Scout
08-10-2007, 05:17 PM
Found this on Alan Caldwells blog:
Friday, August 10, 2007
Friday facts
Just some stuff I have laying around waiting for a chance to use it....
Most junior hockey observers would say that contending teams need to have significant numbers of veteran, experienced players. You don't see many teams winning championships with rosters full of 17 year olds. So, which teams have the most veteran, most experienced rosters heading into 07-08? (We'll ignore the important distinction between veterans and quality veterans for this)
For our purposes here, I defined a "veteran" as any player who played at least 15 games in the WHL last year. And in the case of teams who have more than 3 overager veterans on their roster still, I've only counted three per team since that's all they'll have after October 10. Here's the breakdown of "veterans" by team:
Saskatoon Blades: 20
Lethbridge Hurricanes: 19
Chilliwack Bruins: 19
Calgary Hitmen: 18
Regina Pats: 18
Prince Albert Raiders: 18
Moose Jaw Warriors: 18
Swift Current Broncos: 18
Kelowna Rockets: 18
Portland Winter Hawks: 18
Seattle Thunderbirds: 17
Spokane Chiefs: 17
Vancouver Giants: 16
Medicine Hat Tigers: 16
Kamloops Blazers: 16
Kootenay Ice: 16
Everett Silvertips: 15
Prince George Cougars: 15
Edmonton Oil Kings: 15
Tri-City Americans: 14
Red Deer Rebels: 13
Brandon Wheat Kings: 13
So, is Saskatoon going to be the class of the league next year? Not necessarily, but they certainly have an edge over say, Brandon. Assuming both teams use 24 player rosters, Brandon is going to have 11 players next year who have less than 15 games in the league. Saskatoon will only have four.
How about experience? Not quite the same as just being a veteran player, experience is how many games (both regular season and playoffs) those veterans have played in the league. Here's the breakdown of that:
Calgary Hitmen: 2704
Regina Pats: 2544
Seattle Thunderbirds: 2309
Prince Albert Raiders: 2211
Lethbridge Hurricanes: 2166
Vancouver Giants: 2148
Everett Silvertips: 2111
Medicine Hat Tigers: 2109
Moose Jaw Warriors: 2084
Saskatoon Blades: 2020
Kamloops Blazers: 1990
Prince George Cougars: 1986
Kootenay Ice: 1952
Swift Current Broncos: 1911
Kelowna Rockets: 1733
Edmonton Oil Kings: 1663
Portland Winter Hawks: 1602
Spokane Chiefs: 1600
Chilliwack Bruins: 1545
Red Deer Rebels: 1457
Brandon Wheat Kings: 1333
Tri-City Americans: 1273
For this calculation, teams with more than three overagers on their roster had only the three most-experienced ones counted.
Something to think about.....teams with few vets and little experience are probably going to struggle this coming season, as their rosters will be heavy with rookies and other inexperienced players. By the same logic, the opposite should apply for many teams with lots of vets, especially lots of experienced vets - assuming they're not all 3rd/4th liners, those teams should do reasonably well in the standings. Of course there are always exceptions but it's something to consider when trying to pick who'll do well next year anyway.
When I have a few minutes in the next couple days, I'll expand on this a bit and take a look at teams' veteran strengths by position. Logic would seem to indicate that a team that can roll out six defencemen with 200+ games experience would have an edge over a team with four rookies in the lineup. Which teams are which in that debate?
Friday, August 10, 2007
Friday facts
Just some stuff I have laying around waiting for a chance to use it....
Most junior hockey observers would say that contending teams need to have significant numbers of veteran, experienced players. You don't see many teams winning championships with rosters full of 17 year olds. So, which teams have the most veteran, most experienced rosters heading into 07-08? (We'll ignore the important distinction between veterans and quality veterans for this)
For our purposes here, I defined a "veteran" as any player who played at least 15 games in the WHL last year. And in the case of teams who have more than 3 overager veterans on their roster still, I've only counted three per team since that's all they'll have after October 10. Here's the breakdown of "veterans" by team:
Saskatoon Blades: 20
Lethbridge Hurricanes: 19
Chilliwack Bruins: 19
Calgary Hitmen: 18
Regina Pats: 18
Prince Albert Raiders: 18
Moose Jaw Warriors: 18
Swift Current Broncos: 18
Kelowna Rockets: 18
Portland Winter Hawks: 18
Seattle Thunderbirds: 17
Spokane Chiefs: 17
Vancouver Giants: 16
Medicine Hat Tigers: 16
Kamloops Blazers: 16
Kootenay Ice: 16
Everett Silvertips: 15
Prince George Cougars: 15
Edmonton Oil Kings: 15
Tri-City Americans: 14
Red Deer Rebels: 13
Brandon Wheat Kings: 13
So, is Saskatoon going to be the class of the league next year? Not necessarily, but they certainly have an edge over say, Brandon. Assuming both teams use 24 player rosters, Brandon is going to have 11 players next year who have less than 15 games in the league. Saskatoon will only have four.
How about experience? Not quite the same as just being a veteran player, experience is how many games (both regular season and playoffs) those veterans have played in the league. Here's the breakdown of that:
Calgary Hitmen: 2704
Regina Pats: 2544
Seattle Thunderbirds: 2309
Prince Albert Raiders: 2211
Lethbridge Hurricanes: 2166
Vancouver Giants: 2148
Everett Silvertips: 2111
Medicine Hat Tigers: 2109
Moose Jaw Warriors: 2084
Saskatoon Blades: 2020
Kamloops Blazers: 1990
Prince George Cougars: 1986
Kootenay Ice: 1952
Swift Current Broncos: 1911
Kelowna Rockets: 1733
Edmonton Oil Kings: 1663
Portland Winter Hawks: 1602
Spokane Chiefs: 1600
Chilliwack Bruins: 1545
Red Deer Rebels: 1457
Brandon Wheat Kings: 1333
Tri-City Americans: 1273
For this calculation, teams with more than three overagers on their roster had only the three most-experienced ones counted.
Something to think about.....teams with few vets and little experience are probably going to struggle this coming season, as their rosters will be heavy with rookies and other inexperienced players. By the same logic, the opposite should apply for many teams with lots of vets, especially lots of experienced vets - assuming they're not all 3rd/4th liners, those teams should do reasonably well in the standings. Of course there are always exceptions but it's something to consider when trying to pick who'll do well next year anyway.
When I have a few minutes in the next couple days, I'll expand on this a bit and take a look at teams' veteran strengths by position. Logic would seem to indicate that a team that can roll out six defencemen with 200+ games experience would have an edge over a team with four rookies in the lineup. Which teams are which in that debate?