Quote:
Originally Posted by mrdonkey
I guess my homer goggles need cleaning because I have a hard time buying words like "dominant" and "best in the league" when the Flames are still in the tank for GA/G. And neither player is really lighting the world on fire offensively either.
I say this not to crap on either guy or the team as a whole, but as a suggestion to maybe take a step back because these are the same kinds of statements we love to make fun of Oilers fans for.
Edit: I see the dogpiling is already starting. I'll be on my way then and keep my opinions to myself next time.
|
Ok, I'll bite.
There are stats to back up the fact that Gio-Hamilton are among the top pairing d-pairs.
Out of D-pairs to play together for > 200 min TOI - that encompasses 40 defensemen pairings (if you were wondering re: sample size):
Gio-Hamilton have the top corsi rating of 58.29%. If you go to counting stats, they have a GF% of 57.14% (not as great - ranked 12th/40 - but a puck or two bounce in for them and they would be closer to the top) - of note, their xGF% (expected goals for percentage) - is 58.54% - which is actually ranked 2nd out of 40 pairings - so meaning the pairings above them in GF% have had some lucky bounces to outperform their xGF%.
Now - lets go to Brodie-Hamonic - corsi - 49.04% - ranking 28th/40, and GF% - 35.29% - ranking 37th/40 - xGF% - 42.66 - also 37th/40. They are kinda awful all around. They are essentially the reason why the Flames are bleeding goals against - most teams have a great top 4 - we have a top 2 right now.
TLDR - Gio-Hamilton is the one of the best (if not the best) d-pairings to control/drive play - and are still generally on the ice for significantly more goals for than against, while Brodie-Hamonic are essentially bringing the team down with letting in significantly more goals against while they are on the ice.
I get that we have to be critical of our players, but that doesn't mean that we can't be appreciative when they have stats that indicate they are performing well. Gio-Hamilton deserve some praise but Brodie needs to wake the F up 5 on 5.
I do understand the sentiment among possibly balancing it out further by splitting Gio and Hamilton -> the risk there is then you end up with 2 mediocre pairings vs 1 dominant/1 awful pairing -> especially since GG is stuck on his handedness thing for the D-pairs. I mean you could try Gio/Hamonic and Brodie/Hamilton but that second pairing would get eaten alive defensively.
As for trades, I think we have made our bed in our top 4. I understand a compelling argument to trade Brodie - but I don't think it makes sense with how badly he is struggling defensively right now (we would be selling low).
Sorry for the long post...