12 /12 / 2019 / / ISSUE NUMBER PAGE 1 M ID - SEASON TEAM DEFENSE ANALYSIS AND T OP THREE T EAM RATINGS DEFENSE ANALYSIS BREAKTHROUGH STUNS HOCKEY WORLD MXMAN991 It has long been said in the SMJHL that it is impossible to analyze how good a defensive player is who does not score or get assists. With a modern breakthrough in analytics and analysis however, the SMJHL Daily has had what can only be called a modern day breakthrough that rivals the invention of pe nicillin. No, that is not a biased opinion by a member of the SMJHL Daily media staff, it is a fact. No it is not because this author was also the inventor of the analytical process that lead to the break through. Don’t write me and tell me I am biased. Yo u are probably biased because you’re jealous. Oh and if you are my editor, I swear if you delete this from the article again because it is “unprofessional” and not “news paper worthy” I will personally use my self- taught youtube karate to end you. Mxman shown here ending his editors life if he makes any changes to his article again With our new analysis process we are able to quantify who the top defensemen are in the league right now Analysis Process explained MXMAN Before pitchforks are sharpened and torches assembled and lit, the SMJHL Daily thought it important to explain the process of what went into the analysis process, the methodology, and what is actually being measured. This process is not focusing on if a defenseman is a good point scorer. That can be done in a different analysis, and honestly is easier to see on a stat sheet already anyways. If a defenseman has 15 goals and 10 assists, they are an offensive juggernaut a nd you know that they are good. However, not all defenseman in the SHL or even the SMJHL are point scorers. These stay at home defensive super stars don’t play the flashy way, they play the position as it was intended, defensively. They don’t allow shots o n their goalies, they hit players off of the puck, they don’t take penalties to give their team a disadvantage, and they log long minutes while maintaining a good plus minus record. So in this analysis process, that is exactly what we measured. How many h its does the player have, how many penalty minutes, what are their plus minus records, how many shots have they blocked, and lastly, how many minutes are they on the ice. It is probably easy to understand why many of these stats are calculated in the proc ess, but there are a few that will likely need to be explained. First, when it comes to plus minus, the highest plus minus was used to determine the high cap, and the lowest the low cap. That was a point difference of 25 (+ 14 vs – 11). That meant if you had 14 you were given 100 points, if you were - 11 you got 4 points (100 divided by 25). Same process was used for penalty minutes. All other stats where calculated against the highest that a player had acheived. For example if 33 hits were the highest in t he league, that was considered worth 100 points. A total of five categories were considered when running the analysis and the scores were combined to provide a point total against a perfect score of 500. Whatever was your player’s total score was then div ided against that perfect score to give a percentage. The highest scoring player was used as a benchmark for all other players to measure themselves against. In this case that player was Zbigniew Pokrywka who was rated at a 99 OVR. This was then used with DEF, GAA, GA and SV% to formulate defensive rankings for all teams. 