1. Last night, as you may have noticed because Jason "Is that seriously what you're putting on your mask?" LaBarbera was in net for the Coyotes, Ilya Bryzgalov was ill. That's not interesting yet. But apparently he got sick too close to game time to fly someone out to New York from San Antonio (or from their EHCL team, the greatest hockey team ever, the Las Vegas Wranglers). As you know, an NHL roster generally contains exactly 2 goalies, and Phoenix sure didn't have a third with them on this trip (why would they?). As it turns out, Bryzgalov was too sick to even sit on the bench as a backup. So, they needed a backup. So, they called some guy who hasn't played hockey since he was the goalie for American International College a year and a half ago, and they signed him so he could sit as the backup. That's pretty sweet.
2. As you no doubt know, one of the weird ways in which the NHL is trying to be the NFL is that the division winners now get the top three spots in each conference for the playoffs (unlike the NFL, we don't actually play our division rivals enough more than we play everyone else for that to make sense). It's been true for a number of seasons now, and it's not interesting by itself anymore. But because of this, you can sometimes end up with teams in 4th, or even 5th or lower, that have earned more points on the season than a team in 3rd or 2nd. Combine that with the crazy disparity between, well, our division and the rest of the NHL, and you end up with the Rangers currently being ranked 5th in the Eastern Conference, but 4th in the whole of the NHL. Here's how it works: Flyers - 47, Penguins - 44, Red Wings - 43, Rangers - 41, Canadiens - 40, Capitals - 40. So, in the East, Montréal and the Caps get bumped up above the Pens, leaving the Rangers down in 5th.
Also of note: if the Rangers were to gain 2 more points on the Wings, the top 3 teams in the Atlantic would be the top 3 in the league, and the bottom 2 in the Atlantic would be the bottom 2 in the league. Not likely, due to the large game disparity we're looking at right now (Detroit has four games-in-hand over us), but it's still kinda neat.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Where things stand
The Atlantic Division, truly, is a division divided. At its top, the Penguins and the Flyers own 44 and 43 points, respectively. That's good enough for the best two spots in the whole league, with the closest runner-up, Detroit, at 41. The Pens, who we have to play here in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, are riding a 12-yes-that-says-twelve-game winning streak. In fact, the last time they lost was the last time we played here in Pittsburgh, a month ago. Sidney Crosby, mistakenly called the greatest hockey player on the planet since he turned 17, actually seems to be the greatest hockey player on the planet right now. In that 12-game stretch, Crosby has scored 14 goals and has 9 assists, for 23 points. He has a +13 rating in that stretch alone, while averaging 21:24 a game. That's just stupidly good.
Did I mention that we have to play them, here in Pittsburgh, on Wednesday?
So that's the top of the division: top two spots in the league, 2 points ahead of the best non-Atlantic Division team. What about the bottom of the division? You guessed it: the bottom two spots in the league. The Devils and the Islanders, with 18 and 15 points, respectively, find themselves ranked 29th and 30th in the NHL, with the Devils' 18 a full 8 points behind the 28th-place Maple Leafs.
I always feel bad talking about the Islanders, because they've been shitty for the entire time I've had a memory. So, I'll keep it brief. But, for you older Ranger fans out there that might still feel good about this, the Islanders started the season 4-2-1. They are currently 5-17-5. Mean Mr. Subtraction says that means they have won one game in their last 20. That dates back to October 23. Oof.
You know who I never feel bad talking about? The Devils! You guessed it; it's time for another edition of Kovalwatch!!!! Checking back in with our fair protagonists, we see that they have lost 5 in a row. The Devils have won one game in regulation time in their last 15 (although they've won one in OT and 2 in shootouts since then as well), putting them at 8-19-2, on track for 51 points at the end of the season. When we last checked in with them, they were finishing with 61. 51 would make them the worst team in hockey since the 1999-2000 Atlanta Thrashers, in their debut season.
