Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Let's Talk About This; That Nate Gerbe Thing
Anyways, if you haven't seen it, give it a view.
OK, you're caught up. Well, no, you're not. Let's take a step back.
This here was Nate Gerbe's first game back from back surgery. Soak that in, a professional hockey player, back surgery. A discectomy. A different herniated disc. No matter what way you look at it, Nate Gerbe gets boarded, hit in the numbers, in his first game back from back surgery.
Lo and behold, he's freaking pissed off after getting up, presumably after checking for movement in all his extremities, and he's up into Drayson Bowman (the offendor) and I think that shit-stain Chad LaRose. Bowman, by the way, got just 2 minutes for that board.
But for whatever reason, Dan O'Halloran decided that the guy who just got boarded, all 5'4'' of him, deserved a pretty humiliating collar grab and push into the glass.
In what world is that OK? Imagine the size of the Shanaban if Gerbe would've even ripped O'Halloran's hands off his sweater. To be frank, if this is an average sized NHLer, is Dannyboy propping up his shoulder pads into the boards? Shit no.
So, I thought, hey, everyone in the world thinks this is pretty wholly inappropriate. O'Halloran would have to be reprimanded in some way for his behavior, right?
Well, unless it came directly from his paycheck, it's not readily apparent. Looking at his working schedule before and since then...
| Date | Game |
| 1/19 | None |
| 1/20 | None |
| 1/21 | Buffalo @ Toronto |
| 1/22 | None |
| 1/23 | None |
| 1/24 | Buffalo @ Toronto |
| 1/25 | Washington @ New Jersey |
| 1/26 | Toronto @ NY Rangers |
| 1/27 | None |
| 1/28 | None |
| 1/29 | Dallas @ Detroit |
| 1/30 | None |
This tells me a couple things, first off, he certainly wasn't suspended for his inappropriate behavior. It also tells me that he's a shit ass referee, doesn't get in the lineup until the 3rd day of the season? C squad O'Halloran, even though he's the 6th most tenured stripe (out of 41). Also, he must be paid based on how many Ws he can deliver to Toronto, he must have a terrible, terrible commission bonus.
I'm sure that the Zebra Union wouldn't be caught dead publicly admitting shitty officiating (they employ Fred L'Ecuyer for God's sakes), but I'd definitely be curious to hear if the payroll tax wasn't the only thing making his wallet feel a little lighter.
Anyway, as shitty as this came across, it might've just been the context of "hey you just leave the poor little kid alone you big bully!" whereas this just absolutely amazing video of Mick McGeough manhandling Darcy Tucker gets me all squirrely in my pants.
Way to go McGoo. Way to go.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Sweet Mother of God
Zung Nguyen (Rogue Squadron) Player Profile
And before they take it down...an image.
In Brendan Shanahan's world this is a 2 game suspension.
My reaction?
Friday, December 9, 2011
And Here We Thought It Was Different This Time
God damned Shanahan indeed. It takes a certain level of travesty to force me out of my literary hibernation, but watching Marc-Andre Bourdon skate 13:46 last night against the Penguins while we hear injury reports describing Nathan Gerbe as "dark" and "unclear", well, that's basically enough to do it.
Thanks to the ubiquitous HockeyFights.com; here's the video of the offending play.
So what's the big deal? Players stupidly turn their backs on the play all the time. Well, the problem is consistency.
There's been a total of 7 boarding related suspensions in the league so far this season, the longest being Jody Shelley's 5 preseason + 5 regular season (http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=60&id=124282) suspension, the shortest Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond's 4 preseason + 1 regular season (http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?catid=60&id=124228). Regular season only suspensions have only been 2 or 3 games.
I would have to say the most similar precedent would be Kris Letang's 2 game suspension for boarding Alex Burmistrov, both chipping pucks out and away, both have their backs turned, and both "make no sudden movements immediately prior to or simultaneous with the check."
