{"id":62102,"date":"2019-11-24T15:48:18","date_gmt":"2019-11-24T20:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=62102"},"modified":"2019-11-24T15:48:18","modified_gmt":"2019-11-24T20:48:18","slug":"edmonton-oilers-analyzing-the-play-of-ethan-bear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/11\/24\/edmonton-oilers-analyzing-the-play-of-ethan-bear\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton Oilers: Analyzing the Play of Ethan Bear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ethan Bear<\/a><\/strong>‘s solid play has been a major surprise for the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> this season. The 22-year-old has turned heads in his first season as a full-time NHL player. The 5\u201911″, 197-pound defenceman has three goals and four assists in 24 games. He has been a huge part of the Oilers\u2019 early success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ethan Bear a Solid Addition<\/span><\/h2>\n

Ethan Bear is a native of Regina, Saskatchewan and a former fifth-round pick of the Oilers back in 2015. He was somewhat of a surprise making the team out of training camp. Adam Larsson<\/a><\/strong> went down with an injury in the first game of the season, and Bear was moved up in the lineup and took the opportunity and ran with it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So far this season Bear has been one of the Oilers\u2019 most reliable defencemen. The stats don\u2019t lie<\/a>, Bear currently has the best Corsi For Percentage (52.1) and Relative Corsi For (7.0) amongst all defencemen on the Oilers. To put things into perspective, Connor McDavid<\/a> <\/strong>has been dominant so far and his Corsi numbers are 49.7 and 3.0 respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Impressively, Bear has been averaging over 21 minutes a night and playing an important role on the Oilers’ top-four defence. Often being paired with Darnell Nurse<\/a><\/strong>, Bear has been used to not only shut-down the other team\u2019s best players but has contributed offensively as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bear\u2019s Overall Play Surprising and Impressive<\/span><\/h3>\n

Bear\u2019s solid two-way play has given the Oilers\u2019 defence a dimension they have been lacking for a long time. He is a right-handed shot with strong puck-moving skills and is poised with the puck.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bear has the ability to safely transport the puck up the ice. His superb passing to start the breakout has helped the Oilers\u2019 tremendously.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n