About a month ago I sat down to write a piece about a favorite bone of contention, the Penguins’ lack of size. Conor Sheary—just recalled from the Baby Pens—was going to be my focus. I tapped out a few lines and, feeling uninspired, pushed away from the keyboard. One of the very few times as a PenguinPoop blogger I’ve done that.
I’m so glad I did. Had I posted what largely would’ve been a lament, I’d be eating a lot of humble pie right now.
Sheary’s won me over. Big time.
When he rejoined the Pens on January 15 following a two-week stint in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, I made it a point to watch the 23-year-old forward more closely.
At first, I’ll admit, it was kind of painful. The diminutive Massachusetts native—generously listed at 5’8” and 175 pounds—absorbed a beating from much larger foes. Indeed, he seemed to spend half his time just scraping himself off the ice following a big hit.
But he kept getting up. And he kept pursuing the puck. Often with a sled-dog drive and tenacity that I’ve come to appreciate and admire.
Simply put, the kid works his tail off. Heart and soul.
Take Thursday night, for example. Rarely have I seen a player pour as much of himself into a shift as Sheary when he assisted on Scott Wilson’s first NHL goal. The sequence started when he flew into the slot and set up Wilson with a pretty drop pass that didn’t connect. Undeterred, the UMass grad pursued the puck to the end boards, where he engaged Mike Green in a battle for possession. After wrenching the rubber—and his stick—free from the bigger Detroit defender, No. 43 eluded Brendan Smith, spun, and delivered a picture-perfect pass to Wilson while falling down.
Just watching the play on TV fired me up. I can only imagine the inspirational effect it had on his teammates.
True, Sheary’s stats aren’t overwhelming. In fact they’re somewhat anemic. Three goals and five points in 23 games for the black and gold entering the weekend. Hardly the stuff of a future scoring champion.
But numbers can be deceiving. Conor creates an abundance of chances with his non-stop hustle and helps drive possession (a healthy Corsi For % of 54.5 at even strength). Indeed, announcer Paul Steigerwald has noted on numerous occasions that the puck seems to follow him. A reflection of Sheary’s on-ice awareness and keen sense of anticipation. More often than not, he’s in the right place at the right time.
“Even though he’s a smaller guy, he’s extremely competitive and not afraid,” former Baby Pens and current Devils coach John Hynes said. “He finds ways to compensate for his lack of size.”
In some instances, his compact frame may even provide an edge. Shifty and clever, Sheary has a knack for slipping undetected through the cracks and seams. Ideal for a player with a sneaky fast release.
Will the second-year pro emerge as an undersized star in the mold of recently retired Martin St. Louis and Tampa Bay’s Tyler Johnson?
It’s hard to say. But I wouldn’t bet against him.
Sheary doesn’t quit.
“You just have to compete and play hard and forget about your size, focus on other things like quickness and strength,” he said. “People can’t deny that when you have that.”
Hey Rick,
I am not going to argue with the list of positive attributes that Sheary has. Unfortunately Rick, I will have to hold off on any long term NHL career statements for him. Because of his lack of reach and frame, the most I will say at this point is his hustle and hockey sense has earned him a good solid look this year and maybe next. I really like him and want to see him make it. There is something about him that makes some one want to pull for him. But I am just not sold.
Furthermore, I am so underwhelmed with Corsi stats. Against TB the Pens lost 4-2 but attempted 67 shots to 35. The Pens outshot TB by almost 2 to 1 and ended up losing by exactly that ratio 2 to 1. As I mentioned before, up through January that was the norm for the Pens, win games when they were on the wrong end of Corsi and Lose when they were on the right end. I would really like to see the validation studies on this particular stat. Anyone arguing a point using Corsi will only get me to yawn not pay attention.
I apologize for sounding more than a little harsh here, Corsi is a pet peeve of mine. Every time I have looked at it, the correlations just come up very weak at best.
Hey Other Rick,
It seems you and I feel the same way about Sheary. I just love his hustle and tenacity. I think he possesses some underrated skills and instincts, too. However, I’d like to see him produce more consistently. I agree…time will tell if he’s a legit big-leaguer or an “AHL-plus” guy.
No problem with your issues regarding Corsi and other advanced stats. Truly, they’re meant to be possession indicators and nothing more. Some folks have taken them to be the gospel of success and failure.
A while back I was curious to see how our Cup teams fared, Corsi-wise, so I looked up the numbers on Hockey-Reference. Not very good, it seems.
The ‘08-09 team? Only six out of 30 skaters had a Corsi for at Even Strength of better than 50%. And two of them—Tim Wallace and Connor James—were fringe players. Sid was 49.6; Geno 46.4.
The year before, when we made it to the Finals? Even worse. Only Sid and Alex Goligoski (three games played) topped 50%.
So much for Corsi being the be-all, end-all.
Well said, I agree. He’s a hustler.