- Oct 31, 2007
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I have a feeling Semin's lockout year is going to be the equivalent of Staal's 100-point season. Something we can cling to in the hopes that he matches it, until it becomes obvious that it was simply a fluke.
We were above league average in possession and offensive metrics in the short year.
I have a feeling Semin's lockout year is going to be the equivalent of Staal's 100-point season. Something we can cling to in the hopes that he matches it, until it becomes obvious that it was simply a fluke.
And in the short year, he and E. Staal were PPG players, but it was just that, a short year. In the full year that followed, their scoring was disappointing, plain and simple (for whatever reason people want to give). Last year, the team was below average in the 1 offensive category that counts on the scoreboard...goals (being 22nd in the league OA and 24th 5v5).
So I stand by my statement, how he ranks on a bad team only tells a small part of the overall picture. He may have ranked well on the team, but the team was poor offensively.
I do agree that people shouldn't over-react to just 6 games this season though, especially with the hodgepodge line-ups they've had. That doesn't mean he can't be criticized though.
Yes that year was a fluke for him for sure.
He only shot 8.7%, and his career average is 13.1%.
Wait.....
His scoring was disappointing in a year in which he was concussed and he played the entire season with a wrist ailment? You don't say...
His shooting % took a sharp decline a few seasons back. Looking at his career shooting % is likely including several seasons that are no longer relevant.
Yes or no: Do you believe Semin will hit PPG during a full season while with Carolina?
So he's one of the least fat out of a bunch of fat guys.
If he doesn't it will be due to the quality of team we are in that time frame and not because he isn't capable of it.
So "No" then. Doesn't matter how you justify it, it was a fluke year. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but pointing to his performance during a fluke year and saying "Well, he's capable of it!" dilutes that argument.
I could say Eric Staal is capable of putting up 100 points, but I'm not going to use that year to justify anything he's done. Jonathan Cheechoo was capable of 50 goals, but no one seriously thought he could repeat that performance (at least, not for long).
I think we all understand the narrative quite well. Criticism of Semin is unwarranted, must be simply due to bias against him and has zero to do with him or his performance. And when his performance eventually does turn around, it will still have nothing to do with him or how he is playing, it's simply that his shots are falling now.
Not quite apples to apples. Semin did it 2 seasons ago (albeit a strike shortened season) vs. Eric did it 10 year ago when the NHL was considerably different.
WTF, Just Curious, how does he look on the PP? (serious question).
And how many years did it take before we finally accepted that Eric, in all likelihood, wasn't going to reach 100 points again? How many years will it take before we accept that Semin won't, in all likelihood, repeat his performance in the strike-shortened season? And since we're paying him to essentially repeat that performance (one final **** you from JR), how many years will it take before we try to move him?
Damn, you're the last person I would peg to go for a strawman.
No one is saying that the criticism of Semin is unwarranted. He is clearly playing at a level lower than what is expected of him, given his status and his salary.
What is unwarranted is the level of criticism is unreasonable, compared to other "impact" players, as well as the personal level of that criticism.
But this debacle detracts from the main point, which is that the difference between success and failure for this team is not based on whether or not Semin tries 60% vs. he tries 100% (to be clear, I don't think it's an effort related issue at all, but a hockey IQ one). This is a poorly constructed hockey team from top to bottom with its top two centers out- and with them<snip>.
Not good. Staal, as we know, hasn't scored for ****. Only Thornton and Koivu are worse per 60 (no use looking at raw totals with small sample sizes). Semin is about middle of the road. Both are bottom ten in assists/60. Only Rick Nash has been worse than either in points/60. Both are slightly above average in total PP SOG..
And how many years did it take before we finally accepted that Eric, in all likelihood, wasn't going to reach 100 points again? How many years will it take before we accept that Semin won't, in all likelihood, repeat his performance in the strike-shortened season? And since we're paying him to essentially repeat that performance (one final **** you from JR), how many years will it take before we try to move him?
The insinuation that the Hurricanes are failing because Alexander Semin isn't trying hard is an argument that can't be wrong, because he will either get better at some point, in which case he is now "trying", or he will not, in which case he is not "trying". It also implies that the Hurricanes are a very easily corrected personal problem away from being a decent team, and feeds into the effort hype that plagues this board and this (our American) culture.
Thanks. So if you look at the whole picture (EV and PP), they are both (Staal and Semin) probably near the bottom in terms of scoring?
Dropping that science. "Semin == Lazy" is a non-falsifiable hypothesis. That's why Lazy Journalists jump into it with both feet.
NOW WHO'S LAZY *****ES???
--hank