The only differences I see is Bourdon does drive through Gerbe nor does he have a prior history like Letang does. Although, Gerbe is injured and out indefinitely.
So in Shanahan's world, that's the difference between a 2 minute boarding call (without a hearing) and a 2 night suspension. But why? Where's the consistency, where's the transparency, why the difference?
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Stunning Tribute to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl from Dinamo Riga
I'm not sure if this video has floated out and around the hockeysphere yet, but if it hasn't, well, it's a well done tribute to the 44 lost.
Well done Latvia.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Setting Them Up To Fail
Then I started thinking about this and couldn't quit laughing.
Ok, back on track. Let's take a look at the top 15 rookie point getters from last season; just look at the graph (that will probably be terribly formatted).
Player
|
Team
|
Pos
|
GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
| |
1
|
Jeff Skinner
|
CAR
|
C
|
82
|
31
|
32
|
63
|
2
|
Logan Couture
|
SJS
|
C
|
79
|
32
|
24
|
56
|
3
|
Michael Grabner
|
NYI
|
R
|
76
|
34
|
18
|
52
|
4
|
Tyler Ennis
|
BUF
|
L
|
82
|
20
|
29
|
49
|
5
|
Derek Stepan
|
NYR
|
C
|
82
|
21
|
24
|
45
|
6
|
Jordan Eberle
|
EDM
|
R
|
69
|
18
|
25
|
43
|
7
|
Kevin Shattenkirk
|
COL, STL
|
D
|
72
|
9
|
34
|
43
|
8
|
Taylor Hall
|
EDM
|
L
|
65
|
22
|
20
|
42
|
9
|
Brad Marchand
|
BOS
|
C
|
77
|
21
|
20
|
41
|
10
|
Cam Fowler
|
ANA
|
D
|
76
|
10
|
30
|
40
|
11
|
P.K. Subban
|
MTL
|
D
|
77
|
14
|
24
|
38
|
12
|
Bryan Bickell
|
CHI
|
L
|
78
|
17
|
20
|
37
|
13
|
John Carlson
|
WSH
|
D
|
82
|
7
|
30
|
37
|
14
|
Magnus Paajarvi
|
EDM
|
L
|
80
|
15
|
19
|
34
|
15
|
Jamie McBain
|
CAR
|
D
|
76
|
7
|
23
|
30
|
Oh it's so bulgy, it's like a moose. Anyways; top 15 in point scoring among rookies there. Now let's look back to the rookie crop from 2009-2010 where Tyler Myers won the Calder.
Here we've got the 2009-2010 rookie stats juxtaposed against the 2010-2011 follow up campaign. LEGEND: If the box is yellow the number is greater than the rookie season, if red, then it's less, if blue, then it's identical. Got it? Good.
You can see a lot of the top tier forward prospects, those whose ice time increased or maintained top line status, saw their numbers continue to grow with their development. Duchene, Tavares, Benn, Anisimov, Bozak, and Kane all saw their numbers increase with the jump to greater ice time with greater linemates.
Where is there a slump? Outside of Erik Karlsson, the defensemen languished with their increased role and ice time. Hell, Del Zotto found himself in Connecticut part of the season. Without being protected by some vets, and in Myers and Del Zottos cases, sometimes flat out exposed, really saw a shift in their production.
More in depth? OK. Tyler Myers was slated on the 1B pair with Henrik Tallinder during his rookie season, not necessarily playing night in and night out against the oppositions greatest talent. In fact, Myers' "Quality of Teammates" fell from .182 to .078, while his Quality of Competition stats still stayed above 0 (one of only 2 Sabres defensemen in 2011 with such numbers). In addition to that, he regularly got PP time, which was diminished when the Sabres brought in Jordan Leopold as a free agent. So, look at that, increased responsibility, with weaker teammates, and less PP time, means less results.
Let's take it one more year back.
