To be Fehr...

Much has been made over the years about how Eric Fehr was drafted ahead of Ryan Getzlaf in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft and, yes, there is a large disparity in their career point production. But to call Eric Fehr a bust seems a little unfair. He's a 20 goal scorer, Calder Cup winner and solid contributor for what was the league's best offense last season. But for some reason, his ice time is held back while others see their time rise (we're looking at you Tomas). Is this disparity in ice time deserved? Let's look at the tape.

As with all our goal analyses, we'll group Eric's goals into a few categories. For the sake of camparison, we'll use the same scoring categories as Tomas Fleischmann:

1. Skill goals created by offensive zone play/turn overs/face off wins
2. Goals from offensive rushes/breakaways
3. Crease work/tap-ins/rebounds/redirections

Based on Eric's goals, he seems to be equally adept at scoring skill goals, dirty goals, and hard working goals, with 8 goals coming from offensive zone work, 7 goals from offensive rushes and 6 more from in close to the goaltender. Oddly enough, when looking for another Cap whose goal scoring style resembles Fehr, my first (and only) thought was of Tomas Fleischmann. He has above average hands and a hard accurate shot and like Fleischmann, he manages to find open space for himself. Fehr isn't a board crasher, but he also isn't afraid to go into rough areas on the ice looking for a rebound.

I find it amazing that Eric had the lowest average ice time (12:08 per game) for any 20 goal scorer in the NHL last season, by 2:36 per game (a huge gap). In fact, you have to go all the way down to John Sim (13 goals in 11:39 in avg. ice time) to find a productive player with less ice time. The last time a 20 goal scorer played less than 13:00 per game was when Jeff Carter, Patrick Eaves and Chuck Kobasew did it in 2005-2006. So once again, the question needs to be asked: is there something about Eric Fehr's game that causes Coach Boudreau pause in calling his name?

We'll probably never know. What I do know is, based on Eric Fehr's game, I see nothing to indicate he's not a 25+ goal scorer in the NHL. With 4 more minutes per game, who knows what we could see.

...In A Flash

I think it's safe to say that there are two Washington Capitals players that confuse and frustrate fans more than any others: Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Fehr (sorry #28, we all know you're an enigma). At times, they look like scoring machines, capable of playing top 6 forward minutes and producing. Other times, they look lost, afraid of contact and of defensive responsibility. And why is one the Favorite Son while they other is the Whipping Boy?

So which is it? Are they truly skilled players in need of that... something. Or are they products of a system that produces offense? Today, we'll take a look at #14's goals and see if we can tell.

As with all these analyses, we'll break down Flash's goals into categories. They are:

1. Skill goals created by offensive zone play/turn overs/face off wins
2. Goals from offensive rushes/breakaways
3. Crease work/tap-ins/rebounds/redirections

Unlike some of his more skilled teammates (and perhaps due to his 2nd and 3rd line minutes with more grinding linemates), 11 of Felischmann's 23 goals came from working in the offensive zone. Another 8 goals were scored by going hard to the net and either redirecting pucks, tapping in cross-crease passes or Knubling pucks into the net. Only 4 of last season's goals came on transition plays or breakaways. We've seen Tomas score some elite level skill and speed goals in his Caps career (his nickname used to fit), but the majority of last season's goals weren't of that variety.

After watching all of Fleischmann's goals, the first thing I noticed was was his release. There is NO hesitation on Flash's wrist shot, no wind up; he receives the puck and in one motion the shot is off (I'm reminded of Paul Kariya in his goal scoring prime). With the 2nd highest shooting % on the team, Flash was clearly picking his spots well. The second, and perhaps more important thing I saw was his positioning. On many of his offensive zone goals, Fleischmann managed to get into open ice and put himself in position for a good pass. He forechecked well, wasn't afraid to skate out of the corners and went to the places goals scorers go. That's instinct, and that will lead to more goals.

Fleischmann missed the first 11 games of the season and returned to score 7 goals in his first 9 games. But in his remaining 60 games, he managed to score only 16 goals more goals (and none in his last 7 games, including playoffs). Perhaps those Olympic games wore down poor Tomas, after not being able to participate in training camp?

2010-11 should answer quite a few questions about Tomas Fleischmann: Is he a legitimate 25+ goal, 55+ point producer? Can he fill the role of 2nd line center? Can he gain the consistency his game has been lacking in his previous seasons? Does he deserve the high praise his coach heaps onto him?

I guess we'll see.

Taking Out The Garbage

In what has now turned into an ongoing series of ‘how do they score’ pieces, we’ve learned two things:


1. Alex Ovechkin is not a One Trick Pony as many believe.

2. Alex Semin scores with his long-range wrist shot

Now, in what I hope will be an interesting analysis, we’ll take a look at our first line garbage man, Mike Knuble. Everyone knows Knuble has made his living sitting on goalies within 5’ of the opposition’s goal. The traffic he creates by screening the goalie, drawing the attention of defensemen, and just being a pain in the butt likely lead to many more goals than he’ll ever get on the stat sheet for. But on a skill based team like last year’s Caps, there existed the possibility that Mike would get away from his bread and butter. Once again, we take a look back through the video machine at each of Mike’s 29 goals.

As with the two Alexes, I placed each of Knuble’s goals in a category. Because this is Mike Knuble we’re talking about, it’s only right to start out with two main categories, ‘Garbage’ and ‘Skill’, and subdivide those:

Garbage Goals - Rebound Goals, Tip-ins, Goals from a pass into a low position (near the goaltender)

Skill Goals - Goals scored while on an offensive rush, odd-man rush goals, empty net goals

As you probably guessed, Mike is a garbage man, with 19 of his 29 goals coming from within 5’ of the opposing goaltender. Of those 19 goals, 14 came on rebounds from a teammate’s shot, 3 came on re-directions, and another 2 came from a pass to him in a low position. Just as importantly, Mike manages to do all this while avoiding the penalties usually associated with dirty work (only 2 Goaltender Interference penalties).

What you may not have guessed is that while Mike certainly does make his living in the crease, he can still score the occasional skill goal. 6 of his goals were scored while on an offensive rush (with 4 of those coming from a hard shot from the right side) while another 3 came on odd-man breaks (specifically 2-on-1s). Add in the lone empty-net goal (scored from the right side, while on an offensive rush) and it’s clear that this garbage man can hang with the young guns without trying to be one.

The important aspect of Mike’s offensive production comes from doing what others are afraid to do. Mike’s rebound goals aren’t simple ‘scoop up a rebound and tap it in’ goals; they’re hard working, ‘bull over the goalie/defenseman, score at all costs’ goals. That kind of play inspires teammates to do the same. Players like Brooks Laich, Matt Bradley and even Eric Fehr seemed to emulate Knuble's play as the season progressed.

Mike Knuble didn’t have a 20+ goal season until he was 31, and has now had 7 in a row. Had he not been injured early in the season, Mike could have had a career year in just about every offensive category. Given the good luck of a healthy 2010-11, there is nothing to indicate that he’s going to stop picking up the garbage.