Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Piero Greco deserves credit for New York's success in net

December 3, 2019, 5:41 PM ET [261 Comments]
Ben Shelley
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Piero Greco.

If you’re not an avid follower of the New York Islanders, you may not know the name. Greco was hired on as the Islanders’ goaltending coach in the summer of 2018 and since coming on board, he’s managed to take New York from league-worst numbers in goals against to having two different goaltending duos at the top of the league.

Of course he can’t take all the credit, as Barry Trotz has done wonders with the team as well. But if you look back through Greco’s time as a goalie coach, he’s rarely failed to take his goaltenders to new heights.

Here are the stats of his goaltending duos in each of his six years as a goalie coach at the professional level.

2014-15 (TOR-AHL)
Christopher Gibson: .921 SV% in 45 GP
Antoine Bibeau: .913 SV% in 32 GP

2015-16 (TOR-AHL)
Garret Sparks: .928 SV% in 21 GP
Antoine Bibeau: .909 SV% in 40 GP

2016-17 (TOR-AHL)
Garret Sparks: .922 SV% in 31 GP
Antoine Bibeau: .894 SV% in 32 GP

2017-18 (TOR-AHL)
Garret Sparks: .936 SV% in 43 GP
Calvin Pickard: .918 SV% in 33 GP

2018-19 (NYI)
Thomas Greiss: .927 SV% in 43 GP
Robin Lehner: .930 SV% in 46 GP

2019-20 (NYI)
Thomas Greiss: .931 SV% in 13 GP
Semyon Varlamov: .922 SV% in 14 GP

In each of the six seasons he’s coached professionally, at least one of the two goalies on the team has averaged a minimum of a .921 SV%. Of the 12 samples we have to work with from that, nine have been at least a .918 SV%. Antoine Bibeau makes up all three of the stats lower than the .918 mark, while the other six goalies represented in the stats achieved at least a .918 SV% every year they worked with him.

In terms of how he’s impacted each individual goalie, the numbers are equally interesting.

All six goalies not named Antoine Bibeau saw an increase in save percentage between their final season without Greco and their first season with him (using stats from the same league). In fact, four of the six goalies saw at least a 13 save per 1000 shot increase, while Gibson and Pickard each saw a five save increase or less.

Antoine Bibeau
First season with Greco (2014-15 with TOR-AHL): .913 SV% in 32 GP
Second season with Greco (2015-16 with TOR-AHL): .909 SV% in 40 GP
Third season with Greco (2016-17 with TOR-AHL): .894 SV% in 32 GP
First season post-Greco (2017-18 with SJ- AHL): .919 SV% in 43 GP

Christopher Gibson
Last season pre-Greco (2013-14 with TOR-AHL): .916 SV% in 12 GP
First season with Greco (2014-15 with TOR-AHL): .921 SV% in 45 GP
First season post-Greco (2015-16 with BRI- AHL): .909 SV% in 42 GP

Thomas Greiss:
Last season pre-Greco (2017-18 with NYI): .892 SV%
First season with Greco (2018-19 with NYI): .927 SV%
Second season with Greco (2019-20 with NYI): .931 SV%

Robin Lehner:
Last season pre-Greco (2017-18 with BUF): .908 SV% in 53 GP
First season with Greco (2018-19 with NYI): .930 SV% in 46 GP
First season post-Greco (2019-20 with CHI): .929 SV% in 14 GP

Calvin Pickard
Two seasons pre-Greco (2015-16 with SAN-AHL): .917 SV% in 21 GP
*In NHL in 2016-17
First season with Greco (2017-18 with TOR-AHL): .918 SV% in 33 GP
*In NHL in 2018-19
First AHL season post-Greco (2019-20 with GR-AHL): .898 SV% in 15 GP

Garret Sparks
Two seasons pre-Greco (2013-14 with TOR-AHL): .915 SV% in 21 GP
*In ECHL in 2014-15
First season with Greco (2015-16 with TOR-AHL): .928 SV% in 21 GP
Second season with Greco (2016-17 with TOR-AHL): .922 SV% in 31 GP
Third season with Greco (2017-18 with TOR-AHL): .936 SV% in 43 GP
*In NHL in 2018-19
First AHL season post-Greco (2019-20 with CHI-AHL): .924 SV% in 13 GP

Semyon Varlamov:
Last season pre-Greco (2018-19 with NYI): .909 SV%
First season with Greco (2019-20 with NYI): .922 SV%

Four of the five goalies no longer coached by Greco also saw a drop in SV% in their first season without him in the league he coached them in (with the exception of course being Bibeau). I will say it’s kind of a misleading to say that though, as both Lehner and Sparks are doing great in the same league without Greco and their save percentages dropped because a .930 or above is pretty darn hard to repeat every season. Gibson did see a drop after he changed teams, however, and Pickard has struggled in his last two years without him as well.

There’s always the argument that the quality of team they’re playing for will make a difference too, which is completely fair. But remember, the Islanders weren’t a playoff team pre-Greco and the Marlies actually dropped in the standings in the first season with him, even though their goaltending was great.

Seeing him seemingly help Varlamov the same way he helped Lehner in two separate seasons, while also taking Greiss’ game to a new level is impressive to say the least. Stats are just stats– but these ones certainly point to the fact that Greco is as elite of a goaltending coach as they come.


*NOTE (I posted this on the CAR blog as well): Recently, the majority of my articles have just been a matter of game previews and reviews. Simply put: they’re not generating much excitement or engagement. In all fairness, it’s hard to be excited for a consistent flow of game previews and reviews when they’re the same format and coming basically every day.

As a result, I’ll no longer be doing game previews and reviews and instead will be switching back to mostly opinion or at least (hopefully) thought-provoking pieces, reactions to transactions, etc. that I was writing in the offseason. There may still be some previews/reviews for specific games but it’ll no longer be the bulk of the posts.*


For more, follow @BenShelley_20 on Twitter.


OTHER ISLANDERS ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER

Game Recap (Game 24): NYI vs CBJ
Join the Discussion: » 261 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Ben Shelley
» Islanders’ playoff hopes continue to fade after splitting back-to-back set
» Islanders fall to Red Wings for sixth straight loss
» Islanders’ playoff chances take another hit with 4-1 loss to Hurricanes
» Islanders drop both games of weekend back-to-back, now on four-game skid
» Isles fail to pull ahead in playoff race with mixed results on road trip