Shots against

[-DeMo-]

Re: depth winning games, in a league where parity is such a primary focus, meaning the number of points separating teams in their divisions, those three wins you accredit to superior depth represents SIX POINTS! If that isn't a compelling argument, I don't have a better one.


Of course you need your marquis players to perform in order to win the big one, but that didn't stop Max Talbot from carrying the mail when Sid Crosby was double teamed and pounded relentlessly to the point of becoming nearly invisible.

How big a story is Justin Williams every year during playoffs? He flies virtually under the radar all season, and while teams concentrate on Kopitar, Carter and Doughty, he dismantles teams with his post season point production.
The key is BALANCE.

Without adequate depth your thoroughbreds get run down by the time you ale the post season. Theres little left in the tank due to nagging injuries, fatigue, etc. When your bottom six can relieve doe of that pressure you increase your odds.

Look at SJS. Their big guns do all the heavy lifting all season and get them a nice playoff spot then they run dry and get blown out because their youth and bottom six isn't deep enough to withstand the rigours of post season play.

Depth gets you to the point where you have a shot at actually winning playoff games, and when your offensives core is being double teamed and hammered by the opposition, its the capable bottom six guys that actually cause the opposition to spread out their shutdown coverage and re-think their defensive strategies.

6 points isn't the difference between being a contender and not. but your also proving my point by showing prime examples of why Depth doesn't play a big role in the regular season, I never said it wasn't important in the playoffs because I said it did I was merely talking about the regular season, so Williams being a no show in the regular season and SJS's complete lack of depth doesn't prevent there teams from being great regular season teams

look at some of the top players on other teams when they don't produce a point

Patrick Kane Chicago is 6-6-1 when he produces 18-4-1
Toews Chicago 7-8-1 when he produces 17-2-1
Crosby Pitts 5-6-2 when he produces 17 - 2 - 3
Malkin Pitts 3-4 when he produces 19 - 4- 5
Kopitar LA's 7-8-4 when he produces 11 - 3 - 3
Carter LA's 6 - 9 - 5 when he produces 12 - 2 - 2
Bergeron Boston's 3 - 10 - 2 when he produces 15 - 5 - 1

and these are suppose to be the teams with great depth according to the other poster above, yet when the top guys don't produce even teams with great depth rarely can overcome that and win. without these guys producing there teams are not even playoff teams. this clearly shows it's on the best players, win or lose it's up to them, they produce and play well there teams are going to win. but like you said in a smaller sample of say 5-6 games in the playoffs when there top guys don't produce the depth can make a difference in that short of a span but over a 82 game season to results are minimal.

btw why did you not answer the question I posed to you? was there no correct answer?

 

[Durkin67]

6 points isn't the difference between being a contender and not. but your also proving my point by showing prime examples of why Depth doesn't play a big role in the regular season, I never said it wasn't important in the playoffs because I said it did I was merely talking about the regular season, so Williams being a no show in the regular season and SJS's complete lack of depth doesn't prevent there teams from being great regular season teams

look at some of the top players on other teams when they don't produce a point

Patrick Kane Chicago is 6-6-1 when he produces 18-4-1
Toews Chicago 7-8-1 when he produces 17-2-1
Crosby Pitts 5-6-2 when he produces 17 - 2 - 3
Malkin Pitts 3-4 when he produces 19 - 4- 5
Kopitar LA's 7-8-4 when he produces 11 - 3 - 3
Carter LA's 6 - 9 - 5 when he produces 12 - 2 - 2
Bergeron Boston's 3 - 10 - 2 when he produces 15 - 5 - 1

and these are suppose to be the teams with great depth according to the other poster above, yet when the top guys don't produce even teams with great depth rarely can overcome that and win. without these guys producing there teams are not even playoff teams. this clearly shows it's on the best players, win or lose it's up to them, they produce and play well there teams are going to win. but like you said in a smaller sample of say 5-6 games in the playoffs when there top guys don't produce the depth can make a difference in that short of a span but over a 82 game season to results are minimal.

btw why did you not answer the question I posed to you? was there no correct answer?

Yeah, six points in a league where 2 points separates the contenders from the non qualifiers is actually huge.

Q: Why does the Leafs cop line run out of gas in mid-Feb? Why do Benier and Phaneuf burn out after 70 games?
A: Lack of depth.

When these guys are called upon to single handedly win 82 games without meaningful contribution, you are setting yourself up for failure.

regarding your "question", go ahead and review your criteria. Whenever someone includes such specific parameters, it becomes a leading question with no possibility for any result than the one you are trying to extract. Sorry, but I not taking the bait. Im not going to examine the entire league over the last number of years, team by team, player by player, using your subjective parameters for analysis.

When the Leafs were made up of Sundin, Belfour, Kaberle and a couple miles out wingers, they couldn't get it done either. You need depth. I already conceded that your best players need to rise to the occasion. You also need meaningful contribution from the bottom six in order to keep the big guns from wearing down.

Go and search Kessels comments on the subject after last season, when they all ran out of gas

 

[Mess]

Shots Against Comparison

2013-14

Toronto #30 @ 35.9 shots against/g
Toronto #30 @ 42.9 CF% (On-Ice Corsi)
Toronto #26 @ 256 goals against

2014-15

Toronto #29 @ 34.4 SA/g
Toronto #27 @ 45.1 CF% (On-Ice Corsi)
Toronto #25 @ 108 GA/36 games [248 goals against/82]

Conclusion: Improvement marginal as Leafs remain essentially a bottom 5 team in shots against, possession and goals against.

Based on these stats a bottom 10 overall finish should be the expected end result of this season without improvement in the 2nd half of the season.