GAME THREAD: Clan v Steelers : Sun 20th : LEAGUE

[Bryan]

Brine in net now shutout has gone

[Doom]

I can't say I understand the tracking section of the EIHL game centre:

It's currently the end of the 2nd, 5-0 Sheffield, however our chance of winning is only 60%, and our expected goals is 1.62 despite already scoring 5?

Mitchell Balmas' expected goals is 0.16 despite scoring a hat-trick? What am I missing?

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You're not the only one. I've just been looking and according to the EIHL stattos, Balmas currently has a +/- of 2. He must have been on the ice for 3 of the goals surely, as he bloody scored them. None of them were PP goals. And there are no goals conceded yet to knock that figure down. Am I missing something?

We were just debating that +/-.

Apparently the game sheet only shows 4 Glasgow players on the ice when he scored one of his goals.

I suspect that must be an error, because there wasn't a penalty at that time, so why only 4?

Regards

Doom

[mark]

Result

Clan 1-6 Steelers

In league play last season we were 0-3

[steeler pete]

From EIHL:- “92 Mitchell Balmas called for Goaltender Delay of Game - Freezing the Puck along the boards.”

What does that mean?

Good result though after a long game last night and a long drive.

[Bryan]

So many had a good game. Balmas obviously and of course Greener, but also Tait, Jasper,, Collins did OK, Cormier was a total brick wall. Archambault seemed better tonight.

[Doom]

A very pleasing result with all players seemingly contributing.

It's still very early doors in the season, but Fox must be happy with what he's seen to date.

Well done and safe journey home.

Regards

Doom

[Bryan]

From EIHL:- “92 Mitchell Balmas called for Goaltender Delay of Game - Freezing the Puck along the boards.”

What does that mean?

Good result though after a long game last night and a long drive.

I’ve got a vague memory of this before. I think an attacking player may not freeze the puck against the boards inside the netminders trapezoid if the netminder is contesting it. Might be wrong though. Not certain of that. I missed it as I took my eye off play at that moment. Camera showed Balmas smiling happily in the pen box.

[greeny]

Any victory away is a good result and seems balmas is having a good start,,,, these early games in season are so important,,,, so easy to lose these and then its catchup all the way,,,

[ginger]

Btw we have dragged the faceoff data back to almost equal now. Not sure what has changed, perhaps some different centres. I must look more carefully in the third.

Face offs are a way more nuanced art than most realise. Good draw takers will sometimes deliberately lose a couple so they can work out opponents tendancies, and then use the info they gained to then win important draws against them.

Also sometimes down to wingers to react when neither centre wins it clean.

[Doom]

Faceoffs were certainly an issue last season and I think Fox realised that when he put this team together.

It's still very early doors, but alarm bells are ringing a little bit for me, because this is the one area we do still seem to be struggling.

My expectations before the start of the season would have been something like:

Dowd 50% - He's usually fairly solid and reliable.

Whistle a little under 50% - Past seasons he's usually mid 40's, so I'd expect that again.

Gettinger around 50% - No reason for this other than assuming a guy who took faceoffs in the AHL will be decent.

Rockwood low 40's - Based on the stats I could find in his previous leagues, he doesn't look very good at faceoffs.

Collins mid to high 50's - Fox made a point of discussing his faceoff skills and I suspect that's one of the main reasons for signing him.

Based on the first 4 games, the figures to date are:

Dowd 55%
Whistle 52%
Gettinger 43%
Rockwood 38%
Collins 38%

The guys familiar to our league are doing well, the new guys who were expected to improve us are struggling.

I'm no expert on this, but is there a bedding in period with players getting use to how the officials deal with faceoffs in our league?

It's something to keep an eye on, but I would hope Collins in particular sees a big improvement. I'd expect a top 5 faceoff player in ICEHL to be dominant in our league.

It's only a small sample, but if we don't improve, it will start costing us points at some stage.

Regards

Doom