One of my favorite stats to keep tabs on NHL teams to help determine who's better than who when teams have similar point totals or who's better or worse than their record may show is goal differential. Total goals scored - Total goals scored against = goal differential. It's sort of a plus/minus for teams rather than players.
Not surprisingly, the top three teams p0ints-wise are also tops in goal differential:
1. Ottawa + 19
2. Detroit +18
3. Carolina +16
And the bottom 3 are all within the bottom 3 of their respective conferences points-wise:
30. Atlanta -20
29. Edmonton -15
28. Tampa Bay -8
But here's the interesting numbers:
-The Northwest-leading Minnesota Wild have the 3rd most points in the league (18), but is merely 8th overall (+4) in G.D.
-Columbus and the New York Rangers have an NHL best 23 goals against so far, but Columbus is +13 in G.D., while the Rangers have scored an NHL-worst 23 goals leaving them with an even (0) G.D. Atlanta has the worst G.D., as posted above, but have scored 14 more goals on the season than the Rangers.
-Toronto must be playing some wild games considering they have matched Atlanta's terrible goals against number (57), but are only a -5 and tied for 5th in the Eastern standings. Toskala? Raycroft? McCabe? Bueller?
- While the Sharks lead the Pacific in the standings, they have a -1 goal differential. Oddly enough this is tied for best G.D. in their division (Los Angeles). That's right - no team in the Pacific has even matched the amount of goals they've given up yet. Funny, considering I heard someone on the NHL Network describe the Southeast division as the "Southleast" again. At least the Southeast has Carolina; who's the other non-traditional division got right now?
Home Vs. Road
Philadelphia - Undefeated at home (4-0), .500 on road (4-4)
NY Rangers - 6-2 at MSG, 1 point in 5 road games (0-4-1)
Tampa Bay - 5-1-1 at home, 0-6 on the road. Good enough for 13th place in the east. Ouch.
San Jose - 1-3 at home, 6-3-1 on the road. They must have a thing for the road whites.
Colorado - 6-1 at home, 2-4 on road.
Vancouver and Phoenix - both 1-6 at home. Phoenix I can understand, but Vancouver winning one out of seven games at home is crazy. I don't care who's not scoring for the Canucks (apparently everybody).
Showing posts with label Flyers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flyers. Show all posts
Monday, November 5, 2007
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Super Saturday #1
Nobody likes being sick, but when you're like me and come down with a fever and can't go out on the NHL's 1st Super Saturday of the season - it's not a bad thing at all.
14 games, 28 of 30 teams in action. I <3 the Center Ice package.
I flipped around between mainly the following:
7:00 - Hockey Night In Canada - Habs/Leafs
Great way to start the evening. Toronto-Montreal Hockey Night in Canada should be the season kick-off game every year, American ratings be damned.
Great game, great action, great rivalry. People think Toronto is a playoff team and Montreal isn't, but huge games like this often balance the teams out.
I plum forgot that Vesa Toskala was a Leaf now. Andrew Raycroft can't keep a #1 job to save his life. But, to be honest, I didn't think goaltending was the Leafs problem last year. Leafs fans might have a different view, as his Wikipedia page is currently being protected from vandalism.
Note to DIRECTV: when a hockey game is tied after the 3rd period, and the broadcast goes to commercial, THE GAME IS NOT OVER! Do not cut the feed off! I could almost see if they did it at the end of Overtime and forgot there was a Shootout, but COME ON! This is the 2nd major Center Ice flub I've seen this year - with the 1st being when the wrong Fox Sports Net feed was routed to the Center Ice channel, preventing me from taking in the pre-game and 1st period of game #1 between the Kings-Ducks in London.
I would have really liked to see the conclusion of this one, with Tomas Kaberle netting the 4-3 OT winner. I guess they put it back on at some point, but I had given up flipping back by that point and stuck to other games.
7:30 - Ducks/Penguins
Not a surprising turn of events given the Ducks awful schedule combined with the Pens lackluster start in Carolina. The Pens had a weak 1st and then turned it on in the 2nd and the tired Ducks just couldn't keep up.
