2012 Champions: Stat-Nerding the Third-ish Quarter of the Season

That's Charlie Effinger.  He just won the Goaltender of the Week Award for the third time this season, ya heard. 

Although there have only been fourteen games since the last time we checked in with the Mavericks, there are only twenty games left in something like forty days.  So this is as good of a time as any to see what the Mavs are doing right, doing wrong, and need to do during the home stretch of the season.  (Note: this review follows a similar format as the second quarter stats post, so in lieu of me repeating stats, please refer any comparisons to that previous post.)

*Just another note before we get started:  Something that hockey leagues do that annoy me are include a shootout winning goal in the overall goal for/goal against team totals, even though this goal does not get counted toward or against an individual goal scorer or goaltender's total, nor does anyone end up with a plus or minus because of that goal being scored.  I don't know, just kind of dumb.  Anyway, for these particular stats, and any previous stat-nerding posts, goals include shootout winning goals, unless otherwise noted*

*The Mavs are currently third in the Turner Conference with 58 points and a 27-15-4 record.  They have 153 goals for and 144 goals against.

*In the past 14 games, the Mavs are 11-2-1 (!).  They have had winning streaks of four, two, and five during this time.  The five game streak is currently in progress, and is their second longest of the season (six game streak to begin the season).  They are also 3-1 in OT games during this stretch, winning one game during the overtime period, and two in the shootout.  They have also lost a shootout.  They have recorded 55 goals for, and have given up 40 with one shutout.

*Vern Cooper is gone, but you knew that already...

*There are eight Mavs who have played at least 40 games through 46 games this season.

Remember when the Mavs were struggling to score?

*The Mavs have moved up to seventh in scoring overall with 153.  They trail league leader Wichita by sixteen, and division leading Fort Wayne by five.

*96 goals (again, total counting SO winners) over the course of the first 32 games (3.0 avg.).  57 goals during the past 14 games (3.93 avg.).

*73 goals over the past twenty games (3.65 avg.).

*In 2010-11, they had 103 goals over the course of the first 32 games (3.22 avg.), and 35 goals during the next fourteen games (2.5 avg.). 138 goals after the first 46 games (3.0 avg.).

*During this fourteen game stretch:

--Goals during four game win streak: 19

--Goals during next five games (2-2-1): 19

--Goals during current five game win streak: 19

Eerie?  Meh.

*Who is carrying the mail on offense?  Well, in the past fourteen games.

Dale Mahovsky: 3 goals, 11 assists

Seabass:  4 goals, 10 assists, plus one shootout winner

Ed McGrane:  10 goals, 11 assists, plus one shootout winner

JS Dickson:  7 goals, 6 assists (one hat trick)

Dave Pszenyczny:  8 goals, 7 assists

*SeaBass Thinel (“SeaBass” officially from now on) still leads the team with 54 points (14+40=54).  But, Ed McGrane is hot on his trail with 50 points, and the team lead in goals with 22.  Thinel has moved up to sixth in the league in points.  He is second in assists with 40, trailing Evansville’s Todd Robinson by ten.  McGrane is tied for fifth in the league in goals, trailing the leaders, Quad City’s Brandon Marino and Evansville’s Brian Bicek, by six.

*Don’t forget JS Dickson, second in goals on the team with 21.

*New acquisition Patrick Schafer has seven goals in sixteen games with the Mavs.

*Ryan Jardine exists (8+10=18, -2).

*So, the offense has improved, which is nice.  The problem there never appeared to be lack of shooting, either.  McGrane is third in the league with 193 shots, and Thinel is 18^th with 157.  Maybe the scoring problems can be attributed to shooting percentage.  No Mav has better than JS Dickson’s .154%, which is only good for 19^th in the league.

The Mavs still can’t score on the powerplay, right?

*The Mavs are third in the league in powerplay percentage!  Their percentage, 19.89, is over two percentage points below the league leaders (Quad City with 22.09).

