London United assessing Secondary Support, after game 22

[JCarson 730]

I am writing this media spot after the sim of London game 22, London has had a strong showing so far this season and currently sits with 30 points, sitting second in the European Conference with only Riga ahead of them at 33 points. Noting that London has a game in hand. As indicated in the Media spot prior to this season opening, this season’s media spot (except for theme week) will look at how depth players play a role in the success of a team. We are doing this by evaluating the contributions of three players: Sjin, Ivan Retoslav and Thor Odinson.  

The last review was done after game 8 and this is how the three players were situated:  

                                  Sjin      Ivan    Thor  

Goals                          3          2          2   

Assists                        4         2          0  

Points                         7          4          2  

+/-                              4          3          3  

Penalty Minutes        4          7           2  

 

Now after game 22 the statistics look as follows: 

 

                                  Sjin      Ivan    Thor  

Goals                          5          6          5   

Assists                        6         4          2  

Points                        11        10          7  

+/-                              2          1           1  

Penalty Minutes       12        32        10 

  

Sjin – based on these statistics Sjin is still providing reasonable secondary support for the team. His rate of production has dropped off with him only picking up 4 points in the last 14 games and with11 points in the season this puts him behind the target of 50 points and his own personal target of point per game. They will need to pick up production to support Sjin’s expectations of being Rookie of the Year. A +/- of 2 shows that the Sjin is providing secondary support defensively. 12 penalty minutes in 22 games is very reasonable.  

  

Ivan Retosav – based on these statistics Ivan is providing a reasonable level of support for the team. With 10 points, Ivan is below where he wants to be in production, as he has a target of 50 points for the season. (this allows him to reach 500 career points) The team hopes that he will pick up in production to get closer to that target, but the level of production has allowed London to stay competitive. A +/- of 1 shows a positive impact on the team. His 32 penalty minutes are higher than the team likes as this has resulted in London needing to play Penalty Kill which is a disadvantage. The increased penalty minutes may also be impacting his time on ice and ability to increase production. Hopefully, penalty minutes can be reduced over these next sims. 

  

Thor Odinson – based on these statistics Thor is providing acceptable depth to the team. 7 points in the first 22 games will project out to 23 points on the season. This is slightly above last year’s production, which is right in line with the team's expectations. There is still room for improvement so this is not a huge issue at this point. Thor’s +/- is sitting at 1 which provides terrific value to the team. Thor only has 10 minutes in penalties which is well ahead of expectations.  

  

After looking at the information we have from the first 22 games it can be concluded that the secondary offense is assisting London in meeting the target of being a playoff team and pursuing another championship. Productivity improvements will be needed to help meet personal goals, but with London’s strong defensive play, it doesn’t seem required to win games. All things considered; these players are providing adequate secondary offensive output for the team. Defensive support is within expectations. For the most part these players aren’t creating unnecessary issues by taking excessive penalties however reducing Ivan’s penalties would help in keeping top players on the ice and allow for more productivity.  

  

We will see where things sit next week.