T.J. Hensick is making an incredibly strong case for himself as the Hobey Baker front-runner. He had his second four point night in three games on Friday when Michigan beat Western Michigan 7-4.
What's interesting, however, is that this was the fourth conference game Michigan has played in where 11 or more goals were scored in the game. For comparison, there have only been four WCHA conference games with 11+ goals all season. Hockey East and the ECACHL only have one 11+ goal conference game apiece. Should Hensick be punished because Western Michigan threw in two goals in the third period when he wasn't out on the ice to make the game a little closer? I don't think so. But it is important to remember that different conferences have different styles of play, and more wide-open style of hockey doesn't necessarily equate to better hockey.
If this blog lacks one thing, it's nerdy statistics. That being the case, I decided to try and weigh player points by taking the point totals of some of the top players in the country, and multiplying that by their strength of schedule according to the KRACH Ratings.
And here's what it looked like...
Ryan Duncan, North Dakota: 8773
Travis Morin, Minnesota State: 8598
Andrew Gordon, St. Cloud: 8525
Andreas Nodl, St. Cloud: 8525
Brock Trotter, Denver: 7088
T.J. Oshie, North Dakota: 7067
Alex Goligoski, Minnesota: 6954
Kyle Okposo, Minnesota: 6954
T.J. Hensick, Michigan: 6940
Mason Raymond, Minnesota-Duluth: 6817
Kevin Porter, Michgian: 6524
Nathan Davis, Miami: 5128
Andrew Joudrey, Wisconsin: 5100
Mike Santorelli, Northern Michigan: 5055
Trevor Smith, New Hampshire: 4884
Scott Parse, Nebraska-Omaha: 4488
Teddy Purcell, Maine: 4455
Erik Condra, Notre Dame: 4129
Mark Letestu, Western Michigan: 3992
Ted Cook, Niagara: 3597
Les Reaney, Niagara: 3597
Nick Dodge, Clarkson: 3561
Kyle Greentree, Alasak: 3425
Eric Ehn, Air Force: 1411
James Sixsmith, Holy Cross: 1025
Pierre-Luc O'Brien, Sacred Heart 1012
What's interesting, however, is that this was the fourth conference game Michigan has played in where 11 or more goals were scored in the game. For comparison, there have only been four WCHA conference games with 11+ goals all season. Hockey East and the ECACHL only have one 11+ goal conference game apiece. Should Hensick be punished because Western Michigan threw in two goals in the third period when he wasn't out on the ice to make the game a little closer? I don't think so. But it is important to remember that different conferences have different styles of play, and more wide-open style of hockey doesn't necessarily equate to better hockey.
If this blog lacks one thing, it's nerdy statistics. That being the case, I decided to try and weigh player points by taking the point totals of some of the top players in the country, and multiplying that by their strength of schedule according to the KRACH Ratings.
And here's what it looked like...
Ryan Duncan, North Dakota: 8773
Travis Morin, Minnesota State: 8598
Andrew Gordon, St. Cloud: 8525
Andreas Nodl, St. Cloud: 8525
Brock Trotter, Denver: 7088
T.J. Oshie, North Dakota: 7067
Alex Goligoski, Minnesota: 6954
Kyle Okposo, Minnesota: 6954
T.J. Hensick, Michigan: 6940
Mason Raymond, Minnesota-Duluth: 6817
Kevin Porter, Michgian: 6524
Nathan Davis, Miami: 5128
Andrew Joudrey, Wisconsin: 5100
Mike Santorelli, Northern Michigan: 5055
Trevor Smith, New Hampshire: 4884
Scott Parse, Nebraska-Omaha: 4488
Teddy Purcell, Maine: 4455
Erik Condra, Notre Dame: 4129
Mark Letestu, Western Michigan: 3992
Ted Cook, Niagara: 3597
Les Reaney, Niagara: 3597
Nick Dodge, Clarkson: 3561
Kyle Greentree, Alasak: 3425
Eric Ehn, Air Force: 1411
James Sixsmith, Holy Cross: 1025
Pierre-Luc O'Brien, Sacred Heart 1012