Poring over random hockey stats is one of my favorite pastimes. Obviously, stats don’t tell the entire story of a player or a team. You can’t simply sum up the contributions of guys like Gabriel Landeskog and Logan O’Connor on a stat sheet. For the Eagles, Tye Felhaber and Keaton Middleton similarly contribute far more than their point totals would show. I love stats and enjoy seeing what facts can be gleaned from them. For NHL fans, stat sheets can be miles long. But sadly, in the AHL, stats are quite limited. For example, no one publishes time on ice, and no place tracks corsi. Still within these limits, there are some pretty fun — and telling — stats to consider for the Eagles so far this season.

No Longer the Comeback Kids

During their last two ECHL seasons, where they won consecutive Kelly Cups, fans called the Eagles the Comeback Kids. They were always in the game and were known for last-minute theatrics. In game four, round one, of the 2017–18 playoffs, the Eagles were down 4–1 late in the third. They scored three goals in the final three minutes of the game to force overtime, ultimately winning the game and taking a commanding 3-1 series lead. In the following season, in game seven of the Western Conference Championship, the Eagles trailed 5–2 in the third period. They then scored four goals in the final 10 minutes and won the game in overtime.

This year’s Eagles are a different story, in part because they seldom need to make a comeback, having scored first in over half of their games. They’ve only trailed at first intermission in four games, and they went 2–1–0–1 in those games.

But the Eagles struggle when they genuinely need to come back. They’ve trailed at second intermission three times. Unfortunately, they didn’t complete a comeback in any of them, going 0–2–0–1 when playing from behind in third.

The Power Play is Bipolar

Looking at overall power play stats, the Eagles rank second in the league at 29.2%. That does not reveal the whole narrative. A strange and confusing picture emerges when one compares their home and away stats. On home ice, the Eagles’ power play is an impressive 41.9%, which is good for second in the league. But in road games, the Eagles are one for seventeen on the man-advantage, which amounts to a paltry 5.9%. They’re ranked 31 out of 32 teams. Some might chalk this up simply to home-ice advantage, but the Eagles are 4–1–0–1 on the road, so it’s not as if their overall away record shows struggles when playing away from Blue Arena. Whatever the reason, power-play goals seem to be much easier to score at home.

On the flip side of special teams, the Eagles are also second in the league on the penalty kill, at 88.5%. Their home/away discrepancy is much more balanced for the kill — 91.7% at home and 84% on the road. They’re one of only six teams that have not allowed a shorthanded goal against. They also have three shorthanded goals of their own.

Leading Shooters and Passers

Tye Felhaber is a shooting machine. He leads the team in shots with 50. The next closest player on the team is Jason Polin, with 43. Despite leading the team in shots, Felhaber is sixth on the team for points, with four goals and five assists. But Felhaber’s contributions to this team go far beyond points. Don’t take my word for it. Coach Letestu said the same thing.

Tye does a lot more than just score. You know, he’s one of the main guys on one of the top penalty killing units in the league. He has a personality that drags people into the fight. So even when he’s not scoring, he’s contributing in other ways… The guys love him… He just has an energy about him, and I think if anybody’s talked and spent a couple of minutes with him, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

TJ Tynan has led the league in assists in three of the last four seasons. Possibly the only reason he didn’t lead the league last year was that he only played 41 games in the AHL because of time spent with the Avalanche and injuries. This season, he’s on pace to lead the entire league once again with 17 assists so far in 16 games. He’s also ranked third in the league in overall points despite not having scored a single goal. Tristen Nielsen commented on this recently on The Official Colorado Eagles Podcast with Meghan Angley.

[Tynan] passes the puck every chance he gets. So that’s a lot of fun. He plays with pace. He plays with speed, and he’s just a great guy to have on your line. He’s always talking positive with you and trying to make the line better.

Three Completely Random Stat Facts:

Being random doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting. And for what it’s worth, it’s actually way over three stats, but they fit neatly into three bullet points.

— Ivan Ivan is the only Eagles skater to be 100% in shootouts.

— In terms of penalty minutes, the Eagles come in middle-of-the-pack at 16th in the league. Alex Gagne leads the team in penalty minutes with 27. But he doesn’t even come close to leading the league. That stat is owned by Connor Mylymok of the Rockford IceHogs (CHI). He’s racked up an impressive 70 PIMs in only twelve games.

— Jack Ahcan and Wyatt Aamodt lead the team’s defensemen in points. They each have one goal and six assists. The difference? Because of call-ups with the Avalanche, Jack Ahcan has only played in nine Eagles games so far, compared to sixteen for Aamodt. Neither Ahcan nor Aamodt leads the team in goals for defensemen. That honor lies with Bryan Yoon, who recently earned himself a brand-new contract with the Eagles.

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Do these stats mean anything at all?

Yes, but also no.

The Eagles have played sixteen of their 72 scheduled games. That’s just over 22% of the season finished. We can no longer dismiss trends as “too early to tell,” and these stats reveal some things. This team needs to do better on the rare occasions when they play from behind. They also need to improve their power play when playing on the road. And barring injuries or call-ups, it’s fair to expect that Tynan, Felhaber, and Ahcan will continue to contribute both on the ice and in the locker room.

Beyond that though, this is just a random snapshot of things as they are right now. As any fan knows, the hockey season is a marathon, not a sprint. Anything can happen between now and April.