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THN: 30 NHL teams, 30 I-never-saw-this-coming starts for players

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http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/30-nhl-teams-30-i-never-saw-this-coming-starts-for-players/

We’re officially through the first month of the season, which is as good a time as any to look at the players who have surprised me in 2014-15. Some in a good way, others in a bad way. The common denominator is I never would have predicted these starts from a statistics perspective.

Anaheim – Emerson Etem. Doughnuts across the board in 11 games. I thought the winger had 20-goal potential. Also, to a lesser degree, Frederik Andersen. John Gibson was supposed to steal the No. 1 job, but Andersen is 6-1 with a 1.69 GAA and .940 SP.

Arizona – Sam Gagner. Just two assists in nine games for the skilled center. Also, Mike Smith. His numbers have bloated to 2-5, 3.96 GAA and .866 SP.

Boston – Tuukka Rask. My projected Vezina winner has struggled to a 4-4 start with a 2.81 GAA and .899 SP.

Buffalo – Cody Hodgson, Matt Moulson, Chis Stewart and Brian Gionta. The four top-six forwards have a combined one goal and six points in 44 games (they’ve each played 11). Stewart hasn’t scored a goal in 10 months.

Calgary – Jonas Hiller. Solely responsible for at least a couple wins, with a 3-2-1 record, 1.83 GAA and .948 SP.

Carolina – Cam Ward. His freefall continues this season with a 0-3 record, 3.95 GAA and .840 SP. Also, former 40-goal man Alexander Semin has just two assists in eight games.

Chicago – Scott Darling. Has risen from hockey’s Jules Verne leagues to 2-1 record with 1.98 GAA and .933 SP in injury relief duty.

Colorado – The team as a whole. Individually, Nathan MacKinnon was off to a slow start (two goals and six points in 11 games) when many of us thought he might bump his head on the 100-point barrier.

Columbus – Nick Foligno. He’s never scored more than 17 goals or 47 points in a season, but his three goals and nine points in eight games before injury was impressive.

Dallas – Ales Hemsky. I projected he’d threaten 60 points for the first time in six seasons, but one assist in nine games means he has some work to do.

Detroit – Justin Abdelkader. The grinding winger is already halfway to his career-high of 10 goals and has eight points in nine games.

...

Big ups to Abby who's come out of the gate on fire!!

Who's the player that has been the most pleasant surprise to you with their start to the season?

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Nyquist continuing his incredibly high scoring rate is great news, no sign of a sophomore slump so far and he seems to be the real deal.

Also impressed by Smith and Quincey so far.

Ya. But how long can nyquist sustain a 32% scoring percentage realistically? he does seem to be the real deal, but his stats have to come down a bit. He does seem to be more of an opportunist when it comes to scoring though, which is probably why his percentage is so high, he won't take the shot if he doesn't think he has a good chance to score.

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Ya. But how long can nyquist sustain a 32% scoring percentage realistically? he does seem to be the real deal, but his stats have to come down a bit. He does seem to be more of an opportunist when it comes to scoring though, which is probably why his percentage is so high, he won't take the shot if he doesn't think he has a good chance to score.

I agree with you, but we were all thinking the same thing last season. I thought he was a product of lucky bounces last year but hes proven to be EXTREMELY effective on capitalizing on his chances.

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I agree with you, but we were all thinking the same thing last season. I thought he was a product of lucky bounces last year but hes proven to be EXTREMELY effective on capitalizing on his chances.

Agreed. But still, no matter how effective he may be, 32% is unlikely to continue. He's also on pace for 57 goals. I can see him ending up with 30-40, which would still be amazing, we haven't had that since 08/09. Dats and z are racking up points too, so we have three guys 4 if you include Abby, which may be premature that could potentially get us 70+ points and lots and lots of goals, if tats, sheahan and jurco can get going too, we could be very dangerous.

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We really need those kids to be chipping in with points consistently come playoff time. The twins and Goose can't be our only scoring threats. My favorite thing about Nyquist is that he's so opportune because he really attacks the net and gets to the dirty areas! Pretty impressive for a guy his size.

