Which Thrashers Shoot the Puck?

As long as the Thrashers keep loosing we will keep playing fix the team. We can only hope the entire coaching staff is playing along at home. In past season's I've grown weary of fans screaming Shoot the Puck from the stands. But this season I have to side with those fans. The Thrashers currently rank 28th in the league in shots on goal, a problem compounded by ranking 22nd in shooting percentage. It's no wonder the Thrashers have been out-shot 173-110 this season.

Call it simple logic, but I think winning the shots on goal battle would give the team a better chance at winning a game. Improving the defense and allowing fewer shots (the Thrashers are 5th in shots allowed) would help. But I'll focus on the offense in the spirit of those fans yelling Shoot the Puck.

I'm not a statistician, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I trust if my logic is terribly flawed TheFalconer will come along and correct it. I wanted to see which forwards made the most of their ice time by taking shots. I didn't evaluate defensemen since offensive productivity is secondary to their jobs. I also didn't want time killing penalties to count against players since offensive production is secondary then as well. So for each forward and center I took their total time on ice and subtracted their short-handed time on ice. I then divided that number by the player's total number of shots to determine approximately how many minutes of ice time passes between each player's shots.

What do the numbers show? The veterans on the team have taken some flak from the fans for not doing their part, but it isn't for a lack of trying. Bobby Holik, Eric Perrin and the injured Marian Hossa lead the pack with fewest minutes between shots. Chris Thorburn is a surprise with the shortest time between shots but his numbers are probably not representative of his actual play since he has been limited to 4.7 minutes of ice time this season. It does show that he is inclined to make the most of his limited play and if I were in charge I think I'd let him out of the press box and into the lineup with some real minutes. Of the rookies Bryan Little is making the most of his opportunities. At 7.97, Little is the only rookie with fewer than 10 minutes between shots. When Hossa returns (hopefully this week) someone else will need to warm a seat in the press box. Based on these numbers I'd give rookie Brett Sterling an opportunity to watch. Sterling has 1 shot on goal after 5 games and 67.45 minutes of ice time. The offensive prowess and willingness to go to the net that helped Sterling shine in the AHL has yet to surface this season. Daren Haydar and Thorburn seem more inclined to take advantage of scoring opportunities so at this point I'd prefer Sterling's time go to one of them.