A Look Back....January 09

I mentioned yesterday that I would be doing these from here on. I intend to recap the previous month and give a brief preview of the upcoming month. If you like it or don't like it....let me know. And if you have any suggestions for anything else just email it to me.


January 2009:

Record going into the month : : 24-8-0-1
Points entering the month : : 49
Place in standings entering month : : 1st

Games in January : : 16
Record in January : : 9-4-0-3
Points earned in January : : 21
Points left on the table : : 11
Home record in January : : 4-2-0-2
Road record in January : : 5-2-0-1

Three Stars for January:

1. Alexandre Giroux - Surprise! What a month he had! After getting recalled to Washington and returning on January 3 he scored 18 goals and 9 assists in 15 games during the month. Set the Bears points streak record and broke the AHL consecutive goal scoring streak during the month.
2. Keith Aucoin - He got to center Giroux for the whole month so in turn his stats were phenomenal as well. The AHL points leader kept the lead with 6 goals and 13 assists during the month.
3. Chris Bourque - While he drew the ire of some fans for a questionable decision before the All-Star break he still had a very good month. He totaled 4 goals and 11 assists in his 15 games this month.

How did the Bears do this month?

I thought they were average to be honest. With the exception of Giroux I think this team is in trouble if their scoring doesn't get better. Sure they get numerous shots like the 49 they had against the Pens on Friday. BUT they can't seem to score enough. Shots from the point are worthless unless you have bodies in front creating screens and getting rebounds.

The goaltending for the month wasn't very good either. Varly started the month of very good but then had a couple bad games before missing the rest of the month with an injury. Cheese and Neuvirth managed to win some games but neither looked stellar. There needs to be a definite number one before the playoffs and if he stays healthy I think Varly is as good as they have.

The special teams units need to be improved. The Capitals were having problems in the same area and spent a whole practice or two just working on their power play last week. Since then...they have scored in under 10 seconds on 3 power plays this week. The Bears need to do something like that. With multiple 4 in 5s and 3 in 3s it is tough to get any work in and especially anything specialized but there is more time now. This week would be ideal. As a fan I expect to see a much better effort on the special teams when the Bears return to action this weekend.


A look ahead at February:

Games in February : : 12
Home games : : 6
Road games : : 6
4 in 5 weekends : : 1 (ends March 1st)
Games against division : : 7

Games to Pay Attention to in February:

• @ Philly on Friday
• vs Hamilton on 2/11
• 3 games @ Bingo on 2/13, 25, 27

Really the schedule is favorable for the month. The best team based on points this month is Hamilton with 58 points. Other than that the Bears 3 of the four division bottom dwellers with San Antonio, Norfolk, and Rochester.

Expectations:

Points available : : 24
Schedule difficulty : : 1 out of 5

Points the Bears SHOULD get this month : : 20


LET'S GO BEARS!!!!