Tweet
It's impossible to measure the importance of Kaleta by measuring statistics. It really comes down to whether or not you like his style of play.
Everyone loves a player that plays the physical style that Kaleta plays. The issue with Kaleta is the legality of is hits. He plays very close to the edge and many of his hits are borderline.
At this point in is career he has not been labeled as a dirty player as evident by his penalty plus/minus. He has used his physical play as a way to get under the skin of his opponents and often takes them off their game. We have seen many players retaliate against him...Denis Gauthier and Paul Mara come to mid immediately.
Along with the positive that Kaleta brings their is a negative aspect to his style of play as well. As the referees become more aware of his presence on the ice he could find himself in the box more often. Reputation is not supposed to matter on the ice but players like Sean Avery find themselves in the box more often than other players just because of reputation.
Last season, Kaleta finished second among Buffalo Sabres in hits, with 137 - this despite playing in only 51 games and playing less than 9:00 minutes a game when he was dressed. So far this season, he leads the team with 21 hits.
Still, that isn't what made me ask the question in the title. No, what prompted that question was just how effective Kaleta is at drawing penalties. Gabe Desjardins of behindthenet.ca does a host of amazing things with the NHL's play-by-play sheets, and one of the things he does is track penalties taken vs. penalties drawn. He also adjusts this for ice-time. Let's take a quick look at how well Kaleta has drawn penalties over his NHL career (this season and the two preceeding it):
* 2009-10: 6.9 penalties drawn per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time (first in the NHL)
* 2008-09: 4.9 penalties drawn per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time (first in the NHL)
* 2007-08: 5.0 penalties drawn per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time (first in the NHL)
That's right: not only does Kaleta currently lead the league in penalties drawn (relative to ice-time) but he has done so for the last two years. Basically, those numbers mean that while playing 8:00 minutes or so of even-strength ice-time per night, Kaleta's been giving the Sabres two extra powerplays every three games. OVer an 82-game season, that adds up to 55 powerplays, and at Buffalo's 21% success rate last year, that adds up to 12 extra goals a season.
Everyone loves a player that plays the physical style that Kaleta plays. The issue with Kaleta is the legality of is hits. He plays very close to the edge and many of his hits are borderline.
At this point in is career he has not been labeled as a dirty player as evident by his penalty plus/minus. He has used his physical play as a way to get under the skin of his opponents and often takes them off their game. We have seen many players retaliate against him...Denis Gauthier and Paul Mara come to mid immediately.
Along with the positive that Kaleta brings their is a negative aspect to his style of play as well. As the referees become more aware of his presence on the ice he could find himself in the box more often. Reputation is not supposed to matter on the ice but players like Sean Avery find themselves in the box more often than other players just because of reputation.
Last season, Kaleta finished second among Buffalo Sabres in hits, with 137 - this despite playing in only 51 games and playing less than 9:00 minutes a game when he was dressed. So far this season, he leads the team with 21 hits.
Still, that isn't what made me ask the question in the title. No, what prompted that question was just how effective Kaleta is at drawing penalties. Gabe Desjardins of behindthenet.ca does a host of amazing things with the NHL's play-by-play sheets, and one of the things he does is track penalties taken vs. penalties drawn. He also adjusts this for ice-time. Let's take a quick look at how well Kaleta has drawn penalties over his NHL career (this season and the two preceeding it):
* 2009-10: 6.9 penalties drawn per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time (first in the NHL)
* 2008-09: 4.9 penalties drawn per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time (first in the NHL)
* 2007-08: 5.0 penalties drawn per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time (first in the NHL)
That's right: not only does Kaleta currently lead the league in penalties drawn (relative to ice-time) but he has done so for the last two years. Basically, those numbers mean that while playing 8:00 minutes or so of even-strength ice-time per night, Kaleta's been giving the Sabres two extra powerplays every three games. OVer an 82-game season, that adds up to 55 powerplays, and at Buffalo's 21% success rate last year, that adds up to 12 extra goals a season.
:brilliant:
Comment