12 / / 2019 / / ISSUE NUMBER SMJHL DAILY PAGE 2 #1 Anchorage Armada Defensive line grade: C+ Goal tending grade: A++ Anchorage team MVP Ian Venables MXMAN991 Ian Venables is a name that is always in the conversation for the SMJHL MVP award, but this year he might be the only name in the conversation to this point. Ian currently leads the GAA category amongst all qualified goalies and the Save Percentage categor y as well. Ian is single handily the most important player on the Armada side right now. It would not be surprising in the slightest if Ian was called up to the SHL soon. It must be a gift and a curse to the GM of Anchorage having a player as phenomenal and instrumental to your success on your squad. At any second San Francisco could decide to sit a cold goalie and call up Ian. With the defense that is in front of him, that would be disastrous for Anchorage’ s run at the cup with Carolina nipping at their heels. Only time will tell if Ian will ride out the rest of the year wearing the blue and white. Anchorage fans must pray that for, at least now, San Francisco forgets about their star rookie in the SMJHL. Promotional picture of Ian Venables from the start of the season. The Anchorage Armada steams its way into first place Anchorage defense is over performing MXMAN991 Anchorage is playing lights out offensively and defensively through the midway part of the season and their position atop the standings is in large part due to Ian Venables. Through deep analysis of its defensive players and overall team rankings and perc entages, Anchorage has an average defense (4 th ) that is being lifted by its outstanding goalie play. With a combined defensive average rating of 69 OVR, the only categories in which they lead defensively are in goalie save percentage which largely determines the other two categories of goals against and goals against average. Defensive Player OVR Rating Augustus Wang ANC 81 Berry Blue ANC 76 Lando Norris ANC 83 Ulrik Bergstrom (R) ANC 70 Shelby Schmackers (R) ANC 61 Derek Holdson (R) ANC 42 Augustus Wang is playing well mid way through the season, as is Lando Norris and Berry Blue, but they will need to see more performance from their rookies if they are to sustain their current position at the top of the leader board. I would not be surprised to see Anchorage go after a trade before the deadline and playoffs begin. HOT TAKES UNLESS ANC CAN KEEP UP THE HIGH GOAL SCORING, THEY WILL DROP IN THE RANKINGS LOOK FOR ANC TO GO A FTER A DEFENSEMAN BEFORE THE TRADE DEADLINE FINAL WIN PERCENTAGE WILL BE IN THE HIGH .600’S, NOT THE .700’S AS IT IS NOW 12 / / 2019 / / ISSUE NUMBER SMJHL DAILY PAGE 3 #2 Carolina Kraken Defensive line grade: B Goal tending grade: A- Zbigniew Pokrywka’s meteoric rise