*The Mavs are very middle of the pack when it comes to powerplay goals and powerplay opportunities.  Their 36 goals are tied for seventh in the league, and their 181 opportunities are eleventh overall.  That is 16 goals since the last time we left the Mavs.  16 PPG in 14 games!  w00t!

*JS Dickson has 8 PPG (tied for fifth in the CHL), McGrane has 6, and four Mavs are tied with four.  Thinel and McGrane lead the team in PPA with 14 and 13, respectively.

*The three league leaders in PPG all have ten.  Quad City’s Brandon Marino and John Snowden, and Dayton’s Brandon Naurato.

*This Quad City team sounds fairly decent.

*The Mavs are +16 in goal differential during this stretch, having given up 40 goals and lost one shootout (41 GA total, 2.93 avg.).  Throughout the whole season, the Mavs have given up 144 goals in 46 games (3.13 avg.).

*In comparison, the Mavs gave up 40 goals (that includes the one shootout winner) in 2010-11 during games #33-46.  Overall, by game #46, the Mavs had given up 130 goals (2.83 avg.).

*During the current fourteen game stretch:

--GA during four game win streak: 9 (with one shutout)

--GA during next five games: 22 (includes the one shootout “goal”)

--GA during current five game win streak: 10

*The defense is still not up to par with last season’s D.  But, hey, look at all of the defenders in the black!

--Simoes +13

--Wakita +9

--Good +6

--Ruwe +4

--Pszenyczny +1

*There are still no Mavs anywhere near the league leaders in plus/minus.  Three Fort Wayne players are in the top three, one with a +22, and two with +21.

*JS Dickson is a team worst -6, despite, you know, all of the goals he scores.

Here is something to think about as the Mavs get closer to the playoffs.  Penalty minutes.

*Although, the Mavs have moved up to sixth in the league in PIM with 809, no individuals are killing the team.  The Mavs finished with 1197 PIM last season.

*Pszenyczny leads the team with 97 PIM.  Wakita has 92.  Lewis has 91.  The league leader, Quad City’s Jason Kostadine, has 170.  Lewis had 205 all of last season.  This is something to watch, but not something that is seriously killing them.  Well, actually, let’s look at the PK numbers.

*The Mavs were fourth on the penalty kill (82.6%) through the first half of the season.  Since then, the Mavs are twelfth with 80%.  They have given up 13 goals while on the penalty kill in the past fourteen games.

*The league best is Evansville at 86.18% giving up 30 goals, while the league worst is Dayton with a 74.16% success rate and 54 goals given up.

*13 of 40 goals (not counting shootout winners, obviously) were scored on the PK.  Still not terrible... but, the Mavs PK could take a lesson from its improved PP.

In summation, penalties are not killing them, but it definitely could not hurt to avoid taking untimely penalties.

Oh, and thank goodness for Charlie Effinger.

*He has started the past fifteen games (11-3-1) without Szuper (left for KHL) and Festa (traded).

*Gerry Festa finished his season with the Mavs 2-4-2 with 24 GA, a 3.00 GAA, and .904 SV% in eight appearances.

*Szuper was 1-0, with 3 GA, a 3.00 GAA and .930 SV% in one appearance with the Mavs (a 6-3 home victory over Quad City on January 7^th).

*Effinger is third in games played for goalies with 33, six behind the leader Nick Boucher of Fort Wayne.

*Effinger has given up 41 goals during the past fifteen games, with one shutout.  He has given up 13 goals (one shootout loss) to Quad City in three games and was chased once during that stretch (0-2-1).

*Eff-bomb is second in the CHL in wins (22), trailing Boucher (27).  He is tied for tenth in GAA with 2.77, and seventh in SV% with .919%.

*And a warm welcome back to Jakub Macek, who has finally found a home with the Mavs.  He relieved Effinger in one of the Quad City loses, giving up 4 goals on 13 shots.