So here again we see a pretty similar set of circumstances where folks fell back to earth from their rookie year to their sophomore campaign. Let's specifically just take a look at what happened to Patrik Berglund from 2009 to 2010.
Remember in 2008 - 2009 the St. Louis Blues traded for Alex Steen (for some reason) about a quarter of the way through Berglund's rookie season, creating a crowded dot for the centers in St. Louis, not to mention creating a competition between Berglund and fellow rookie TJ Oshie while Paul Kariya was out with concussion issues. Oshie won that battle; moving up in 2009 - 2010 to a line with David Backes and Paul Kariya (almost 40% of the time) while Berglund remained on a lower line with Andy McDonald and David Perron. Also fun to note; Berglund played about 15-20% of his rookie season alongside Brad Boyes who's production dropped from 72 points to 42 during this same time frame.
So I think you get the picture here. There's a couple of reasons why rookies who seemed so promising are really actually being set up to fail (easy to see in hindsight right?).
1. Decreased ice time due to circumstances uncontrollable (Free agent signings, return from injury)
2. Quality of Competition increases
3. Quality of Teammate decreases
4. Coach's Call
(Well that makes it sound really freakin' simple)
So when you take a look back at the top rookies of 2010-2011, who's poised for a step backwards?
I've got 3 in mind right now. Michael Grabner, Derek Stepan, and PK Subban. Why? Boom.
1. Michael Grabner - Grabner had a fantastic run, playing in all situations for the Isles. So where's the issue? A full season of Nino Niederreiter and Kyle Okposo pushing him. Even at only 15 minutes of ice time per night, with the Isles back healthy, Grabner might not get those same opportunities as he did last season after being pulled off waivers. Not to mention the fact that he doesn't play with Tavares.
2. Derek Stepan - The Rangers Center situation suddenly got very crowded after July 1. With Brad Richards and Brandon Dubinsky ahead of Stepan on the depth chart, and comparable statistics to Boyle and Anisimov, there won't be nearly as much ice time to go around, and it won't be with Gaborik or Callahan.
3. PK Subban - I'm far more sure of the above than this selection, but I still think Subban will take a step back. With Hamrlik and Wisniewski heading out of Montreal, Subban's ice time is certainly going to rise from 4th amongst the D corps. But, with that, Subban will see his quality of competition rise quite a bit against other teams top lines, so we could definitely see a Tyler Myers effect on his numbers. Throw in the return of a healthy Andrei Markov, and what that means for Subban's powerplay time, and you've got yourself a recipe for a step back.
Think about it.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Who's Going to Parlay a Big Playoff to a Big Payday?
So after watching last night's throwdown, I started wondering, what guys are going to paid for a relatively decent playoff showing? I guess that means RFAs who blossomed, mid-season acquisitions with a career resurgence, or maybe the Druce-types who explode come playoff time. We'll find out. So, boom; let's go.
How fortuitous of Mr. Bergenheim, him of 14 regular season goals and 29 regular season points, to suddenly turn into Steven Stamkos. With 8 postseason goals (currently leading the playoffs), you can bet that the 27 year old Bergenheim is going to get a hefty raise, and term, from the $700,000 1 year deal he signed last Summer.
Joel Ward, RW, Nashville Predators
Contract years make guys do crazy awesome things. Joel Ward was no exception during the Predators playoff run. Coming up on the final moments of his 2 year, $3 million (total) contract, Ward went 10 goals, 29 points during the regular season. Playoffs? He played over a PPG pace, leading the Preds in goals, assists, plus/minus, and power play goals; scoring 13 points in 12 games (7 goals, 6 assists). The 30 year old had one more chance to get paid, he did what he needed to do. Now if only he would've had a little help.
Ville Leino, LW, Philadelphia Flyers
It's hard to believe that Leino was only making $800,000 this year as is; add in a solid, not spectacular playoff run (how the hell was Leino barely averaging more ice time than Scott Hartnell?) and he's bound to get a raise, like a 200% raise.