And Ilya himself? 5 goals and 9 assists, for 14 points. On pace with Manny Malhotra ($7.5m/3yr), Mike Green ($21m/4yr), and Tomas Fleischmann ($2.6m/1yr). And incidentally, the same number of points as Sean Avery (1-13-14). More remarkable, those other players all have positive +/- ratings: Malhotra and Fleischmann are each +3, and Green is +7 (Avery, for completion's sake is +4). Kovalchuk's +/- has steadily declined since our last report, bringing him down to a comical -18. You read that right, -18. Kovalchuk, for all his money and his mediocre production, is ranked 743rd in the league in +/-, ahead of only Andy Greene (another Devil) and John Tavares and James Wisniewski (two Islanders).
Wanna play the math game? 18 in 29 games...we've done this math before, when we were calculating the Devils' point trajectory. It puts him on pace to be -51. Slightly worse than when we last calculated it, still the worst in all of nhl.com's databases, still worse than Rico Fata. Just...wow.
And I guess that brings us to the remaining team in the Atlantic...us. We're 6 points behind the second-place Flyers. We're 19 points ahead of the 29th-place Devils. We're technically ranked 6th in the league right now, and if the playoffs started today, we'd be in 5th and play the Flyers in the first round. We've won 4 of our last 6, 8 of our last 12, etc. We consistently beat the bad teams and sometimes squeak past the good ones. We're a hot streak from being mentioned in conversations with the Penguins and the Flyers, but we're a losing streak from the only positive thing about us being that we're not the Islanders or the Devils. We're definitely better than we were last season.
Oh, and hey, check this out! Drury's coming back! That's certainly not gonna hurt. Sorry, Todd White or Erik Christensen. It's just that you don't matter very much.
Did I mention that we have to play them, here in Pittsburgh, on Wednesday?
So that's the top of the division: top two spots in the league, 2 points ahead of the best non-Atlantic Division team. What about the bottom of the division? You guessed it: the bottom two spots in the league. The Devils and the Islanders, with 18 and 15 points, respectively, find themselves ranked 29th and 30th in the NHL, with the Devils' 18 a full 8 points behind the 28th-place Maple Leafs.
I always feel bad talking about the Islanders, because they've been shitty for the entire time I've had a memory. So, I'll keep it brief. But, for you older Ranger fans out there that might still feel good about this, the Islanders started the season 4-2-1. They are currently 5-17-5. Mean Mr. Subtraction says that means they have won one game in their last 20. That dates back to October 23. Oof.
You know who I never feel bad talking about? The Devils! You guessed it; it's time for another edition of Kovalwatch!!!! Checking back in with our fair protagonists, we see that they have lost 5 in a row. The Devils have won one game in regulation time in their last 15 (although they've won one in OT and 2 in shootouts since then as well), putting them at 8-19-2, on track for 51 points at the end of the season. When we last checked in with them, they were finishing with 61. 51 would make them the worst team in hockey since the 1999-2000 Atlanta Thrashers, in their debut season.
And Ilya himself? 5 goals and 9 assists, for 14 points. On pace with Manny Malhotra ($7.5m/3yr), Mike Green ($21m/4yr), and Tomas Fleischmann ($2.6m/1yr). And incidentally, the same number of points as Sean Avery (1-13-14). More remarkable, those other players all have positive +/- ratings: Malhotra and Fleischmann are each +3, and Green is +7 (Avery, for completion's sake is +4). Kovalchuk's +/- has steadily declined since our last report, bringing him down to a comical -18. You read that right, -18. Kovalchuk, for all his money and his mediocre production, is ranked 743rd in the league in +/-, ahead of only Andy Greene (another Devil) and John Tavares and James Wisniewski (two Islanders).
Wanna play the math game? 18 in 29 games...we've done this math before, when we were calculating the Devils' point trajectory. It puts him on pace to be -51. Slightly worse than when we last calculated it, still the worst in all of nhl.com's databases, still worse than Rico Fata. Just...wow.
And I guess that brings us to the remaining team in the Atlantic...us. We're 6 points behind the second-place Flyers. We're 19 points ahead of the 29th-place Devils. We're technically ranked 6th in the league right now, and if the playoffs started today, we'd be in 5th and play the Flyers in the first round. We've won 4 of our last 6, 8 of our last 12, etc. We consistently beat the bad teams and sometimes squeak past the good ones. We're a hot streak from being mentioned in conversations with the Penguins and the Flyers, but we're a losing streak from the only positive thing about us being that we're not the Islanders or the Devils. We're definitely better than we were last season.
