Has it been a happy new year for the Tips?

So have the Everett Silvertips been a better team since the beginning of the new year? It sure looks like it. Let's take a look at some numbers since the calendar turned over to 2012.

WINNING PERCENTAGE
Before January: .278
January: .389

GOALS FOR
Before January: 84 (2.3 per game)
January: 21 (2.3)

GOALS AGAINST
Before January: 141 (3.9 per game)
January: 32 (3.6)

POWER PLAY
Before January: 17.4
January: 28.9

PENALTY KILL
Before January: 74.2
January: 85.4

So from a winning percentage and scoring standpoint the improvement has been modest. The winning percentage is up more than 100 points, but it's still well below .500. But progress is progress. The goals for/against numbers haven't really changed much. But those special teams numbers are like night and day. Those pre-January percentages would rank in the bottom four in the league. The January numbers? Those would both rank first.

The other factor would be the opposition. I haven't gone through and added up winning percentages, but Everett's nine January games have included six against teams with winning records, including three against teams with winning percentages of .700 or better. So on the surface it doesn't appear that Everett's January schedule has been light.

Here's some individual stats from January:
Josh Birkholz 4-3-7
Kohl Bauml 4-3-7
Josh Winquist 2-5-7
Ryan Harrison 1-6-7
Ryan Murray 3-3-6 (eight games)
JT Barnett 1-4-5 (six games, now injured)
Nick Walters 2-2-4
Brennan Yadlowski 1-2-3 (eight games)
Cody Fowlie 0-3-3
Dominik Bittner 0-3-3
Reid Petryk 1-1-2 (five games)