Follow @james_tanner123 Last night the Coyotes won, beating the Avalanche by a score of 4-2. Though the Avalanche are dangerously close to being the worst team in hockey and though I would be willing to be up to five hundred Schrute-Bucks that Patrick Roy is the next NHL coach to be canned, the Coyotes won last night because of lucky bounces.
Yes, they won, but they didn't dominate the game. The Avalanche were the better team at 5v5, but some lucky bounces and good goaltending helped the Coyotes improve their record to 6-5-1. One again, Reider, Boedker, Duclair and Domi showedf how fun it can be at times to watch a team with so much speed on the wings, but the defenses inability to move the puck the ice still makes the Coyotes a frustrating team to watch.
The Coyotes have 3 defensemen I like, a fourth who they don't let play, Martin Hanzal and four good wingers. It's like half a good team. But 2-4 down the middle they are the worst in the league and probably not the best in the AHL even, if we're being honest and much of their defense leaves a lot to be desired.
But there we were last night, in the midst of watching the Avalanche have pretty solid possession of the puck, the Coyotes announcers just kept going and going about how great and fun it is to watch Nick Grossmann play. As Grossmann defended the front of the net as the Coyotes were hemmed in, taking about six penalties worth of cross-checks to the neck, these guys were talking about how great he was.
And that is the precisely the problem with hockey analysis on TV: do something we will remember and you get called awesome, even if for the most part you're a negative for your team. Hemmed in your zone all the time? Who cares, cause if you cross-check enough dudes in the neck, you will be credited with play the right way!
And if you think Grossman played good last night, go to waronice.com and look at the matchups. Grossman was a 46% Corsi player last night, which isn't brutal in such a short sample size - he was basically out shot by 2 shots during his time on the ice. But the problem comes when you look at who he played against: he was dominated thouroughly when the Avs put out good players against him and made up for it against their fourth line.
Grossman vs Igninla: 28% vs MacKinnon 28% vs Soderberg 20% vs Landeskog 42% vs Tanguay 11% vs Duchene 18%
This isn't an isolated incident: the supposedly great offseason acquisition and excellent "defensive defenseman" cannot handle top six forwards. Like, at all. But you know, his seeing-eye wristshot and borderline goalie interference goals counted, so he played awesome.
And that is what's frustrating about watching hockey.
One more thing: Dave Tippet drives me nuts with the way he deploys his players. Wasting Murphy with Grossman is just one example. Here's some more:
-The team is rebuilding, so why limit Duclair's icetime so much? 13 minutes is way less than he should be getting. I know he's not sitting there with a stop-watch during the game, but Brad Richardson, Shane Doan and Martinhook is a generally crappy line, so they should not be getting more ice-time than a team's prized rookie. Just another reason why I don't think Tippett is the right coach for a rebuilding team.
- What about Chipchura? He's probably better in general than Vermette who is a name player only at this point. Chipchura has been excellent playing higher in the lineup, with Domi and Reider, but for whatever reason saw himself saddled with Gordon and Downie last night, while Gaudet was given top line duties.
- Finally, the coaches refusal to put Domi together with Duclair at even-strength drives me nuts. Last night they got 40 seconds together despite the fact that on the PP they seem like they have great chemistry. (A quick WOWY search shows that when paired together Domi and Duclair are rocking a 55% CF, while Max otherwise is just 45% overall.)
And your boy Grossmann? 19 of the 24 players he's hit the ice with this year improve their possession numbers when he is off the ice. But hey, he cross checks necks!
Look, hits and goals are no way to evaluate a player. You hit guys when you don't have the puck. You score goals randomly. Shots are how you evaluate players. Getting them and preventing them. If you win the shot battle, you will, over time, score more goals than the opposition. It's not rocket science. And it's really ridiculous that people paid to evaluate games cannot look at the deeper numbers, but just gush over a couple of lucky bounces and some hard play.
I have no doubt Nick Grossmann is beloved by his teammates or that he is difficult to play against. The problem is that he is slow and cannot move the puck and therefore most of the time he is on the ice against good players they get a ton of shots. Top six players tend to eat him alive. (He was good in the Pittsburgh game though, I'll say that).
I don't mean to rail on the guy here, I just expect deeper analysis from guys on TV and I expect the coach and GM to act likes its 2015 and make corresponding moves. Elliott has only played for 32 minutes this year, but he's a positive possession player. While he rots on the bench, the Coyotes are a team that needs his exact skillset to spring their four very fast and talented wingers.
It's just frustrating to watch.
Stats: Waronice.com, stats.hockeyanalysis.com
Thanks for reading
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