HABS: Erik Cole Game by Game

Tracking players risk/reward rating during each game allows us to track their play over the course of an entire season. By plotting each game along a graph, we can establish a trendline reflecting the player's performance over the course of the entire season.

Eric Cole had an impressive season. He led the team in goals, and was second in both points, plus/minus and shots on goal.

Cole ended the season with the twelfth-best even-strength risk/reward among forwards. That said, his physical presence was huge, while his offensive-zone risk/reward raring was among the team's best.

Like Pacioretty, Cole's loose-puck recovery totals in the offensive-zone had a direct impact on his offensive-output. As a rule, Cole had more shots, points and scoring chances in games where he recovered over 5 offensive-zone loose-pucks.

Cole's trendline shows a definite drop in performance near the end of the season. Many of the Canadiens players have a mid-season dip, which makes Cole's trendline even more interesting. His end of season dip could easily be explained by the punishment his body took over the course of the year.

The graph also reflects an increase in consistency closer to the end of the season, as the gap in game-to-game risk/reward ratings becomes smaller. The beginning of the season saw Cole's rating increase or drop over 2 points from game-to-game, while the game-to-game change fell to less than 1 point nearer the end of  the season.

 Cole nevered produced a negative risk/reward rating. This also shows that Cole never made more unsuccessful than successful plays in any one game. He earned a risk/reward rating above 2.00 in 6 games, while he had a risk/reward rating below 0.50 eleven times.