Sometimes our expectations of a player are too high.

Heading into the season, I thought maybe steen and tarasenko would get 30 goals, and possibly backes. Then an outside shot at Schwartz hitting that mark.

I've recently read about some thinking Jaskin will be a 30 goal scorer.

Well, after looking at the stats for the season, I see that 15 players hit the 30 goal mark. 15. 1 player for every two teams.

I think I need to adjust my thinking on what a productive season looks like.

Also, really puts in perspective how good Ovechkin still is at scoring goals.

I think that you may be comparing apples to oranges. You have to take into account the system that the players play in. With Hitch, it's defense first, and goal scoring second. If our players played in a different system, their scoring numbers would look very different...and so would their +/-. Injuries must be considered, too.

I don't think that's the case anymore, Turk. Don't the Blues have the 2nd most goals scored in the Western Conference? Hitch has changed his gameplan a bit this year. Our players aren't that much vastly superior to everyone else's in the league (and Hitch's philosophy isn't so defense oriented) to expect that their scoring numbers would be much higher on any other team.

I don't see it as a hitch thing as much as a league thing.
All 4 lines are quality players for most teams. There are no weak lines to match your stars up to, and rack up points. Structure and defense are a big part of every line. Blocking shots is no longer a craig ludwig (and his giant shinguards) specialty. Almost every player blocks shots. Goalies have better techniques.

I just think it's an era of more spread out scoring, it being harder to score.

Scoring is down all over and the NHL will have to do something about it. Goaltending equipment will have to be adjusted or they will need to increase the size of the nets.

This will be the first season in many years that the league will not have a 90 point player.

I don't know if Backes will hit 30 goals again but there are quite a few players on the Blues who have the talent to get to the 30 goal mark.

Close Art Ross Trophy battle set to conclude

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015 ... -conclude/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Barring a truly memorable night from one of the league’s top players, no one will reach the 90-point mark in 2014-15. That’s the first time that’s happened in a non-lockout shortened season since 1967-68 when Stan Mikita had a league-best 87 points. That might be brought up in arguments in the near future to promote the idea that scoring is down or too low, but it’s worth noting that the league’s goals per game ratio has been roughly level for four straight campaigns. In other words, while the top of the leaderboard might not be as impressive this time around, scoring isn’t actually down so much as it has been more spread out."

barcthespark wrote:Close Art Ross Trophy battle set to conclude

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015 ... -conclude/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Barring a truly memorable night from one of the league’s top players, no one will reach the 90-point mark in 2014-15. That’s the first time that’s happened in a non-lockout shortened season since 1967-68 when Stan Mikita had a league-best 87 points. That might be brought up in arguments in the near future to promote the idea that scoring is down or too low, but it’s worth noting that the league’s goals per game ratio has been roughly level for four straight campaigns. In other words, while the top of the leaderboard might not be as impressive this time around, scoring isn’t actually down so much as it has been more spread out."

Go back 30 years to 84/85 and there were 23 players who scored 90 or more points.

Mph6689 wrote:I don't see it as a hitch thing as much as a league thing.
All 4 lines are quality players for most teams. There are no weak lines to match your stars up to, and rack up points. Structure and defense are a big part of every line. Blocking shots is no longer a craig ludwig (and his giant shinguards) specialty. Almost every player blocks shots. Goalies have better techniques.

I just think it's an era of more spread out scoring, it being harder to score.

Very good point! There are only a couple teams in defensive disarray, for the superstars to amass goals scored. Otherwise, most teams play pretty good defence, and most goals are scored on screens, deflections and odd-man rushes. All of that can happen using all 3 top lines, and on some teams, like The Blues, can even happen on the 4th Line. So, scoring is more spread out than it was during the age of weak defences.

Currently, an 18-25 goal scorer is a good offensive player. Only half the teams have a 30 goal player. So, Oshie's 19, Stastny's 16 and even Lehterä's 14 are a lot better totals than they first appear. And Jaškin's rookie total of 13 is very impressive, considering his minutes played for the total season.

Look at the Blues as a great case in point. Throughout the regular season they spread out their scoring and their defense, playing conservatively and winning games in the process. That's how teams win in today NHL.

barcthespark wrote:Close Art Ross Trophy battle set to conclude

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015 ... -conclude/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

"Barring a truly memorable night from one of the league’s top players, no one will reach the 90-point mark in 2014-15. That’s the first time that’s happened in a non-lockout shortened season since 1967-68 when Stan Mikita had a league-best 87 points. That might be brought up in arguments in the near future to promote the idea that scoring is down or too low, but it’s worth noting that the league’s goals per game ratio has been roughly level for four straight campaigns. In other words, while the top of the leaderboard might not be as impressive this time around, scoring isn’t actually down so much as it has been more spread out."

I'm going to take this as a good omen because I'm a glass half full kind of guy. What else happened that season? Blues in the Stanley Cup Finals. I'm also going to say that the Blues will not get swept by the Canadians this time, though.