Oh, and hey, check this out! Drury's coming back! That's certainly not gonna hurt. Sorry, Todd White or Erik Christensen. It's just that you don't matter very much.
Role reversals
Well, that was a weird weekend of hockey. Mostly, everyone did what everyone else was supposed to do.
On Saturday night, we played the Blue Jackets in Columbus. The game went back and forth pretty well, resulting in a 1-1 tie on traded power play goals after 2. That was when the Rangers skaters and King Henrik switched roles. It was the skaters who stepped up their game in the third and kept the Rangers in it. Granted, they didn't so much score any goals, but the majority of play was in the Jackets' zone, and I was actually pretty optimistic about the outcome, despite the 1-1 tie lasting late.
And it was Lundqvist, who usually spends these tied third periods standing on his head to bail out a squad that does nothing to earn it (either offensively or defensively), who himself made the awful play that gave the Blue Jackets the tiebreaker and eventual game-winner with 5 minutes left.
Now, I'd love to give Rick Nash (who scored this goal and the not-quite-empty-netter at the end, after assisting on Columbus's first goal) all the credit in the world for breaking this tie late in the third - it's the kind of thing he does, and he's the kind of guy I love giving credit to. But this was about as soft a goal as I've seen (excepting this one). "Bad-angle shot" doesn't really depict just how bad an angle it was: Nash basically shoveled it toward the left post, from the goal line at the boards, with absolutely no one else anywhere near either him or the crease.
After the game, Lundqvist unsurprisingly took full responsibility for the loss, and really, what else is there to say? Things like this happen sometimes, he's still one of the best goalies in the league, and if Hank could be our biggest liability in every game, I think we'd be doing just fine, thank you very much. For the first time I can remember, Hank making a mistake doesn't make me go back to Brooks's quote, "neither blameless nor to blame." This time, he actually was to blame. Which, all things considered, may be more a reflection of the skaters around him getting better than of anything else. Or maybe I'm a little too optimistic.
Anyway, continuing with weeeeeird hockey, last night, the Caps came to the Garden. And in another role reversal, it was the Rangers whose powerhouse offense came through for 7 goals from 6 different players (8 different Rangers had assists), while the Caps were shut out and dumbfounded. The game was almost scoreless through one until Prust opened the floodgates with 3 minutes left in the first, and then the flood itself followed in the second. The offense never stopped, and the Capitals never got started.
It was awesome!!
I don't really know what else to say about this game. Lundqvist earned himself a league lead-tying 5th shutout, mostly on hard work in the third, after the Rangers had already given him plenty of room to work with. Dubinsky had a Gordie Howe hat trick (I love that we keep earning these), fighting Ovechkin a few minutes after scoring, then assisting on Cally's first in the third. Yes, Dubinsky fought Ovechkin. It was awesome. After the game, it's worth noting Dubinsky's comments went something like "it was totally respectful, he's great at hockey, etc." cf. Crosby.
The game's final 5 minutes devolved into brawl time (in which penalties were assigned to basically everyone, except Brian Fahey, who got away with no minutes based on the NHL's "it's cool, you did it to Avery" clause), which was also fun to watch. Basically, this game was candy for my life, and everything is great.
On Saturday night, we played the Blue Jackets in Columbus. The game went back and forth pretty well, resulting in a 1-1 tie on traded power play goals after 2. That was when the Rangers skaters and King Henrik switched roles. It was the skaters who stepped up their game in the third and kept the Rangers in it. Granted, they didn't so much score any goals, but the majority of play was in the Jackets' zone, and I was actually pretty optimistic about the outcome, despite the 1-1 tie lasting late.
And it was Lundqvist, who usually spends these tied third periods standing on his head to bail out a squad that does nothing to earn it (either offensively or defensively), who himself made the awful play that gave the Blue Jackets the tiebreaker and eventual game-winner with 5 minutes left.
