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Alexander Sulzer

#52 · Defence · Buffalo Sabres

Born May 30, 1984 in Kaufbeuren, DEU · 6'1", 198 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 92nd overall in 2003 by NSH (round 3)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2011-12. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Justin Falk MIN · 9 P in 47 GP Stu Bickel NYR · 9 P in 51 GP Adrian Aucoin PHX · 9 P in 64 GP Bryce Salvador NJD · 9 P in 82 GP Rob Scuderi LAK · 9 P in 82 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below.

024682008-09: 0 points008-092009-10: 2 points209-102010-11: 5 points510-112011-12: 9 points911-122012-13: 4 points412-132013-14: 2 points213-14

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2008-09 NSH 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
2009-10 NSH 20 0 2 2 4 4 15 11 0.10
2010-11 NSH 31 1 3 4 -5 14 30 29 0.13
2010-11 FLA 9 0 1 1 -3 0 7 9 0.11
2011-12 VAN 12 0 1 1 6 2 11 6 0.08
2011-12 BUF 15 3 5 8 2 6 22 11 0.53
2012-13 BUF 17 3 1 4 3 10 15 5 0.24
2013-14 BUF 25 0 2 2 -3 8 21 11 0.08
6 seasons Career 131 7 15 22 4 44 121 82 0.17

2011-12 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
27 3 6 9 8 8 33 17 0.33 9.1 17:49

2011-12 analytics

Rating

+2.3Goals above replacement335th of 680 skaters, 101st of 235 defencemen
+0.4Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+0.7Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 235 ranked defencemen: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+1.1 86th percentileEven-strength defence-0.3 47th percentilePower play+0.2 87th percentilePenalty kill-0.2 34th percentilePenalties-0.1 65th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Provisional: under 40 games it is more chance than player. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

-3-2-101232010-112011-122012-132013-14Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

52.5Corsi for %432 attempts for, 391 against
+2.6CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
50.5Expected goals for %17.8 expected for, 17.4 against
+2.6xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
51.1Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
61.5Goals for %24 for, 15 against
104.0PDO10.5% shooting + 93.5% saves
73Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 557 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairTeamGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Christian Ehrhoff · Alexander SulzerBUF12175:1258.360.39-5
Keith Ballard · Alexander SulzerVAN777:2145.730.71-1
Alexander Sulzer · Alexander EdlerVAN943:2751.447.53-2
Andrew Alberts · Alexander SulzerVAN437:3253.155.43-0

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

3Goalsnot counting empty-netters
1.8Expected goalsfrom 47 unblocked attempts
+1.2Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.23 expected goals per 60 minutes70th
Shot quality 3.9% chance per attempt87th
Finishing +1.2 goals above expected79thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 233 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

0123Game 20Goals 3Expected 1.8

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 3, 2012 vs TOR W 6-5 (OT) 2 1 3 0 0 3 1 24:35
Mar 31, 2012 @ TOR L 3-4 0 1 1 0 0 4 1 22:40
Mar 30, 2012 vs PIT L 3-5 0 1 1 -1 0 1 0 17:33
Mar 27, 2012 @ WSH W 5-1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 21:08
Mar 24, 2012 vs MIN W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 15:59
Mar 23, 2012 @ NYR W 4-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 19:25
Mar 21, 2012 vs MTL W 3-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15:33
Mar 19, 2012 @ TBL W 7-3 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 18:31
Mar 17, 2012 @ FLA L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 21:30
Mar 14, 2012 vs COL L 4-5 (SO) 1 0 1 0 2 4 1 18:12
Mar 12, 2012 vs MTL W 3-2 (OT) 0 1 1 -1 0 1 0 23:59
Mar 10, 2012 @ OTT W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 22:08
Mar 8, 2012 @ BOS L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 21:16
Mar 7, 2012 vs CAR W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 14:06
Mar 3, 2012 @ VAN W 5-3 0 0 0 1 2 0 2 12:57
Jan 15, 2012 vs ANA L 2-4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 12:41
Jan 12, 2012 @ STL W 3-2 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 17:02
Jan 10, 2012 @ TBL W 5-4 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 18:05
Jan 9, 2012 @ FLA L 1-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 14:51
Dec 23, 2011 vs CGY L 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15:02
Dec 21, 2011 vs DET W 4-2 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 15:12
Dec 19, 2011 vs MIN W 4-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 16:30
Nov 4, 2011 @ STL L 2-3 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 15:44
Nov 3, 2011 @ MIN L 1-5 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 15:34
Nov 1, 2011 @ CGY W 5-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 15:48
Oct 29, 2011 vs WSH W 7-4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 15:54
Oct 26, 2011 vs STL L 0-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 19:19