First of all Leivo played all of 16 games this year. Martin played 50. There is no way Martin's most common linemate was Leivo or even his second. I am also aware that Moore scored a lot when paired with Brown early in the season, but his production kind of died about half way through. About the time that Kapanen was recalled, the dead weight of Komarov was moved to the forth line, and then Plekanec replaced Moore and the pair offered nothing in the way of offensive support to Kapanen who skated around everyone, but was entirely left to use his talents on his own. The broken down geezers he was saddled with weren't able to keep up with him. He did get a lot of attention from oppositions coaches, which made it easier for JvR and Bozak to do their thing because coaches put their more mobile defenders against Kapanen in an effort to contain him. I don't believe its a coincidence that it suddenly got easier for JvR and Bozak to score once Kapanen was promoted. Hockey is a team game, you start changing components, you start having a different team.
fact is, I use my eyes and ears. I don't just look at stats out of context because they don't show me what is going on on the ice when those stats are produced. Hockey isn't checkers. Players have different skills and prosper in different conditions. I guess you also thought that Grabner was garbage after his season with the Leafs. Yet he goes to NY and scores 52 goals in 135 games. How did that happen? He had linemates that provided the appropriate conditions for him to exploit his skillset effectively. So yeah, you saddle Kapanen with 2 broken down geezers who can't keep up with him and he's not going to produce to his potential. You put him with complimentary linemates and scoring in bunches is exactly what he will do. Which would you prefer?