Marc-Andre Fleury needs to pick things up. He's been a capable goalie for a few years now, but it's time to show he's the real deal. I know he's 22, but the Penguins are ready to go deep and if Fleury doesn't play great he could play himself out of a Stanley Cup. His contract extension also expires after this year, so there should be no lack of incentive for "The Flower" to step up.
I missed the flurry of goals that started the 2nd, but Petr Sykora's 2+2=4 performance in under 14 mintues of ice-time made GM Ray Shero look like a smart man.
I had always thought Sykora would be a great fit in Pittsburgh ever since he had the production drop and subsequent falling out with management in Anaheim. When he was bouncing around from the Ducks, to the Rangers, and finally the Oilers, I couldn't understand why Pittsburgh never came up in discussions of Sykora's next destination. There was such a void of European scoring talent on the Pens left by the departures of Jagr, Kovalev, Straka, and even to some extent - Morozov, that Sykora seemed like a perfect candidate to fill. At only 30 years old, and surrounded by a wealth of young talent, look for Petr Sykora to return to his former production this season.
Quick note: Ryan Malone really picked that corner on the last Pens goal. He had a lot of time and space 1-on-1 with the goalie, but that goal was crucial and Malone could use to bury a few more of those.
8:00 - Flyers/Oilers
Daniel Briere has 3 goals in 2 games as a Flyer and two of them have been absolute beauties. Even the third (first in sequential order) was pretty nice and showed a lot of skill down low. I know it's early, but he certainly looks like he's earning that huge contract so many were quick to criticize. However, Danny couldn't save the Flyers on his birthday.
A few bad bounces did them in vs. the Oilers Saturday night. They looked poised to take over the game, but allowed Edmonton to tie it back up with :04 left in the 2nd period. It hurt their momentum, which was lost for good when Martin Biron made a save and let the rebound pop out to the slot where it bounced off the snowplowing Mike Knuble and back past Biron.
Knuble's skate = Edmonton's GWG.
I was surprised by Edmonton's performance. It will be interesting to see where they'll end up in the West, because it's a bit of a mystery at this point.
Other action:
Hurricanes/Capitals
First of all, thank God that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Caps regional network) finally upgraded their video/broadcast equipment. They had such horrible quality video for the last few years that I actually couldn't bring myself to watch much of Alexander Ovechkin because of it. It was really that bad. They went from fuzzy home camcorder last year to HD this year. Plus, those new Capitals sweaters' look sweet.
The little I saw of this game I was keeping an eye on rookie Nicklas Backstrom, whom looked lost out there. I don't know if it's the smaller ice surface, or new teammates, or the speed of the NHL game, but Backstrom was a step behind and a little out of position on the few shifts I saw of his. I was left wanting more, but I'm sure we'll get it soon enough from the kid.
Red Wings/Blackhawks
I actually brought myself to watch the Red Wings play, if you can believe it. I really wanted to see the 'Hawks. I finally saw how the injury to Martin Havlat went down. So unfortunate. It was really so innocent and he was so pissed going off the ice because he knew it was the same injury he just had repaired twice and he knew it was bad. It reminded me of the Milton Bradley incident from a few weeks ago in MLB.
It was good to see the 'Hawks had so many in attendance on a night the Cubs had a playoff game. 18,768 is a damn good crowd and good enough for a sellout in many other cities. Hockey isn't dead in Chicago; William Wirtz just killed it.
Anyway, it was good to see the 'Hawks get 2 points from the Wings in front of that kind of crowd on that kind of night. It was great to see Patrick Kane deke and score on the Dominator for the deciding score - even if it was in the Shootout.
14 games, 28 of 30 teams in action. I <3 the Center Ice package.
I flipped around between mainly the following:
7:00 - Hockey Night In Canada - Habs/Leafs
Great way to start the evening. Toronto-Montreal Hockey Night in Canada should be the season kick-off game every year, American ratings be damned.
Great game, great action, great rivalry. People think Toronto is a playoff team and Montreal isn't, but huge games like this often balance the teams out.
