Starting in the next day or so I will begin my post season evaluation of our roster, one player at a time. I will be rating the players on a given set of metrics listed below, then giving my evaluation, and verdict. Big thanks to Chimp, and the rest of the HFBoards for some advice on what metrics to use. Also, I plan on on doing the players who have played enough games to get an adequate sample size to make these judgements. Guys like Immonen, Dawes, Liffiton, Dubinsky, etc, simply haven’t been seen enough.
Shooting: Slappers, onetimers and wristshots, shooting power and accuracy all added together.
Passing: Basically how often the player’s passes lead to danger for the other team and how seldom the player doesn’t screw up.
Skating: Speed and agility added together.
Stickhandling: How good is he in one on one situatoins and deking his way through tough spots? How tough is it to take away the puck from the player? Can he make the opponent goalie go buy a hot dog on a breakaway?
Offensive skill/awareness: Eye for the game, vision to find the perfect pass or shot, reading the play.
Defensive skill/awareness: Being in the right position all the time, reading the play in the defensive zone. Pokecheck included.
Physical play: Ability to use the body, battling around the boards, clearing the crease. Does the player dish out highlight hits or more just brush his shoulder against the opponents?
Heart: Self confidence, never giving up, ability to show up when it matters the most.
Athleticism: How much can the player play without tiring?
Intensity: Does the player pant heavily after a shift and look like he has his skates on fire on the ice? How often does he backcheck?
Net play: Ability to screen the goalie, deflect the puck and take care of rebounds. Willingness to crash the net.
Grittiness: Does the player eat barb wire for breakfast or what? Can he take a punch/hit for the team and give a punch/hit for the team? Willingness to block that slapper that will hurt like hell and not complain about it even if it breaks two ribs.
Aggressiveness: Is the player calm or vocal on and off the ice? Does he curse and destroy a door after a loss, or just sighing?
Positioning: Always being at the right spot, never having to make that highlight save because he was in good position all the time.
Stickhandling: Ability to pass the puck with the stick, throwing open ice passes to the other blueline, play behind the net. Ability to never cover the puck unless necessary.
Puckhandling: Ability to smother the puck, never letting out rebounds.
Agility: Lateral movement, reflexes, easily going into splits.
Glove coverage: Are the opponents laughing at or fearing that glove?
Blocker coverage: Does the opponent coach tell the players to shoot or not shoot high on the blocker side?
Ice coverage: Do the opponents want to shoot through the five hole and along the ice or avoid it?
Aggressiveness: Is the goalie calm or vocal, on and off the ice?IDoes he curse and destroy a door after a loss, or just sighing?
Athleticism: How strong is the goalie, how’s his ability to get back into position and recover from a shot and how much can the goalie play withouth needing a rest?
Vision: Do the commentators say “How did he see that puck through all those players?” or do they more often say “It looks like he didn’t see it coming.”? Ability to ignore screens by constantly being able to see the puck.
Heart: Self confidence, never giving up, ability to show up when it matters the most.
All metrics will be graded on a 0-100 scale, and I’ll try to have graphs and averages in there as well.
