Shawn Horcoff's first year as Captain of a team built to land another lottery pick saw him play a well-defined role: he was the defensively-responsible housesitter assigned to protect his own zone while the kids went gallivanting around the rink. Horcoff played with fewer linemates than any other forward with as many games. In a way, his housesitting duties rescued his reputation amongst Edmonton fans. Prior to the season, the fan's book on Horcoff went something like this: "overpaid, useless, terrible, awful." Now he's thought of in a completely different manner - he's the guy that allowed the kids to do their thing.
Chance % Team Rank: 3/23
Chance % Fwd Rank: 2/15
Diff/60 Team Rank: 3/23
Diff/60 Fwd Rank: 2/15
TCF = season total even strength chances for; TCA = season total even strength chances against; SCF = segment even strength chances for; SCA = segment even strength chances against; Segment % = player scoring chance percentage during the season segment; Team Seg % = Oilers team scoring chance percentage during the season segment.
| Game # | TCF | TCA | SCF | SCA | Segment % | Team Seg % |
| 1-10 | 41 | 35 | 41 | 35 | 0.539 | 0.453 |
| 11-20 | 61 | 70 | 20 | 35 | 0.364 | 0.401 |
| 21-30 | 97 | 94 | 36 | 24 | 0.600 | 0.449 |
| 31-40 | 0.467 | |||||
| 41-50 | 126 | 110 | 29 | 16 | 0.644 | 0.531 |
| 51-60 | 163 | 151 | 37 | 41 | 0.474 | 0.470 |
| 61-70 | 199 | 186 | 36 | 35 | 0.507 | 0.454 |
| 71-82 | 0.486 |
*click to enlarge
- In games 21-30 and 41-50, Horcoff and friends were killing it. At first glance, it seems like Horcoff, Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle were responsible for dragging the Oilers' team average up to respectability.
| With Horcoff | Without Horcoff | Horcoff Without | |||||||||
| # | CF | CA | % | CF | CA | % | CF | CA | % | ||
| 4 | 121 | 86 | 0.585 | 228 | 235 | 0.492 | 78 | 100 | 0.438 | ||
| 14 | 100 | 90 | 0.526 | 209 | 213 | 0.495 | 99 | 96 | 0.508 | ||
| 27 | 60 | 57 | 0.513 | 188 | 191 | 0.496 | 139 | 129 | 0.519 | ||
| 83 | 59 | 79 | 0.428 | 134 | 119 | 0.530 | 140 | 107 | 0.567 | ||
| 91 | 31 | 30 | 0.508 | 234 | 292 | 0.445 | 168 | 156 | 0.519 | ||
| 2 | 51 | 55 | 0.481 | 195 | 244 | 0.444 | 148 | 131 | 0.530 | ||
| 5 | 62 | 54 | 0.534 | 270 | 323 | 0.455 | 137 | 132 | 0.509 | ||
| 6 | 36 | 51 | 0.414 | 132 | 142 | 0.482 | 163 | 135 | 0.547 | ||
| 26 | 44 | 34 | 0.564 | 195 | 267 | 0.422 | 155 | 152 | 0.505 | ||
| 43 | 17 | 19 | 0.472 | 123 | 141 | 0.466 | 182 | 167 | 0.521 | ||
| 49 | 64 | 61 | 0.512 | 214 | 299 | 0.417 | 135 | 125 | 0.519 | ||
| 58 | 22 | 14 | 0.611 | 140 | 129 | 0.520 | 177 | 172 | 0.507 | ||
| 77 | 91 | 71 | 0.562 | 280 | 321 | 0.466 | 108 | 115 | 0.484 | ||
- As I wrote in the opening - Horcoff had a very specifically-defined role - protect Hall and Eberle. He was never subjected to the Renney/Injury blender.