So the Penguins will be without Sergei Gonchar (above) for at least a month. Bummer.
How can they replace him? Well, they probably can't truly replace him. You really can't find a substitute for someone who can keep the puck in the offensive zone with the likes of Mike Richards jabbing away with poke checks. And good luck finding anyone who can calmly and cooly get it out from behind his own goal line while Alex Ovechkin is flying in on the forecheck.
You don't replace that.
But the Penguins have to for a few weeks.
So how do they account for the considerable ice time numbers of Gonchar? Let's take a look. Here are the average ice time and shift totals per game for the Penguins' defensemen this season:
| Player |
Average
Time on Ice |
Average
Shifts Per Game |
| Sergei Gonchar |
24:06 |
25.0 |
| Alex Goligoski |
21:07 |
23.2 |
| Kris Letang |
20:46 |
24.9 |
| Brooks Orpik |
20:20 |
24.6 |
| Mark Eaton |
19:24 |
26.1 |
| Jay McKee |
16:23 |
20.6 |
-When you look at the numbers, it doesn't really seem that big of a task to account for Gonchar's total time on ice. Obviously Martin Skoula's going to come in and pick up the bulk of the time, but is it really that crazy to expect the other five defensemen to pick up an extra shift for 40 seconds or so here or there?
-Jay McKee could be expected to contribute a lot more time. Last season with the Blues, he averaged 23.0 shifts per game for an average of 17:18 per game, nearly a minute more than what he's playing now.
The biggest hole created by Gonchar's absence is with special teams. Here's how the defensemen's minutes look broken down by even-strength, power-play and short-handed situations:
Even-Strength
| Player |
Average
Time on Ice |
| Letang |
16:52 |
| Orpik |
16:35 |
| Goligoski |
16:11 |
| Eaton |
15:39 |
| Gonchar |
15:14 |
| McKee |
13:11 |
-That's pretty surprising to see Gonchar so low down on the list. It shows that a.) The Penguins have a lot of confidence in their other blueliners and b.) Gonchar picks up a lot of his minutes on special teams.
Speaking of which:
Power-Play
| Player |
Average
Time on Ice |
| Gonchar |
5:31 |
| Goligoski |
3:15 |
| Letang |
2:44 |
| Eaton |
0:37 |
| McKee |
0:05 |
| Orpik |
0:03 |
-Yeah... that's going to be a rough finding someone to account for that five and a half minutes. And truth be told, it probably won't truly be done. But clearly Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang will be the first ones to get a chance to pick up that time.
-Don't be surprised to see Mark Eaton's time with the man advantage go up. He's primarily a defensive, shot-blocking type, but Dan Bylsma and company have shown a willingness to use him with the second or "jay-vee" power-play unit. And it's no coincidence Eaton's seven career postseason points (four goals, three assists) all came in last season's playoffs under Bylsma.
-Bylsma also mentioned the possibility of using Skoula and/or a forward on the point for the second unit.
Short-Handed
| Player |
Average
Time on Ice |
| Orpik |
3:41 |
| Gonchar |
3:20 |
| Eaton |
3:07 |
| McKee |
3:05 |
| Goligoski |
1:40 |
| Letang |
1:10 |
-This is the one that is most surprising. Gonchar actually sees more time on the penalty kill than the shot-blocking machines of Eaton and McKee. Not by a huge margain mind you, but that's still a significant chunk of time to account for.
-Obviously McKee, Eaton and Brooks Orpik will be relied on more. This is their strength.
-We'd like to see Letang carry a little bit more of the load on the penalty kill given how physical he can be. He's not a banger and crasher like Orpik, but he's strong enough that he can nudge opposing forwards off the puck and gain position along the boards. It's really an underrated part of his game.
And now we come to Martin Skoula. A veteran of 724 regular season games, Skoula never appeared in fewer than 78 games in an NHL regular season prior to this campaign. You don't do that without knowing how to play and staying healthy. Here are his average totals in the 81 games he played for the Wild last season:
| Shifts |
Time
on Ice |
Even-
Strength |
Power-
Play |
Short-
Handed |
| 26.9 |
19:57 |
17:05 |
0:12 |
2:39 |
-The number that really jumps out to us is the short-handed time. Don't be surprised if he get some significant minutes there.
Again, the bottom line is Gonchar will not be truly replaced. It probably will be evident within the first five minutes of Friday's game against the Panthers. There are going to be times when Goligoski can't keep the puck inside the blue line on the power play or Skoula will make a poor turnover in his own zone. And you'll scream at your television set realizing Gonchar could've made that play. Qualities like that are hard to find in one defenseman.
But it's not impossible, especially for a relatively small period of time.
(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Posted
Oct 22 2009, 01:50 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh