> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# What's Eating James Reimer?
- URL: https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/whats-eating-james-reimer/
- Published: 2011-12-29T17:36:50.000Z
- Updated: 2011-12-29T17:36:50.000Z
- Author: Jason Orach
- Tags: #chorus, #Import 2023-04-05 10:50

The biggest surprise of 2011 wasn't [Phil Kessel's](http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54905/phil-kessel?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com) unbelievable start to the 2011-12 season, it was the emergence of [James Reimer](http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54304/james-reimer?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com) in January. The Leafs, propelled by having an actual NHL goaltender, went on an enormous run and since last January are playing 95pt pace hockey over about a full season's worth of games.

Reimer started out red hot last year before settling to a well above average .921 save percentage. This year he sits at .901\. What changed? Was it the concussion? Was it the inevitability of being a Leafs fan, that everything we hope for turns to shit?

I noticed this a few days ago, and expanded on it on Twitter for a while yesterday.

|             | **GP** | **EV SV%** | **Rk** | **PK SV%** | **Rk** | **SV%** | **Rk** |
| ----------- | ------ | ---------- | ------ | ---------- | ------ | ------- | ------ |
| **2010-11** | 37     | .933       | 10th   | .855       | 67th   | .921    | 12th   |
| **2011-12** | 15     | .937       | 9th    | .768       | 72nd   | .901    | 53rd   |

PK SV% is very volatile from year to year; at this point in the season James Reimer has seen 82 shots on the PK and let in 19 of them. First and foremost we have a small sample size issue: 82 shots against could be two or three bad games for any goalie.

What's killing Reimer is that he's ahead of only [Rick DiPietro](http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54161/rick-dipietro?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com) (an actually bad goalie) in PK SV% and well below the pack. As you can see the Leafs horrific penalty kill is reflected in Reimer's 2010-11 stats where he's pretty far down the list, but this season he's almost a full .100 below that mark.

What happens if we correct Reimer's stats to see what he'd look like if we gave him an .855 SV% on the PK? His original stat line looks like this:

|     | GA | SA  | SV%  |
| --- | -- | --- | ---- |
| EV  | 20 | 316 | .937 |
| PK  | 19 | 82  | .768 |
| PP  | 2  | 15  | .867 |
| Tot | 41 | 413 | .901 |

So if we work backwards and set his PK SV% to .855 it would look like this:

|     | GA   | SA  | SV%      |
| --- | ---- | --- | -------- |
| EV  | 20   | 316 | .937     |
| PK  | *12* | 82  | **.855** |
| PP  | 2    | 15  | .867     |
| Tot | *34* | 413 | .*918*   |

With a "well below league average" SV% on the penalty kill Reimer jumps up to a .918 SV% and I doubt anyone's complaining about his play. He admittedly looked horrible against Florida but even good goalies have bad games. [Roberto Luongo](http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/54455/roberto-luongo?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com) and pre Stanley Cup Tim Thomas will tell you all about that.

Am I worried about the Leafs? Absolutely. Their PK is starting to border on being a snuff film and I wonder what happens if Phil Kessel and [Joffrey Lupul](http://www.sbnation.com/nhl/players/55006/joffrey-lupul?ref=pensionplanpuppets.com) hit the skids for five or six games (six losses, likely). Am I worried about James Reimer, whose excellent even strength SV% (the best indicator of goaltender talent) is the same as last year? Nope.