Marc-Andre Gragnani, D, Buffalo Sabres
If there was one guy this playoff season that you were like "Who the shit is that guy?" It was probably Marc-Andre Gragnani, who ran with his chance after some inauspicious play from Sabres blueliners. Making a mere $500,000 he led the Sabres in playoff points and assists, coming in with 7 in 7. Looks like he'll be in the blue and gold permanently next season, with a bigger paycheck.
Eric Brewer, D, Tampa Bay Lightning
Eric Brewer's time in St. Louis was obviously coming to an end. Riddled with injuries and "overpaid", not to mention the increased roles for Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk towards the end of the year, Brewer was jettisoned off to Tampa without hesitation. With 6 points in 13 playoff games, and a towering presence in front of Dwayne Roloson, there's a chance Brewer gets one more shot at some cash, definitely not $4.25 million again, but enough to feed his family (if he had like 800 kids).
Ray Emery, G, Anaheim Ducks
Although he couldn't save the Ducks from the surprising Predator's run, he did get the Ducks to wear they were after some seriously surprising play. He won't really be needed in Anaheim once Lucille Austero, rather, Jonas Hiller, returns from vertigo, but the late season run he pulled together will be enough to get him signed to something greater than a $500 K contract.
Scott Hannan, D, Washington Capitals
A lot went wrong in the series against Tampa Bay, but it can't really fall on the shoulders of the 32 year old Hannan. Coming in with the 2nd most TOI of any Capital in the playoffs, as well as providing that needed physical edge on the blueline, Hannan proved his worth to his new mates. Unfortunately, Hannan won't be making $4.5 million next season, but if he would've stayed in Colorado, he'd be making a hell of a lot less next year than he's set to now. I guarantee it.
 |
| "How many times do I have to tell you? Backcheck...douche" |
Take Jason Arnott out of the uber-disciplined Lemaire regime and throw him into a disheveled, lackadaisical mess like the midseason Washington Capitals and what do you get? Outside of a crying Alexander Semin we saw a Capital turnaround into the Eastern Conference champions. While Arnott proved he still had plenty in the tank, and plenty of clout in the locker room, he'll definitely be signing, somewhere, next year, with a bigger paycheck than if he would've stayed with the Devils. Yeah; he'll take a cut from the $4.5 million he made last year, but it'll be worth it.
So what do you think? Good mix here I'd say. We've got the role players who blossomed under the pressure, vagabonds who made good, some young'ns who're gonna get bigger raises, and the wily vets who're gonna get a little more out of that last contract than they would have otherwise.
Hell maybe I'm writing this too early and a guy like Tanner Glass or Kent Huskins is going to go buck wild and dominate for 8 straight games. Doubt it, but you never know.
We'll revisit this. Maybe. Next year. Maybe July 1st.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Shenanigans Ahoy in Buffalo
The Sabres aren't usually the team heading into the corners with reckless abandon; clearing Ryan Miller's crease with welt producing cross checks; they're supposed to keep their play to the perimeter, use their team speed to make pylons out of opposition bluelines. They're the ones who find themselves speaking out on the stick infractions that have crept back into the "New NHL"; they're the ones strewn about the ice after being railroaded by the bigger, stronger rosters.
But here we are, heading into a best of 3 starting Friday, and that's the exact opposite situation we find ourselves in. That's playoff hockey.
What exactly led us to this point? As it stands through 4 games the Sabres have (in the most subjective of stats) 117 hits to the Flyers 105. But it's not just Pat Kaleta who's getting under the Flyers skin, it's the sudden thick skin that developed around the Sabres, eliciting reactions like the elbow to the chin of Kaleta by Mike Richard's that launched Flyer Phans into a frenzy and sent the Captain to the box for a questionable 5 minutes.
