At Verizon Center for tonight's game between the Caps and the Devils, while flipping through the Game Notes, I saw a couple numbers that reminded me not to put undue stock in the team's special teams performance through the first five games of the season.
At the moment, Washington is 6 for 24 on the power play, an even 25%. That would have been good enough for 3rd place overall in the NHL last year, right behind the Red Wings (25.5%) and the 08-09 Caps (25.2%). Through 1 1/2 weeks of the 09-10 season, it's only good for T-12th. Last season's 12th place team was Chicago, converting at 19.3%.
Conversely, the Caps have allowed 6 goals on 27 penalty kills, giving them a 77.8% success rate, tied for 13th in the NHL. That same percentage in 2008-09 would have placed them at 27th in the league, right behind Tampa Bay (78%) and just ahead of Edmonton (77.5%). [As an aside, Detroit was only 25th with a 78.3% kill rate] Again, on the flip side, the 13th best penalty kill last season was Columbus at 82.1%...a full 1.5 percentage points ahead of where the Caps finished, in 17th at 80.6%.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Mildly interesting post by Brian Costello over at The Hockey News on the topic of Ovechkin's and Crosby's production.
He doesn't say a single new thing, but it's a point worth reiterating: Statistically-speaking, hockey players peak at the age of 24. There are certainly notable outliers as he points out, like Lemieux's 69-goal seasons at age 28 and 31 and some outstanding seasons by Gretzky and Brett Hull in their mid-20s, but as a general rule NHL players will realize their greatest statisical output at the age of 23 or 24.
That does not mean players don't get better as they age. While goal-scoring and point-production might go down, often players improve defensively as well as in those intangibles like 'leadership' and 'ice vision.
So enjoy Ovechkin's goal-scoring while it lasts, for at age 24 history suggests his highest-scoring years have either past or will pass in the next few seasons. He'll no doubt be a productive player, barring injury, for the entire length of his current monster contract, but the numbers may not get any higher.
He doesn't say a single new thing, but it's a point worth reiterating: Statistically-speaking, hockey players peak at the age of 24. There are certainly notable outliers as he points out, like Lemieux's 69-goal seasons at age 28 and 31 and some outstanding seasons by Gretzky and Brett Hull in their mid-20s, but as a general rule NHL players will realize their greatest statisical output at the age of 23 or 24.
That does not mean players don't get better as they age. While goal-scoring and point-production might go down, often players improve defensively as well as in those intangibles like 'leadership' and 'ice vision.
So enjoy Ovechkin's goal-scoring while it lasts, for at age 24 history suggests his highest-scoring years have either past or will pass in the next few seasons. He'll no doubt be a productive player, barring injury, for the entire length of his current monster contract, but the numbers may not get any higher.
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