By popular request, here is an open thread post for all non-Olympics hockey news. There hasn’t been anything to report on the CBJ front so far. Since the end of camp, Don Waddell has said that any contract extension discussions would wait for the break. Presumably those talks have begun to happen, but nothing official has come of it. Perhaps with the players all back in town this week, some may get across the finish line.
That’s right, players are returning from vacation as tomorrow afternoon marks the earliest time that NHL teams are allowed to resume practicing. The Blue Jackets don’t play their next game until next Thursday, the 26th, so there is plenty of time for Rick Bowness to run a de facto mini training camp where he can install systems in a way that he has not had time to since being hired in mid-January.
As a starting point for discussion, I wanted to look at certain stats to see where in particular the Jackets have improved under Bowness, en route to a 10-1-0 record with him behind the bench so far. The usual caveats apply:
a) This is a small sample size – just 11 games – which is a quarter of the games played this season under Dean Evason.
b) This run included seven at home and more games against teams out of playoff position than it (though, to be fair, there were wins over good teams, too, such as Dallas and Tampa Bay)
| Evason | Bowness | |
| Games | 45 | 11 |
| Record | 19-19-7 | 10-1-0 |
| Points % | 0.500 | 0.909 |
| RW | 11 | 9 |
| OTW | 4 | 0 |
| SOW | 4 | 1 |
| 5v5 CF% | 50.30 | 51.90 |
| 5v5 FF% | 49.51 | 52.13 |
| 5v5 xGF% | 50.93 | 50.46 |
| 5v5 GF% | 48.72 | 65.12 |
| PP% | 18.8 | 24.0 |
| PP xGF/60 | 9.07 | 9.79 |
| PK% | 76.4 | 81.3 |
| PK xGA/60 | 9.5 | 12.66 |
| All Sit GF/G | 2.86 | 3.88 |
| All Sit GA/G | 3.31 | 2.17 |
| 5v5 SH% | 8.91 | 11.81 |
| 5v5 SV% | 90.76 | 93.02 |
| PK SV% | 85.44 | 90.00 |
One thing that stands out is that the underlying possession numbers aren’t THAT different. So, that supports Evason’s position that this team was due for a hot streak regardless. There are big leaps in both shooting and save percentage, which often suggests puck luck. However, that could be past-due regression for the team, or it can also be a sign of actual better play.
What these numbers don’t account for, however, is the way that the Jackets have held on to third period leads more effectively under Bowness than Evason (but the regulation win numbers stand out). It has also been apparent that the team is playing a more aggressive style in the defensive zone (i.e. attacking the puck) and I expect that to be something that will continue to be a point of emphasis in practice.
So what do you think? Are the Jackets actually better, or just luckier? Are there any other stats not included here that stand out to you? What do you expect from this team coming out of the break?