A few of you have asked why we refer to Mike Zigomanis (above) as "the great Mike Zigomanis."
To be honest, we don't really have a clue. We think we did it in part as a tribute to our colleague Dejan Kovacevic who used to refer to Dick Tarnstrom as "The Great Dick Tarnstrom" in his Penguins Q&As. And we think were initially impressed early on with what Zigomanis brought to the Penguins so we just started calling him great. But there wasn't any sort of one definitive thing that caused us to bestow this moniker on Zigomanis. Kind of like the puppy-drowning/Flyers jokes, it was just something we typed once and it picked up for whatever reason.
Regardless of our semi-coherent ramblings, Zigomanis has been an undeniable asset for the Penguins. Not only have their faceoff totals suffered since he was injured in a 3-2 road shootout loss against the Rangers, Dec.3, but they're also a losing team without him in the lineup. Just take a look at the numbers:
|
With
Zigomanis |
Without
Zigomanis |
| Record |
13-5-4 |
6-8-0 |
| Goals For |
72 |
45 |
| Goals Against |
60 |
44 |
| Goals Against Average |
3.27 |
3.21 |
| Goals For Average |
1.36 |
3.14 |
| Faceoff Wins |
657 |
373 |
| Faceoff Losses |
621 |
423 |
| Faceoff Win Percentage |
51.4 |
46.9 |
(Note: The "without" totals include the Penguins' first two games of the season before Zigomanis was acquired in a trade from Phoenix.)
Those are some pretty black and white numbers.
Obviously, injuries to others such as Hal Gill and Tyler Kennedy have also occurred during the Penguins' slide without Zigomanis but those guys don't take a lot of faceoffs.
The Penguins have a lot of problems including inconsistent secondary scoring, a weak power play and Sergei Gonchar's dinged-up shoulder. But we would argue whatever undisclosed injury Zigomanis is ailing from is one of their biggest issues as well. Someone needs to get this guy some Robitussin or a CAT Scan or Kaopectate or a hug or something because the Penguins are missing his "greatness."
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Posted
Dec 29 2008, 06:10 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh