Hockeymetrics: How the Stars Scored Their Goals in 2010-11

It's been awhile since I've done a post on one of the more passionate topics at DBD, Hockeymetrics.

And with the free agent frenzy having died down, we're starting to enter the dog days not only of summer, but of the hockey offseason.

While we all have our eye towards next season with interest on what Glen Gulutzan and the nice haul of free agents signings that Joe Nieuwendyk made two weeks ago can bring to the club, I thought it would be fun to look back at last season at the Stars leaders in each of the six categories that represent what the NHL considers a valid way to score a goal.

Fun times after the jump...

Wrist Shot

Really not a surprise that Brenden Morrow's name is at the top of this list. he's made a name for himself by paying the price in front of the net just so his quick hands can deposit rebounds past fallen goaltenders. And having a table setter like Mike Ribeiro doesn't hurt this stat, either.

It is a bit of a surprise to see Richards at the top of this category when you consider how much time he spent on the point on the power play. But it's a testament to Richards' all-around offensive game that made him the most coveted free agent this offseason.

He can beat you with the slapper. And as he proved on this 'just expired' 5-on-3 against Columbus, he's deadly with the wrister. One that we won't be seeing around here for a long time.

And of course, both Mike Ribeiro and Loui Eriksson were just one off the pace with 14 each.

Slap Shot

And speaking of that slapper, Richards scored six goals last season via the full wind up. Which, again, is not surprising given the amount of powerr play time he was given at the point.

But it also underscores the need that this team has moving forward to have a more traditional offensive defenseman to jump up and fill this role.

Something that it appears Alex Goligoski's capable of.

Snap Shot

Again, I reference Morrow's short game, for lack of a better term, as the reason he was the club leader in goals scored via the snap shot with 6. Honestly, I would have thought a sniper like Loui Eriksson or Jamie Benn would be further up this list.

I suspect young Mr. Benn will be among the leaders come next season as THE primary scoring threat now that Richards and Neal have departed.

Backhand

And I also suspect he'll lead the club in backhanded goals just as he did by a large margin last year.

Because right now, I don't know that the Stars have too many guys in the lineup who can do this.

Or this.

Tip-In

No surprise here as Morrow and Eriksson led the club with three goals via the tip in.

But suffice to say, that does seem like a low number that could get higher with the Stars getting the services of an Alex Goligoski for an entire season.

Or perhaps another last season rental, provided this ownership mess gets resolved by next season's trade deadline.

Wrap Around

Considering the top end forward talent the Stars have, it's a little surprising they only had three players score what the official scorer deemed to be a wrap around goal.

Even more surprising to me is that this Stepahane Robidas goal scored against Chicago at home on his old buddy, Marty Turco, was deemed a wrap around goal.

OK, so he did bring the puck down behind the goal and technically wrapped it around before wristing it home.

Overall

When you look at some of the goal totals on this table, it does seem at first glance that some of them could stand to be higher. And with Richards now gone, there will be a void for somebody to have to step in and try and reproduce the kind of numbers Richards put up.

And if you're talking about the Stars compared to some of the dominant teams in the league like Vancouver and Boston, well, the Stars numbers just don't compare.

Still, Dallas' problem last year wasn't necessarily goal scoring per se. They scored goals.

The problem is when you look at this table, or even just the overall goal and point totals for the team, it's very top heavy. There's not much balance.

I know everybody likes to use the Phoenix Coyotes as an example of getting to the playoffs via the defensive game. But Dave Tippett got a lot of offense out of his guys on the blue line the last two seasons.

Fixing the overall defensive game should be task number one for Glen Gulutzan and his staff going into this season. More balanced scoring should be the second.