Here's the beginning of a quote you may have seen/heard from Scott Gordon:
"I think he was a little snakebitten; now it's starting to go in for him."
I'll put the rest of the quote after the jump. But you might scroll to the poll first to select who you'd normally think Gordon is talking about...
The rest of the quote [subscription]:
"It probably helps playing with a guy like Rob [Schremp] who can get the puck to the net and make plays. Also Josh [Bailey] coming around on the wing has complemented him."
So yeah: Jon Sim.
- Sim has goals in three consecutive games, and four of five. It's as if he's about to go on waivers, circa 2009.
- Meanwhile, Kyle Okposo has just two goals in six games -- two in 24, if you go back that far. But three of his seven goals this year are game-winners, and they're real game-winners, too: Two in OT, one to break a tie with three minutes left. Not the "we had a 5-1 lead but won 5-4" kind of game-winner.
- Josh Bailey's two goals in his last four were also his only two in 18 games. But the first part of that slump, he went seven games without a shot on goal. In the 11 games since, he has 24 shots on goal. (Incidentally, the two games in the last four where he didn't score? Zero shots. Shoot, Josh, shoot!)
Anyway, I just thought that was fun. If you like, you can explore the stat sheet for other slumps and dry spells (Howdy, John and Matt).
Many of us give Sim and his rather stone hands a lot of flak, so credit where credit is due: He's consistently gone to the net, consistently annoyed the opposition (one of very few on the NYI willing to do so), and lately he's gotten goals from being around the net that result from that kind of work. Most coaches will say you need someone like that. That's probably why he's been in the lineup all year.