Photo: Elsa: Getty Images
Say my name, say my name.
Actin’ kinds shady in callin’ me Titus/Tito/Theo/Thor etc
Say my name, say my name.
The name’s Chorney. Taylor Chorney. Over the last year we’ve all learned a few things about the man who this name belongs to:
55 | games played |
13:11 | time on ice per game |
1 | goals |
5 | assists |
50.3 | 5v5 shot-attempt percentage |
57.1 | 5v5 goal percentages |
About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows various metrics for the player over the course of the 2015-16 season. A short description of each chart:
I’m happy to say that I was wrong about Taylor Chorney. Before the season started, I was concerned about the Caps’ defensive depth and thought they should seize the opportunity to bring back Steve Oleksy as their seventh defenseman. While I’ll maintain that the added defensive depth Oleksy would have brought would still have been welcome, I was wrong about that Chorney couldn’t hold down the job of a seventh blue liner on an NHL team.
If you had asked me before the season whether, at the end of the season, Chorney was more likely to have played in over 40 games or be off the team completely, I’d have chosen the latter. But Chorney, who had appeared in more than 12 games in a single season just once (42 games with the Oilers in 2009-10) suited up for the Caps 55 times and performed so well that the organization gave him a two-year contract extension during the season.
This extension was well-deserved.
While Chorney ranked seventh among the team’s seven blue liners in puck possession with a 50.3 percent score-adjusted shot attempt percentage, just about every team in the league would take a puck possession number above 50 percent from a seventh defenseman who was called into duty as often as Chorney was in 2015-16. Defensively, Chorney’s 50.4 shot attempts against per 60 at 5-on-5 was second only to teammate Dmitry Orlov.
Oh, and he also logged over a minute per game on the penalty kill.
Generally, anything better than “horrible” is fine enough from a seventh defenseman. But Chorney was better than that during his first season in red. He proved himself completely adequate as an NHL defender and the Caps can be comfortable penciling him as the seventh guy on their depth chart as they outline their offseason plan.
Sure. Whatever. Let's just give goals to whoever now. Truman Chorney, collect your prize.
— RMNB (@russianmachine) November 13, 2015
Ted (?) Chorney scores! pic.twitter.com/vNbZSSFLjK
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) January 17, 2016
This is just one of those games where Todd (?) Chorney is probably going to score the GWG
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) November 19, 2015
Congrats to Tajari Chorney on his first point as a Cap!
— TimothyJimothyYoshie (@tjyoshie77) November 20, 2015
Great save by Tuukka Chorney
— RMNB (@russianmachine) December 11, 2015
Are you as satisfied as I am with Chorney as the team’s seventh defender moving forward? Were you pleasantly surprised or did you somehow see this revelation coming?
Read more: Japers’ Rink
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