*Also, it must have been pretty cool for those rec league guys that played back up goalie while that position was in transition.  Props to you fine gentlemen.

*Home record during the past fourteen games:

7-1-1 (both losses to Quad City)

*Home record overall:

13-8-2

*Away record during the past fourteen games:

4-1

*Away record overall:

14-7-2

*The Mavs remain third in total attendance with 125,650, over 13,000 above Rapid City and 27,000+ below second place Wichita.  The IEC also sees the third most fans on average, up seven to 5,463 since we last checked.

*The Mavs are celebrating 500,000 fans this Friday!  It only took less than three seasons to accomplish what the New York Islanders could not do all of last season. (Joke not intended.  That is a real stat.)

*If the season ended today, the Chicago Wolves would be a five seed in the Western Conference of the AHL playoffs.  But, they trail the division leading Charlotte Checkers by two points with a game in hand with 26 games remaining.  They have 146 GF and 129 GA, and they are an ugly 0-3 in the shootout.  Goalie Matt Climie is among the league leaders in SV% (0.927%).  JP Testwuide has an assist in sixteen games, and fifteen PIM.  Dustin Friesen has a goal and two assists in nineteen games, and is a +6.

*Oh, but what about our dear, sweet Mavericks?  What are their playoff chances you ask?  Well, four teams qualify from each division, so the Mavs would clinch as the third place team in the Turner Conference with 58 points.  They trail second place Fort Wayne by four points, and lead fourth place Quad City by three.  They lead fifth place Rapid City by only four.  They have twenty games remaining, ten at home and ten on the road.  Thirteen of those games are against Berry Conference teams, two are against Rapid City, one against Dayton, two against division leading Evansville, and two against cellar dweller Bloomington.  It should be pretty damn interesting over the next few weeks!

Scoring has picked up, and that’s good.  The defense is still, well, the same defense, but the Mavs have put themselves in the best possible place with a stable roster going into the final month of the season.  Of course, it won’t be easy, but if the offense stays hot, and Effinger plays at the top of his game, this team should skate into the playoffs as a three or four seed.  Without any head-to-head games against Fort Wayne remaining, it may be hard to unseat them as the two seed.  Evansville would have to play uncharacteristically to fall out of the top spot, let alone the top two spots.  Finally, head coach Scott Hillman has a functioning powerplay, so, yeah, hopefully they don't screw it up.  Of course, the Mavs should have clinched a playoff spot by now, but I guess they are just trying to give the other teams some hope, which is pretty damn nice of them.

Please check out the Missouri Mavericks official site for news and updates from your favorite local hockey team, or at the CHL’s official site for league-wide news as we creep closer to the playoffs.  Also, the KC Star and the Pitch have Mavericks news occasionally, so be sure to check those sites.  Be sure to read Mavericks Weekly on the Mavs’ site every week for updates, game previews, and upcoming events at the IEC.  And, for constant Mavs news and recaps, shoot on over to the Missouri Mavericks Blog.  He does interviews and everything, like a real journalist!  I feel like a jerk for not referring you there in the past, so make it up to me by visiting his site.

2012 Champions: Stat-Nerding the Second Quarter of the Season

Mavs President and GM Brent Thiessen won the Commitment Cup! Whatever that is...

Welcome to the CHL All-Star break!  Your Missouri Mavericks are currently fifth in the seven-team Turner Conference with 35 points.  They are 16-13-3 overall, and are 8-8-1 with 17 points over the course of the second quarter of the season.  The Mavs are technically still a playoff team with this record.  They have 96 GF and 103 GA. 

2010-11 season, after 32 games:

18-11-3

39 pts

103 GF

90 GA

-7 GF and -13(!) GA from one season ago.  Where has everything gone so terribly wrong?

*C-Bass Thinel is still the team leader in points (9+30=39).  He has slipped into a tie for seventh in the league in this category.  There are no Mavs among league point leaders in the top twenty.  Thinel is tied for second in the league in assists, seven behind the leader.  Dale Mahovsky’s 30 points is second on the team (13+17=30).  The league leader has 48 points.

