The Count

The final numbers are in!

First of all, My Guy of the Year is Matt Niskanen! He ran away with the competition, scoring 31 points this year. Michael Gergen (16) and Mike Curry (14) combined don't even add up to Nisky's total. Rounding out the competition are Matt McKnight (9) and Jason Garrison (3), both of whom were injured for extended periods of time.

The Freshman Scoring Champions are Drew Akins and Jordan Fulton, both with 10 points. Akins was ahead for quite awhile, put Fulton put on a charge in the last few games to catch him. Following up are Alex Stalock (4), Logan Gorsalitz (2), Trent Palm (1), and Chase Ryan (1). I fully expect to see all of these guys make great improvements next year, especially once they are in the regular lineup.

And now, for the comparisons.

Color coding:

This year

Opponents this year

Last year

Opponents last year

Okay. Got it? Here we go.

Record: 13-21-5 11-25-4

League Finish: 9th 9th

Playoff Record: 1-2-0 2-2-0

It's hard to show by the numbers the differences between the teams, but the 'Dogs won only 1 game in the second half of the 2005-2006 series, then rebounded to beat Denver in the playoffs. I believe the 2006-2007 Bulldogs were much better, finishing at .500 in the second half of the season after a very difficult and trying first half. We also played two 0-0 games, and our defense and goaltending improved as the season wore on.

Goals: 103 121 97 148

Goals per Game: 2.64 3.10 2.42 3.70

Penalties: 303 267 306 279

Penalty Minutes: 691 603 792 703

Penalties per Game: 7.8 6.8 7.7 7.0

Penalty Minutes per Game: 17.7 15.5 19.8 17.6

Power Play: 44/205 (21.4%) 32/205 (15.6%)

Penalty Kill: 198/234 (84.5%) 179/229 (78.2%)

Strangely, we scored about the same number of goals this year as last year (only a 6 goal difference), but our opponents are scoring less (27 goal difference), so clearly our defense has improved. We took about the same number of penalties (3 penalty difference), but we took about 100 less minutes in penalties, which means we are taking less majors/misconducts, probably due the NCAA's points of emphasis for the start of the 05-06 season, and the time it took for us to adjust. However, our opponents took, on average, one less penalty per game than the 'Dogs did. Is it a discipline issue? Or a conspiracy issue? (I'm kidding! Kidding!) Our PP (3rd in league) and PK (4th) were much improved, and our combined special teams ranked first in the league.

Goaltending:

Johnson

Games/Starts/Minutes: 18/17/1065:06

Record: 8-7-2 (2 SO) (9th in league)

GAA: 2.14 (5th)

SV%: .922 (3rd)

Stalock

Games/Starts/Minutes: 23/22/1363:30
Record: 5-14-3 (1 SO) (14th)
GAA: 3.34 (14th)
SV%: .881 (14th)

Total
GAA: 2.98

SV%: .893

Reichmuth

Games/Starts/Minutes: 28/26/1636:13
Record: 6-16-4
GAA: 3.45
SV%: .877

Ziegelmann

Games/Starts/Minutes: 8/7/415:49
Record: 2-5-0
GAA: 3.32
SV%: .892

Johnson

Games/Starts/Minutes: 7/7/358:22
Record: 3-4-0
GAA: 4.19
SV%: .848

Total

GAA: 3.66
SV%: .871

Here is where you really start to see the difference between this year and last year. We only had 2 more wins and 1 more tie, but our GAA and SV% are drastically improved. We were keeping our games close. It's sad to see Al at the bottom of the league, but he will have next year to really show his stuff. Josh Johnson deserves a standing ovation (the one from the National Hockey Center fans was great!, but this guy needs another) for his improvement. Josh gave up half as many goals per game this year as he did last year. Other coaches dream of that kind of improvement.

Scoring Champion (F) Mason Raymond (46) Tim Stapleton (30)

Scoring Champion (D) Matt Niskanen (31) Matt Niskanen (14)

Mase was the second leading scorer last year, behind Buster, but holy cow, our leading scorer had 16 more points this year? WOW! Additionally, Nisky more than doubled his point totals, while leading the d-corps in scoring both years. Josh Meyers will give him a run for his money next year, since he SHALL be healthy for all of next year, AND Nisky will be coming back. It is the will of the people.

So, blah blah blah, stats stats stats, I hope you've all found enlightenment.