The Islanders are Falling

It’s unclear why it took 58 games for Islanders coach Doug Weight to finally scratch Jason Chimera from the lineup. As I previously noted, Chimera has been one of the worst players in the NHL this season by virtually any measure.

Of the 242 NHL forwards who have played as many 5v5 minutes as him (598), Chimera has:

• the 5th-worst on-ice shot attempt differential;
• the 2nd-highest rate of high-danger scoring chances allowed;
• the 3rd-highest rate of all scoring chances allowed;
• the 7th-highest rate of shot attempts allowed;
• the 2nd-lowest number of goals scored (2)
• the 5th-lowest number of points scored (10)

Whatever leadership he brings — and I do believe there’s legitimate value in the guidance a 17-year, 1,000-game veteran can provide to the team’s younger players — it just can’t even remotely overcome his utter lack of production, glaring defensive deficiencies and lazy habits.

To an outsider, his woeful performance this season might seem at least somewhat surprising when you consider he does still possess very good straightaway speed. But the problem is that’s his sole positive attribute at this point. He might beat out an icing call once every ten games but he’s just no longer capable of using that speed effectively to apply pressure on opposing defensemen by leading the rush or driving hard to the net.

This is largely due to the fact that, his straight-line speed notwithstanding, Chimera is not a good skater. He’s very slow moving laterally and he lacks any semblance of agility or coordination. In fact it’s almost remarkable how weak Chimera is on his skates these days. It hardly takes any contact at all for him to fall down. I know this because Chimera falls down quite often.

The following video contains clips of some of my favorite spills we’ve seen from no. 25 this season. And so as to not completely single him out, I’ve also included video of some other Islanders falling down in spectacular fashion (which means the co-star of this video is obviously Josh Ho-Sang).

So here’s video of Chimera, Ho-Sang and a few others falling down all over the ice:

Please understand that I know there was legitimate obstruction on several of these plays. And I know falling is simply a part of hockey — in fact if you’re not dropping down to the ice somewhat regularly, you’re probably not playing hard enough. I get all that.

But the fact is: (a) most of these plays involved fairly minimal contact, and (b) the act of falling down is inherently funny. That’s just a fact of life, and there’s not much you or I can do about it.

So it’s best to just sit back, point and laugh. And take a moment to appreciate that nobody - and I mean nobody - falls like Jason Chimera.

Until next time, friends.