Forensics – Dan Girardi

Michael Amato

2012-02-29

Girardi

 

Dan Girardi isn't going to be challenging for any scoring titles, but he certainly has plenty of fantasy value.  The all-star was never drafted and has now become one of the league's best shutdown defenders.

 

Girardi is tied for fourth in the NHL when it comes to blocked shots.

 

 

Rank

Player

Pos

Team

GP

Total

1

GORGES, JOSH

D

MTL

63

180

2

SMID, LADISLAV

D

EDM

62

149

3

STUART, MARK

D

WPG

63

148

3

MCDONAGH, RYAN

D

NYR

61

148

4

GIRARDI, DANIEL

D

NYR

61

145

4

CLARK, BRETT

D

T.B

62

145

5

KRONVALL, NIKLAS

D

DET

63

140

6

BEAUCHEMIN, FRANCOIS

D

ANA

63

139

6

MACDONALD, ANDREW

D

NYI

55

139

7

SEABROOK, BRENT

D

CHI

60

135

8

ALLEN, BRYAN

D

CAR

62

134

9

BREWER, ERIC

D

T.B

62

132

 

 

 

 

 

Now Girardi deserves most of the credit for his great shot blocking ability, but there are other factors at play here.  We will get to that shortly; but first let's take a look at his hit totals.

 

Rank

Name

Pos

Age

Yrs

Team

GR

GP

Hits

1

MARTIN,MATT

L

22

2

NYI

20

62

290

2

CALLAHAN,RYAN

R

26

5

NYR

21

61

222

2

BROWN,DUSTIN

L

27

7

L.A

19

63

222

3

CLUTTERBUCK,CAL

R

24

4

MIN

20

57

212

4

OTT,STEVE

C

29

8

DAL

19

57

208

5

NEIL,CHRISTOPHER

R

32

9

OTT

18

55

206

6

SCHENN,LUKE

D

22

3

TOR

20

60

199

6

BROUWER,TROY

R

26

5

WSH

20

62

199

7

GLASS,TANNER

L

28

4

WPG

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17

65

195

8

EMELIN,ALEXEI

D

25

0

MTL

19

51

192

9

ORPIK,BROOKS

D

31

8

PIT

20

53

191

10

GREENE,MATT

D

28

6

L.A

19

63

189

11

FISTRIC,MARK

D

25

4

DAL

19

47

185

12

BOYLE,BRIAN

C

27

4

NYR

21

61

179

13

LAPIERRE,MAXIM

C

26

6

VAN

19

63

178

14

MACKENZIE,DEREK

C

30

8

CBJ

20

62

176

15

BACKES,DAVID

R

27

5

STL

19

63

172

16

HANZAL,MARTIN

C

25

4

PHX

20

48

169

17

LANDESKOG,GABRIEL

L

19

0

COL

18

64

167

18

GIRARDI,DANIEL

D

27

5

NYR

21

61

166

18

COWEN,JARED

D

21

0

OTT

18

64

166

 

You can see he also ranks in the top 20 in that category.  Having a guy on your fantasy team that puts up huge blocked shots and hits numbers is obviously going to be a big advantage.  Girardi's physical presence and the situations he most frequently plays in, gives him a great opportunity for success in these areas.

 

Girardi plays with Ryan McDonagh on the Rangers shutdown pairing.  Playing in that role means you are going to face the oppositions best talent night in and night out.  Here is an example of who Girardi and McDonagh were matched up against in two recent games.

 

Frequency

Strength

Line Combination

21.69%

EV

NYI-26 MOULSON,MATT – NYI-15 PARENTEAU,PIERRE – NYI-91 TAVARES,JOHN

12.45%

EV

PIT-14 KUNITZ,CHRIS – PIT-71 MALKIN,EVGENI – PIT-18 NEAL,JAMES

 

So it's clear that the duo is facing heavy firepower quite often, and when you have to check the opponent's best line all the time that means more hits.  It also means a greater opportunity to block shots as those players will no doubt be directing a lot of rubber at your net.

 

Girardi also ranks second in the league in average ice-time per game with just under 27 minutes.  This is always a good thing when it comes to stats because the more you are out there, the better the chance for you to increase your production.

 

 

Rank

Player

Pos

Team

GP

Total

1

CAMPBELL, BRIAN

D

FLA

61

00:27:02

2

GIRARDI, DANIEL

D

NYR

61

00:26:59

3

KEITH, DUNCAN

D

CHI

61

00:26:54

4

SUTER, RYAN

D

NSH

60

00:26:34

5

WEBER, SHEA

D

NSH

59

00:26:19

 

Not only does he play a lot in general, but Girardi leads the Rangers with an average of 3:20 per game of shorthanded ice-time.  When you play on the penalty kill that often you are naturally going to block a lot of shots, due to the fact that teams with the man advantage are going to be shooting much more often than at five on five.

 

Another interesting thing to note is that two teams from the Atlantic division, the Pittsburgh Penguins (2nd) and Philadelphia Flyers (4th) rank in the top five in the NHL in shots on goal.   You play divisional opponents more than anyone else in the league so that doesn't hurt Girardi's shot blocking numbers either.

 

The great thing about shot blocking and hits is that they are typically not streaky categories.  Players can be hot and cold when it comes to putting up points depending on who is on their line, who they are playing, or how their team is performing.  Girardi is posting great numbers in hits and blocks partially because of the way he plays, but also because of the situations the Rangers use him in on a regular basis.

 

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