In posting the 08-09 aSTP rankings, CTGray brought up an interesting question – how well did Ron Wilson do with special teams in comparison to Todd McLellan? It was accepted knowledge that the power play was stagnant under Wilson, and much more dynamic under McLellan, but how did that translate numerically? Not wanting to stop there, I decided to calculate the STP and aSTP for the Sharks going back to the 97-98 season, in the Darryl Sutter era.

Darryl Sutter

Sutter’s teams were fairly mediocre, borderline playoff teams. The team was abysmal on the PP, with 18.1% being both the highest and almost a good two percentage points above the second-highest. The PK and overall defensive-mindedness on special teams made the Sharks an absolutely average team overall in both STP and aSTP, although the aSTP did drop in 02-03 when they practically imploded and finished 14th in the West. The fact that the aSTP was largely higher than the STP backs up the defense-first method that Sutter used, as the PP didn’t give up more goals than the PK scored.

Ron Wilson

When Ron Wilson was brought in, both the team’s special teams and its overall play improved dramatically, even earning the team’s only WCF appearance. Both the STP and aSTP are above average, and were for three of his four years as head coach (05-06 is the anomaly, strange considering Thornton’s Hart and Cheechoo’s Rocket Richard). But while the special teams are good overall, the STP and aSTP are bolstered by strong defensive play, as evidenced by the good PK percentage and the somewhat mediocre PP conversion rate. The last year of his position of head coach saw him garner much criticism for a stagnant PP, and the numbers don’t exactly refute that. The average aSTP being higher than the average STP can partially be attributed to the defensive-minded play, but a look at the season-by-season breakdown shows that only 06-07 was where the PP played really well defensively. It looks like the PP just was not that good under Ron Wilson, and was bolstered by the strong PK.

Todd McLellan

It’s almost unfair to judge Todd McLellan’s performance at this juncture with only one year of coaching under his belt, but there is no question that compared to his predecessors, the Sharks’ STP and aSTP was much better. Both metrics exceeded both Wilson’s and Sutter’s highs, although it could be attributed to a higher-skilled team. The PP was also much more effective, and when backed up with strong defensive play as well, the special teams were much better. The PP was not very good defensively, but with a greater offensive threat on the PK it made up the difference. Overall, McLellan exceeded his two most recent predecessors in the case of special teams, although one season is a bit too soon to completely draw a conclusion.