When David Krejci scored the 100th goal of his 7 year NHL career back in December, he told CBS Boston that “It’s just a number. Obviously, it’s nice to get 100 goals and hopefully there will be 100 more in my career, but it’s just a number.”
Just over 2 months later, Tuesday night, when David Krejci scored his 5th career hat trick, he employed the same mindset. Neither 5 nor the 3 goals he scored against the Panthers were anything more than mere numbers. For 7 years now, Krejci has been a man who follows his principles down to the letter. It is no coincidence that he has never played for another team than Boston, no coincidence that whenever trade rumors have come up he has played even better just prove to his GM that he deserves to stay here. He plays a team game, built on passing, a relentless commitment to the game and a quiet command of the entire ice surface.
Krejci is clutch as well. 2 of his now 5 career hat tricks have come in the playoffs as in both of those playoff tricks, the 3rd and final goal won the game in a sudden death period. Going deeper into the playoff statistics, in a total of 81 playoff games, Krejci has scored 29 goals and assisted on 44 others. That equates to a playoffs points per game average of roughly .900. And yet, once you get to the regular season these same statistics dictate a drop off in Krejci's game. That cannot be more wrong.
On any other stat card, taking 7 years and 464 games to score 100 goals would be anything to be proud of. Many would say a guy who has scored at a .21 goals per game clip does not deserve first line playing time just like they would say he does not deserve anywhere near the salary a top six forward would earn. But those people have not seen David Krejci. Those people have not delved into the deeper, less "important but still more informative statistics assembled simply to recognize the talent of guys like Krejci. You see things like the raw playoff numbers or those like +/- that prove how much better this team is when Krejci is on the ice with them and begin to realize the true extent of Krejci's talent.
"You know, some people people give me a hard time that I don't have many goals, but you know, I don't care as long as I'm helping my team and my linemates,"
Looking across the league and taking into account the .21 goals per game the he turns in as an alternate captain and a center, Krejci is unique. Of all the 32 NHL teams, there is just 1 top 2 center that scores less than .3 goals per game - Krejci. Among all NHL players, it is difficult to find other players with statistic's comparable to those of Krejci simply because most players who produce those meager statistics do not last long enough to rack up say 100 goals.
He is contained within a very small group of NHL players.
Helping the team, helping line mates, that is all that Krejci does. He has dished out nearly twice as many assists than goals over the course of his career and scored when it counts. But he never celebrates. When he scores hat tricks like the one Tuesday, even a fit pump remains something reserved for playoff success and deemed to unsportsmanlike for a petty regular season 3 pack. Even when he won the Stanley Cup in 2011 there were no booming roars of excitement and no gloves hurled into the air. Krejci does not believe in celebration, does not hoard statistics for his own estate and though his salary suffers because of it, though his league wide recognition is nothing comparable to what is should be, Krejci knows that the team comes first.
For reasons like these, his teammates love him and so they willingly passed up the opportunity for a goal of their own in order to set up Krejci's hat trick.
"We obviously recognized the situation and he had two at the time with an empty net," said line mate Milan Lucic, who set up Krejci along with Jarome Iginla. "We were just able to turn the puck over high up there and I looked for him and he was open and was able to hit the empty net there from the neutral zone."
"He’s a fun guy to be a winger for," said Iginla. "But he sure had it going tonight. His shot there, quick snappers, a few that just – I thought as a whole, it was a team thing…our last two games now are building in the right direction."
"He’s a fun guy to be a winger for," said Iginla. "But he sure had it going tonight. His shot there, quick snappers, a few that just – I thought as a whole, it was a team thing…our last two games now are building in the right direction."
Krejci cares not for his statistics but for those of his team.
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