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Daniel

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    Coach's Corner on HNIC: Exclusive Don Cherry S45 Draft Special

    in VHL.com Articles

    Posted

    A special S45 draft edition of Coach's Corner, with Don Cherry.
     

    "Well, it's this time once again ladies and gentlemen, we're here in the offseason, I'm back watching the jays and the draft's coming up. You all know I'm a Tronna Reign guy, I own season seats, I walk the walk ever since I was a little boy, but I gotta tell you, the Legion need to learn their lesson this year and do one thing right; draft some Canadian kids! Even Ron knows that we make the best hockey players in the world; you gotta take 'em just on principle! I can tell you, if I had the choice of picking an Ontario kid like Paul Bissonnette or a loser Swede like Sundin, well, you know where I'd be leaning.

    Now I know a lot of you have criticised me for this in the past, all you folks out there that've never played the game, but back when I coached the Boston Bruins I learned one thing; I'd rather lose like a good Canadian than win like a cheating European. Now don't get me wrong, I love winning, don't forget, I won the Calder Cup THREE times with the Springfield Indians (how many Europeans can say that?), but the kids growing up in Tronna are never going to play for the Region because they always pick the little Swede or German and it's an insult to anyone whoever stepped on the ice! Don't get me wrong here folks, Alistar Grim is a good player but he's not great like a Canadian, and the same goes for all the Latvians and Swedes they have there too, a crying shame I tell you. These kids are growing up playing hockey in Tronna but they're never gonna play for the Reign! It's simple, draft some Ontario boys and you'll never lose!"

     

    hockey-free-night-in-canada-don-cherry-c

     
    Donald. S. Cherry 

    Coach's Corner on HNIC: Exclusive Don Cherry S44 Review.

    in VHL.com Articles

    Posted

    A special  S44 roundup edition of Coach's Corner, with Don Cherry.
     
    "Oh boy what a season! The best team in the VHL won and won well, did you see all those penalties? It's war on ice, rock 'em, sock 'em, the way it should be played, the way it was played until the small swedes took over the sport, but anyway.
     
    They're good guys down in Calgary with a good system but do you wanna know why they win? It's simple, because they're stock full of good Canadian boys! Back when I was coaching the Boston Bruins we had so many Canadians playing for us that Bobby Orr suggested we annex TD Gardens! 
     
    But anyway, let me tell you something kids, you look at a good Ontario boy like Tyler Cote, and you think an American kid like Thomas O'Malley has half the trucelence he does? Don't be ridiculous! And Christoph Klose? I know all about Europeans, I once coached the Swedish Sieve, and let me tell you something, anything a European can do a Canadian can do better, and I mean anything."
     
    hockey-free-night-in-canada-don-cherry-c

    Claimed:Down On The Farm: Statistics And The VHLM #1[Final 6/6]

    in Archived Career Tasks

    Posted · Edited by dankoa

    Down On The Farm: Statistics And The VHLM

     

    Edition 1: Evaluating Shot Differentials.
     


    This is going to be the first of hopefully many looks into the more statistical side of the VHLM, where I'll do my best to provide some insight into what's been going on and ideally, what it could mean for the future. The point of this series is mainly to show that although I'm not particularly great at using statistics, scratching slightly below the surface can provide both interesting ideas and further evidence of what we already know.

    I'm sure everyone with an interest in the league has been following the S44 playoffs, which look to be winding down with the Saskatoon Wild holding a comprehensive 3-1 lead against the Oslo Storm. With this in mind, and as we're moving into the off-season, I thought it might be a good idea to go through each team and judge their S44 regular season based entirely on one thing; their shot differential per game, ie. the average number of shots a team takes against the number of shots taken against them.

     

    The shot differential is widely regarded as a telling statistic, with the majority of successful teams having a positive shot differential. For example this year's President's Trophy winning New York Rangers held a shot differential of 5.5, while the last-placed Buffalo Sabres held one of -11.4, a telling difference.

     

    For the purpose of this article, we will calculate the shot differential per game as follows;

     

    Shot differential per game = Shots taken per game - Shots allowed per game.

     

    I've collected all the information into the table below.

     

    xF4DrIy.jpg

     

    Looking at the shot differentials from this perspective, and when we compare this table to the regular season standings, one blindingly obvious point becomes clear; the higher your shot percentage, the more games you win. We can observe from the table that the three teams with the best shot differentials are the Saskatoon Blades, the Yukon Rush and the Oslo Storm, whilst the three worst differentials belong to the Moscow Red Wolves, the Ottawa Lynx and the Bern Royals.

