Why no Jagr in shootout?
- Check out our Flyers’ game story from Denver where there are a lot of good nuggets, including why roster signs point to Claude Giroux’s return, and one about Jakub Voracek and Jaromir Jagr paying tribute to their Czech Republic president who passed away. - We caught up with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in an hour-long session on a recent Friday. Here are 5 questions from the interview.
Why no Jagr in shootout?
- Check out our Flyers’ game story from Denver where there are a lot of good nuggets, including why roster signs point to Claude Giroux’s return, and one about Jakub Voracek and Jaromir Jagr paying tribute to their Czech Republic president who passed away.
- We caught up with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in an hour-long session on a recent Friday. Here are 5 questions from the interview.
DALLAS -- Danny Briere went first. James van Riemsdyk followed. And then Peter Laviolette tapped... Matt Read try his luck in the lottery game known as the NHL shootout?
The most obvious question is: why would Laviolette not opt to leave the NHL’s active, all-time leading goal-scorer sitting on the bench during a breakaway competition? Jaromir Jagr has 656 career goals on his resume.
Because of tight newspaper deadlines, this reporter didn’t get a chance to ask Laviolette after the game - a question that can be answered after the Flyers’ noon practice at American Airlines Center in Dallas - but if we had to guess, it would be that he has seen the numbers.
They aren’t pretty.
Among the 6 active Flyers who have had at least 6 attempts in the shootout, Jagr ranks last with a 22.7 percent success rate. That is a list that includes defenseman Kimmo Timonen. For his career, Jagr is 5-for-22. Yikes!
In his defense, Jagr has not taken an NHL shootout attempt in more than 3 full seasons, so he hasn’t exactly had much practice.
And that’s the thing - the Flyers, as a whole, haven’t had much practice with the shootout. That could explain why they are the NHL’s worst team in the shootout since it was instated in 2005-06. To my knowledge, and I am at practice nearly every single day, the Flyers haven’t worked on it since training camp.
They are 0-2 in shootouts this season.
Here is where they stack up all-time:
FLYERS: 19-36 (34.5 win percentage)
Florida: 26-48 (35.5)
Ottawa: 21-35 (37.5)
Washington: 27-39 (40.5)
Calgary: 23-33 (41.1)
Columbus: 32-44 (42)
St. Louis: 30-40 (42.8)
Vancouver: 27-35 (43.5)
Montreal: 31-34 (47.6)
It pales in comparison to a team like the Avalanche, who live and die by the shootout. They have won 17 of their last 18 shootouts and they are 6-0 in shootouts this season. On Monday, the Avalanche went 3-for-3, just the 5th time in 55 all-time shootouts for the Flyers that the opponent has made all 3.
Most of the rest of the NHL - the other 21 teams - are either hovering around .500 all-time in shootouts or are well above that mark.
But what does that mean in terms of an impact on the standings? Here are the points the Flyers have given up over the years by not picking up that one extra point.
2010-11: 7 points
2009-10: 3 points*
2008-09: 6 points
2007-08: 6 points
2006-07: 6 points
2005-06: 6 points
*= only year with a winning (4-3) record in shootout
Coincidentally, Laviolette gave van Riemsdyk a chance - for the first time in his career - on Monday night and he converted with a beautiful, top-shelf shot. In fact, van Riemsdyk is now one of 11 active NHLers to be 1-for-1 in the shootout.
BATTLE OF YOUTH: Many people look at the Avalanche, mired in the bottom of the Western Conference standings, as simply a young team trying to find their way. It’s hard to believe, in standings comparison, that the Flyers are so similar in age. As of Dec. 13, Colorado is the NHL’s youngest team with an average age of 26 years, 35 days. The Flyers are third at 26 years, 93 days.
HIT THE NET: On Monday, the Flyers fired 20 attempts that missed the net, their most since they also missed 20 against Boston on Dec. 1, 2010.
KNUBLE HITS 1,000: Tonight in Washington, former Flyer Mike Knuble will become the 20th American trained player to reach the 1,000-game plateau in NHL history.
Knuble, 39, spent 310 of those regular season games in a Flyers uniform, from 2005-06 to 2008-09. He will be honored before the Capitals’ game against Nashville at the Verizon Center.