*The Mavs are ninth of fourteen teams in the league in goals for.  They are eighth in goals against.  That is very middle of the road-y.  Not good for a team that started the season with much of the same defense as last year, and brought in A LOT of offensive help.

*48 goals in the first fifteen games of the season (3.2 avg.), 48 goals over the course of the past 17 (2.82 avg.).

*In 2010-11, the Mavs had 103 total goals in their first thirty-two games (3.22 avg.), and 62 goals between Games #16-#32 (3.65 avg.).

*During this seventeen game stretch:

--15 goals over the first six games

--15 goals over the next four games

--The next game was the only time the Mavs have been shutout all season

--18 goals over the last six games

*Ah, but how about goals against?  The Mavs gave up 43 over the first fifteen games (2.87 avg.), but they have given up 60 over the past seventeen games (3.53 avg.).  During the seventeen game stretch:

--30 goals in the first eight games

--30 goals in the last nine games, including one shutout.

*In 2010-11, the Mavs gave up 90 total goals in their first thirty-two games (2.81 avg.), and 47 goals between Games #16-#32 (2.76).

*Speaking of defense, there have been eleven different defenders on this team over the course of thirty-two games.  Last season, the Mavs only used 8 defenders.  In fairness, J.P. Testwuide and Dustin Friesen are with the Chicago Wolves. 

*Remember when only one active defenseman had a negative plus/minus one quarter through the season?  Only Mike Wakita, Zach Carriveau, and David Simoes are in the positive (all with a +3; Carriveau is no longer with the team).

*There are no Mavs among the league leaders in plus/minus.  Wichita has four players in the top five, all with a combined +67.  Andrew Martens, former Wichita Thunder-er and current OKC Baron, has/had a +20.  The top three Mavs plus/minus are a combined +19.  Five current Mavs are positive.  Carlyle Lewis and JS Dickson have the worst plus/minus with -6 each.

*Vern Cooper played in 11 games, had 6 points (2+4=6), was a +5, took 26 shots, and recorded a .077 shooting percentage.  Now he is off to pursue his academic career.  Best of luck to him.

  

*Ryan Jardine, through twenty-seven games, has 8 goals, 10 assists, and 18 points.  After missing five games in the first quarter of the season, he has played every game in the second quarter of the season.  So, that’s encouraging.

*Did I mention the Mavs are not very good on the powerplay?

*The league leader in powerplay percentage is Fort Wayne with 25.45%.  They also have the least amount of opportunities in the league with 110, scoring 28 times.

*The Mavs are ninth in PP% (17.24%) with 116 opportunities and 20 goals.  Only Texas has had fewer PP goals (15).  Laredo also has 20, but only has scored 14.29% of the time.

*Record when the Mavs scored a PPG in the last seventeen games: 4-1-1

*Record when the Mavs failed to score on the powerplay in the last seventeen games:  4-7

*JS Dickson has 14 goals, and 5 of those have come on the PP.  He is tied for sixth in the league in PPG.  The league leader, Brandon Marino of Quad City, has 9.

*Thinel has 11 powerplay assists, which is tied for sixth in the league.  The leader is Todd Robinson of Evansville with 19.

*The Mavs have 3 shorthanded goals, thanks mostly to defenders (Pszenyczny and Kaunisto - before he was traded).  Rapid City, the league leader in this category, has 12.  Oddly enough, three of their top four goal scorers (Les Reaney, league points leader Jesse Schultz, and Shawn Limpright) are all in the top five of this category.

*The Mavs were fourth on the penalty kill at 82.6% with 12 goals against after the first fifteen games.

*They are now tenth at 80.49%, having given up twelve goals on the PK in the past seventeen games.  The league best is Allen at 85.42%.  The league worst is Dayton at 71.43%.

