Quantifying Regin’s Absence

Today was a wonderful day for dumb decisions.

Graham James was granted bail. There was also Don Cherry’s pinko-riddled speech to Toronto’s City Council that introduced their new mayor Rob Ford. And finally, there was also Cory Clouston’s decision to use the victory against the New York Rangers as justification for keeping Peter Regin out of the Senators lineup for tonight’s game versus the Canadiens.

Am I sensationalizing Regin’s benching? Maybe.

But here’s a look at his numbers anyway…

• With 10 points, Regin is tied with Michalek for having the fifth most amount of points amongst forwards on the team
• leads the Senators in takeaways (23)
• he draws the most penalties per 60 minutes of play (1.3) 
• he has the third best defensive GVT amongst forwards (0.8)
• his total GVT (0.5) is middle of the pack for the team because of his lack of individual production, however, amongst forwards, Regin has the 5th best Teams Goal For per 60 minutes rating on the team. 

Perhaps here’s the number that matters most: In his second season with the Senators and with a base salary of $1-million, Regin has the 10th highest salary amongst forwards on the team and not a lot of tenure. Benching him is an easy out for a coach who is in a precarious situation and can ill afford to lose a veteran dressing room.