Comments on: Keith Jones Rips Alex Semin for his Uninspired Play Against NJ

By: red army soldier #1337

red army soldier #1337 — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 16:36:28 +0000

Darkstranger:

Don’t just cherry pick the good. Let’s look at the other statistic that matters: penalty minutes for the two for your two selected years.

2008-2009
Parise: 24 minutes over 82 games.
Semin: 77 minutes over 62 games.

2009-2010
Parise: 32 minutes over 81 games.
Semin: 66 minutes over 73 games.

Not the best track record eh?
P

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:28:17 +0000

I agree that Semin is not the most disciplined Washington Capitals player – his vented frustration in the form of the cross-check leading to a game misconduct made me cringe. And this was certainly not Semin’s best game. But I don’t think it’s fair to him as a player (and a very good one at that; I don’t think there’s any denying his talent level) to say that because he makes mistakes, he is not trying or pulling his weight on the team. Like everyone else, I would love more consistent results, but I think he is a necessary component to the Capitals’ offense. During this particular game, he was likely not 100% healthy, and made costly errors. But it’s not fair to say that because of this, he is a “passenger.” I certainly don’t consider the leading goal-scorer on a team a “passenger.” I don’t think Semin needs to be told that he didn’t play well against NJ; I would be surprised if he’s not giving himself a hard time for it. But I don’t think it’s our place as viewers to judge how much effort he puts into the game – only Alexander Semin knows that.

By: DarkStranger44

DarkStranger44 — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 22:38:38 +0000

After all the complaints on Semin’s inconsistency, I decided to do a comparison between him and another player, whose productivity has been roughly equal for the last 2 years (2008-2009 and 2009-2010 seasons) and not only that, but this particular player is a very beloved player for his team; Zach Parise.

I counted up the number of games in which they played where they scored a goal, as well as the number of games in which they got a point of any sort, whether goal or assist.

2008-2009 season

Parise

82 games played
40 games with goals
57 games with points

49% games with goals
69% games with points

Semin

62 games played
24 games with goals
48 games with points

38% games with goals
77% games with points

2009-2010 Season

Parise

81 games played
31 games with goals
50 with games with points

38% games with goals
61% games with points

Semin

73 games played
28 games with goal
47 games with point

38% games with goals
64% games with points

In analyzing the statistics, Parise was more consistent in goal scoring consistency in 2008-2009 than Semin. They were roughly equal in goal scoring consistency in 2009-2010. In both years, Semin was slightly above Parise in the percentage of games where he had a point of any kind. Hence, Semin does not really compare unfavorably to Parise in point scoring consistency for the last two years. Granted, Parise was more durable and is a more disciplined player but this comparison is based on productivity in goals/assists per games played.

By: TATA

TATA — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 21:55:09 +0000

Сашка ! Возвращайся к нам ! Мы тебя любим ! В России к хоккеистам относятся более уважительно и не позволяют себе такого хамства . Если больной и травмированный игрок неудачно сыграл одну игру , то его подбодрят и поблагодарят за помощь . Не падай духом !

[Rough translation via RMNB: Sasha! Come to us! We love you! In Russia, hockey players are more respected and not subject to such rudeness. If the injured player unsuccessfully played one game, then cheer and thank him for his help. Do not lose heart!]

By: J.P.

J.P. — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:26:37 +0000

Love Semin, but…. as noted by several others, he doesn’t really have history on his side. Being brilliant occasionally, while flat-out disappearing for long stretches is a recipe for losing. Hard work and consistency go hand-in-hand and this team needs both of those elements from as many as possible to avoid Washington’s annual post-season flameout. Love to see Semin make a consistency commitment this year.
Look, the entire cadre of our elite players have seemed listless and out of sync more often than not the past month, especially Backstrom. Dude needs to up the energy level, and more importantly, SHOOT the freakin’ puck when the opportunity presents itself. Did everyone notice the audible frustration from the crowd last night during one of the power plays when Backie waffled the puck back and forth for what seemed like an eternity before finally passing it off? He had ample opportunity to snap off a quick shot at a goalie who’d already given up some chip in goals and he didn’t pull the trigger. Sometimes ya gotta just take the shot instead of waiting for the perfect play to develop. There’s no bonus points for being fancy, so let the damn thing fly, already. Okay, mini rant over
Big ups to the Hershey contingent, hard workers all of ‘em! They’ve probably kept BB out of the unemployment line with their inspired play.

By: red army soldier #1337

red army soldier #1337 — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:40:21 +0000

Barb: of course we hold him to a different standard. As do we all the (slightly older than the other) young guns. But this was a spotlight on Semin.

Hale: of course. You are correct. He’s.done great things.. and because we expect it out of him no one notices until he screws up. His brilliance make the imperfections all the more clear.

And therin lies my problem. He was great. He will be great. He IS not great right now. Of course they are not going to pipe up about backstrom or Ovi when doing a piece about Semin.

His MO in my opinion is thus: do something freaking amazing… commit a game misconduct crosscheck. HAT TRICK!!!! 3 offensive penalties and a giveaway score. Consistency. Is that so much to ask for?

By: 28ISGREAT

28ISGREAT — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:20:05 +0000

And just because all this Semin bashing has my panties in a knot – I’d like to point out none of this was an issue after his first – or his second – or his THIRD hat trick of the season.

In fact, when Semin stopped scoring goals (November 28) the team had just one win before the losing streak. Where were Backstrom and Ovechkin then? Hmm? I suppose that’s Semin’s fault too?

By: 28ISGREAT

28ISGREAT — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:11:16 +0000

@IAN – thanks for posting that video! I was surprised I only saw it air one time last night! (though with the amount of goals scored – and the beers consumed for each – I probably missed a few due to a higher than normal UIM (urinal in minutes))

By: barb

barb — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:08:56 +0000

i can accept there are dc fans who will never like semin, if only you could admit that he is held to a different standard than other players.

i mean this nicely, because i love my caps no matter if they win or lose, but there are other players on this team that are allowed to suck pretty dramatically before they are even remotely chided for bad play. however, semin needs to be pitch-perfect every game, or otherwise he catches heck, gets called lazy and uninterested. the man played for two weeks sick and probably a month injured before sitting out three games and rushing back. i can cut him slack a couple games before i start yelling at him to get his ass in gear.

so i can admit he’s not perfect, and there are ways he could improve, but the anti-semin dc fans needs to admit they are biased against him no matter how well he does.

By: 28ISGREAT

28ISGREAT — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:08:08 +0000

If the measure of success in coming back from illness/injury is scoring 2 goals, not many people are going to meet those kinds of expectations.

I just find it curious that neither Nick Backstrom nor Mike Green had an assist or goal last night despite each having more ice time and each of whom were not coming off an injury/illness. And yet for some reason Semin is where the “look who’s not performing” focus is centered on.

And what are people talking about re: Semin not buying into the system? Right now, he has the same +/- as Backstom and Ovechkin, the most team power play goals, leads the team in goals, and is only 1 point behind Backstrom and 6 behind Ovechkin (despite playing 3 less games). What else does this guy need to do to earn some respect? Get his (admittedly high) PIM down? Fine – but that’s not grounds for singling the guy out when there are much bigger problems to be solved.

I just don’t understand how Ovechkin, the offensive engine, keeps getting a pass. Maybe the “C” buys him that pass – but this season he’s not hgiving his fans (including me) much ammo against the Crosby camp.