Daily reports are provided to Gerard Gallant by the analytics department. Even the Rangers’ head coach reads them, and he acknowledges the effort that goes into their compilation.
In the end, though, a set of facts may teach the coach and his staff, but it will not be decisive if gut instinct and intuition contradict the numbers.
Friday marked the conclusion of the pre-All-Star break portion of the Rangers’ regular season. “You view it and read it. If it is useful, it is utilized. If not, you choose what you wish to choose. I have no plans to alter.”
Since his first employment behind the bench of his native Summerside (PEI) Capitals of the Maritime Junior Hockey League in 1995-96, Gallant has been a coach. If a player passes his eye test, he is unlikely to consider contrary claims.
Brian Cashman, general manager of the New York Yankees, would probably not hire him.
Gerard Gallant reviews what the Rangers’ analytics department sends him every day, but he disregards the data if it does not correspond with what he and the coaching staff observe on the ice.
AP
“We do our stuff every day,” Gallant said, employing less-than-tech-savvy language to describe the method he and his team follow. “We take note of [the daily analytics report]. I am attentive to our activities. If certain items here correspond to those elsewhere, then that is precisely what we do.
You can get all sorts of things that coaches do — call them old-school coaches if you like. There is not a significant difference between the two.”
The Rangers’ public analytics have improved in important areas. After finishing 25th in five-on-five shot-attempt % last season with 47.03 percent, the Blueshirts are now eighth with 51.9 percent. Last season, the Blueshirts ranked 31st in shot attempts per 60 minutes with 49.33; this season, they rank 14th with 57.52. (The information is provided by Natural Stat Trick.)
Undoubtedly, the Rangers evaluate individuals based on their entries, breakouts, and other well-defined game areas. However, the majority of the data appears to be on scoring opportunities – not just the quantity or quality, but also where and how they arise. The majority of the analytics department’s reports align with the analysis of the coaching staff.
“When we receive the scoring chances report after a game, they are typically fairly similar,” Gallant said. “They are rarely off target. There are a variety of scoring opportunities, including A, B, and C grades.
“I’ve been a coach for a while, and I do what makes me feel comfortable, what’s best for me, and what’s best for our staff.”
The procedure appears to be effective. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers rank 21st in the league with a 50.04 percent scoring chance rate, placing them in the midst of six teams clustered between 49.46 and 50.57 percent. The Rangers were 26th with a 46.05 percent last season.
From the ground up
Jaro Halak is the first goaltender in 60 years — since Gilles Villemure went 0-3-3 from 1963-64 to 1967-68 as a replacement for injured Rangers starters — to begin his Rangers career without a victory in his first six starts (0-5-1).
In 1970-71, when the Vezina was awarded to the goaltenders of the team that allowed the fewest goals, the man in the seemingly primitive jack-o’-lantern mask and Eddie Giacomin were part of the tandem that won the award. Similarly, No. 41 has turned his career around to become a member of the Vezina-winning tandem with Giacomin.
Halak becomes the first Rangers backup to win five consecutive starts since Cam Talbot’s rookie 2013-14 season, when he went 5-0 in his last five appearances with a.937 save percentage and a 1.83 GAA. After losing his NHL debut in Philadelphia on October 24, 2013, by a score of 2-1, Talbot won his next five starts, allowing two or fewer goals in each.
When Giacomin and Villemure won the Vezina in 1971, skating off together with hands clasped high in the air to a roaring ovation at Madison Square Garden following a season-ending shutout victory, it marked the second time in franchise history that the Blueshirts had won the trophy, and the first time since Davey Kerr in 1940.
Oh, the portent!
Oh, Game 7 in Chicago, where the Rangers lost 4-2 in the conference semifinals to finish their season.
In 1981, the method for deciding the Vezina winner changed. Since then, the trophy has been handed to the NHL general manager who voted for the greatest goaltender. Three Rangers goalies have won the award: John Vanbiesbrouck in 1986, Henrik Lundqvist in 2012, and Igor Shesterkin in 2017.
When Sammy Blais scored for the Wolf Pack on January 25, it marked the winger’s first goal in an official game since May 19, 2021, when he scored for the Blues against the Avalanche in Game 2 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
(During the 2021-22 exhibition season, Blais scored two goals for the Rangers while on a 14-day conditioning loan in Hartford.)
No. 91, who has scored two goals in three games for the AHL club, should return when the Rangers face the Flames at Madison Square Garden on February 6.
»Gerard Gallant is well-versed in Rangers analytics, but he will ultimately rely on his gut«