Now, I'd love to give Rick Nash (who scored this goal and the not-quite-empty-netter at the end, after assisting on Columbus's first goal) all the credit in the world for breaking this tie late in the third - it's the kind of thing he does, and he's the kind of guy I love giving credit to. But this was about as soft a goal as I've seen (excepting this one). "Bad-angle shot" doesn't really depict just how bad an angle it was: Nash basically shoveled it toward the left post, from the goal line at the boards, with absolutely no one else anywhere near either him or the crease.
After the game, Lundqvist unsurprisingly took full responsibility for the loss, and really, what else is there to say? Things like this happen sometimes, he's still one of the best goalies in the league, and if Hank could be our biggest liability in every game, I think we'd be doing just fine, thank you very much. For the first time I can remember, Hank making a mistake doesn't make me go back to Brooks's quote, "neither blameless nor to blame." This time, he actually was to blame. Which, all things considered, may be more a reflection of the skaters around him getting better than of anything else. Or maybe I'm a little too optimistic.
Anyway, continuing with weeeeeird hockey, last night, the Caps came to the Garden. And in another role reversal, it was the Rangers whose powerhouse offense came through for 7 goals from 6 different players (8 different Rangers had assists), while the Caps were shut out and dumbfounded. The game was almost scoreless through one until Prust opened the floodgates with 3 minutes left in the first, and then the flood itself followed in the second. The offense never stopped, and the Capitals never got started.
It was awesome!!
I don't really know what else to say about this game. Lundqvist earned himself a league lead-tying 5th shutout, mostly on hard work in the third, after the Rangers had already given him plenty of room to work with. Dubinsky had a Gordie Howe hat trick (I love that we keep earning these), fighting Ovechkin a few minutes after scoring, then assisting on Cally's first in the third. Yes, Dubinsky fought Ovechkin. It was awesome. After the game, it's worth noting Dubinsky's comments went something like "it was totally respectful, he's great at hockey, etc." cf. Crosby.
The game's final 5 minutes devolved into brawl time (in which penalties were assigned to basically everyone, except Brian Fahey, who got away with no minutes based on the NHL's "it's cool, you did it to Avery" clause), which was also fun to watch. Basically, this game was candy for my life, and everything is great.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Two Mediocre Teams Split Home-and-Home
...and no one was surprised. With this season's disappointment in Frolov, and the total lack of Drury and Prospal, it's no surprise that this team is just okay. The Rangers are looking at a king's ransom of second- and third- liners: Christensen, Avery, Dubinsky, Callahan, Anisimov, Boyle, Prust, and Fedotenko. If we call Gaborik a definite first-liner and Boogaard a definite fourth-liner, that leaves us with Frolov, Stepan, and Todd Freakin' White to fill in the gaps. This is not the world's most elite collection of parts. So, no one should be surprised that we're a middle-of-the-pack team.
Last night was once again the kind of win which people call "sloppy," "unlikely," "grinding," and "far from perfect." No surprises. We responded very quickly each time Ottawa took the lead (1:46 the first time, 1:09 the second time) until entering the third period down 3-2 and scoring 3 goals in the final period to win 5-3. The Rangers once again battled back and grinded out a win. This is all starting to sound familiar.
Which is not really a reason to despair. We have these parts, and we're using them to pretty good effect. Make no mistake: this season's middle-of-the-pack squad is a lot more fun to watch and a lot easier to have faith in than last season's. I don't know why, but I feel like, when we lose, it's not usually because we should have won and got lazy. So, things are looking up? Plus, at least we're not the Devils or the Islanders.
With that said, I am having some trouble wrapping my head around Coach Tortorella's "Lines? Lines?!? We don't need no stinkin' lines!!" policy. I'm all for a policy of line rotation, but having a bunch of second- and third-liners is no excuse to just assemble them differently every 3 days. There's a balance to be struck between giving everyone a shot to perform and giving lines a chance to gel and find some chemistry. I sometimes wonder if Torts believes in the latter at all.
A few nights ago, when preparing to play the Ottawa Senators, Erik Christensen and Sean Avery were the best forwards available to sit on the top line with superstar Marian Gaborik. Meanwhile, Artem Anisimov was punished onto the fourth line with a slumping Alex Frolov, and Derek Stepan took his place keying Dubi and Cally, leaving Ruslan Fedotenko to play with Boyle and Prust.
