Throughout the playoffs, both this year and last, those of us with heads on our shoulders have had to deal with the constant complaining about Rick Nash. While I can accept complaining from passionate fans, who just want to see their team win and vent their frustrations on the highest paid player, I won’t accept this from lazy analysts and broadcasters. Their job is to provide unbiased opinions, and in that regard, they fail.
Nash is not without criticism. He hasn’t scored. The onus falls on him to score. Ryan Lambert at Puck Daddy wrote a very good piece on his scoring woes that you should read. To quickly summarize: Nash, like a lot of guys who aren’t bonafide stars, loads up season totals on bad teams, but struggles to score against playoff teams. That’s not a unique situation to Nash though.
Lambert re-evaluated Nash’s playoff performances based on his play against playoff teams in the regular season. The numbers were much more consistent with what we expect. This year alone, he’s seen a 32% (!!!) drop –not in the actual number, but his current SH% is 32% less than his average. For example, if his SH% is 10% for his career, he’s shooting 6.8%, which is a 32% drop– in his shooting percentage. That’s awful luck, and has negatively affected his G/60 (and raw goals, for those who don’t like per-60 numbers).
But here’s the thing: His assists are up from normal, and his possession rate are up from normal. That’s not the sign of someone struggling and playing perimeter hockey. That’s the sign of someone hitting a rough patch of luck.
For announcers like Keith Jones to call Nash “awful” and “shrinking,” and guys like Mike Milbury to call Nash “marshmallow soft” are completely irresponsible. They aren’t watching the game, they are watching the stat line. Nash has been very visible this series around the net and very engaged physically.
Lest we forget the charge to the net for a goal on Braden Holtby,
Courtesy of www.newyorkrangersgifs.com
or the hit on Brooks Orpik,
Courtesy of www.newyorkrangersgifs.com
or the hit last night on Victor Hedman.
Courtesy of www.newyorkrangersgifs.com
How about the great defensive plays he’s made, including this one on Mike Green,
Courtesy of www.newyorkrangersgifs.com
or the shorthanded play that almost led to a Jesper Fast goal last night.
Courtesy of www.newyorkrangersgifs.com
These aren’t the kinds of plays made by someone who is soft, playing perimeter hockey, and not playing up to his ability. Sure, we would like to see more goals from him, and we have to assume his SH% will eventually correct itself. While I’m not fond of the fact he isn’t scoring, I’m certainly able to recognize that he is doing a lot of other things right.
Update: Here is the shot location chart for Nash, courtesy of @PopsTwitTar. Nash is shooting from an average of one foot closer to the net in the playoffs than during the regular season.
I get the frustration that he hasn’t been scoring. And if you want to base your argument solely on goal count, then by all means go for it. But to call Nash soft or anything similar is completely irrational, and a subjective viewpoint based on the name on his jersey and not of the play on the ice.
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