to stardom MXMAN991 Zbigniew Pokrywka is going to be a household name for fans of hockey in short time if he continues to play great defensive hockey. Only in his second year in the SMJHL and he is already turning heads in the SHL. Halfway through the season and Zbigniew Pokrywka has thrown h imself in front of more slapshots than pennies that make up a dollar. Ok not that many, it is only 54, but that is an insane amount. Zbigniew Pokrywka has almost blocked a third of the amount of shots that back up goalie Mike Hroch has through 6 games and that’s Mike’s job. Now this article isn’t to say anything bad about Mike Hroch, I just wanted to draw a comparison to an insane stat. He has also laid down 41 hits, has a positive plus minus, he’s logging big game time out on the ice, and he’s doing al l of this while mostly staying out of the penalty box. This kid is a defensive coach’s dream. Look for big things to come from Zbigniew Pokrywka throughout his career. Zbigniew Pokrywka’s jersey is bound to be a hot present this holiday season for Carolina Fans Promotional banner from their recent 4 Star Cup championship run last season Carolina’s Iron wall defense MXMAN991 The Kraken has an iron grip and apparently and iron wall as well. Led by SMJHL All Star Zbigniew Pokrywka and the nearly as talented Padraig Sarantez they make you pay for every meter of ice in their defensive zone. If it were not for the lights out play o f Ian Venables of the Anchorage Armada, Carolina would easily be the number one rated defense in all of the SMJHL. Unfortunatly their luck with their goal tenders has been a bit more down than their cross country rival as they are letting up an average of half a goal more a game at the halfway point of the season. Defensive Player OVR Rating Padraig Sarantez CAR 92 Hans Schweinsteiger CAR 71 Zbigniew Pokrywka CAR 99 Wyatt Ruschkoff CAR 55 Eryk Siniskaya (R) CAR 65 Casimir Blaszczyk (R) CAR 60 Daniel Kuster CAR 54 Nolan McMahon has yet to heat up this season, but if he or his back up Mike Hroch does, we may be looking at a repeat winner of the Four Star Cup led by their impenetrable defensive play. I can’t wait to see Carolina and Anchorage battle again in playoffs. HOT TAKES CAROLINA WILL BE TOP DOG IN PLAYOFF RUN WILL BE #1 TEAM BY END OF SEASON LOOK FOR THEM TO REMAIN A CONTENDER THROUGH S53 12 / / 2019 / / ISSUE NUMBER SMJHL DAILY PAGE 4 #3 HALIFAX RAIDERS Defensive line grade: A Goal tending grade: A Abel Skinner, undervalued asset MXMAN991 Not necessarily the fault of Abel Skinner, but many fans of the SMJHL don’t yet remember his name immediately. That will change soon though if he continues his on ice dominance in the defensive zone. Halifax players, even those who play as great as Abel Skinner often have difficulty being known before they enter the SHL. Maybe it’s the distance to Halifax, or the fact that for so long the franchise has been considered the laughing stock of the SMJHL, but fans normally don’t follow their games much and as such don’t know their players, even when they are super stars in the making. With Halifax finally beginning to look like a respectable