pyatt – HAM 3) Maxwell – HAM
| October 24 | 1 |
2 | 3 | OT | SO | Tot |
PP |
SOG |
| Hamilton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0/6 | 39 |
| Texas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1/5 | 25 |
Attendance: 2,350
3 Stars: 1) Baumgartner – MAN 2) Schneider – MAN 3)
Russell –
HAM
|
Stats: |
Mathieu Darche went on a shooting spree this
week averaging nearly 7 shots per game. Fortunately for Hamilton, a few of
them went in.
|
SKATERS |
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SH | PIMS |
| 6 | Chad Anderson | 4 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Yannick Weber | 4 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 11 | 6 |
| 8 | Maxime Lacroix | 4 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | 2 |
| 10 | J.T. Wyman | 4 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 11 | 2 |
| 12 | Andrew Conboy | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | Mike Glumac | 4 | 0 | 1 | E | 5 | 2 |
| 19 | Brock Trotter | 4 | 0 | 4 | +4 | 5 | 4 |
| 20 | Ryan Russell | 4 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 10 | 0 |
| 21 | Mathieu Darche | 4 | 3 | 0 | +2 | 26 | 0 |
| 25 | Ryan White | 4 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 13 | 6 |
| 27 | Tom Pyatt | 4 | 2 | 2 | +3 | 9 | 0 |
| 29 | Eric Neilson | 4 | 0 | 0 | E | 3 | 22 |
| 32 | Frederic St. Denis | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 44 | Shawn Belle | 4 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 4 |
| 61 | Andre Benoit | 4 | 0 | 3 | +2 | 6 | 4 |
| 72 | Mathieu Carle | 4 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 9 | 4 |
| 74 | Sergei Kostitsyn | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 | P.K. Subban | 4 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 9 | 2 |
| 91 | Ben Maxwell | 4 | 1 | 1 | E | 7 | 0 |
|
GOALIES |
| # | Player | Record | SV% | GAA |
| 1 | Curtis Sanford | 2-0-1 | .955 | 0.97 |
| 30 | Cedrick Desjardins | 1-0-0 | .933 | 1.00 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
| # | Player | G/ATT |
| 15 | Mike Glumac | 0/1 |
| 19 | Brock Trotter | 0/1 |
| 21 | Mathieu Darche | 1/1 |
| 27 | Tom Pyatt | 1/1 |
| 91 | Ben Maxwell | 0/1 |
|
SHOOTOUT |
| # | Player | SVS/ATT |
| 1 | Curtis Sanford | 4/5 |
|
Leaders: |
Goals: Mathieu Darche (5)
Assists: Marc-Andre Bergeron (6) [Active leader: Brock Trotter (5)]
Points: 2 tied with 7
+/-: 4 tied with (+6)
PIMS: Eric Neilson (34)
|
This Week: |
October 27: Hamilton vs
Houston
October 30: Abbotsford vs Hamilton
November 1: Peoria vs Hamilton
|
|
It’s something that gets said almost every
game, "If only we could win a faceoff," but how true really is this? Are
the Habs that bad on the draw, or are they actually better than people think?
Let’s take a look inside the numbers. (Players are sorted by total
draws taken this season).
|
Player |
09-10 W/L |
Win % |
08-09 W/L |
Win % |
| Tomas Plekanec | 89-93 | 48.9% | 684-667 | 50.6% |
| Scott Gomez | 87-89 | 49.4% | 687-625 | 52.4% |
| Maxim Lapierre | 48-38 | 55.8% | 525-462 | 53.2% |
| Kyle Chipchura |
25-24 | 51.0% | 47-60 | 43.9% |
| Glen Metropolit | 17-17 | 50.0% | 382-395 | 49.2% |
| Mike Cammalleri |
11-6 | 64.7% | 222-146 | 60.3% |
A couple of things jump out at me here.
First off is that the Habs are right around where I figured they’d be, at 50.9%
from those 6 players. What’s concerning though is that the top-2 C’s are
also the worst ones when it comes to the draw, which frankly wasn’t the case
last season. Combined, it’s about a 5% dropoff, or about 3-4 faceoffs per
game.
Another issue is that the 2 top faceoff men from last season (in both columns)
are now playing the wing. Cammalleri has consistently had success on the
draw over his career – could he not start taking some of the draws on the
powerplay? Based on the numbers, he has a much better shot at winning
them. Lapierre I’m not as concerned with as I don’t foresee the 2nd line
experiment working out over the long haul, but in the meantime, why not let him
take the draws over Plekanec, then move back to the wing off the faceoff?
|
Final |
With Kyle Chipchura finally getting a chance to
play as a regular, the talk not surprisingly shifts quickly to his draft year
and the inevitable talk of whether he’s a bust or not. Cutting to the
chase, he probably is all else being equal, but what’s done is done. What
can he bring to the table? Strong positional play, some PK time, he’ll
stick up for his teammates, and if the chart from the Stat Pack is any
indication, he’s better on the draw this year too. It may not be exactly
what you’d hope to see from a 1st rounder, but it’s nothing to be ignored
either. Though it may be hard, try and forget the expectations from when
he was drafted. He’s going to be a decent NHL’er for years to come, here’s
hoping he gets that chance to be successful with the Habs.