Looking At Flames Zone Entries Through Ten Games

8 years ago

Since last season we’ve been tracking zone entries here at FlamesNation. The idea is that there’s a ton of statistics that measure how often hockey players have the puck, but introduction of zone entry data can be combined with things Corsi or Scoring Chance percentages and Zone Start data to provide some insights into how players are used, who they play against, where they get the puck and what they do with it once they have it.

I just finished up the first 10 games of data, so let’s take a look? Before we dive in, the usual disclaimers about the data should apply: it’s collected by a person, so there are some subjectiveness in the data, and since it’s been just 10 games, sample sizes are small so take everything with a grain of salt.

FORWARDS

(From highest carry-in percentage to lowest)

Johnny Gaudreau – 71.74%
Sean Monahan – 62.86%
Mikael Backlund – 58.93%
Sam Bennett – 57.45%
Josh Jooris – 55.32%
Michael Frolik – 50.00%
Mason Raymond – 46.15%
Matt Stajan – 42.50%
Joe Colborne – 40.00%
Derek Grant – 40.00%
Jiri Hudler – 39.34%
Brandon Bollig – 35.14%
Micheal Ferland – 32.43%
David Jones – 32.00%
Lance Bouma – 31.25%
Markus Granlund – 0%

For some comparisons here: Gaudreau’s carry-in rate was 66% last season, Monahan was about 52% and Hudler was 39%. All of them are about where they were last season. Backlund – fully healthy, knock on wood – is up a bit from last year’s 52%. Bollig is way, way up from his 22% last season and Jooris is way up from his 41% last season. It’s early, but the majority of the regular forwards returning from last season are at the same level or better than last season in terms of their carry-in rates.

DEFENDERS

(From highest carry-in percentage to lowest)

T.J. Brodie – 33.33%
Dennis Wideman – 28.30%
Dougie Hamilton – 24.53%
Kris Russell – 20.37%
Mark Giordano – 18.46%
Brett Kulak – 18.18%
Deryk Engelland – 13.89%
Ladislav Smid – 0%

Brodie’s number represents a single game and can be ignored. Oddly, the majority of the defenders are where they were last season percentage wise – give or take maybe 5% – but I gotta admit it seems really weird that Brett Kulak and Mark Giordano have the same tendency here. Smid had four carry-ins all of last season and it took him until the 21st game of the season to get his first. Given his placement as the seventh guy on the depth chart, he may be waiting for awhile this season.

LEADERS

Most of these numbers are, for now, products of ice time. In the next check-in, there will probably be a lot more of a variance and the numbers will mean more. For now, here’s a quick summary of the leaders of a few different types of zone entries.

Most Entries of Any/All Kinds:

Johnny Gaudreau (92), Mark Giordano (65), Jiri Hudler (61)

Most Carry-In Entries:

Johnny Gaudreau (66), Sean Monahan (44), Mikael Backlund (33)

Most Dump-and-Chase Entries:

Dougie Hamilton (28), Kris Russell (27), Mark Giordano (27)

Most Tip-In Entries:

David Jones (15), Jiri Hudler (14), five tied (5)

Most Missed Entries: (e.g., errant passes)

Mark Giordano (10), Dennis Wideman (7), Dougie Hamilton (7)