Hamrlik wins 'Unsung Player' Award
by Bruce Peter on Apr 4, 2011 1:09 PM EDT
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I guess there's hope for Scott Gomez to earn love from the Montreal media after all. Roman Hamrlik, he of the $5.5m annual compensation for this season and the past three, a former first overall draft pick, three time NHL All-Star, Olympic gold medalist, and second on the team in minutes played only to Carey Price, is apparently the 2010-11 Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy winner as the team's unsung hero. I'm really not sure what to make of this at all. Can a player of Hamrlik's stature truly be an unsung player? And if so, whose fault is that?
Early in the season, I wrote a piece trying to highlight Jeff Halpern's unsung qualities. I actually meant to write a piece on Hamrlik at about the mid-season point, but I got sidetracked. Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette did do one (and then another a month later), though from a different angle than the way my story would have gone. The crux of my argument would have been on the qualities he still did well at his age, and why the Canadiens should consider re-signing him, as most fans seemed to be sending him out to pasture, so to speak.
Hamrlik's selection would be a good story, stepping in to a role that the younger, and more talented Andrei Markov likely would have handled if not for his injuries. The thing is, he did the same thing last year, teaming up with Jaroslav Spacek to form the team's shutdown, tough minutes pairing, and keeping the team at least treading water when Markov was out. This year, though his partner changed from the first half of Spacek and sometimes P.K. Subban to James Wisniewski, he was able to repeat his performance.
I don't have a full history of the past winners of the award handy, but post-lockout the winners have been Steve Begin (05-06), Mark Streit twice (06-07, 07-08), Maxim Lapierre (08-09) and Josh Gorges (09-10). I'm not sure what Begin's salary was in 2005-06, but he earned a 3 year contract extension after that year for $3.171m ($1.057m cap hit), so even if we use that number you'll find that the previous five winners only were a $4.045m cap hit for all those seasons combined (salary data taken from NHL Numbers). EDIT: Brian La Rose at Habsworld has informed me that Begin made $608,000 in 2005-06, so the total sum of the previous five winners is actually $3.596m, $1.904m less than Hamrlik's annual salary.
I realize that market value and being 'unsung' are not necessarily the same thing, but isn't the fact that Hamrlik's praises weren't widely touted in the media in his four seasons of play before now a bit of a statement against the so-called expertise of the collective media? The man was the biggest unrestricted free agent signing in Montreal's history (Mike Cammalleri's contract was larger two years later), yet after four years only now does he get acknowledged for doing what he's always been doing, the reason why he's paid only slighty less than Markov. Either he's getting awarded for doing a great job that isn't interesting enough to sell newspaper copy, or he's getting awarded because only now have the media members realized he's a very good player.
Finishing second this year was Hal Gill, who would have been the most highly paid player to win the award if he had won it (making around the league average at $2.25m), while 3rd to 5th place were true bargains: Mathieu Darche (league minimum, $500k), Jeff Halpern ($600k), and David Desharnais ($550k).
Robert L edit: Here is a list of past Jacques Beauchamps Trophy winners from the Canadiens 2010 Media Guide.
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I agree with you: that Hamrlik is “unsung” despite consistently doing the most important and difficult thing a D-man can do (handling the team’s tough minutes) does not reflect well on the press whose job it is to point out the contribution of players like Hamrlik, a contribution that has been obvious to advanced stat-heads for a long while now.
Unfortunately, the press is abysmal at explaining, heck, even mentioning the importance of matchups and difficulty of competition. One wonders if they even understand the concept, given their insistence on wanting to toss Desharnais into the fire of a top-six role. Until such time as someone in the Montreal media gets a clue and starts talking about matchups and their importance (something which is coaching 101!) they and the fans who follow them will continue to have ridiculously skewed perceptions of player’s contributions.
The sad thing is that the Hamrlik nomination indicates that the media DO understand the importance of handling tough minutes. They just never speak about it, not nearly as much as they should, anyway.
Not sure if it does mean that… I mean, we’re talking about a guy that is out on the ice more than anyone else other than Carey Price, so I’d hope eventually they notice him somewhat.
It’s not really just advanced stat people, I think the contribution of defensive d-men has been talked about for a while now, and I really don’t know how much advanced stats were used to earn Hamrlik his millions of dollars (I suspect his above average offense played a role with the Islanders and Flames). He’s received tons of honours in the past, and defensive d-men tend to at least get some publicity. I suppose since he doesn’t throw big hits, that would explain why Komisarek got a lot of extra attention as opposed to Roman.
Hamrlik is a curious choice because he actually logs more ice time on the PP than SH this year…. all the previous winners (save Streit) were the opposite. I suspect his role on the PP, which has remained fairly successful, helped get him more notice this year.
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Advanced stats ultimately only measure stuff good hockey people are already aware of to some extent. Martin is clearly well-aware that Hamrlik is a capable tough-minutes performer, because he keeps giving him tough minutes. He doesn’t necessarily need qualcomp metrics and Corsi numbers and whatnot to understand the reality that the numbers represent.
