Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Midseason Review - Ric Jackman

Ric Jackman

45 Games
5 Goals
21 Assists
-16 +/-
42 PIM

Grade: C-

It's tough for me to watch a game and judge how well each player is playing. It's kind of like evaluating the offensive line in football - if the quaterback gets sacked, you know someone screwed up. Until then, you can only assume they're doing okay. Ric Jackman, for much of the season, hasn't been doing okay. He was a seemingly frequent scratch for both Edzo and Therrien. When he's in the game, he's the Pens second leading point-getter from the blue line. Until recently, he was the leading point-getter. That means that he must have been screwing things up pretty badly in other areas. I know from what I see that he doesn't look terribly fast, and doesn't play a very physical game (though this has changed a little bit under Michel Therrien).

When he's playing well, Jackman can contribute to the offense. He needs to get his shots on net. He also is someone that I can remember a few times being guilty of shooting without any traffic in front.

Recently, Jackman has asked to be traded if the team was going to keep scratching him. I wouldn't be surprised to see him leave town, and that would be disappointing since he his young and obviously has talent.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree, he could be a solid player if he stops with all the penalties...seems like everytime he's on the ice, he gets a hooking minor. Now, he's not the only Pen guilty of that but I would like to see that number cut down. He has been getting more physical which is good, if just keeps hustling he could be a solid second or thrid line D guy.