During my days as a penniless University student, I took a particular interest in the social sciences: sociology, psychology, etc. One of the more interesting such courses was "deviant sociology". For whatever reason, one lesson that has endured the inevitable memory decay was "hierarchical prostitute typology". According to the prevailing studies at the time, there are several species of hooker: street walker, bar hooker, escort. The first represents the "lowest" form of Professional, while the final is the apex position of the industry.
With this in mind and to combat the summer doldrums, I figured I'd construct a "player typology" (more to clarify my own assumptions when talking about the sport going forward than to compare players to prostitutes)...
*ahem*
Even-Stevens:
This is the bare-minimum you want from an NHL player on your roster: the guy who plays some minutes and doesn't end up costing the team goals, who gets as many as he gives up in the long-run. Typically a bottom six forward who plays 8 to 12 minutes a game, mostly at even strength against other guys like him and maybe a bit on the PK, depending on circumstances. Like the "street walker" type above, this is usually the onset and cessation point for NHL careers: rookies, sophomores and fading vets (as well as the odd enforcer) overwhelmingly populate this category.
Even-Stevens are usually looked upon for secondary and tertiary contributions: puck possession, physicality, "high energy shifts" etc. Offensive production is a bonus. An ideal Even-Steven shift is 40 seconds or so of offensive-zone cycling, punctuated by a loud body-check or two. You almost never want to see them caged in their own end, particularly by the opposition's better players (the Soft Comp Eaters and the Big Guns) because they lack either the skill or the defensive acumen to properly avert disaster. Need to be sheltered, therefore, and are usually exposed on the road. Cheapest forwards on the roster.
Flames of this type: Primeau, Moss, Nilson
The Quellers:
The Anaheim Ducks trio of Sammy Pahlsson, Travis Moen and Rob Niedermayer are the archetypal Queller line: they consistently and successfully suppress the scoring of the opposition's Big Guns. These guys are the 15-18 minute/game players, with most of it played at ES or on the PK. Selke trophy candidates live here. Quellers aren't the most offensively gifted players, but usually score enough so that they up evens or better at ES. Adept Quellers are valuable and in short supply. Some teams eschew this type altogether, owing to a lack of qualified personnel (Chicago Blackhawks) or an abundance of Soft Comp Eaters (Buffalo Sabres). Sometimes an Even-Steven can become a Queller, depending on the quality of his work ethic and teammates. See: Travis Moen.
Flames of this type: Yelle, Nilson, Conroy (?)
The Soft Comp Eaters:
Top sixers that can't excel against the Big Guns or the Quellers, but tend to put up good counting numbers against other Soft Compers or Even-Stevens. Another landing place for up-and-coming youngsters and fading stars. Need decent linemates and minutes to produce. Fifteen - 20 minute per nighters, with time on the first or 2nd unit powerplay. Productive SCE's can have inflated +/- values on good teams, thanks to consistently outscoring their outmatched opposition. Thomas Vanek was Buffalo's big Soft Comp Eater last year. May graduate to become a Big Gun.
Flames of this type: Huselius, Lombardi, Langkow
Big Guns:
The offensive stars and superstars of the team. The guys who put up good to elite ES production rates whoever they're matched against. A minimum of 18 minutes per night, with first unit PP time. The Ottawa Senators line of Heatley - Spezza - Alfredsson might be the best Big Guns trio in the league, for example. Often a club will have only one or two of these guys (and sometimes none at all), so Big Guns are occasionally mixed with other types, such as Soft Comp Eaters or a particularly rambunctious Even-Steven, depth dependent of course. Big Guns are the difference makers that typically have to be grown in-house or snagged for big dough from the UFA market (although sometimes an idiot will trade you, say, Joe Thornton for bits). The "high-class escorts" of the NHL, so to speak.
Flames of this type: Iginla, Tanguay
Of course, players don't often neatly fit into these categories. There are a lot of "tweener" guys like Marcus Nilson, who can be either a Queller or Even-Steven, depending on the circumstances. Meditating factors such as quality of coaching and roster depth can also have an effect on where a player ends up and whether he excels at that position.
When concocting the above, some of the Flames issues from last season came into clearer focus for me. While Calgary's Big Guns and Soft Comp Eaters seemed to flourish last year, the team was definitely lacking in quality players of the other types: Sutter's reclamation projects of Tony Amonte and Jeff Friesen, for instance, proved to be ineffective and relatively expensive Even-Stevens (both of whom ended up in the red). I think both were expected to be, at least, decent Soft Comp Eaters, but neither could keep his head above water at ES and neither could produce on the PP. Friesen started to look like a decent PKer by the end of the year, but he was so useless otherwise it wasn't enough to justify his place on the roster (or help the team win). Amonte's failure to adequately fill in on the Langkow/Huselius line paved the way for Moss' promotion to the top-6, although I tend to consider him an Even-Steven under ideal circumstances.