Last night, zero injuries or forward substitutions later, when preparing to play the Ottawa Senators, Erik Christensen and Sean Avery were the bottom-ranked forwards available, placed on the 4th line with big punchin'-guy Derek Boogaard. Meanwhile, Stepan and Fedotenko were the best forwards available to sit on the top line with superstar Marian Gaborik, which left room for Anisimov to come back from his punishment and key Dubi and Cally, leaving a slumping Frolov to play with Boyle and Prust.
That, to me, is not a little bit of rotation to shake things up. That, to me, is some epic shifting. Though this be madness, I've been trying to find some method in't. One theory I've come up with is that because Torts has absolutely no idea what he is supposed to do with this Boogaard fellow (whose shoulder, not his broken nose, kept him out after last night's fight with blood-flicker Matt Carkner), so he tends to use Boogaard's fourth-line wing spot as a place to double-shift Gaborik. Did you notice that the left-handed Boogaard, who played left wing his entire pre-Ranger career, is now suddenly a right wing? Yeah, well this would explain that. It would also explain why the same pair of linemates that belonged on the first line against the Senators Sunday belong on the fourth line against the Senators Thursday. I seriously think this explains some things, strange/sad as it is.
That said, it doesn't explain everything. There's still a crazy amount of line-shifting going on, including (by the stopped-clock principle) the line I've been begging to see for a while now, Avery-Boyle-Prust at practice on Tuesday morning. I just wonder if, now that it's December, it might make sense to just stick some lines together and let them gel for a bit? It seems like Torts would rather just keep developing individuals and not line units, and I wonder if that's not gonna hurt us in the long run.
Nutting up (with the alternative, shutting up, being undesirable to me), what would I do? Assuming we can't have Drury or Prospal back any time soon, I would probably use last night's lines, with a slight modification, and see what sticks. I'd like to see Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan and Avery-Boyle-Prust as the two core lines. Most of the time, I'd like to see them together. I'd also give Stepan a meaningful chance to pivot Gaborik - they've both got talent, but neither has found long-term chemistry with anyone, which at least Gaborik has mentioned. If we keep calling Stepan the team's "most creative playmaking center," which we do, let's let these two guys stay together.
That leaves Fedotenko, Christensen, Frolov, and White dangling (assuming Boogaard belongs on the fourth line). I'd alternate Fedotenko and Frolov as first line/fourth line winger, which gives them each incentive to outplay the other. Fedotenko's been good but not great no matter where we put him, and I'd like to see what he can do consistently with Stepan and Gaborik. That first line left wing spot has been Frolov's to lose, and he's done a good job of losing it so far. This is his opportunity to earn it back, and if he doesn't, he's done here anyway. Maybe Fedo picks up his game a lot. And if neither works out, what a good place for Prospal to return. Christensen clearly deserves a roster spot more than White right now, but maybe let them battle each other a little, too. Again, if neither works out, Drury comes back.
So, there. That's what I would do. But they never ask me. And, to be honest, it's hard to totally argue with what appears to be modest success. Yeah, we haven't played amazing teams lately, and all our wins seem to be chippy and hang by a thread, and we're only two points into the playoffs. But let's be honest: with two of our better forwards out (all season so far, no less) - with the cast of second- and third-liners listed above - we've won 3 of our last 4, 5 of our last 7, 7 of our last 10, and 10 of our last 15, dating back a month. Also that's a really nice pattern of triangular numbers.
So, we may not have a Sidney Crosby scoring 80 bagrillion goals a week, but we're not doing so badly for ourselves, either. And, as I said earlier, at least we're not the Devils or the Islanders. This weekend, we're in Columbus Saturday night, then back home against the Capitals Sunday night. This season, in games played the night after we played another game, we're 7-0. Think that streak can continue against Ovechkin and friends?
Last night was once again the kind of win which people call "sloppy," "unlikely," "grinding," and "far from perfect." No surprises. We responded very quickly each time Ottawa took the lead (1:46 the first time, 1:09 the second time) until entering the third period down 3-2 and scoring 3 goals in the final period to win 5-3. The Rangers once again battled back and grinded out a win. This is all starting to sound familiar.
