I am loving how this team has been playing, other than when on the Power Play. Somehow, the team has had 34 power plays and has only scored 4 goals while allowing 7 shorties.The next worst team in the league for shorties allowed are Flint, Erie and North Bay with TWO apiece.
Additionally, the team is 15th in PK, allowing 8 goals and scoring one short handed. All told, on special teams, they have scored 5 goals and allowed 15, which tells you just how good they are at even strength to find themselves with a 6-3 record to date.
OMG's ask for a PP QB are starting to resonate. I wonder what Jordan Sambrook would cost from SSM as an overager. What would a package of Matthew Villalta, Jordan Sambrook and Barrett Hayton from SSM cost? They would fill all the holes on this team but would cost a TON.
PP is currently 13th at 11.8%. Last season the 67's finished 16th at 16.4%. To be a top-10 team you have to be above 20% and top-5 around 25%.
Sample size is not enough to gauge properly. Don't forget a 5 second PP counts as a PP just like a 2 or 4 or 5 minute one. The 7 SHGA is disturbing as that was the total for 68 games last season.
PP, IMHO, is all about zone entry/puck retrieval, puck movement to create a clear lane or 2-on-1, and finish. When you give up 7 SHGA, that's not about entry/retrieval or finish, it's about puck movement. Puck movement is all about decision making and execution. I believe the skill level is there for the most part but the decision making (hockey IQ) is lacking in either the individuals or the combinations on the ice. All passes on the PP should be very high percentage, not 'wow if I make this pass imagine how open my team mate will be'. In nearly all of the 7 SHGA, the opposing team had odd man rushes due to very poor decision making. This clearly needs to be addressed and can't be remedied just by acquiring a veteran PP QB via trade.
PK is currently 15th at 77.1%. Last season the 67's finished 14th at 78.7%. To be a top-10 team you have to be in the low 80s% and top-5 around 90%. Again, sample size is important as 5-on-3s count the same as 5-on-4s and portions the same as full ones. One thing curious about last season was that after the trade deadline, where Ottawa had hovered around 6-7-8th and around 80% using, primarily Hoelscher-Yule and Bitten-Keating, Cascagnette started to get significant PK minutes and, obviously not only his fault, the team fell to 15th. Having said that, everyone knows a team's best penalty killer is the guy in net and last season the goaltending was far below par.
The OHL is a special teams league. Ask any coach or GM. Both of Ottawa's special teams need to improve drastically if they hope to contend in the spring.