In addition, potential Quellers like Yelle and Nilson struggled for a sizable portion of the season. Yelle saw some decent competition, but was scored on (25 ES GA) as much as he scored (26 ES GF). His GA/60 rate came out to 2.53, which put him inside the bottom six for the Flames, effectively making him an Even-Steven rather than a Queller.
Nilson struggled to recover from knee-issues that slowed him significantly. He saw time on both the 3rd and 4th line in only 629 minutes of action. He promoted scoring a tad more than he allowed it (23 GF vs 17 GA), but wasn't facing the Big Guns all year. Thirteenth forward Byron Ritchie also ended up even (19 GF, 18 GA), partially owing to his sudden burst of offensive efficacy during Iginla's absence in January. Still, he proved to be a more effective Even-Steven than either Amonte or Friesen.
Craig Conroy is another puzzle going into next season. He put up decent stats with Iginla and Tanguay (though I contend it would be hard not to). He's on the bad side of 35 and seems to have slowed a tad in my eyes. Conroy's still a decent enough skater, just can't react and process the play fast enough to be a consistent top-6 contributer. He could likely be a decent enough compliment on a Queller line, although he might get more ice with the Big Guns if Keenan gives Lombardi the Playfair treatment come October.
Speaking of, it was the manner in which Playfair utilized Lombardi last season that spoke to one of his deficiencies as a head coach: Lombo is a classic Soft Comp Eater. He beats up on 3rd pairing defensemen, particularly when he uses his speed off the rush, but tends to struggle against the Ohlunds and Lidstroms of the world. He's not going to break through really tough checking, but has the ability to bury scoring chances and thread sneaky passes down low if given enough room and time. As proof of this, please refer to his performance during the recent World Championship tourny.
Of course, post-Conroy acquisition, Lombo was frequently stuck among the Even-Stevens on the Flames, many of whom, as I've discussed, weren't all that effective at even that level of play. Lombardi isn't a good enough checker to be a Queller and his value is significantly diminished by lesser linemates and smaller ice times. Im convinced he could excel if deployed appropriately and am hoping he gets adequate opportunity among the top 6 to prove me right this coming year.
Calgary's roster going forward looks to have a decent compliment of all 4 forward types: two Big Guns in Tanguay and Iginla, several quality Soft Comp Eaters in Lombardi, Huselius, Langkow (who is versatile enough to play with the Quellers or the Big Guns if you ask me) and, hopefully, Owen Nolan. Yelle, Nilson and Conroy all look like Queller material to me, particularly Yelle who, when healthy and effective, is an elite shot-blocker and penalty killer. A combination of Godard, Moss, Primeau and a rookie (Taratukhin?) will fill out the Even-Steven category.
Current Forward Depth Chart:
Tanguay - Langkow - Iginla -> Big Guns
Huselus - Lombardi - Nolan -> Soft Comp Munchers
Nilson - Yelle - Conroy (C/RW) -> Quellers
Primeau (C/LW) - Taratukhin (C/LW) -> Moss - Even-Stevens
(Godard)
Gone are Amonte, Friesen, Kobasew, Ritchie and Lundmark. I think, given the additions and deletions, that the above looks like the stronger roster. The Keenan factor is an unknown variable going into the year, so I can't say whether he'll employ the players in the roles I've defined above. Perhaps he'll toss Huselius back in the doghouse and promote Primeau. Maybe he'll harangue Lombardi into pre-mature obsolescence. Im confident that Tanguay and Iginla and too establihed to be bucked from their Big Gun status, although some messageboarders claim Tanguay will be one of the guys targeted by Iron Mike. I don't see it personally: as Matt says, all Tanguay does is score points. He's put up elite ES rates for a couple years now and was one of the harder working guys down the stretch for the club last April.
I think the Huselius issue is a concern, as an effective Juice gives the Flames a two-pronged attack and a particularly dangerous Soft Comp Eating second line. A deflated Huselius, who was the Flames best forward with the man advantage last year as well, impairs the production of a linemate like Langkow and puts undue pressure on the Big Guns. Calgary has one more year with Kristian and it would be great if he could outperform his contract again before leaving. Course, he might come cheaply in '09 if Keenan ruins him. But then, why would we want to keep him?