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Ya. But how long can nyquist sustain a 32% scoring percentage realistically? he does seem to be the real deal, but his stats have to come down a bit. He does seem to be more of an opportunist when it comes to scoring though, which is probably why his percentage is so high, he won't take the shot if he doesn't think he has a good chance to score.

While I agree to an extent, LGW was saying his shooting percentage was unsustainable last year, and this year so far it may be even higher.

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for all he jarnkrok lovers...


Nashville – Olli Jokinen and Calle Jarnkrok. For a while in the off-season (before Mike Ribeiro was signed), it looked like they would be the top two centers. In 17 games total, they’ve combined for no goals and no assists.

was he a healthy scratch the last 2 games too?

Edited by brett

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Guest DeGraa55

Quincey was the biggest surprise to me. Obviously not a star. But he was SO BAD last year. This year? Playing quite well.

Cleary has also been a major surprise. I'm SHOCKED he hasn't played.

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Quincey has been great, but no better than he was the latter half of last season. People just had their minds made up about him after his rough start last season and turned a blind eye to how solid he actually was from January on. He was one of our most steady defenders late last season and he has built off that coming into this season. It's nice to see people finally coming around on him. His absence last night was felt and hopefully his ankle heels up quickly and he gets back into the lineup.

Now only if the same people would lay off on the Franzen hate. But who am I kidding, he can skate his ass off and score at least a point every single game for the rest of the season and people would still ***** and complain. He didn't look great last night but the same people were jumping all over him, his first game back from a leg / groin injury, once again saying how awful he is. He wasn't awful, he was just a little slower, which was to be expected, his first game back...

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Guest DeGraa55

Quincey has been great, but no better than he was the latter half of last season. People just had their minds made up about him after his rough start last season and turned a blind eye to how solid he actually was from January on. He was one of our most steady defenders late last season and he has built off that coming into this season. It's nice to see people finally coming around on him. His absence last night was felt and hopefully his ankle heels up quickly and he gets back into the lineup.

Now only if the same people would lay off on the Franzen hate. But who am I kidding, he can skate his ass off and score at least a point every single game for the rest of the season and people would still ***** and complain. He didn't look great last night but the same people were jumping all over him, his first game back from a leg / groin injury, once again saying how awful he is. He wasn't awful, he was just a little slower, which was to be expected, his first game back...

The problem with Franzen and te biggest reason why I hate him. Not dislike but HATE him.

Is because he has all the talent in the world. He could be a 40 goal a year guy and with his body an ELITE power forward who could knock some people around.

But instead he plays like he 4 foot 11 and averages 25 goals a year and most are honestly in meaniless situations. He isn't clutch at all.

I also hate his 167 year long contract but that's Hollands fault not franzens.

Edited by DeGraa55

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No, you hate him because you chose to hate him a long time ago. Probably because he didn't live up to his 2008 / 2009 / 2010 playoff runs, or maybe because you're still bitter over the whole Hossa thing. Who knows why so many people HATE Franzen so much, but it certainly shouldn't be because of his play on the ice. Yes, he can be frustrating at times, but he is what he is, and people need to realize, like most goal scorers around the league, he's streaky and he's going to be hot and cold.

He's paid quite fairly for his production but people still want more out of him. He's been skating better than he ever has lately, but that goes unnoticed by the haters. He isn't as "soft" as many of you make him out to be, he averages more hits per game than most guys on the team, that are not bottom six guys. He goes to the dirty areas, often used as a net front guy taking a lot of punishment in front of the net.

Haters are gonna hate... Oh well...

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giphy.gif

Lol Sorry I had too.

I couldn't agree with krsmith17 more. Mule is what he is. He is streaky as they come but well worth the contract. I politely disagree with clutch comment. He is 3rd behind Z and Dats for GWG by an active Red Wing. Z is leading with 57, 15 more that Franzen, but Z has played exactly 100 more games. IMO that stat is all about being clutch.

As for Q, the last 2 years he started horrible slow and finished as strong as any of our guys on defense, I am glad to see he bucked this trend. Hopefully this won't get a start strong end slow.