Which is not really a reason to despair. We have these parts, and we're using them to pretty good effect. Make no mistake: this season's middle-of-the-pack squad is a lot more fun to watch and a lot easier to have faith in than last season's. I don't know why, but I feel like, when we lose, it's not usually because we should have won and got lazy. So, things are looking up? Plus, at least we're not the Devils or the Islanders.
With that said, I am having some trouble wrapping my head around Coach Tortorella's "Lines? Lines?!? We don't need no stinkin' lines!!" policy. I'm all for a policy of line rotation, but having a bunch of second- and third-liners is no excuse to just assemble them differently every 3 days. There's a balance to be struck between giving everyone a shot to perform and giving lines a chance to gel and find some chemistry. I sometimes wonder if Torts believes in the latter at all.
A few nights ago, when preparing to play the Ottawa Senators, Erik Christensen and Sean Avery were the best forwards available to sit on the top line with superstar Marian Gaborik. Meanwhile, Artem Anisimov was punished onto the fourth line with a slumping Alex Frolov, and Derek Stepan took his place keying Dubi and Cally, leaving Ruslan Fedotenko to play with Boyle and Prust.
Last night, zero injuries or forward substitutions later, when preparing to play the Ottawa Senators, Erik Christensen and Sean Avery were the bottom-ranked forwards available, placed on the 4th line with big punchin'-guy Derek Boogaard. Meanwhile, Stepan and Fedotenko were the best forwards available to sit on the top line with superstar Marian Gaborik, which left room for Anisimov to come back from his punishment and key Dubi and Cally, leaving a slumping Frolov to play with Boyle and Prust.
That, to me, is not a little bit of rotation to shake things up. That, to me, is some epic shifting. Though this be madness, I've been trying to find some method in't. One theory I've come up with is that because Torts has absolutely no idea what he is supposed to do with this Boogaard fellow (whose shoulder, not his broken nose, kept him out after last night's fight with blood-flicker Matt Carkner), so he tends to use Boogaard's fourth-line wing spot as a place to double-shift Gaborik. Did you notice that the left-handed Boogaard, who played left wing his entire pre-Ranger career, is now suddenly a right wing? Yeah, well this would explain that. It would also explain why the same pair of linemates that belonged on the first line against the Senators Sunday belong on the fourth line against the Senators Thursday. I seriously think this explains some things, strange/sad as it is.
That said, it doesn't explain everything. There's still a crazy amount of line-shifting going on, including (by the stopped-clock principle) the line I've been begging to see for a while now, Avery-Boyle-Prust at practice on Tuesday morning. I just wonder if, now that it's December, it might make sense to just stick some lines together and let them gel for a bit? It seems like Torts would rather just keep developing individuals and not line units, and I wonder if that's not gonna hurt us in the long run.
Nutting up (with the alternative, shutting up, being undesirable to me), what would I do? Assuming we can't have Drury or Prospal back any time soon, I would probably use last night's lines, with a slight modification, and see what sticks. I'd like to see Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan and Avery-Boyle-Prust as the two core lines. Most of the time, I'd like to see them together. I'd also give Stepan a meaningful chance to pivot Gaborik - they've both got talent, but neither has found long-term chemistry with anyone, which at least Gaborik has mentioned. If we keep calling Stepan the team's "most creative playmaking center," which we do, let's let these two guys stay together.
That leaves Fedotenko, Christensen, Frolov, and White dangling (assuming Boogaard belongs on the fourth line). I'd alternate Fedotenko and Frolov as first line/fourth line winger, which gives them each incentive to outplay the other. Fedotenko's been good but not great no matter where we put him, and I'd like to see what he can do consistently with Stepan and Gaborik. That first line left wing spot has been Frolov's to lose, and he's done a good job of losing it so far. This is his opportunity to earn it back, and if he doesn't, he's done here anyway. Maybe Fedo picks up his game a lot. And if neither works out, what a good place for Prospal to return. Christensen clearly deserves a roster spot more than White right now, but maybe let them battle each other a little, too. Again, if neither works out, Drury comes back.