hockey team out on the ice, maybe Skinner will be the first player to break through and be popular while playing for Halifax. Abel from his recent promotional picture when he received his A Halifax Raiders recently updated their logo in the attempt to gain more fans for their organization Strong core is taking form MXMAN991 The able hands of Abel Skinner are beginning to right the ship for the Halifax Raiders under coach Ed Balls . A franchise long known for being at the bottom of the pack and producing more headlines from their player’s activities off the ice (can’t forget that missing hooker case that still h asn’t been solved), they are beginning to be taken more serious by teams in the SMJHL. The have strong play coming from their goalie Biz Nasty and Izzy Dudemeister has outperfomed what many expected of the first year rookie. Tie that in with Defensive Player OVR Rating Abel Skinner HFX 89 Adam Barron HFX 75 Haley Knight HFX 82 Simon Moreau (R) HFX 62 Stefan Alfonso (R) HFX 69 Matthew Brundt (R) HFX 65 Izzy Dudemiester (R) HFX 79 Dank Jelly-Ouuh (R) HFX 56 the always solid play by Haley Knight in her third year and Halifax has been suprisingly hard to score on this season. They may just have a chance to make it past round one in playoffs. Lets not get too excited though huh? Hate to have another hooker go missing in Halifax. HOT TAKE HALIFAX WILL SURPRISE IN THE PLAYOFFS LOOK FOR HFX TO TRAD E A DEFENSEMAN BEFORE THE TRADE DEADLINE HFX WILL FINISH THIR D IN REGULAR SEASON 12 / / 2019 / / ISSUE NUMBER SMJHL DAILY PAGE 5 Total List of Defense Ranking: 1. Anchorage Armada 2. Carolina Kraken 3. Halifax Raiders 4. Vancouver Whalers Line: A+ GT: B- 5. Kelowna Knights Line: A- GT: B+ 6. Lethbridge Lions Line: C GT: B 7. Colorado Raptors Line: D GT: B+ 8. Detroit Falcons Line: D- GT: B- 9. St. Louis Scarecrows Line: C- GT: C- 10. Anaheim Outlaws Line: D GT: D Full Player ADJ OVR List Georgy Gorbachenko COL 65 Bryce Turner (R) COL 73 Alesky Franciszek COL 51 Joakim Ohlund DET 72 Lee Samson DET 79 Zach Magoon DET 57 Guy O'Shea (R) DET 43 Brennan Griggs DET 69 Stacy Jefferson Jr. DET 40 Luciano Vessot KEL 80 Danila Zhernov KEL 94 Alex Ranch KEL 43 Noah Nystrom (R) KEL 84 Luke McSquirrelly (R) KEL 68 Adam Scianna (R) KEL 76 Delver Fudgeson LET 77 Akira Ren LET 57 Disisde Dayudie LET 83 Jack Wilson LET 58 Cal Clucker LET 56 Jakob Hamr LET 76 Flash Gordon STL 88 Marian Elsner STL 84 Jebany Franciszek (R) STL 64 Blake Faux STL 71 Luc - Pierre Lespineau - Lebrunette STL 68 Gareth Crinnion STL 61 Tucker Centennial STL 54 Ryszard Franciszek ( R) STL 56 Noah Andros VAN 91 Player Team OVR Abel Skinner HFX 89 Adam Barron HFX 75 Haley Knight HFX 82 Simon Moreau (R) HFX 62 Stefan Alfonso (R) HFX 69 Matthew Brundt (R) HFX 65 Izzy Dudemiester (R) HFX 79 Dank Jelly-Ouuh (R) HFX 56 Nicholas Owens ANH 87 Jacob Riley ANH 70 Ursin Zimmermann ANH 67 Jaakko Jarvinen ANH 59 Alex Petrenko ANH 61 Rath McLeod ANH 49 Augustus Wang ANC 81 Berry Blue ANC 76 Lando Norris ANC 83 Ulrik Bergstrom (R) ANC 70 Shelby Schmackers (R) ANC 61 Derek Holdson (R) ANC 42 Padraig Sarantez CAR 92 Hans Schweinsteiger CAR 71 Zbigniew Pokrywka