London Secondary Support review at game 37

[JCarson 730]

I am writing this media spot after the sim of London game 37, London continues to be a significant presence in the European conference and currently sits with 52 points. Oddly, this only leaves them sitting tied for third in the European Conference. 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 22 and this is how the three players were situated:   

                                  Sjin      Ivan    Thor   

Goals                          5          6          5    

Assists                        6         4          2   

Points                        11        10        7   

+/-                              2          1         1   

Penalty Minutes       12         32        10 

 

  

Now after game 37 the statistics look as follows:  

  

                                  Sjin      Ivan    Thor   

Goals                          9          10         6    

Assists                        11         9          2   

Points                        20        19          8   

+/-                              2          3           0   

Penalty Minutes        18        38         14  

   

Sjin – Sjin picked up his points production this week adding 4 goals and 5 assists which assisted the team this week. With a target of 50 points for the season he is slightly behind that pace, but it is not out of reach. He is behind on his own personal target of point per game which will be more difficult to get. The 50-point target may have been a little lofty for a team that plays a more defensive style, so overall we are happy with the production we are getting. A +/- of 2 shows that the Sjin is providing secondary support defensively. 18 penalty minutes in 37 games is very reasonable and is not detracting from the team's offensive ability  

   

Ivan Retosav – Ivan also picked up his offensive production adding 4 goals and 5 assists over the last week. This is a reasonable level of support for the team given the defensive responsibilities that have been put on the second line. With 19 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 3 shows a positive impact on the team as they are offering more production for than against. His 38 penalty minutes are higher than the team likes as this has resulted in London needing to play Penalty Kill which is a disadvantage however, his rate of penalties over the last week has reduced the impact this is having.  

   

Thor Odinson – based on these statistics Thor is providing acceptable depth to the team. 8 points in the first 37 games will project out to only 16 points on the season. This is slightly below last year’s production; we hope this will pick up over the next few games, but it is not a major concern now. Thor’s +/- is sitting at 0 which provides positive value to the team as they are not letting up more goals in relation to the ones they are on the ice for. Thor only has 14 minutes in penalties which is well ahead of expectations.  

   

After looking at the information we have from the first 37 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 does not seem required to win games. Statistically London allowed 82 goals against, while London’s first line has offset 70 of these, leaving the second line to provide significant value as they have netted 28 goals. (noting 4 goals have come from Bots) All things considered; these players are providing adequate secondary offensive output for the team. Defensive support is above expectations as all players on London is current at 0 or higher +/-. These players aren’t creating unnecessary issues by taking excessive penalties, hopefully Ivan can continue to maintain or even decrease penalty minutes as that would help in keeping top players on the ice and allow for more productivity.  

   

Again, we will wait to see where things are sit next week.