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Pleasant surprises?

Quincey, Nyquist, Abby, Franzen.

Franzen looks good this year. I am a historical Franzen hater but I am very impressed this year. He's skating, using his body, and seems to actually be engaged in the hockey game. Like, he's winning battles. I haven't seen him do that since 2008ish. I never got on Franzen because he couldn't score, but because he was lazy (and sucked) and seemed like he wasn't even interested in playing hockey. So far, this year, this has not been the case. Quite the opposite. I hope it sticks. I wouldn't even say he has to produce great numbers to be effective if he keeps playing like this.

Edited by themcityblues

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Guest DeGraa55

giphy.gif

Lol Sorry I had too.

I couldn't agree with krsmith17 more. Mule is what he is. He is streaky as they come but well worth the contract. I politely disagree with clutch comment. He is 3rd behind Z and Dats for GWG by an active Red Wing. Z is leading with 57, 15 more that Franzen, but Z has played exactly 100 more games. IMO that stat is all about being clutch.

As for Q, the last 2 years he started horrible slow and finished as strong as any of our guys on defense, I am glad to see he bucked this trend. Hopefully this won't get a start strong end slow.

Well he should be 3rd cause let's what's his competition? Second years players: Tatar nyquist Sheahan jurco etx etc LOL.

Of all the the arguments one can make you brought up the worst. Sorry.

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Well he should be 3rd cause let's what's his competition? Second years players: Tatar nyquist Sheahan jurco etx etc LOL.

Of all the the arguments one can make you brought up the worst. Sorry.

My comparison for GWG was highlighted by how fewer games he has played vs the top two.

I did make a mistake Z has played 770 to Franzen 572. Both Franzen, Z and Nyquist lead the wings with a game winning goal every 13.5 game they play. I would not say they the other 2 are not clutch players. I hope this helps my argument.

If you can give me a better stat to show clutch a player is I would like to see it.

All that said this is getting way off topic.

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Guest DeGraa55

My comparison for GWG was highlighted by how fewer games he has played vs the top two.

I did make a mistake Z has played 770 to Franzen 572. Both Franzen, Z and Nyquist lead the wings with a game winning goal every 13.5 game they play. I would not say they the other 2 are not clutch players. I hope this helps my argument.

If you can give me a better stat to show clutch a player is I would like to see it.

All that said this is getting way off topic.

How's his playoffs been these last few years? Scoring when it matters is more clutch than scoring the second goal in a 4-1 win against a team like buffalo or Calgary or Carolina etc etx.

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How's his playoffs been these last few years? Scoring when it matters is more clutch than scoring the second goal in a 4-1 win against a team like buffalo or Calgary or Carolina etc etx.

Your talking about the same Franzen that is tied for the franchise lead in Playoff GWG and OT Goals in Detroit Red Wings History? Same guy that single handed beat the Avs.

I admit he has not had great playoffs the last couple years, But what Red Wing has?

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Guest DeGraa55

Your talking about the same Franzen that is tied for the franchise lead in Playoff GWG and OT Goals in Detroit Red Wings History? Same guy that single handed beat the Avs.

I admit he has not had great playoffs the last couple years, But what Red Wing has?

3 of the last four years where we played 10 or less games he has

Goals. Assists

2 1

1 0

0 2

Then the year with 14 games he has

4 goals 2 assist.

You're right that's so damn clutch.

Since turning 30 in the playoffs is been nothing but downhill. BUT ITS OK GUYS HE WILL GET BETTER WITH AGE!

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3 of the last four years where we played 10 or less games he has

Goals. Assists

2 1

1 0

0 2

Then the year with 14 games he has

4 goals 2 assist.

You're right that's so damn clutch.

Since turning 30 in the playoffs is been nothing but downhill. BUT ITS OK GUYS HE WILL GET BETTER WITH AGE!

By your standard pretty much every wing sucks. No ones been clutch in the recent playoff runs.

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Guest DeGraa55

By your standard pretty much every wing sucks. No ones been clutch in the recent playoff runs.

Correct. That's why we umm have sucked?

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