Norfolk Admirals Special Teams: Shootout

2013 Stats:

The Norfolk Admirals went 7-1 in the shootout through the season. Igor Bobkov led the goalies in shootout wins, going 4-0 while stopping 19 of 22 attempts helped the Admirals stay in the playoff hunt a little longer.  Frederik Andersen went 2-1 and struggled a little more than Bobber only stopping 9 of 15 attempts.  Viktor Fasth went perfect in his only skills competition while with the Admirals stopping all 5 shooters.

As far as shooters go, Norfolk might struggle this season.  Last year the top two players were Josh Brittain, who is now a part of those chocolaty Bears of Hershey, and Luca Caputi who has gone to Europe to further his career.  Brittain went 3 for 4 with all three being game winners while Caputi went 2 for 3 with no game winners.

The rest of the shooters with at least one successful attempt go like this, Peter Holland made 3 of 5 and had a game winner, Emerson Etem 2-4, Jordan Hendry 1-2 with a game winner, Patrick Maroon 2-5 with a game winner, Devante Smith-Pelly and Kyle Palmieri went 1 for 4 with DSP getting a game winner.  Fortunately the Admirals only had 6 players who couldn't score in the shootout.  Kyle Wilson, Corey Elkins, Chris Wagner, Dan Sexton and John Mitchell all couldn't perform well in the overtime skills competition.  Ryan Lasch was also part of the group and is getting my unofficial Terrible Hands Award for going 0 for 3.

Shooting Order: I feel like this could be an obscure fantasy sport in the future!  I don't know if these players will be in Norfolk at the time I wrote this article but it is who I would want!

1. Peter Holland - This guy likes to score goals and is an obvious choice with how he did in the previous season.

2. Emerson Etem - Going .500 last year and having some sweet moves along with a quick shot and speed could maybe get a goalie all bent out of shape.

3. Steven Whitney - He is small which means he brings agility and quick hands to the skills competition.

4. Devante Smith-Pelly - Last season I saw him do some silly stuff in practices that I think would be cool in the shootout.

5. Sami Vatanen - He is an offensive threat all the time, why not give him a try.

6. Zack Stortini - There would be zero scouting available on his shootout tendencies, he has the upper hand!