I plum forgot that Vesa Toskala was a Leaf now. Andrew Raycroft can't keep a #1 job to save his life. But, to be honest, I didn't think goaltending was the Leafs problem last year. Leafs fans might have a different view, as his Wikipedia page is currently being protected from vandalism.
Note to DIRECTV: when a hockey game is tied after the 3rd period, and the broadcast goes to commercial, THE GAME IS NOT OVER! Do not cut the feed off! I could almost see if they did it at the end of Overtime and forgot there was a Shootout, but COME ON! This is the 2nd major Center Ice flub I've seen this year - with the 1st being when the wrong Fox Sports Net feed was routed to the Center Ice channel, preventing me from taking in the pre-game and 1st period of game #1 between the Kings-Ducks in London.
I would have really liked to see the conclusion of this one, with Tomas Kaberle netting the 4-3 OT winner. I guess they put it back on at some point, but I had given up flipping back by that point and stuck to other games.
7:30 - Ducks/Penguins
Not a surprising turn of events given the Ducks awful schedule combined with the Pens lackluster start in Carolina. The Pens had a weak 1st and then turned it on in the 2nd and the tired Ducks just couldn't keep up.
Marc-Andre Fleury needs to pick things up. He's been a capable goalie for a few years now, but it's time to show he's the real deal. I know he's 22, but the Penguins are ready to go deep and if Fleury doesn't play great he could play himself out of a Stanley Cup. His contract extension also expires after this year, so there should be no lack of incentive for "The Flower" to step up.
I missed the flurry of goals that started the 2nd, but Petr Sykora's 2+2=4 performance in under 14 mintues of ice-time made GM Ray Shero look like a smart man.
I had always thought Sykora would be a great fit in Pittsburgh ever since he had the production drop and subsequent falling out with management in Anaheim. When he was bouncing around from the Ducks, to the Rangers, and finally the Oilers, I couldn't understand why Pittsburgh never came up in discussions of Sykora's next destination. There was such a void of European scoring talent on the Pens left by the departures of Jagr, Kovalev, Straka, and even to some extent - Morozov, that Sykora seemed like a perfect candidate to fill. At only 30 years old, and surrounded by a wealth of young talent, look for Petr Sykora to return to his former production this season.
Quick note: Ryan Malone really picked that corner on the last Pens goal. He had a lot of time and space 1-on-1 with the goalie, but that goal was crucial and Malone could use to bury a few more of those.
8:00 - Flyers/Oilers
Daniel Briere has 3 goals in 2 games as a Flyer and two of them have been absolute beauties. Even the third (first in sequential order) was pretty nice and showed a lot of skill down low. I know it's early, but he certainly looks like he's earning that huge contract so many were quick to criticize. However, Danny couldn't save the Flyers on his birthday.
A few bad bounces did them in vs. the Oilers Saturday night. They looked poised to take over the game, but allowed Edmonton to tie it back up with :04 left in the 2nd period. It hurt their momentum, which was lost for good when Martin Biron made a save and let the rebound pop out to the slot where it bounced off the snowplowing Mike Knuble and back past Biron.
Knuble's skate = Edmonton's GWG.
I was surprised by Edmonton's performance. It will be interesting to see where they'll end up in the West, because it's a bit of a mystery at this point.
Other action:
Hurricanes/Capitals
First of all, thank God that Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Caps regional network) finally upgraded their video/broadcast equipment. They had such horrible quality video for the last few years that I actually couldn't bring myself to watch much of Alexander Ovechkin because of it. It was really that bad. They went from fuzzy home camcorder last year to HD this year. Plus, those new Capitals sweaters' look sweet.
The little I saw of this game I was keeping an eye on rookie Nicklas Backstrom, whom looked lost out there. I don't know if it's the smaller ice surface, or new teammates, or the speed of the NHL game, but Backstrom was a step behind and a little out of position on the few shifts I saw of his. I was left wanting more, but I'm sure we'll get it soon enough from the kid.
Red Wings/Blackhawks
I actually brought myself to watch the Red Wings play, if you can believe it. I really wanted to see the 'Hawks. I finally saw how the injury to Martin Havlat went down. So unfortunate. It was really so innocent and he was so pissed going off the ice because he knew it was the same injury he just had repaired twice and he knew it was bad. It reminded me of the Milton Bradley incident from a few weeks ago in MLB.