*12 of 43 goals against were on the PK over the first fifteen games, while 12 of 60 goals against were on the PK over the last seventeen games.  Something is wrong, but not just on the PK.

*The Mavs have given up 24 PPGA, which is three less than the league leader, Evansville, with 21 PPGA.  But, the Mavs seventh place standing looks amazing compared to Dayton’s league worst 44 PPGA.

*The Mavs have been shorthanded the third least of any team, 123 times.

*They are now ninth in PIM with 544 minutes, after being fifth for the first quarter of the season with 305.  They have recorded 239 minutes in the last seventeen games.

*No longer do the Mavs have any players in the league’s top fifteen most penalty minutes.  Carlyle Lewis is sixteenth with 78, and Pszenyczny is twentieth with 70.

*Gerry Festa’s stats before being traded:

--8 GP

--2-4-2

--24 GA

--3.00 GAA

--.904 SV%

*New Mav, and former Arizona Sundog, Levente Szuper’s stats this season (one game with Mavs):

--16 GP

--3-6-4

--43 GA (t-last)

--3.16 GAA (19^th)

--.919 SV% (t-4^th)

*Charlie Effinger is back with the Mavs, and is seventh in the league in SV % (.917).  Szuper is tied for fourth with .919%.  The leader is the backup in Dayton, Larry Sterling, with .928%.

*Effinger has started nine games over the course of the last seventeen games, and is 5-4 with 30 GA and one shutout.

*Effinger is fourteenth in the league in GAA with 2.94.  Szuper is nineteenth with 3.16.  The leader is Mark Guggenberger for Texas with 2.29 GAA.

*Just as an example of how injuries have caused turmoil for this team, the Mavs had fifteen players dressed, plus one goalie (Festa) for their game on December 20^th, 2011.

*The Mavs are 6-7-1 at home.  They have gone 5-4 since the first quarter of the season.

*The Mavs are third in average total attendance with 5,456 people per game.  Since the first five home games, the last nine have seen a 255 person average decrease.  The Mavs are safely in fourth in total attendance with 76,388, just under 3,000 behind Rapid City who has played three more home games.

*The CHL is nearing one million total spectators for the season.  The league has failed to achieve over two million total spectators only twice since 2002-03 (2008-09, 2009-10).

*The Mavs are 10-6-2 on the road.  This is among the league leaders.  They have gone 3-4-1 since the first quarter of the season, and 4-6-2 since the 6-0 road start. 

*The Mavs have had one losing streak of three games, and one losing streak of four (0-3-1 over that stretch).

*The longest winning streak, other than the six game streak at the start of the season, is the recent four game winning streak that ended this past Sunday.

*Andrew Courtney is the Mavs only All-Star game representative.  He is fourth on the team in goals (12), fifth in assists and points (10, 22), and is a team best +7.  He was a -2 with seven shots in the ASG.

*Former Mavs Kaunisto and Carriveau played for the hosting Arizona Sundogs in the ASG.

*The Chicago Wolves are in second place in the AHL’s Midwest Division, two points behind the Charlotte Checkers.  They have 106 GF and 96 GA, and are currently on a four game win streak.  J.P. Testwuide has played ten games and is a -2.  Dustin Friesen has played in nineteen games and has three points (1+2=3).  He is a +6.  Craig MacTavish is still the coach.

So, the Mavericks have not played exceptionally well over the second quarter of the season.  They are giving up a lot more goals, but also have to deal with the instability that comes with injuries, big league call-ups, and transactions.  This team still has not lapsed into being “streak-y,” but they do tend to struggle at times.  One area that they cannot afford to struggle is on the PK, where they have been so solid in the past.

The Mavs should not be happy with the offensive output from the first half of the season after bringing in a lot of players to help that issue.  It’s tough to blame the defense for being sloppy over the past few weeks, but the offense must come around for the last thirty games or so for the Mavs to even threaten to make noise in the playoffs.