And that’s sort of what gets me about this whole thing. Hamrlik can and does play tough minutes, Martin knows it, Gauthier knows it, I can’t imagine all of the ex-coaches in the media don’t know it, and you certainly don’t need to be a stathead at all to understand the concept of a matchup. So why is no attention ever drawn to the fact?
Because it requires work to confirm it. The sad thing is, it is easy to stand out as a blog or media if you put work into what you are doing. Instead of hard work helping you to achieve what the best in the field already have, all it does is expose how little the paid MSM actually research or put hard work into.
If your full time job is to cover the Canadiens, why is it that ONE writer (Basu) actually uses the information at his fingertips to gauge what is going on?
Tracking shots? Scoring chances? Advanced metrics? No thanks, I will go to the game, watch it, toss out some cliches, read some body language, scan the stat page, crack some jokes ask the same stupid questions of the players and collect my cheque.
The majority of media react like fans. That is why there are so many ex-players with jobs, because the majority of media know how to watch a game (like we all do), but they have no idea how to analyze anything. So they simplify and it leads to “Halak performed a miracle, he is the next Patrick Roy” they never ponder the fact that he could be the next Steve Penney or Jose Theodore as well.
Even without the advanced stats, sometimes I wonder if the columnists are even at the games. Most observant fans could tell you which players would have a better probability of performing well in defensive faceoff, a PK, a shutdown d-man or a defensive ‘shadow’ centre. They also could tell you who is underperforming compared to their typical play, etc.
Its not that body language, trends or player psychology are unimportant. However, when they are the only thing examined (Josh Gorges said what!? OMFG!!!) that it becomes silly.
by westcoasthabs on Apr 4, 2011 8:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Trying to examine body language and team psychology leads writers and analysts into situations like this.
Analyst 1 : Carey Price’s laid back demeanour helps his team. It calms them down and shows them he is in control. He is unflappable.
Analyst 2: Carey Price doesn’t seem to care. He never gets fired up, his teammates don’t know if he is into the game or not.
Same actions. Same body language. Two different takes sprinkled with confirmation bias. The only one who actually knows what Carey Price is doing or not doing is him and his teammates.
Just like last season and the analysis of player psychology leading to the diagnosis that the Canadiens play hard for Halak and not Carey Price.
It is a fools game because outside of inside sources or words from the player itself, it is a pure uneducated guess. Remember, we are 1 game past articles like
• The Canadiens are out of gas
• Martin has lost the room, there is team discontent.
That is not analysis, it is creating a narrative and grasping at straws.
It was amusing, in a sad sort of way, last year when Price smashed a stick in practice after a goal and was called immature and not in control of his emotions… and two weeks later Halak smashed a stick in practice, demonstrating his competitive spirit and his drive towards excellence even in practice.
I saw it with Reimer on Sportsnet the other day.
Reimer really battled the puck today and allowed 2 poor goals and seemed off on a lot of shots…….but, that shows “he is a battler”.
So stupid. Report what happens, not what you want to happen.
To play devil’s advocate here…
Going to the lengths of saying ‘team discontent due to tired faces’ is a massive jump. However, sometimes, without the help of the media, body language does figure into an analysis, albeit as a secondary observation.
Hypothetical example: Fan A who watches the team consistently notices Pouliot doesn’t seem to have the same jump when going on the forecheck. Turns out two weeks later Pouliot sits out three games with a beat up ankle that went unnoticed.
I know its not the best means of ascertaining team/player performance, but you can’t neglect the importance of actually seeing the games. Another example could be when the team looks gassed in the 2nd even though they didn’t play the night before. You may wonder what’s up, but the players may simply be worn out from a long week before.
I know I’m beating a dead horse here, but there is a reason why teams employ scouts. This is also why they’re expected to not only look at the stats; break down important elements such as strength of opposition, but also to factor in observed behaviour.
Sorry to harp on this Chris and MathMan, but I was a decent soccer player back in the day, and I find it a little unfair to judge a player solely by their stats. Corsi and other statistical breakdowns can shed some extra objective light on play, but they can’t completely negate observed play. Furthermore, I would argue that player psychology, while hidden, does at times manifest itself in body language. However, given the hockey media’s penchant for overblowing a shrug, I understand your skepticism.
Sorry for the diatribe, but I just don’t like judging the team’s play or a player’s play by stats alone. I probably weigh too much towards judging by what I observe, which is a fair criticism. However, I find over-analysis by metrics just as misleading as gross hyperbole based on rumours and coincidental frustration.
by westcoasthabs on Apr 5, 2011 12:56 AM EDT up reply actions
One last bit…
When you watch the team play, do you really notice each player and how they’re playing against their opposition? Or do you notice if the team is breaking out of the zone, sending crisp passes, playing in position and communicating well?
If the team loses 4-2, and the 2nd line played great against the opposition’s 1st line, its still a bad night. Individually, a guy could have been playing his butt off, sticking to the game plan, and still wind up with crappy stats on the night.
by westcoasthabs on Apr 5, 2011 1:22 AM EDT up reply actions
The way hockey works, you can play very well and still lose 4-2. Heck, you can outchance your opponent and still lose 6-2.
