Articles by Nick Lariviere,The Sick Podcast

Technology

'I don’t think Oliver Kapanen Will Finish The Season In Montreal,' says Jack Han

To understand more about where Han is coming from, it should be noted that the majority of the work that he has done as a hockey coach has revolved around analytics and video work. With that being said, Han brought up the data that shows while Kapanen has been producing well, it is mainly due to an unsustainable individual shooting percentage. As much as I originally thought of criticizing Han at first, his arguments make a lot of sense. To start, not only does Kapanen have a high individual shooting percentage of 23% after 11 games, but the Habs only have 39.79% of shots when he is on the ice at 5-on-5, which is the 2nd lowest on the team besides the injured Patrik Laine. According to Han, Kapanen is the player who is holding his line of Alex Newhook and Ivan Demidov back the most with his play. He reasons that Kapanen capitalizes on playing with a skilled player like Ivan Demidov, who nobody can deny is the line’s offensive catalyst. Han mentions that for a rookie to make the NHL, the player needs to have both luck and be good. In Kapanen’s case, he has more of the former, as his linemates and usage are very favourable for him to be able to produce his 7 points in 11 games. It’s also true that the mix of Demidov’s skills and Newhook’s speed has been something that has helped Kapanen get prime chances for him to bury, but nobody can continue to score on 26.7% of their shots on goal.

Technology

The Habs Unsung Hero: Alexandre Carrier

What makes Carrier even better than Savard as a defensive defenseman is that he can do a lot more than block shots, and he skates very smoothly. The fact that he can move pretty seamlessly allows him to be able to join the offense and make it back in time to stop odd-man rushes. Carrier is also an underrated passer. He has quietly put up just under 0.5 points per game while playing on a 3rd pairing so far this season, with a goal and 4 assists in 11 games. Honestly, he doesn’t even get enough respect as a defensive defenseman this season, as Mike Matheson has emerged as the team’s top guy on the penalty kill. With how good defensively Carrier is, he should probably get more ice time on the penalty kill, as nobody is as good at blocking shots. Therefore, he may be a better option than Noah Dobson on the top penalty kill unit with Matheson. Dobson is a stronger skater and bigger body, but Carrier actually brings more defensive awareness as a defender, so he would likely be better at reading the players on the PK.