CAR 99 Wyatt Ruschkoff CAR 55 Eryk Siniskaya (R) CAR 65 Casimir Blaszczyk (R) CAR 60 Daniel Kuster CAR 54 Denver Wolfe COL 67 Derek Bohne Jr. COL 81 Heat Siecker COL 55 12 / / 2019 / / ISSUE NUMBER SMJHL DAILY PAGE 6 Mikas Bieksa VAN 95 Zlatan Ibrahimovic Jr. VAN 87 Sven Yxskaft (R) VAN 77 Sabo Tage ( R) VAN 74 Victor Toeman VAN 76 Full Statistics: Player Team SB 41 Total H 72 Total P/M 4.1 MP 627 P Total 0.81 Abel Skinner HFX 40 0.976 97.6 21 0.29 29.17 2 14 57.4 549 0.88 87.6 16 88.96 0.72 0.89 Adam Barron HFX 17 0.415 41.5 22 0.31 30.56 4 16 65.6 480 0.77 76.6 14 90.34 0.61 0.75 Haley Knight HFX 28 0.683 68.3 18 0.25 25 3 15 61.5 512 0.82 81.7 6 95.86 0.66 0.82 Simon Moreau (R) HFX 18 0.439 43.9 9 0.13 12.5 1 13 53.3 317 0.51 50.6 12 91.72 0.50 0.62 Stefan Alfonso (R) HFX 19 0.463 46.3 30 0.42 41.67 1 13 53.3 362 0.58 57.7 27 81.37 0.56 0.69 Matthew Brundt (R) HFX 12 0.293 29.3 15 0.21 20.83 9 21 86.1 191 0.3 30.5 4 97.24 0.53 0.65 Izzy Dudemiester (R) HFX 17 0.415 41.5 33 0.46 45.83 8 20 82 443 0.71 70.7 26 82.06 0.64 0.79 Dank Jelly-Ouuh (R) HFX 8 0.195 19.5 4 0.06 5.556 6 18 73.8 187 0.3 29.8 2 98.62 0.45 0.56 Nicholas Owens ANH 31 0.756 75.6 40 0.56 55.56 3 15 61.5 526 0.84 83.9 34 76.54 0.71 0.87 Jacob Riley ANH 35 0.854 85.4 32 0.44 44.44 - 10 2 8.2 405 0.65 64.6 29 79.99 0.57 0.69 Ursin Zimmermann ANH 10 0.244 24.4 18 0.25 25 - 1 11 45.1 606 0.97 96.7 28 80.68 0.54 0.67 Jaakko Jarvinen ANH 16 0.39 39 23 0.32 31.94 - 10 2 8.2 507 0.81 80.9 27 81.37 0.48 0.59 Alex Petrenko ANH 8 0.195 19.5 25 0.35 34.72 - 7 5 20.5 572 0.91 91.2 25 82.75 0.50 0.61 Rath McLeod ANH 10 0.244 24.4 11 0.15 15.28 - 11 1 4.1 446 0.71 71.1 25 82.75 0.40 0.49 Augustus Wang ANC 22 0.537 53.7 32 0.44 44.44 1 13 53.3 591 0.94 94.3 25 82.75 0.66 0.81 Berry Blue ANC 8 0.195 19.5 19 0.26 26.39 12 24 98.4 529 0.84 84.4 31 78.61 0.61 0.76 Lando Norris ANC 12 0.293 29.3 22 0.31 30.56 13 25 99 566 0.9 90.3 21 85.51 0.67 0.82 Ulrik Bergstrom (R) ANC 18 0.439 43.9 23 0.32 31.94 2 14 57.4 436 0.7 69.5 27 81.37 0.57 0.70 Shelby Schmackers (R) ANC 15 0.366 36.6 11 0.15 15.28 0 12 49.2 412 0.66 65.7 29 79.99 0.49 0.61 Derek Holdson (R) ANC 4 0.098 9.76 4 0.06 5.556 0 12 49.2 50 0.08 7.97 0 100.00 0.34 0.42 Padraig Sarantez CAR 24 0.585 58.5 58 0.81 80.56 4 16 65.6 583 0.93 93 37 74.47 0.74 0.91 Hans Schweinsteiger CAR 10 0.244 24.4 14 0.19 19.44 5 17 69.7 551 0.88 87.9 21 85.51 0.57 0.71 Zbigniew Pokrywka CAR 54 1.317 132 41 0.57 56.94 3 15 61.5 458 0.73 73 25 82.75 81.19% 1.00 Wyatt Ruschkoff CAR 2 0.049 4.88 4 0.06 5.556 3 15 61.5 450 0.72 71.8 31 78.61 0.44 0.55 Eryk Siniskaya (R) CAR 18 0.439 43.9 15 0.21 20.83 4 16 65.6 300 0.48 47.8 19 86.89 0.53 0.65 Casimir Blaszczyk (R) CAR 2 0.049 4.88 17 0.24 23.61 6 18 73.8 335 0.53 53.4 18 87.58 0.49 0.60 Daniel Kuster CAR 6 0.146 14.6 15 0.21 20.83 - 9 3 12.3 549 0.88 87.6 22 84.82 0.44 0.54 Denver Wolfe COL 16 0.39 39 14 0.19 19.44 - 2 10 41 578 0.92 92.2 29 79.99 0.54 0.67 Derek Bohne Jr. COL 18 0.439 43.9 35 0.49 48.61 3 15 61.5 563 0.9 89.8 22 84.82 0.66 0.81 Heat Siecker COL 2 0.049 4.88 9 0.13 12.5 - 4 8 32.8 549 0.88 87.6 25 82.75 0.44 0.54 Georgy Gorbachenko COL 