Re: Wisconsin Hockey G2O - Making UW Hockey Great Again
Still no official word on Hayton but a friend sent me a shot that appears to show his name on a locker in the Badger locker room that I'm too stupid to upload.
One of our stats meisters on our Facebook SLU thread posted this on Kyle Hayton.........you are getting possibly the greatest goalie in school history. We've had several All Americans including Bob Perani, Bill Sloan (from years ago).........but in only 3 years Kyle holds many SLU records. We sure are going to miss him.
Well, I was waiting to post this until after an official announcement was made, but that picture of the Wisconsin locker room seems "official" enough! So here it is. Be forewarned -- I'm in long-winded mode for this one... although some might say that's the only mode I have...
Now that the Kyle Hayton era at SLU is in the books, here are my thoughts on where he fits in Saints history. I said several times over the last couple of years that he was well on his way to becoming the greatest goalie in the school's history. Did he end up there?
If you've been around here a while, you know that I love statistics, but I've also said that stats don't tell the whole story. It can be hard to compare across eras, with different playing styles, different overall scoring rates, etc. And stats don't necessarily tell you how crucial someone is to their team -- how valuable they are in terms of team confidence and in big situations -- because a save on an easy dump-in at the start of a game counts the same in the stats as a save on a breakaway late in a tie game.
To that point about big situations, I wish breakaway stats were easily available, because I think they'd help show what a clutch goalie Kyle was for us. Think back to his freshman season, when our vaunted defensive corps was young and relatively inexperienced -- we gave up a lot of breakaways that season, particularly in the first half, and Kyle was almost always able to cover for us. He gave the team breathing room.
As for the point about comparing across eras, those of us who've been around a long time can think back on a lot of SLU's great goalies and try to compare them, but memories fade over time. The first SLU goalie I remember seeing when my parents started taking me to games was All-American Bob Perani '66, but I was so young and it was so long ago that I couldn't tell you anything now about how he played. And I wasn't even born when two-time All-American Bill Sloan played in the 50s. But for what it's worth, I can't think of an SLU goalie I've seen who was more of a big-situation player, more central to the team's success -- and heck, more spectacular -- than Kyle. I know I'm not the only one for whom that fantastic left-to-right save in the tie game at Union last year stands out as a symbol of his brilliance -- the one that left the Union TV commentators flabbergasted -- but that was just one of many awe-inspiring plays he made. I'd be interested in hearing what other long-timers think about the pantheon of SLU goalies.
But, imperfect as it might be, the only objective measure we have across the decades is the statistical record. So let's have a look at where Kyle's stats fit in SLU history. A caveat: I computed his career stats based on the season stats pages on SLU's website, so these aren't official career stats published by SLU, and it's possible I made a mistake somewhere, but they should be accurate.
Amount of work:
Obviously we all wanted to see Kyle wear the scarlet and brown for another three dozen games, and some might think that his place in SLU history is diminished because he didn't play a full four years in Canton. Well, it might surprise you to know that there have been only three goalies who have owned the starting job for four seasons -- Gene Delvecchio '51, Bill Sloan '56, and Matt Weninger '14. Moreover, no SLU goalie other than Matt has seen more work than Kyle -- he packed a lot into three years. Check out his numbers:
Game appearances: 104
- Second to Matt Weninger's 132
- Ahead of third-place Mike McKenna's 95
- That works out to almost 35 appearances per season, ahead of Matt's 33.
Minutes played: 6284
- Second to Matt Weninger's 7539
- Ahead of third-place Mike McKenna's 5231
- That's 2095 minutes per season, ahead of Matt's 1885.
Saves: 3079
- Second to Matt Weninger's 3409
- Ahead of third-place Mike McKenna's 2424
- That's a whopping 1026 saves per season, ahead of Matt's 852.
Quality of work:
Save percentage, the best stat for judging a goalie's performance: .934
- First place, ahead of Eric Heffler and Mike Mudd at .920
- Derek Gustafson's career save percentage is .936, but his career was only one season long. Plus, Kyle beat that single-season save percentage record with a .937 freshman year.
Goals-against average: 2.08
- First place, ahead of Sarge Whittier's 2.38 (although Sarge played only 28 games; next after him is Alex Petizian at 2.54)
- Derek Gustafson's career GAA is 2.05, but his career was only one season long. Plus, Kyle beat that single-season GAA record with a 1.95 freshman year.
Shutouts: 12
- First place, ahead of Bill Sloan's 9
- Although Bill Sloan played back when the season was much shorter and thus played fewer games, Kyle is still top dog on a per-game basis as well, notching a shutout in 11.5% of his games vs. 10.6% for Bill.
Wins: 53
- Second to Bill Sloan's 65
- Ahead of third-place Paul Cohen and Matt Weninger at 51
And here's another tidbit. In his 104 games, there were only four in which Kyle allowed more than four goals. One of them was his very first collegiate game, at RIT, and two of them were on that overall dismal trip to Lowell and Providence last fall. There were another 10 games in which he allowed four goals. So, he recorded a shutout almost as often (12 times) as he allowed more than three goals (14 times). Talk about giving your team a chance to win!
So there you have it. Kyle is #1 in the most important stats -- save percentage, GAA, and shutouts -- by a long shot. And he's #2 in all of the quantity stats -- appearances, minutes, and saves. Statistically the best, and maintaining those stellar stats over a huge amount of playing time.
So, all things considered, I think he did end up as the greatest goalie in SLU history. Congratulations, Kyle, on completing your degree in three years, and thanks for giving us over 100 games of thrilling action. And best of luck in the future -- except on October 27 and 28 this fall!
: <a href="https://t.co/HgThFGvmJD">https://t.co/HgThFGvmJD</a> <a href="https://t.co/tWmQjf1t6h">pic.twitter.com/tWmQjf1t6h</a></p>— Janesville Jets (@JanesvilleJets1) <a href="https://twitter.com/JanesvilleJets1/status/899000496584888320">August 19, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