The mistake is thinking us statheads pay a lot of attention to big counting stats, the stats most people are used to seeing. They assume that when we talk about stats that’s what we mean. Then they claim that these stats aren’t very informative.
This is true. And we micro-statheads already know this. Not least because this has been analyzed in great detail. That’s why statheads tend to look at puck possession numbers and the like, stuff that focusses on the process (which the players have a great deal of control over) rather than the result (which involves too much luck to be reliable).
It’s not like microstats measure some abstract thing that has no correlation to hockey reality. If a team breaks out of the zone with crisp passes, plays in position, and communicates well, they will have good micros because that will tend to drive their puck possession stats up.
Often, the way Jacques Martin coaches, you’d swear he was reading Olivier’s blog. Keeping Gomez in the top-6 role despite the calls from virtually everyone to curtail his icetime has nothing to do with his points totals and everything to do with getting good matchups and having a guy who can play top opposition. I don’t expect that Martin is actually looking at microstats much, certainly not in the detail we are… but the reality these microstats represents is a real thing, and Martin, being an experienced coach, understands and acts to the underlying reality, in a way the average media pundit doesn’t realize. Because we have microstats, however, we can understand what JM is doing.
On another note. If a guy plays his butt off, sticks to the game plan, and ends up with crappy stats, but he had a good game, then microstats such as Corsi and scoring chances will indicate this.
If a guy plays his butt off, sticks to the game plan, and ends up with crappy microstats anyway, however, that tends to mean one of two things: he’s being sent into situations that are way over his head by his coach (which is no fault of the player’s), or he’s just not very good. It’s unfortunate, but hard work alone does not make a hockey player useful.
Sopel, for example, fearlessly block shots, works hard, sacrifices, gives his all on every play, and I’m sure he carefully listens to his coach. He’s also a terrible defenseman.
by MathMan on Apr 5, 2011 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
That has nothing to do with what I am saying though. I have always contended that you need both to assess a situation, but reading body language is not about injury, it is not about performance. It is trying to assess/analyze something with little to no information or context.
Look at how the media turned a OT win where Subban scored a great goal into a reading of Gomez’s demeanour/body language and trying to create a rift. Has anything happened since (outside of Gomez denying it) that has indicated that there is friction? Pure narrative based nonsense.
It is a media move to create story lines born of the newspaper culture of meeting a deadline and needing a story hook. There is no sensational storyline 82 times per season.
Hamrlik is the pefect choice for this award. Hopefully the recognition helps him get another contract and finish his career in Montreal.
Showing that definition makes it a lot more understandable. The common usage of ‘unsung hero’ seems to be an incorrect representation of it, I believe. ‘Dominant role without any particular honour’ doesn’t imply unsung, just very good in a non-specific way.
Thanks for the scan!
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For Twitter Updates on Puck Worlds, follow @puckworlds. For updates plus additional witty banter from yours truly, follow @saskhab.
Brunet must be clinging onto his Beauchamp award as his only ticket to RDS.
Poor Breezer could never catch a break. He tied for the Beauchamp with Marc “who was he, again?” Bureau.
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by Kevin van Steendelaar on Apr 4, 2011 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m actually surprised Moen doesn’t get any mention for this award, his PK work is about even with Plekanec’s and he’s filled in as well as could be asked of him when forced into the top 6.
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by Andrew Berkshire on Apr 4, 2011 5:27 PM EDT reply actions
He has his hiccups, but Moen’s been a fantastic signing in my opinion. Travis and Darche have both really stepped up when asked to into the top six, and to Martin’s credit, he’s deployed them effectively as net-crashers and strong puck possession forwards.
Maybe its just me, but when I do see his name in the media, its usually him being blamed for not doing enough, which seems absurd. Great depth forward who knows how to possess and play the puck, not just cream defensemen.
by westcoasthabs on Apr 5, 2011 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions
Much of the media seems to be under the completely mistaken impression that Moen was brought to the Habs to hit people, be it with his shoulders or with his fists. Since he rarely fights, and doesn’t wallpaper people on a regular basis, it seems to them like he’s not doing his job. This also makes the assumption that fighting has value (which IMO it doesn’t) and physicality have intrinsic value in and of itself, rather than being useful as a tool to play hockey.
The Habs hired Moen to be a low-event defensive guy, a stopgap measure they could throw at top opposition and, while not expecting Moen to actually outscore, get beaten slowly enough that the Habs don’t suffer too badly. Exactly what he and his mates did in Anaheim when they won the Cup, actually. They’re getting their money’s worth.
Especially since he still makes about $700k per season below the league average.
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For Twitter Updates on Puck Worlds, follow @puckworlds. For updates plus additional witty banter from yours truly, follow @saskhab.
Indeed, this is how I view Moen as well. And the added bonus with Moen is that he’s one of those players who’s value increases in the playoffs. And on Anaheim’s cup run his line actually managed to outscore the opposition in the small sample size that the playoffs are.
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by Andrew Berkshire on Apr 5, 2011 7:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Sorta deflates the credibility of the award, doesn’t it?
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by Kevin van Steendelaar on Apr 5, 2011 7:28 PM EDT up reply actions
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