14 0.341 34.1 15 0.21 20.83 2 14 57.4 429 0.68 68.4 27 81.37 0.52 0.64 Bryce Turner (R) COL 22 0.537 53.7 20 0.28 27.78 2 14 57.4 429 0.68 68.4 15 89.65 0.59 0.73 Alesky Franciszek COL 6 0.146 14.6 12 0.17 16.67 - 2 10 41 217 0.35 34.6 2 98.62 0.41 0.51 Joakim Ohlund DET 26 0.634 63.4 21 0.29 29.17 - 4 8 32.8 551 0.88 87.9 29 79.99 0.59 0.72 Lee Samson DET 24 0.585 58.5 25 0.35 34.72 3 15 61.5 516 0.82 82.3 24 83.44 0.64 0.79 Zach Magoon DET 16 0.39 39 15 0.21 20.83 - 7 5 20.5 420 0.67 67 24 83.44 0.46 0.57 Guy O'Shea (R) DET 4 0.098 9.76 13 0.18 18.06 - 7 5 20.5 209 0.33 33.3 8 94.48 0.35 0.43 Brennan Griggs DET 14 0.341 34.1 22 0.31 30.56 - 1 11 45.1 269 0.43 42.9 14 90.34 0.49 0.60 Stacy Jefferson Jr. DET 4 0.098 9.76 0 0 0 0 12 49.2 24 0.04 3.83 3 97.93 0.32 0.39 Luciano Vessot KEL 16 0.39 39 22 0.31 30.56 7 19 77.9 603 0.96 96.2 28 80.68 0.65 0.80 Danila Zhernov KEL 28 0.683 68.3 37 0.51 51.39 11 23 94.3 585 0.93 93.3 39 73.09 0.76 0.93 Alex Ranch KEL 4 0.098 9.76 8 0.11 11.11 - 11 2 8.2 402 0.64 64.1 25 82.75 0.35 0.43 Noah Nystrom (R) KEL 18 0.439 43.9 35 0.49 48.61 7 19 77.9 538 0.86 85.8 23 84.13 0.68 0.84 Luke McSquirrelly (R) KEL 20 0.488 48.8 44 0.61 61.11 - 10 2 8.2 422 0.67 67.3 12 91.72 0.55 0.68 Adam Scianna (R) KEL 6 0.146 14.6 27 0.38 37.5 9 21 86.1 558 0.89 89 26 82.06 0.62 0.76 Delver Fudgeson LET 8 0.195 19.5 19 0.26 26.39 10 22 90.2 597 0.95 95.2 25 82.75 0.63 0.77 Akira Ren LET 4 0.098 9.76 18 0.25 25 - 8 4 16.4 568 0.91 90.6 14 90.34 0.46 0.57 Disisde Dayudie LET 16 0.39 39 22 0.31 30.56 10 22 90.2 592 0.94 94.4 23 84.13 0.68 0.83 Jack Wilson LET 10 0.244 24.4 15 0.21 20.83 - 9 3 12.3 510 0.81 81.3 8 94.48 0.47 0.57 Cal Clucker LET 8 0.195 19.5 5 0.07 6.944 - 2 10 41 491 0.78 78.3 26 82.06 0.46 0.56 Jakob Hamr LET 31 0.756 75.6 29 0.4 40.28 - 3 9 36.9 420 0.67 67 15 89.65 0.62 0.76 Flash Gordon STL 41 1 99 33 0.46 45.83 -5 7 28.7 619 0.99 99 22 84.82 0.71 0.88 Marian Elsner STL 32 0.78 78 31 0.43 43.06 -2 10 41 563 0.9 89.8 14 90.34 0.68 0.84 Jebany Franciszek (R) STL 26 0.634 63.4 7 0.1 9.722 -8 4 16.4 460 0.73 73.4 6 95.86 0.52 0.64 Blake Faux STL 34 0.829 82.9 23 0.32 31.94 -11 2 8.2 516 0.82 82.3 24 83.44 0.58 0.71 Luc - Pierre Lespineau - Lebrunette STL 24 0.585 58.5 72 1 99 -12 1 4.1 387 0.62 61.7 69 52.39 0.55 0.68 Gareth Crinnion STL 11 0.268 26.8 13 0.18 18.06 4 16 65.6 252 0.4 40.2 4 97.24 0.50 0.61 12 / / 2019 / / ISSUE NUMBER SMJHL DAILY PAGE 7 Tucker Centennial STL 9 0.22 22 14 0.19 19.44 2 14 57.4 194 0.31 30.9 14 90.34 0.44 0.54 Ryszard Franciszek ( R) STL 23 0.561 56.1 4 0.06 5.556 -6 6 24.6 333 0.53 53.1 16 88.96 0.46 0.56 Noah Andros VAN 29 0.707 70.7 15 0.21 20.83 10 22 90.2 619 0.99 98.7 12 91.72 0.74 0.91 Mikas Bieksa VAN 35 0.854 85.4 30 0.42 41.67 4 16 65.6 627 1 100 6 95.86 0.78 0.95 Zlatan Ibrahimovic Jr. VAN 27 0.659 65.9 43 0.6 59.72 0 12 49.2 583 0.93 93 22 84.82 0.71 0.87 Sven Yxskaft (R) VAN 29 0.707 70.7 25 0.35 34.72 -1 11 45.1 459 0.73 73.2 14 90.34 0.63 0.77 Sabo Tage ( R) VAN 23 0.561 56.1 14 0.19 19.44 2 14 57.4 482 0.77 76.9 10 93.1 0.61 0.74 Victor Toeman VAN 12 0.293 29.3 21 0.29 29.17 1 13 53.3 422 0.67 67.3 14 90.34 0.54 0.66