Are the Sedins playoff chokers?

by Andrew Bucholtz on Apr 21, 2009 3:13 PM PDT Comment 7 comments

James Mirtle had an interesting post over at From The Rink today on which players have the biggest drop in points-per-game from the regular season to the playoffs. What I found most surprising was that neither of the Sedins made his list of the top 15 underperformers, given their reputation as playoff chokers.

I ran the numbers and found that both twins fall slightly below the .75 points-per-game regular-season average needed for consideration in Mirtle's list. Daniel has 462 points in 642 regular-season games for a .72 PPG average, while Henrik has 460 points in 646 regular-season games for a .71 PPG average. However, they drop to 23 and 24 points respectively in 46 career playoff games, giving them .50 and .52 PPG averages in the playoffs. That's a difference of -.22 and -.19 PPG. Thus, Daniel would come in in a tie for 11th on this list and Henrik would come in in a tie for 15th.

Those numbers are also skewed upwards by their five and four points respectively in three games so far these playoffs. If data from these playoffs is excluded, Daniel’s playoff PPG is .42 and Henrik’s is .47, making the differences -.30 and -.24. That would slot Daniel in in a tie for seventh on Mirtle's list and put Henrik in 11th (12th if you add Daniel first).

Thus, until this season, the Sedins' reputation as playoff underperformers seems pretty deserved. They appear to be making an effort to change that reputation this year, though, and the Canucks will need a strong effort from them to go deep in the playoffs.

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good points.
i think the difference this year has been the opportunities the team has given them. by throwing burrows with them, and creating the new RPM line, this gave the sedins the opportunities to improve their play this season.
i say we should expect great things from them in this playoff run.

you know how those rotten flamers like chanting "fuck the canucks" because it rhymes?
well, it just so happens that "fuck the flames" uses alliteration, for which more superior intellect is required compared to rhyme.
fuck the flames, and GO CANUCKS GO!

by missy on Apr 21, 2009 3:20 PM PDT reply actions

Agreed. That one playoff run they were also line 2 behind the West Coast Express.

Nucks Misconduct

by Sean Zandberg on Apr 21, 2009 4:06 PM PDT up reply actions

Interesting comparison:

Pavel Datsyuk wasn’t a great playoff contributor until his 6th playoff season when he was 28.

The Sedins are in their 6th playoff season and are 28 later this year.

by cyxj on Apr 21, 2009 3:35 PM PDT reply actions

I see a difference

For years we watched them play second fiddle and get beaten into submission in the playoffs.

This year, even before playoffs began, I’ve noticed a pair who will get their teeth knocked out and, wait for it, come back….well, angry. They’ll stay in the scrums, support their teammates and even throw a punch if necessary.

This seriies they’ve even succeeded in bringing Backes near tears.

I’m not saying someone replaced them with a couple of Sutter brothers, but I think they’ve come a long way.

Besides, if they can’t continue to produce in playoff games, it’s a contract year and I kinda doubt fans, or even further, management will have time for ‘one more year of wait and see’.

by kesrows on Apr 21, 2009 4:26 PM PDT reply actions

Nope. I wouldn't wait another year for that

Nucks Misconduct

by Sean Zandberg on Apr 21, 2009 4:39 PM PDT reply actions

I do think they’ve turned a corner. Zanstorm’s point about their limited playing opportunities previously is a valuable one as well, and they were playing against one of the best checking lines in the business in that Anaheim series. I just thought it would be interesting to examine how their historical playoff performance compared to some other notorious playoff chokers. Curiously, they’re still better off then Selanne, who’s often seen as a clutch guy; guess that Cup ring helps.

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by Andrew Bucholtz on Apr 21, 2009 5:35 PM PDT reply actions

I did this comparison a couple of months ago, except I did it against those with a cap hit of $5 million or more.

CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG

I don’t know if you’d consider them chokers, but definitely for one reason or another, their production was far less in the postseason. Especially compared to those who make the big bucks they want.

The good news is, it looks like they’re changing our minds about that.

by CANUCKS HOCKEY BLOG on Apr 22, 2009 5:50 AM PDT reply actions