     

    The main significance behind this is obviously the fact that the three teams with the best shot differentials were the three best regular season teams, whilst the teams with the three worst differentials were the worst regular season teams, however, the carry-on from this is evident in the playoffs. Saskatoon and Oslo, two teams with high shot differentials are currently competing in the championship final, with Saskatoon, the team with the best differential, poised to win. This enables us to essentially define the shot differential as a measure of dominance; a team like the Wild have evidently controlled the majority of the games they've played by being able to take so many shots while being defensively sound enough to allow so few, whilst teams like the Royals and the Lynx have had a bad time of it, getting massively out-shot throughout the regular season.

     

    It's worth nothing that the huge range of shot differentials we see in the VHLM is due to the massive gap in quality between certain teams, where compared to a league like the NHL, where a good number of teams are of roughly the same level. 

     

    Whilst in this case we haven't really learnt anything new from the shot differential, it's worth noting that it confirms what we already knew, and is another way of showing the dominance that Saskatoon have shown throughout both the regular season and the playoffs. Thanks for reading, hope you found it interesting and learned something new!

     

    **Note**: I had originally intended on doing this piece about the slightly more advanced statistics involving all shots attempted including those blocked and those that missed but wasn't able to find the complete data. Apologies!

    Claimed:Jonathan Killeen Rookie Profile [Final 8/8]

    in Archived Career Tasks

    Posted · Edited by dankoa

    Knott.jpg?resize=620%2C400
     
    NAME: Jonathan Killeen
    POSITION: Centre
    AGE: 17
    HANDEDNESS: Left
    HEIGHT: 6'1"
    WEIGHT: 185 lbs
     
    Jonathan Killeen hails from the hotbed of hockey that is Southern Ontario, the son of a former Canadian lacrosse great. Despite being considered an unexceptional player throughout his junior career, he worked hard and played at the AAA level before his penultimate-round selection by his hometown major junior team, the Niagara Ice Dogs in the OHL Priority Selection. Jonathan played a bottom six role in his rookie season in the OHL but began to excel when given more ice time, allowing him to work on developing a responsible two-way game while improving his skating and playmaking abilities. His draft stock went up highly during his final season with the Ice Dogs, earning a first line position and going through a growth spurt that pushed him to just over 6" in height. Jonathan is eligible for the S45 VHLM dispersal draft and the S46 VHL draft and hopes to surprise and earn a high selection in both.
     
     
    STRENGTHS
     
     
    Skating: Jonathan is a technically strong skater who possesses dynamic speed on and off the puck, particularly through the neutral zone where he can really surprise unsuspecting defensemen. When coupled with his strong playmaking skills, this can make him especially effective at creating odd man rush situations.
     
    Hockey IQ: Jonathan's game is built around a solid hockey IQ and a great sense of how best to expose an opponent's weaknesses. He seems to possess an uncanny skill for spotting open lanes before anyone else on the ice notices they're there, which coupled with his skating ability can cause some real problems for opposing teams.
     
    Passing: Jonathan's definitely of the "pass-first" mentality, and is more than capable of opening up defensive systems through pinpoint passing. He's been considered by all his coaches to be a real playmaking talent, and he also possesses the crucial skill of making everyone around him better.
     
    WEAKNESSES
     
    Defence: While his offensive awareness is considered strong, one of Jonathan's big question marks can be his occasionally fatally poor judgement of defensive situations, and he can also be found to be overly passive on the forecheck. He carried a negative plus/minus rating throughout his time in major junior, which has been a contributing factor to his somewhat lukewarm draft stock. Although his two-way game has somewhat improved, he must strive to become more of a 200-foot player before he can make the jump to the VHL level.
     
    Shooting: Jonathan possesses what can be called at best a below average shot for his age group. While this could be disguised if playing alongside a strong goal-scoring winger, his goal-scoring numbers definitely bring down his overall offensive game. This weakness could have more direct consequences if his VHLM coach believes him unable to shoot at an elite level, potentially leading to a reduction in minutes in powerplay and 4-on-4 situations.
     
    Physicality: Although of average height and build, Jonathan lacks the instinct to go for big body checks and rarely wins battles in the corners or along the boards, preferring to allow his team-mates to put in the majority of the work in the dirty areas. If he's to succeed at the VHL level it is vital that Jonathan learns to play a gritty game, where he's more willing to put in the effort and work for the puck. 
     
    PLAYER COMPARABLE
     
    Nicklas Backstrom
     
    A lofty comparison to make, but Killeen has the potential to develop the elite passing skills and razor sharp offensive awareness to help him progress to the point where he can be a playmaker on a top offensive line. Like Backstrom, his playmaking skills are fantastic, and his ability to quarterback a successful powerplay should prove very attractive to VHL teams looking to add a centre with star potential.
     
    brad-mills1.jpg
     
    SUMMARY
     
    Whilst Jonathan is at this stage a very raw talent, he possesses all the tools to go on and be a top-six forward at the professional level. Whilst his game is a long way from the VHL level as of now, the time he spends in the VHLM should allow him to make the key changes that he needs to go on and succeed. 
     
    Projection: 1st/2nd playmaking Centre
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