So, there. That's what I would do. But they never ask me. And, to be honest, it's hard to totally argue with what appears to be modest success. Yeah, we haven't played amazing teams lately, and all our wins seem to be chippy and hang by a thread, and we're only two points into the playoffs. But let's be honest: with two of our better forwards out (all season so far, no less) - with the cast of second- and third-liners listed above - we've won 3 of our last 4, 5 of our last 7, 7 of our last 10, and 10 of our last 15, dating back a month. Also that's a really nice pattern of triangular numbers.
So, we may not have a Sidney Crosby scoring 80 bagrillion goals a week, but we're not doing so badly for ourselves, either. And, as I said earlier, at least we're not the Devils or the Islanders. This weekend, we're in Columbus Saturday night, then back home against the Capitals Sunday night. This season, in games played the night after we played another game, we're 7-0. Think that streak can continue against Ovechkin and friends?
Monday, December 6, 2010
Nothing to write home about
I have a whole block of free time at work right now, and there is somehow nothing to say. I haven't gotten back to my big scary spreadsheet, so my big number thing isn't ready yet, and there's nothing I want to say about last night's game. I can't even post another Kovalwatch yet, because my last post was about him! It's so hard to be me.
There's nothing I want to say about last night's game because I don't want to put forward more effort than the Rangers did. Talk about sleeping through half a game. If we're honest, we didn't see a ton more effort than that in the home-and-home against the Islanders, but we won anyway, because it was just the Islanders. It took Prust's shorthanded goal to wake the Rangers up, and we proceeded to play an okay second half of a game, just not good enough to actually score any more goals.
It's technically true that we lost the game in the last 2:30, within which Ottawa finally took the lead and then sealed it with an empty netter, but we truly lost it in the first 30:00, during which we played flat hockey. The Frankenline of Avery, Christensen, and Gaborik just can't produce, due to it not making any sense. Gaborik is a good goal-scorer who can shoot the puck fast and hard, Christensen can make clever stick moves now and then, and Avery can chip the puck in deep, maintain possession, and win one-on-one battles. Individually, those are each useful, but no one on this line seems to ever know what anyone else on it is doing.
Dubinsky and Callahan have definitely taken a step back basically since Gaborik returned. Some of this is possibly mental: the pressure is no longer on them to step up and lead (only, it is, because Gaborik isn't actually going to win games by himself). I also wonder if some of it is due to the center rotation: there was some chemistry with Anisimov (though I don't necessarily disagree with the switch to Stepan). However, I'm sad to say a good deal of it is likely regression to the mean. I love Brandon Dubinsky, but he was never going to stay on the pace of 10 goals in 13 games.
Anyway, it's only one loss right now, and we shouldn't be running to the hills or anything, but it's time we started to see some real top-line production. Drury and Prospal can't come back soon enough. On them, word is that Drury has been skating in full equipment, passing but not yet shooting. There's some hope that he could return in 7-10 days. Prospal is also skating, but not yet in equipment (of course, there is still no timetable for him). It would really be nice to have these guys back, huh?
There's nothing I want to say about last night's game because I don't want to put forward more effort than the Rangers did. Talk about sleeping through half a game. If we're honest, we didn't see a ton more effort than that in the home-and-home against the Islanders, but we won anyway, because it was just the Islanders. It took Prust's shorthanded goal to wake the Rangers up, and we proceeded to play an okay second half of a game, just not good enough to actually score any more goals.
It's technically true that we lost the game in the last 2:30, within which Ottawa finally took the lead and then sealed it with an empty netter, but we truly lost it in the first 30:00, during which we played flat hockey. The Frankenline of Avery, Christensen, and Gaborik just can't produce, due to it not making any sense. Gaborik is a good goal-scorer who can shoot the puck fast and hard, Christensen can make clever stick moves now and then, and Avery can chip the puck in deep, maintain possession, and win one-on-one battles. Individually, those are each useful, but no one on this line seems to ever know what anyone else on it is doing.
