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**RomanesEuntDomus** · 02-11-2022, 06:32 PM

SMJHL Defensive Standouts

When it comes to watching the stat races in the SHL or SMJHL, offensive stats tend to be what most fans focus on. Who is the best scorer in the league, the best Sniper, the best Playmaker, who gets the most points compared to his teammates or who made the biggest jump in production compared to last season. Defensive contributions are often a bit overlooked in that regard but they are just as important, if not more so, when it comes to helping your team win. So for this Deep Dive, we’ll take a look at some of these stats through 60 games and see who leads the league in the various defensive categories…

Shorthanded Points

Uthred Ragnarsson - Maine Timber - 4 @FiveForFighting
Jay Cue - Maine Timber - 3 @Opera_Phantom

I’m not sure what it is about the Timber but they have arguably the most dangerous penalty kill in the league, with the two top shorthanded point scorers both hailing from Maine. Uthred Ragnarsson leads the league in this category with two goals and two assists in shorthanded situations, whereas Jay Cue comes in right behind at three assists. At almost two minutes of shorthanded ice time a game, both these players are also among the heavier lifters in the league.

Shorthanded Ice Time

Rolf Korhonen / Mateo Lavoie / Konstantin Strelka / Jalad Ad Din Afinogenov - St Louis Scarecrows - 2:48 / 2:47 / 2:27 / 2:24 @WildfireMicro @Glenndalf @bbp @rory
Duncan The Walrus / Randy Marsh - Maine Timber - 2:16 / 2:13 @SouthPaw @LucidDreams702

This category is all about groups, with either forward/defenseman duos or whole four-person PK units making up the bulk of the top spaces in the list. Unsurprisingly, one of these squads hails from the last placed team in the league, the St. Louis Scarecrows, who see their entire top penalty kill unit lead this category. They are followed by Duncan The Walrus and Randy Marsh from the Maine Timber who seem to do the heavy-lifting that allows the aforementioned Ragnarsson and Cue to then go on and put up some points on the penalty kill. The six players leading in the SHTOI category aren’t exactly known for their production however, as they have just four points between them - the same number that Ragnarsson has put up all by himself.

Takeaways

Landon Fischermann - Regina Elk - 53 @efischermann
Elvis Alexander - Vancouver Whalers - 49 @canuckles
Duncan The Walrus - Maine Timber - 47 @SouthPaw

Takeaways are arguably one of the most defensive categories out there. It is a category that some claim isn’t always super representative, as players on some teams might have more inflated numbers than those on others, but in our case we have a nice mix of players from very different teams here. From Duncan The Walrus from the powerhouse Maine Timber, to Landon Fischermann on the midfielder that is the Regina Elk to Elvis Alexander on the bottom-feeding Vancouver Whalers. All these players also sport strong giveaway numbers (aka not a lot of them), so they also end up with some of the best TA/GA ratios in the league respectively, with Alexander and Walrus even breaking the magical 2.00 barrier.

Blocks

Mars Stanton - Regina Elk - 187 @CD12
Ivan Lacksamus - Detroit Falcons - 155 @thiefofcheese
Samuel Kjellsson - Quebec City Citadelles - 155 @Tanner

Now this is a stat that most people will agree is actually inflated for players on bad teams, but to my surprise the league leader in the category doesn’t hail from a bottom-feeder but from a midfield squad: Mars Stanton from the Regina Elk. His 187 Shots Blocked mark a landslide victory in this category but the numbers of second placed Ivan Lacksamus out of Detroit are just as impressive, as he is the only Forward who managed to work his way into the Top-10 in this category while doing all that with considerably less ice time than those around him. Samuel Kjellsson from Quebec City rounds out the list, tying Lacksamus at exactly 155 Blocks.

Hits

Wendolene Ramsbottom - St. Louis Scarecrows - 271 @JuOSu
Alix Nunez - St. Louis Scarecrows - 266 @a_cupof_bread
Porg Garros - Quebec City Citadelles - 162 @thevoicelesscreator

The last category we look at for this issue is Hits which, according to some, isn’t really a defensive category, but we chose to include it anyway. In this category the “bottom feeder bias” is a bit more noticeable than in the previous one however, with all the players in the top-3 hailing from teams way down in the Standings. The category is dominated by two representatives of the last placed Scarecrows, Wendolene Ramsbottom and Alix Nunez, and rounded out by Porg Garros out of Quebec. What’s interesting about these three players are their different profiles however: While Ramsbottom is a physical all-situations defenseman, Nunez and Garros are classical Power Forward/Enforcer types. The correlation between Hits and Penalty Minutes is also strong here, with Ramsbottom and Nuniz leading the leader by a wide margin in both categories and Garros coming in third in Hits and fourth in PIMS.

And this is it for this edition of our Deep Dive. Thank you for reading and make sure to tune in next time Smile

bbp · 02-11-2022, 06:40 PM

I shouldn't even be on ok unit 8

*CptSquall* · 02-13-2022, 07:55 PM

Approved, +5 to @RomanesEuntDomus

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