Standard Regular Season Stats
| Scoring Stats | Goals | Assists | Ice Time | ||||||||||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | GC | +/- | PIM | EV | PP | SH | GW | EV | SH | PP | S | S% | TOI | ATOI |
| 35 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 6 | -7 | 22 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 46 | 15.2 | 572 | 16:20 |
Advanced Regular Season Stats (5 on 5)
| TOI | G | A | FirstA | Points | Shots | iFenwick | iCorsi | ShPct | G/60 | A/60 | FirstA/60 | Points/60 | Shots/60 | iFenwick/60 | iCorsi/60 | IGP | IAP | IPP |
| 425:21:00 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 32 | 38 | 51 | 15.62 | 0.705 | 0.564 | 0.423 | 1.27 | 4.51 | 5.36 | 7.194 | 31.3 | 25 | 56.2 |
Standard Playoff Stats
| Scoring Stats | Goals | Ice Time | ||||||||||||
| GP | G | A | PTS | GC | +/- | PIM | EV | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI | ATOI |
| 18 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | -2 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 29 | 10.3 | 243 | 13:31 |
Advanced Playoff Stats (5 on 5)
| GP | TOI/60 | Corsi Rel QoC | Corsi QoC | Corsi Relative | Corsi On | On-Ice Sh% | On-Ice Sv% | PDO | Pens Taken/60 | Pens Drawn/60 | Off Zone Start % | Off Zone Finish % |
| 18 | 12.36 | 1.684 | 0.062 | -22.8 | -7.82 | 6.8 | 924 | 992 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 33.6 | 46.2 |
We’ve arrived at David Bolland. You’d think the guy who scored the Stanley Cup winning goal would have had a better go at it than he did. If you thought that, you’d be wrong. The most important goal of his life aside, the man known by some as “Fabulous Weapon” had a season to forget. After spending the last few years centering the 3rd line, Bolland was to get his shot at the second line center position. He primarily played a defensive role on that third line in the past, but he had showed he had offensive abilities to boot. He was to play between two of the best forwards in the league in Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp. What looked like a promising and complete line in the preseason never lived up to such expectations. Bolland’s play was a big reason why.
He missed about 13 games due to injury and played about 1.5 EVS minutes less per 60 than his linemates. He posted only 14 points; 7 goals and assists each. You’d expect his point totals to be higher when primarily playing with the 5th highest point getter in the league in Patrick Kane but Bolland still struggled to positively contribute to the scoresheet night in and night out. The Bolland/Kane/Sharp line posted one of the worst Corsi totals as a line in the league, Bolland last on the team at -11.67. It often seemed like he disappeared (like a ghost BoOoOoOoOoOoOo) for long stretches of the season, returning every now and then by taking a dumb penalty or something solely to remind you of his existence.
He bogged down the play of his teammates, especially Patrick Kane. Fear the Fin brought to light that Kane’s Corsi% with Bolland on the ice was 45% and without him, it was 56.3%. (Corsi percentage measures the overall shot total for and against a team in terms of a percentage, 50% being even attempts, >50% being more attempts by the team a given player plays for while he’s on the ice, <50% being more attempts by the team a given player plays against while he’s on the ice) Patrick Sharp struggled during the regular season as well, so he probably didn’t help Bolland’s numbers a lot either, but the fact remains the same.
Bolland’s playoffs weren’t a whole lot different, as he registered a -7.82 Corsi in 18 playoff games – worst on the team – to go with 6 points, not to mention continued poor performance on faceoffs. Bolland’s role changed during the playoffs as he was again slotted as a bottom 6 center. He started about a third of his shifts in his own end so he was back playing some of the tougher minutes which may have hurt his stats a bit too. It seemed like for the past couple of years, we’ve had to wait for the playoffs before Bolland really started to take off. This year, it seemed we had to wait until the Cup Final. The give-a-shit-o-meter didn’t seem to finally hit “sure, I guess” until game 1 against Boston, where he notched a key goal and a helper. He ended up scoring 5 of his 6 playoff points in the Cup Final, including all 3 of his goals (excluding the one he scored against Crawford in game 1 against the Kings).
While Bolland’s ticket out of Chicago had essentially been booked by midseason not only due to his play but also his cap hit, scoring the Cup winning goal expedited the process. To just about any other GM in the league, Bowman would’ve sold low on Bolland to clear up cap room. But Dave Nonis isn’t any other GM in the league. Bowman sold high on Bolland to Nonis because apparently, 5 points in a playoff series makes him a must-have commodity. No, seriously. Nonis wanted Bolland as soon as he scored the Cup winning goal. Picks number 51, 117, and a 4th next year is a pretty decent haul for a guy whose season could be described using words like “bad” and “piss-poor”.
I genuinely hope Bolland finds success in Toronto and I thank him for his contributions to the team over the years. Unfortunately, I find it hard to believe he’ll have much luck playing the expanded role Carlisle has planned for him since A. Randy Carlisle is a moron B. Bolland still can’t win a damn faceoff C. If he can’t put up decent scoring numbers between Kane and Sharp, he certainly won’t do it between whoever the hell he’ll play with in Toronto.
Final Grade you can whine about in the comments; D