It was good to see the 'Hawks had so many in attendance on a night the Cubs had a playoff game. 18,768 is a damn good crowd and good enough for a sellout in many other cities. Hockey isn't dead in Chicago; William Wirtz just killed it.
Anyway, it was good to see the 'Hawks get 2 points from the Wings in front of that kind of crowd on that kind of night. It was great to see Patrick Kane deke and score on the Dominator for the deciding score - even if it was in the Shootout.
Friday, October 5, 2007
First and Last
Couldn't have gone better for the Flyers.
Daniel Briere scores first early, Biron plays solid, Briere gets the winner late (sweet roof job). Thanks, Buffalo!
Gagne and Briere were trying a little too hard to give Daniel the hattie - Briere took a lick, and Calgary got a chance the other way - but you really couldn't blame them for trying to put the cherry on top.
These weren't your '06-'07 Flyers...
Daniel Briere scores first early, Biron plays solid, Briere gets the winner late (sweet roof job). Thanks, Buffalo!
Gagne and Briere were trying a little too hard to give Daniel the hattie - Briere took a lick, and Calgary got a chance the other way - but you really couldn't blame them for trying to put the cherry on top.
These weren't your '06-'07 Flyers...
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Goal judges get the boot
The area behind the net will look a little different this year at NHL arenas. There will be no more goal judge sitting in Row 1 behind the net.
Sweet archival image:
The NHL has decided to do away with the ice-level goal judge. It's not that big of a change, really. The on-ice referee makes the determination of whether or not the puck has crossed the goal line, and if there is any dispute, the arena video replay judge, in conjunction with the NHL's war room in Toronto (aka the best replay system in all of sports) make the final call.
This is really for the better anyway. How many times have you seen your team fire a shot past the goalie, the red light goes on and you celebrate, only to have the replay show that the puck rang off the post and out? Too many.
I say down with trigger-fingered goal judges! And their little popemobile boxes!
I don't know why they're merely "relocating" the goal judge and not getting rid of them totally. Why can't they equip the referees with a remote device to turn on the goal light? They are the ones who call the goals officially, so why not let them activate the light. I'm sure that even the NHL can handle this kind of technological advance.
Not surprisingly, the Flyers are turning the now-empty space into "premium seating" that comes with the purchase of a luxury box (see above article).
Sweet archival image:
The NHL has decided to do away with the ice-level goal judge. It's not that big of a change, really. The on-ice referee makes the determination of whether or not the puck has crossed the goal line, and if there is any dispute, the arena video replay judge, in conjunction with the NHL's war room in Toronto (aka the best replay system in all of sports) make the final call.
Philly.com Goal Judge articleSome judges have complained privately that making borderline calls with pucks on or across the goal line will be difficult from the press box. That's where video replay has held the upper hand.
The goal judge signals a goal with the red light, but it is up to the referees, the video goal judge, or both to decide whether a goal was scored.
In an e-mail to The Inquirer, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the video goal judge, in conjunction with the two referees, had already "lessened the responsibilities" of the goal judges and minimized their involvement in determining whether a goal was scored.
This is really for the better anyway. How many times have you seen your team fire a shot past the goalie, the red light goes on and you celebrate, only to have the replay show that the puck rang off the post and out? Too many.
I say down with trigger-fingered goal judges! And their little popemobile boxes!
I don't know why they're merely "relocating" the goal judge and not getting rid of them totally. Why can't they equip the referees with a remote device to turn on the goal light? They are the ones who call the goals officially, so why not let them activate the light. I'm sure that even the NHL can handle this kind of technological advance.
Not surprisingly, the Flyers are turning the now-empty space into "premium seating" that comes with the purchase of a luxury box (see above article).
Thursday, August 9, 2007
I'm still here
This blog will be updated ridiculously often come October (or at earliest, mid-September), but for now it's the slooooooooooow time of the year. Slow for hockey, that is.
