It’s been a busy week for Sydney Ice Dogs forward Simon Barg. Not only was the Canadian-born forward nominated for the 2014 AIHL’s MVP award, he also scored a double against the minor premier Melbourne Mustangs to capture the AIHL scoring title.
Life keeps getting busier for Barg this week with the Ice Dogs’ alternate captain set to play one of the key roles in his side’s defence of the Goodall Cup at the Medibank Icehouse in Melbourne. As we head into the AIHL Finals Series in a matter of days, theAIHL.com will take a look back at Simon Barg’s season and break down the numbers to examine “The Barg Factor”.
Barg lead the league with a staggering 69 points, 23 goals and 46 assists in just 26 games. His 2.7 point per game average was second only to the CBR Brave’s Stephen Blunden (2.8), who was a goal scoring phenomenon in the nation’s capital this season. The tally has Barg sitting in equal seventh on the all-time points in a season list with the most points since 2011 according to Elite Prospects. He also beat his own Ice Dogs record of 55 points (26 goals, 29 assists) by a massive 14 points.
While Blunden captured the goal scoring title by a whopping 13 goals (36), Barg’s 23 goals ranks him second in the league, registering five power play goals and a league leading five shorthanded goals (taking his AIHL career tally to 15 in only 54 matches). A quick break down of his goals production highlights the fact that he is offensively effective in all situations, 14 of his 23 goals have been scored at even strength (just under 60%), which is a worrying stat for opponents.
Barg’s league leading 46 assists is the most assist in a single season since 2011, when Canberra import Addison De Boer registered 53. Barg’s ability to find his teammates around the net is a skill that saw him stay in the top three point scorers for the entire season. His patience with the puck and ability to elude defencemen means he generates plenty of the scoring chances for the teammates.
Barg recorded 19 multipoint games, on two occasions notching up seven points in a single game. One of those efforts was 2014 scoring record (most assists in a game), when he registered seven assists in an 8-0 demolition of the Sydney Bears on the 10 August. Barg was only held pointless in two games this season, which occurred in back-to-back games in May and on both occasions the Ice Dogs went on to lose those matches.
This season the Ice Dogs have registered a total of 115 goals, Barg’s total of 69 points means that he’s contributed to just over 60% of all Ice Dogs scoring. Barg and his Ice Dogs line mates, David Dunwoodie and John Clewlow have terrorised defenceman and net minders all season, with all three were consistently in the top point scorers all season.
There is little doubt about Barg’s offensive contributions, but it’s his two way game that earns him the admiration of Ice Dogs coaching staff and team mates. Barg is a stalwart on the Ice dogs Penalty killing unit, and lead the league in shorthanded points (six points, five goals, one assist).
Ice Dog Coach Andrew Petrie can’t speak highly enough about what Barg brings to the Ice Dogs organisation.
”I have to praise Simon Barg,” Petrie said earlier in the season. “If he’s not leading the league, he’s right up there in the top three all season. Night in, night out he’s the hardest working man on the ice.”
Barg’s play-off stats are equally as impressive. In the 2013 Finals series, he recorded six points in two games (three goals, three assists), with five of those points coming in the Championship game. This year, Barg is heading into the finals series riding a five-game point streak, recording 18 points in that time (six goals, 12 assists).
If this season’s past results are anything to go by, it will be imperative for opposition teams to shut down the mercurial forward. In the season to date, Barg has scored 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) against the other finals teams. The Mustangs have suffered the least at his hand, having had nine points in four games (five goals, four assists). However the Ice and Brave have both had 10 points with five goals and five assists each scored against them by Barg. However, the Ice will be comforted slightly by the fact that Barg scored seven of those points in game one of the season.
There’s no doubt that Simon Barg will be a driving force for the Sydney Ice Dogs if they are to reclaim the Goodall Cup this weekend. The only question that remains is how much of a factor will he be?
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