As always, you can follow your favorite CHL team at their official site and at the CHL's official site.  Also, there is info on the KC Star's site, and every now and then on the Pitch's site.  Be sure to read Mavericks Weekly on the Mavs' site for all of the weekly updates and upcoming events at the IEC.

Mid-December Kansas City Hockey Related News Report

There are an awful lot of honkeys in this picture.  (Screen cap via)

Just a reminder that the hockey version of the Border War continues Friday, January 20th, 2012 at the Independence Events Center (home of the Mavs).  I cannot promise the hockey will be top notch Division I caliber stuff, but I can promise a good time will be had by hockey fans, Mizzou fans, Kansas fans, and all sports fans alike.  Go here to get tickets.

Also, there is speculation that Craig MacTavish, the current head coach of the AHL's Chicago Wolves (the Mavs affiliate), is a possible candidate for the recently vacated Los Angeles Kings head coaching position.  His only head coaching gig in the NHL was with the Edmonton Oilers from 2000-09, going 301-252-47-56 and losing to Carolina in the 06-07 Stanley Cup Finals.  He is in his first season with the Wolves, and as of this date he is 11-9-4.  He currently coaches two-way Mavs Charlie Effinger, J.P. Testwuide, and Dustin Friesen.  He is also the last player in the NHL to play without a helmet.  Just thought you should know.

Oh yeah, by the way, Mavs goalie extraordinaire "F-bomb" Effinger was called up to the semi-big leagues the other day.  This means the Mavs will once again use their insurance policy, Gerry Festa, in net for the time being.  Brian Mahoney-Wilson will also see time between the pipes.

Hey, how about some NHL stuff?  Sure, why not.  Continue...

Recently, the NHL mulled over an idea to realign the current divisions and conferences setup instead of moving a few teams in the wake of the Atlanta-to-Winnipeg relocation.  You may have heard a lot about this already.  If not, I encourage you to peruse this article from NHL.com.  Basically, the NHL will operate with four geographic-based division/conferences, two with seven teams and two with eight teams.  The top four teams of each div-con will make it to the playoffs, facing off in the first two rounds and then filtering into a final four semi-finals of teams that do not see much of each other.  There are some schedule balancing things in there too, and the article does a good job of explaining how that works.  You may ask, "Why does this matter to Kansas City?"  Well, the optimist in me would love to show you.  Plus, who doesn't like to look at maps???

Let's imagine, "pretend" if you would like, that Phoenix relocates to Kansas City.  Well, according to CBC Sports, KC continues it's role as outcast.

3. Phoenix: The NHL wants to keep the Coyotes in Arizona and will likely adopt the "Atlanta timeline," ie. waiting until the last possible minute before announcing any move. It's been reported the four potential sites are Seattle, Las Vegas, Quebec City and Kansas City. (Technically, the league can't talk to another city until Jan. 1). If it is one of the first two, the team wouldn't have to switch conferences. If it's Quebec, you're looking at the Montreal grouping. Kansas City? No idea.

Let's have a look-see, shall we?

Here is the proposed realignment:

Pittsburgh is highlighted because they are upset about something or another...I don't care and neither should you.

Here is a scenario with the city of Kansas City in the mix:

There, I fixed it.

The whole problem with rearranging teams has to do with rivalries being destroyed, reiterating the fact that Detroit could essentially be placed in any one of these divisions (let that be a lesson to all of you; if you are good at something, others will consider you their rival).  If Detroit must remain a Western team in the div-con of Chicago and Minnesota that will henceforth be known affectionately as the Big Ten, then Nashville or Columbus could be bounced to an Eastern division (possibly Toronto and Montreal's, thus helping their attendance issues), or KC could just be a lone wolf out west, staying in the same division and basically solving nothing.  Or be an independent.  But no, Quebec City will get their precious NHL team back because of snow and tradition or some such nonsense.


If you need a better visual, well, here you go: