Mason > VERSTEEG! > Ryan

by Killion on Apr 29, 2009 12:37 PM CDT

There's tons of info coming at you later tonight, right now I'm just stuck at a very busy moment at work. So here's something to hold you over for a little while.

In the latest issue of Sports Illustrated they asked 324 NHL players who the best rookie was this year (players weren't allowed to vote for teammates) and VERSTEEG! narrowly beat out Bobby Ryan, though both were soundly beat by Steve Mason.

Nhl_players_poll_medium

The issue just came out today if you want to get your hands on a copy.

Tweet Comment 8 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

In lieu of infodump, here's a snack

Per Big Bad Bettman-Approved Website: referee pairings for conference semis (with postseason service):

Bill McCreary (270) & Eric Furlatt (31)

Paul Devorski (155) & Dennis LaRue (41)

Marc Joannette (59) & Kelly Sutherland (34)

Kevin Pollock (86) & Dave Jackson (59)

Brad Watson (99) & Tim Peel (29)

Dan O’Halloran (67) & Mike Leggo (29)

WAIT FOR THE WHISTLE!

by Sec 326 Bureau Chief on Apr 29, 2009 12:55 PM CDT reply actions

Ryan has better stats but he also played with infinitely better linemates in Getzlaf and Perry. VERSTEEG! kinda bounced around throughout the season regarding linemates and was paired w/ some pretty miserable partners. I’d be curious what VERSTEEG!‘s numbers would’ve been if he was given top-notch talent to work with. Though Bobby Ryan is still helluva player.

by alpo on Apr 29, 2009 1:04 PM CDT reply actions

Actually, Bobby Ryan really only played 20 of his 62 regular-season games paired with Perry and Getzlaf, but I guess I don’t mind misconception. I’m really hoping it’s Mason’s (useless) trophy.

I don’t know Versteeg’s linemate history this season, but I’d be surprised if it was as varied as Bobby Ryan’s.

As for the poll, I guess it might have gone differently had they asked about the best rookie they’d heard of instead of the best rookie they’d seen.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Apr 29, 2009 1:20 PM CDT up reply actions

Seen vs. Heard

I was wondering that too.. what was the actual question they asked? “seen” seems like they’d obviously gravitate towards a division rival… though only one guy listed is in the East.

In defense of our guy, Steeg was bounced around a hell of a lot too. Kris had points while playing with 26 different pairings of linemates at all strengths. Ryan had points while playing on only 21 different pairings. Some of those are obviously just flukes though – I’m not sure how you got your data for that chart but I’d love to find out – I can’t seem to find it on timeonice.com, if wanted to email me how you did that I’d really appreciate it.

VERSTEEG! also was a pretty big part of the penalty kill, averaging 2 minutes a game and leading the team with 4 short handed goals. Ryan only had 29 seconds on the kill all year. Ryan was better on the power play with 23 points compared to Kris’ 16 but Ryan did have more time on it.

Either way, with Versteeg being a RFA this year I’m hoping against him winning the Calder too since it’ll just up his price. I think the award will pretty safely go to Mason though…

Second City Hockey

by Killion on Apr 29, 2009 2:01 PM CDT up reply actions

Some of those are obviously just flukes though – I’m not sure how you got your data for that chart but I’d love to find out – I can’t seem to find it on timeonice.com, if wanted to email me how you did that I’d really appreciate it.

Well, Time On Ice really helped me establish who his 5-on-5 linemates were for each game, though it is a pretty manual process. You do have to go find the five-digit ID number for each Blackhawks game — for example, here’s the boxscore for Chicago’s last regular season game — last five digits of the game ID are “21230”.

Enter that at TOI and you get to this page, which is pretty easily sortable — you can see who Versteeg (or anyone) played with or against.

The scoring aspect of my post, though (how much did B. Ryan score in each game) comes from a separate spreadsheet I’ve maintained over the year. Don’t have an easy solution for the Hawks, though I’m sure it exists somewhere.

Let me know if that’s sufficient, or if you’re still curious.

http://www.battleofcali.com/

by Earl Sleek on Apr 29, 2009 2:10 PM CDT up reply actions

Ahh.. ok.. I was just wondering if you got that chart directly off the site, not something you made yourself.

Second City Hockey

by Killion on Apr 29, 2009 11:43 PM CDT up reply actions

Hey, that's a pretty neat site (TOI).

Thanks for the tips. I’d like to start doing some more statistical analysis for next season, and I’ll absolutely be dropping by your site to see what you’re up to (maybe borrow some ideas).

NOW STOP IT RIGHT HERE

by mjthor on Apr 30, 2009 8:27 AM CDT up reply actions