Jochen Hecht: Ouch

Whenever there’s an article or blog post (especially from the more statistically-minded writers out there) about the ‘Top’ this or ‘Worst’ that, I always scan through them right away to see where the Buffalo players or team ranks. Unfortunately, there’s a name on this list at The Puck Stops Here that was getting crushed all last season in the Sabres blagosphere: Jochen Hecht. Yo-yo was one of the 20 worst players in the league (at least 50 games) in regards to adjusted +/-. You can follow the links there to Behind the Net to get the raw numbers. Basically, the Sabres were significantly worse when Hecht was on the ice than when he wasn’t. It didn’t help that Jochen was constantly put out there against the best competition. 29 goals were scored while he was on the ice, and 45 given up. The only players who were on the ice for more goals given up were Vanek, Roy, and Pominville (who also were on the ice for 15-20 more goals FOR) and 3 D-men who got several minutes more ice time per game, one of them being Lydman of course.

So…what can we expect from Hecht this year? His two previous years were both positive on the Goals For/Goals Allowed numbers, but then again, those teams were higher scoring. A modest rebound (15 goals, 25 assists, even or better +/-) would not be too much to ask, I think. It’ s not like Yo-yo is all that tradeable. I’m waiting to see what the new lines will look like, though, as they will be different this season. I like Hecht and will be pulling for him this year.