I'm still here, but I'm actually productive in the summer months as opposed to hockey season (aka October through early June) where I pretty much watch hockey, go out, watch hockey, go to games, and read about hockey all day while I'm supposed to be working.
Though, I may be finally breaking into my "10 Greatest Games In Flyers' History" DVD set that I got for Christmas. So, if you want to read about Bill Barber, Reggie Leach, Bernie Parent, Ron Hextall, Dmitri Yushkevich, or Joel Otto check back soon!
Otherwise, Jordan Staal's mugshot will have to hold you over:
The Gronk - prisioner #XXXX
I'm still here, but I'm actually productive in the summer months as opposed to hockey season (aka October through early June) where I pretty much watch hockey, go out, watch hockey, go to games, and read about hockey all day while I'm supposed to be working.
Though, I may be finally breaking into my "10 Greatest Games In Flyers' History" DVD set that I got for Christmas. So, if you want to read about Bill Barber, Reggie Leach, Bernie Parent, Ron Hextall, Dmitri Yushkevich, or Joel Otto check back soon!
Otherwise, Jordan Staal's mugshot will have to hold you over:
The Gronk - prisioner #XXXX
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Oilers get their man
I guess I should have dismissed Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren's constant dismissals of the Joni Pitkanen to Edmonton rumors.
He said, "not happening, not happening, not happening."
And he had to because the rumors kept resurfacing for months, and months, and months.
Kevin Lowe (maybe MacTavish too) really wanted Pitkanen. He obviously tried for a long time to acquire him and gave up his captain and a young phenom in Lupul who only got one (albeit disappointing) year with the team.
When a rumor stays around for that long they're is probably something to it.
Lesson learned.
I wonder who will be the Flyers' captain now? They have left 3 teams (or, 2½) without their captains in just 2 weeks: Nashville (Timonen), Edmonton (Smith), and Buffalo (Briere - co-captain).
That's a lot of leadership for all the players under the age of 25 the Flyers will have on their opening day roster.
He said, "not happening, not happening, not happening."
And he had to because the rumors kept resurfacing for months, and months, and months.
Kevin Lowe (maybe MacTavish too) really wanted Pitkanen. He obviously tried for a long time to acquire him and gave up his captain and a young phenom in Lupul who only got one (albeit disappointing) year with the team.
When a rumor stays around for that long they're is probably something to it.
Lesson learned.
I wonder who will be the Flyers' captain now? They have left 3 teams (or, 2½) without their captains in just 2 weeks: Nashville (Timonen), Edmonton (Smith), and Buffalo (Briere - co-captain).
That's a lot of leadership for all the players under the age of 25 the Flyers will have on their opening day roster.
Good sign for Philly
Daniel Briere was offered more money (average per year) than the deal he signed with the Flyers.
Briere revealed (on a TSN interview) that he was offered over $7mil/year average by other clubs. The fact that he chose to be locked up for 8 years at an average of $6.5mil with the Flyers was because he wanted to go there.
I'm sure the $10 million Briere will earn this season didn't hurt the Flyers' cause (modern-day signing bonus, anyone?), but when a guy turns down more money and chooses to sign somewhere for 8 years just as he is hitting the prime of his career says a lot.
Sure, he's not Chris Drury, but having Daniel Briere wanting to come play for your team is pretty damn good.
I'd say that between the Briere and Timmonen's long-term, front-heavy deals, Paul Holmgren in already in the running to be GM of the year.
Briere revealed (on a TSN interview) that he was offered over $7mil/year average by other clubs. The fact that he chose to be locked up for 8 years at an average of $6.5mil with the Flyers was because he wanted to go there.
I'm sure the $10 million Briere will earn this season didn't hurt the Flyers' cause (modern-day signing bonus, anyone?), but when a guy turns down more money and chooses to sign somewhere for 8 years just as he is hitting the prime of his career says a lot.
Sure, he's not Chris Drury, but having Daniel Briere wanting to come play for your team is pretty damn good.
I'd say that between the Briere and Timmonen's long-term, front-heavy deals, Paul Holmgren in already in the running to be GM of the year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
