EBERLE SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT

11 years ago

After Jordan Eberle tallied 34 goals and 76 points last year, some suggested that would be his career-high. But the statistics that many felt was unattainable was his 18.9 shooting percentage. Eberle tallied 34 goals on 180 shots. Steven Stamkos was the only player to score more goals, 60, and have a higher SH%, 19.8. Curtis Glencross, 26 goals on 110 shots for 23.6 SH % and Jiri Hudler, 25 goals on 127 shots for 19.7 SH% were the only other players with 20+ goals and a higher SH % than Eberle.

We won’t know how efficient of a scorer he will be in the NHL until the suits find a way to end the lockout, but in the American League Eberle is scoring at a rate they haven’t seen in over a decade.

Eberle is a pure goal scorer. He takes a lot of pride of his shot and works on it constantly.

I think for one, I’ve really worked on my shot. I try not to waste a chance; you know if I’m in the slot I’m going to bury it. Like you said, I’m not a guy to come down the wing and fire a puck on net. I more so want be the guy that beats the defensive line, tries to make a play to a guy or turn back and try to create more out of it. The chances I usually get, I usually try to slip in to places where it is a lot easier to score. Something about my shot too, I think goalies usually have trouble with it. I think I shoot off the toe a little bit. I ask goalies, ‘What’s the difference between my shot and someone else’s?’ It just comes off differently. So, I take a lot of pride on working on it. If I get a chance, I want to score. It pisses me off when I don’t.

Eberle tallied four goals in four shot on Saturday and now he leads the AHL in goals and shooting percentage. He has 19 goals on 69 shots for a sizzling 27.5 SH%. Some will argue he should be lighting up the AHL, because he’s an NHL player, and I would agree, but he’s shown accuracy that the league has rarely seen.

Here is a list of the top-five goal scorers dating back to the last lockout.

2005	G	SHOTS	SH%
Mike Cammalleri	46	308	14.9
Thomas Vanek	42	271	15.4
Denis Hamel	39	247	15.7
Kyle Wellwood	38	184	20.6
Chuck Kobasew	38	250	15.2

2006	G	SHOTS	SH%
Don Maclean	56	271	20.6
Denis Hamel	56	378	14.8
Patrick O’Sullivan	47	321	14.6
Kirby Law	43	229	18.7
Dustin Penner	39	251	15.3

2007	G	SHOTS	SH%
Brett Sterling	55	287	19.1
Alex Giroux	42	269	15.6
Troy Brouwer	41	186	22
Darren Haydar	41	231	17.7
Jeff Heerema	36	315	11.4

2008	G	SHOTS	SH%
Jason Krog	39	212	18.3
Jeff Tambellini	38	237	16.1
Brett Sterling	38	196	19.4
Pascal Pelletier	37	266	13.9
Troy Brouwer	35	212	16.5

2009	G	SHOTS	SH%
Alex Giroux	60	341	17.5
Kyle Greentree	39	264	14.7
Ryan Potulny	38	244	15.6
Artem Anisimov	37	202	18.3
Chris Minard	34	209	16.3

2010	G	SHOTS	SH%
Alex Giroux	50	253	19.7
Jerome Samson	37	332	11.1
Andrew Gordon	37	195	18.9
Brock Trotter	26	165	15.7
Keith Aucoin	35	183	19.1

2011	G	SHOTS	SH%
Colin McDonald	42	259	16.2
Nigel Dawes	41	211	19.4
Chris Terry	34	213	15.9
Mark Mancari	32	204	15.7
Alex Giroux	32	242	13.2

2012	G	SHOTS	SH%
Cory Conacher	39	213	18.3
Mark Fraser	37	253	14.6
Kyle Palmeiri	33	217	15.2
Ryan Potulny	33	188	17.5
Chris Mueller	32	196	16.3

2013	G	SHOTS	SH%
Jordan Eberle	19	69	27.5
Tyler Johnson	16	72	22.2
Cam Atkinson	15	87	17.2
Justin Schultz	14	73	19.1
Drayson Bowman	14	91	15.3

The AHL has only kept track of SH% since 1992/1993. Dane Jackson has the record at 27%, 27 goals on 100 shots in 1996, while Eric Healey sits second at 26.96% when he tallied 31 goals on 115 shots in 2004.

Eberle could go scoreless on his next 15 shots and still sit first in SH%. While some will say "It is only the AHL," the fact is he is more efficient with his shots than anyone else in the league, by a considerable margin.

I’m very curious to see how efficient he will be when the NHL returns, but like I wrote in the summer, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hover between 16-19%.

NHL SH% RECORDS

Here is a list of the NHL’s five best single-season SH%:

Charlie Simmer, 32.75% with 56 goals on 171 shots in 1981.
Sergei Makarov, 32.26% with 30 goals on 93 shots in 1991.
Craig Simpson, 31.6% with 56 goals in 177 shots in 1988. (He had 43 goals on 118 shots, 36.4% in 59 games with Edmonton after being traded from Pittsburgh.)
Warren Young, 30.8% with 40 goals on 130 shots in 1985.
Rob Brown, 30.0% with 24 goals on 51 shots in 1988. Brown has the 7th best SH% as well at 29% with 49 goals on 169 shots in 1989.

Simpson and Simmer sit first and second all-time in career SH%.

1.	Craig Simpson	23.66
2.	Charlie Simmer	22.34
3.	Paul MacLean	21.41
4.	Mike Bossy*	21.18
5.	Yvon Lambert	19.85

I doubt Eberle or anyone else will come close to those records, but those stats illustrate how much harder it is to score now compared to the 1980s.

On a different note, if you are wondering how the lockout will be impacted by the lawsuit filed by the NHL, and the inevitable disclaimer of interest by the NHLPA read here.

DAY ELEVEN

On Friday we raised another $3,500 thanks to Todd and his generous bid on the Yakupov jersey and party for 10 at the Pint.Today’s package includes.

Today’s package includes…

A suite for ten at the Edmonton Oil Kings game on Friday, January 11th in the ATB suite.

Includes two parking passes very close to the Gretzky statue, so you won’t have to walk far.
A $750 tab for food and beverages.
Jason Strudwick and Rob Brown will join you in the suite to regale you with some great NHL stories.

Bidding goes from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. You can call 1.800.243.1945 or 780.426.8326 to bid. So far we have raised $28,500 and are on pace to reach my goal of $45,000. Thanks in advance for your generous bid. All the proceeds will go to Santas Anonymous.

EBERLE SHOOTING THE LIGHTS OUT

NHL SH% RECORDS

DAY ELEVEN

RECENTLY BY JASON GREGOR

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