If Lee Stempniak (14 goals 14 games in Phx.) rolls out 25-30 goals this season it will be a futher indictment of Ron Wilson's coaching.

- Scott Burnside, ESPN

That tweet belied not only a lack of understanding of basic statistics but also the truth that the so-called 'national' NHL reporter is a beat far too difficult for the majority of folks holding down that spot. There's a reason that no serious hockey fan turns to the four letters for hockey coverage. There's a reason they've used SBN pieces, including one from here, that do no more than examine possible targets for trades or signings as ESPN Insider pieces. They are useless. Anyway, back in August, when Scott Burnside decided to take a shot at Ron Wilson (wouldn't it be great if he was upfront about any possible reason for writing it?) Chemmy had a little fun with him pointing out that basically no one in the NHL expected Stempniak to score 25-30 goals and that he had no idea what he was talking about. Also, that tweet has a typo.

I don't know why Stempniak came into my mind today but this time I'm glad to think about the former Dartmouth grad. The following table of his stats paints a pretty stark picture of just what a fluke last year's 18 game run was...if you still needed any proof:

Season
 Team GP G A P +/- PIM S S%
2005-2006 Blues 57 14 13 27 -10 22 100 14.0
2006-2007 Blues 82 27 25 52 -2 33 166 16.3
2007-2008 Blues 80 13 25 38 0 40 162 8.0
2008-2009 Blues 14 3 10 13 -3 2 43 7.0
2008-2009 Maple Leafs 61 11 20 31 -9 31 128 8.6
2009-2010 Maple Leafs 62 14 16 30 -10 18 164 8.5
2009-2010 Coyotes 18 14 4 18 10 8 48 29.2
2010-2011 Coyotes 62 14 16 30 6 10 148 9.3
NHL Totals 436 110 129 239 -18 164 961 11.4

Uhhh, let's ignore that when the Leafs traded for Stempniak he was clearly not a 30 goal man lying in wait. Just look at the last three chunks of fairly even sized games played:

  1. 08-09: 61GP 11G
  2. 09-10: 62GP 14G
  3. 10-11: 62 GP 14G

Then there's the 14 goals in 18 games that 2010 Jack Adams Winner Dave Tippett managed to motivate out of Stempniak. He was able to make Lee Stempniak shoot 29.2% with less ice-time than he got in Toronto. How come he stopped doing that? The only conclusion is that it is an indictment of Dave Tippett's coaching.

Why isn't Lee Stempniak shooting 29.2% anymore?

Because Dave Tippett's a bad coach33
Because the Post-Ron Wilson Bounce only lasts 18 games74
Because scary math told us it would happen95
Because he's waiting for his 14 goals to be 'clutch'76
Because he wants Scott Burnside to look stupid158