How Is The Finger Holding Up?
November 18th, 2008 by SteveSo far so good… sorta… kinda…
The Leafs have a 5-7-0 record with Jeff Finger in the line up so far this season. They have given up a combined 44 goals against since he’s rejoined the team following a broken foot earlier this season. That’s the bad news. The good news is, despite the fact that he has averaged over 25 minutes a game, only 10 of those 44 goals have come while he’s been on the ice. That’s less than 1 goal per game against (0.83 actually) while Finger is out there, and considering that 7 of those have come while the team is short handed, that’s relatively impressive.
If you compare those numbers to those of Tomas Kaberle (1.26 Goals Against Per Game), Luke Schenn (1.26 Goals Against Per Game), and Pavel Kubina (1.21 Goals Against Per Game) and it begins to make Finger look downright solid in his own end.
If you factor in his minutes played it again paints an impressive picture. Finger has gone an average of 24.5 minutes between goals against overall. Kaberle has gone an average of 19.71 minutes between goals against, Kubina has gone 16.65 minutes, and Schenn has gone 16.56 minutes. On the PK, Finger has gone 4.88 minutes between goals, Kaberle has gone 5.67 minutes between goals (which sort of disproves the whole Kaberle sucks on the PK argument), Schenn has gone 6.54 minutes between goals, and Kubina has gone 4.63 minutes between goals. Of all four defenders being discussed, Schenn has played by far the most PK time, sitting around an hour of short handed ice time at this point. Jonas Frogren has gone 9.07 minutes between goals on the PK, so he is probably the best defensive D man on the team at this point.
In comparison to other top defenders around the NHL:
Mike Komisarek (MTL) has gone 5.95 minutes between goals against while on the PK, and 15.53 minutes between goals against overall.
Zdeno Chara (BOS) has gone 7.16 minutes between goals against while on the PK, and 25.1 minutes between goals against overall.
Robyn Regehr (CGY) has gone 10.67 minutes between goals against while on the PK, and 22.07 minutes between goals against overall.
Niedermayer (ANA) has gone 12.6 minutes between goals against while on the PK, and 19.89 minutes between goals against overall.
Lidstrom (DET) has gone 10.07 minutes between goals against while on the PK, and 18.83 minutes between goals against overall.
Obviously some defenders are better on the PK than others, and in that ranking, Niedermayer, Regehr, Lidstrom, Chara, Komisarek, and then Finger would be the order of things. But surprisingly, if we ordered them based on overall ice time between goals (even strength, short handed, or whilst on the pp), the ranking would change a bit. Chara, Finger, Regehr, Niedermayer, Lidstrom, and then Komisarek. While out 5-on-5, Finger has been pretty damn impressive.
Luke Schenn is currently 7th in the NHL with 49 hits in 19 games, right ahead of Zdeno Chara who has 48 hits in 18 games. That works out to 2.58 hits per game for Schenn and 2.67 hits per game for Chara. Jeff Finger has 32 hits in 12 games, which would give him 2.67 hits per game… identical to Chara. If he had played 19 games like Schenn, he would be hovering around the top five or six D-men in the league in hits with 51.
Anton Volchenkov and Mike Komisarek are currently tied for 4th in the NHL amongst D men in blocked shots with 50. Pavel Kubina leads the Leafs D corps with 35. Jeff Finger has 22 through 12 games. If he had played all 19 games, he would have 35 himself, tying him with Kubina, Meszaros, Lundin, Staios, and Visnovsky, around 24th in the NHL.
Overall Finger seems to be earning his salary thus far in the season, but the Leafs are still struggling on the back end. They need to settle down a bit in their own end, and Finger seems to have some handle on that, at least when the team is 5-on-5.
Hopefully they can address the PK situation during this mini-break through Saturday, and improve things drastically going forward.
Posted in Player Analysis, Stat Analysis
4 Responses to “How Is The Finger Holding Up?”
By eyebleaf
on Nov 19, 2008
Yay!
By puckbuddy
on Nov 19, 2008
Oh man I hope they increase his playing time and he takes full advantage and becomes settled in as he looks clam now but doesn’t look 100% settled in yet. I know he rooms with Schenn so that’s a cool thing for the kid so hopefully we can see a future shut-down pairing with the two.
As for Finger, I hope he gets into his hitting ways so I can use all my “Finger” signs, you know, “Finger Banged” and “You Got Fingered” when he rubs someone out.
By Doug
on Nov 21, 2008
Jeff Finger is invisable out there. He just gets it done. This sets a great example for Luke Schenn. I really like what Cliff has done with the Leaf defense. He brought in a couple of really solid stay at homers in finger and Frogen, and a good two way defenseman in Van Ryn. This will take a lot of pressure off the the younger players and the goalies. It allows Wilson to bring Stralman, Colaiacovo, and Luke Schenn along more slowly. However, I would like to see Stralman and Colaiacovo with more time on the power play. Moving one of the big Czechs at the trade deadline might facilitate that. I don’t disagree with any moves Fletcher’s made with the “D.”