Of course the hockey Gods spoke with the 5 minutes PP being one of the worst ever run on this planet. Richard's explanation of his actions? "I saw him take a couple of hard strides at me. I had to protect myself. They're not going to call anything, so I had to protect myself."
Those words are telling. The Flyers seem to feel, as punctuated by their frustrated leader, that the Refs have it in for them (remember now; 28 minors called against Buffalo so far, 24 against Philadelphia, just so you know, that it ain't true) and they'll be taking care of things on their own.
Like say, for example, the 2 minute "slashing" call levied to noted pugilist Kimmo Timonen for his upsy-daisy on Nathan Gerbe at 00:00 of the 3rd period. Video, naturally.
Now of course that's not to say the Sabres are innocent of the goonish behavior that is warranting such vigilante on-ice justice. Of course it's almost all coming from your friend and mine, Patrick Kaleta.
And Mike Weber and Tyler Myers were doing the kind of crease clearing that we're predisposed to seeing Chris Pronger dish out. Again; not something the Flyers are used to; not at all. Like here. And here.
Of course, who could forget the move that has Flyers' fans bouncing off the walls (while the fans of 29 other franchises laughed hysterically. Go ahead, ask, they did), Kaleta conveniently, inconspicuously, coyly, opens the door for his teammates to enter the bench, except it seems that Nik Zherdev was in the midst of a scrum on it.
Add it all up and what do you get? One of the best damn Friday nights of your life. And a pretty entertaining morning on Twitter.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
2011 Playoff Prognostication Part 2
I, being a wannabe Jew, obviously had to wait until the first day of playoff games were in the books before I would post my playoff predictions that no one cares about. Pens will win every series ever. Ever.
To the Windows...
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | Conf. Finals |
| Washington in 5 | ||
| Buffalo in 7 | Washington in 6 | |
| Boston in 7 | ||
| Boston in 6 | Boston in 7 | |
| Pittsburgh in 6 |
And the Wall...
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | Conf. Finals |
| Vancouver in 5 | ||
| Anaheim in 7 | Vancouver in 7 | |
| Vancouver in 7 | ||
| Detroit in 6 | Detroit in 7 | |
| San Jose in 6 |
Much like Vance, Vancouver is my pick to win it all...unless of course that shitty shitty PK of theirs lets them down. And Boston fans will be able to relish in the fact that at least their hockey team doesn't suck...or whiff on balls. BOOM.
Montreal sucks.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
2011 Playoff Prognostication
Starting with the East...
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | Conf. Finals |
| Washington in 6 | ||
| Buffalo in 6 | Washington in 7 | |
| Boston in 7 | ||
| Boston in 5 | Boston in 6 | |
| Pittsburgh in 7 |
 |
| No, Phoenix did not win the SJS/LAK series; it's re-seeding...dicks |
| 1st Round | 2nd Round | Conf. Finals |
| Vancouver in 7 | ||
| San Jose in 5 | Vancouver in 6 | |
| Vancouver in 6 | ||
| Phoenix in 6 | Anaheim in 6 | |
| Anaheim in 7 |
And in your 2011 Stanley Cup final; the Vancouver Canucks get their 1st Stanley Cup with a 6 game victory over the Bruins of Boston.
Flame away homers.
BanginPanger on Flyers Corner
Some pretty good discussion on some of the major issues surrounding the Sabres - Flyers series such as, but not limited to:
- Chris Pronger's health and how he changes the dynamic of that roster,
- Ryan Miller's late season injury and confidence in Jhonas Enroth,
- The Pegula Factor,
- The Ennis n' Gerbe factor,
- The Briere - Giroux - Leino line scaring the shit outta me, and
- Doing blow off Sean Avery's backstraps.
Listen to internet radio with FlyersCorner on Blog Talk Radio
You can follow the hosts of Flyers Corner on Twitter at @SethDH and @Mtrible. Yeah; some predictions coming later this morning; gotta get my photoshop on first.
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