Cox quietly piling up points from blue-line
After a recent offensive output of the Saskatoon Blades (31-19-0-1), only three Eastern Conference teams have scored more goals this season.
And while defenceman Connor Cox has only bulged the twine himself once this season, he has been an important part of the Blades’ scoring fury.
Cox recorded 10 assists in January as Saskatoon found the net 61 times and racked up a 10-3 record.
He now leads the team with 29 helpers heading into tonight’s clash with his former team, the Moose Jaw Warriors (31-14-5-1).
“I wouldn’t think so, but it just panned out that way,” Cox said of his team-high total.
“A lot of second assists in there — not too many first assists. It’s been pretty quiet from my perspective. I’d like to keep it going and help the team out with those assists.”
Given the play of some of the other Blades last month, it’s easy to overlook the production of Cox, who has scored just once so far in 2011-12.
Winger Michael Burns had six goals and 18 points and was plus-10 in January, while Matej Stransky (14 points), Jake Trask (13), Lukas Sutter (12) and Jesse Paradis all chipped in on the scoreboard.
Even fellow blue-liner Dalton Thrower, coming off a final week of December where he was named CHL player of the week, had six goals and 14 points to overshadow Cox.
But as the fifth-place Blades try to pull to within three points of the East Division-leading Warriors, no one is discounting what the impact the Lethbridge, Alta., product has made to create offence from his own zone outward.
“His mobility is probably his greatest asset,” said defenceman Darren Dietz, who has been paired with Cox since he arrived from Moose Jaw in a November 2010 trade.
“He’s quick back to pucks and makes good, quick decisions. When you’re able to do that, and beat forecheckers and make the right plays, it really helps.”
Blades head coach and general manager Lorne Molleken said he knew what he was getting from an offensive standpoint when he acquired Cox for a 2011 second-round WHL bantam draft pick.
But it’s Cox’s play without the puck that has impressed him.
The five-foot-10, 183-pound rearguard is plus-20 this season, good for third on the Blades.
“For the most part he does a real good job with his stick and dictates where he wants the opposition to go,” Molleken said. “He’s been solid for us in that regard and he’s worked hard on that part of his game.
“He’s very committed. A lot of times he’s the first one there at the rink a long time before other players.”
Because of his work ethic and puck-moving skills, Cox has been a mainstay with Dietz on the team’s power play.
He has 13 assists with the man advantage, the most of any player on the Blades.
“He does a great job of getting pucks through to the net,” Dietz said. “There are lots of times where his shots are getting tipped in. Maybe it explains not getting credit for the goals, but it’s just as important getting those shots through.”
That’s something Cox fully understands. While he hasn’t netted a goal of his own since that lone marker in Spokane on Oct. 21, he isn’t worried about it as long as the Blades continue to add to their goals-for total of 195.
“I’m going to try, but I’m more of a pass-first kind of guy,” he said. “I have to start thinking shoot first, I guess, and try to get some in the net.
“But I’m not too concerned, as long as other people score.”