The Puck Stops Here
Next entry: Top Team In The East
Previous entry: A Few Words On +/-
A New Worst Player This Season
by PuckStopsHere on 11/23/08 at 05:11 AM ET
Comments (7)
I like to keep track of the worst player gathering regular ice time in the NHL. It is an interesting exercize to see why certain players continue to get ice time despite failing to accomplish anything with it. As the season progresses, usually I settle on an energy player who is known for being a hard worker but is very limited in talent. Often this player is a bit of a fighter to fit into that role. In early parts of the season, other players may appear as the worst player in the league, but they have always disappeared from the running once the season reached maturity. Earlier this season, I picked as this worst player. Given time his game has improved. He has three points already. That means it is time to replace him.
The new winner of the worst player so far this season is Raitis Ivanans of the Los Angeles Kings.
Ivanans has appeared in 19 games as a left winger. He has failed to score. He has only taken six shots on goal. He has not been on the ice when his team has scored a single goal, but he has managed to put up a -6 +/- rating (which is second worst on his team). All of that has been accomplished in a little over seven minutes of ice time per game.
Ivanans is a goon who has been in the NHL since the 2005/06 season. He played as a Montreal Canadien that season, but left to join Los Angeles as a free agent that summer. It was in Los Angeles that he first got to play regularly. Ivanans put up two 8 point seasons with well over 100 PIMs each since joining LA. So far this season, he has accomplished nothing of significance despite being played every game of the season. That is why Raitis Ivanans is the NHL regular who has been the worst player in the league this season.
Filed in: | The Puck Stops Here | Permalink
Tags: Los+Angeles+Kings, Raitis+Ivanans,
Comments
Here is an article that discusses the most recent attempt to show a correlation between fighting and winning. The basic jist is that although somebody did report a correlation, there are many reasons to doubt the methodology of the study. Hence there is no meaningful evidence for a correlation between fighting and winning. Certainly nothing I would want to present as evidence that Ivanans is useful to his team because he fights. There is strong evidence that when Ivanans is on the ice LA does ot score (they have yet to do so this season) and they still give up goals at a reasonably high rate.
8 of top 10 teams in fighting majors have a .500 or better winning percentage. How’s that for a correlation?
Due to the way the NHL determines “.500” that doesn’t surprise me. 21 of 30 teams currently have a .500 or better record. That means that if I randomly chose any 10 teams I would likely have 7 at .500 or better. The odds of it being 8 instead of 7 are not that bad either. I think the simplest explanation bhere is picking the teams with the most fighting majors is essentiaslly the same as picking teams randomly and picking 8 of 10 above .500 is hardly a remarkable thing to do.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 11/23/08 at 02:55 PM ET
If dressing a goon gives such great results, why does LA suck so bad?
Claiming that good teams need their goons to be good is ridiculous. The best team of the past five years doesn’t give a regular shift to a goon, and certainly gave their most recent goon (Aaron Downey) far less ice time than Ivanans gets.z
I like fights as much as any fan, and would admit that some teams make good use of goons. However, I would argue that Shawn Thornton, Laraque, Brashear… those guys can actually play some hockey AND are feared fighters. Carrying a goon-only player these days is an antiquated tactic. Your goons need to be able to contribute, or at least not bring the team down when he’s on the ice. Ivanans faces other teams’ scrubs, according to the QUALCOMP stat, and yet he has been on for zero goals for and nine goals against.
You can argue that there are worse players out there than Ivanans, but don’t try to say that criticism of goons is invalid.
Posted by Mojo Tooth on 11/23/08 at 10:23 PM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Commenting is not available in this weblog entry.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Missing Other League All Star Games
Top Defenceman So Far This Season
About The Puck Stops Here
The Puck Stops Here was founded during the 2004/05 lockout as a place to rant about hockey. The original site contains over 1000 posts, some of which were also published on FoxSports.com.
Who am I?
A diehard hockey fan.
Why am I blogging?
I want to.
Why are you reading it?
???
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
When learning from experts it’s best to learn personally from them, or from their blog. We can provide that with poker lessons blog, your home to learn poker personally.
Do you get shocked from the luck in the game of poker? Stop getting shocked and start being a Poker Shoker
Donate to Kukla’s Korner
I judge Ivanans as a hockey player. He dresses every game in place of somebody who could actually play hockey well. When he is on the ice what does he offer his team? He doesn’t score goals. He doesn’t prevent goals. He fights. There is no correlation between fighting and winning games.
Its clear that Terry Murray knows he isn’t a good player. He protects him from much ice time and despite that Ivanans has the second worst +/- on his team. That’s pretty poor.
Posted by PuckStopsHere on 11/23/08 at 09:29 AM ET