“It’s going to be like unwrapping a birthday present, kind of,” Knuble told the Washington Times. “And the day after, you’ll be like ‘Huh?’ Now, you’ve just got to keep going.”
Knuble said he spent the first part of his career just trying to make it to the 2004-05 lockout, so that he could hit the 400 game mark.
“I think that was a pretty good milestone. Back in the day, that used to be like a different pension level, so that was the big goal – get to 400 games,” Knuble said. “It's changed since then. It's something I've been looking forward to [this] the last probably couple years. You try and stay healthy and you never know with your contract status and all that.
“Once you get over that hump and you've proved you can play, then it's a question of just being able to play that long and staying healthy. You play with great teammates that help you stay in the game and play well on the ice, but keep you entertained off the ice and keep you fresh coming to the rink every day.”
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers
JVR is doing little to nothing this season. What a let down.— gordon7- So not practicing the shootout means both your shooters AND your goalies are bad at it. Bob seems to have made some progress at stopping break-aways; last season he was terrible. I don't see how it's Bryz' fault they lost in the shootout. If the team hadn't turned into the Keystone Kops from the second period on, they might have avoided the shootout entirely. He played a great game.— element_104
- You think that second goal was acceptable element? Yes it deflected but it was still an easy stop if he was paying attention. He has given up too many softies by loosing track of the puck or not paying attention. And sorry, you need to have higher then a 0% save percentage in the shootout.— Sidewinder7
- I said a few years ago Holmgren should look for a player who is outstanding in shootouts... The guy could single handily steal you 5-6 points a year.....— elfman
- Do you understand that one guy will never win a shootout? Do you understand that our goalie would need to stop the other shooters from scoring to win? Do you know that each team uses 3 shooters ? Looks like you got bit by the stupidity bug (a few years ago) — 420Phillie
- Frank, so instead of asking him why no Jagr, try asking him why don't they practice it, at least a little. Couple of points in the standings are always helpful come end of the year.— potus
- Ok, couple things I saw. I saw enough of Tom Sesito to know he's got way more talent than Shelley, and couldn't possibly bleed as much. Even with the injuries, I'd sit JVR for a game or 2. Anytime a defender gets near him, he dishes the puck....he has no confidence and is playing scared. Watch Jagr and Briere..they almost welcome contact to allow plays to develop. And everyone should know Jagr's past in NY with shootouts. A good reporter would have mentioned.— philly thug
- 67Flyer, it's frustrating that Frank didn't know that Jagr HATES participating in shootouts. Thorough hockey coverage is a thing of the past in this town, unfortunately. This identical article was posted after the last shootout the Flyers had, and back then people pointed out Jagr's well-known aversion to shootouts. Hockey analysis on this site is too often superficial and basic, I miss the good old days of real analysis and a deep understanding of the game. I'm not simply trashing the reporter as is so often done around here, I'm just saying hockey doesn't get the attention that it deserves anymore.— kgall
- These are not good reporters. They are too worried about their website glamour shots and looking good on TV. These guys put more time and product into their hair than they do fact checking and looking for a scoop.— Nichols1088
Comment removed.- Put your collar down Frank...you look rediculous.— ShawnC
- coach is known for trying the kids early, to get them experience. I applaud it. Heck, one post away from round four— LongtimeFan3
- I think it is fairly obvious they used JVR and Read because they have been in scoring funks and he was trying to build their confidence. I have no problem with that tactic and typically, if you score 2 out of 3, you will win...What is up with Bryz not being able to stop 1????— briman
- Homerjay has it right. The real issue is why neither of our goalies seem able to stop a penalty or shootout attempt. The only time the shooter fails to score is when he misses the net. Boucher wasn't a great goalie but he was way better than Bob and Bryz in that department. The practice needed is by the goalies more than the shooters.
— deputydog - boston strangler is a full blown stunad. bryz gave up 2 goals last night, both of which he had no chance to save. your going up against the league's best shoot out team (reading comprehenion, strangler, try to focus). He wasnt great last night, but he got very little support offensively. last night's game is chalked up to travel, injuries and apathy--not goaltending.— AndyReidsMustache