Dubinsky and Callahan have definitely taken a step back basically since Gaborik returned. Some of this is possibly mental: the pressure is no longer on them to step up and lead (only, it is, because Gaborik isn't actually going to win games by himself). I also wonder if some of it is due to the center rotation: there was some chemistry with Anisimov (though I don't necessarily disagree with the switch to Stepan). However, I'm sad to say a good deal of it is likely regression to the mean. I love Brandon Dubinsky, but he was never going to stay on the pace of 10 goals in 13 games.
Anyway, it's only one loss right now, and we shouldn't be running to the hills or anything, but it's time we started to see some real top-line production. Drury and Prospal can't come back soon enough. On them, word is that Drury has been skating in full equipment, passing but not yet shooting. There's some hope that he could return in 7-10 days. Prospal is also skating, but not yet in equipment (of course, there is still no timetable for him). It would really be nice to have these guys back, huh?
Monday, November 29, 2010
Avery I named my dog after you
So, first of all, you should know that something big is in the works here, involving lots of numbers. Maybe not so big in terms of importance, but it's involving lots of arithmetic on my part. So stay tuned for that. But for now:
I'm putting a kibosh on complaining about lines, on account of we don't so much use lines anymore. Also, Avery's getting the ice time he deserves (13:57 tonight), and I like that. Some good games over break, tonight was not so good. But props go to Avery, who has been playing good hockey. I didn't name my dog after him (I don't own a dog), but this girl did:
Kevin DeLury of New York Rangers Blog is running a big campaign to write him in as an All-Star, which I strongly suggest you participating in. Go vote here or text "Sean Avery" to 81812. Anyway, I only bring it up because of Avery's response to it: "That's great. I will hopefully make the team, and I'll be the first player ever to get an instigator penalty at an NHL All-Star game. That'll be amazing, right?" I love this guy.
Credit also goes out to Brandon Dubinsky, who played a good game tonight, and to Michal Rozsival, who I think has looked in his couple of games back as good as he's looked in two seasons. I'm really glad to have him back.
That's all for Ranger talk tonight, so I wanna make a quick joke about how every time they say Preds goalie Pekka Rinne's full name, it sounds like something Vinnie Barbarino would call a classmate, and then it's time for another edition of Kovalwatch!!!! How have things been since we checked in with the most anticipated off-season athlete signing since 2010's LeBron James? Well, first of all, the Devils still find themselves just above the Oilers and Islanders, not quite at the bottom of the league (although if Edmonton and Long Island win their games-in-hand, Jersey finds themselves back in that #30 spot). At 8-14-2, the Devils are on pace to finish the season with 61.5 points, good enough for the bottom 3 spots in the league every season since the lockout. Hell, 61.5 would put the Devils in the 24th spot back in 1998-'99, the final season that games couldn't be worth 3 points, and there were only 27 teams.
Meanwhile, Ilya himself, whose contract, for those of you who are missing the point, is still 15 years for $100 million, is looking at 4-6-10, putting him on pace to finish the season with 18.2 goals and 27.3 assists. Other players with 4 goals and 6 assists? Blackhawks Jake Dowell ($1.05m/2yr) and Bryan Bickell ($1.625m/3yr), Tampa Bay's Sean Bergenheim ($0.7m/1yr), and Penguin Tyler Kennedy ($1.45m/2yr), among others. The only one whose contract comes anywhere near Kovalchuk's on the list is Zdeno Chara, who is tied for 7th in the league with a +12 rating. Ilya's rating? An abysmal -11.
Minus goddamn eleven. On pace to be worse than -50 for the season. This would be the worst +/- in the NHL since at least 1997-'98. The worst since then has been Rico Fata's -46 in 2003-'04, but NHL.com does not have this data prior to '97-'98. So, quite possibly the worst in a good deal longer than that. Just a total detriment to his team. On pace for 45.6 points and -50.1. At $6.67 million. And this is his prime, no less.
See, guys? Even when you lose to the Penguins, there's always the Devils to look at. Things could be worse.
I'm putting a kibosh on complaining about lines, on account of we don't so much use lines anymore. Also, Avery's getting the ice time he deserves (13:57 tonight), and I like that. Some good games over break, tonight was not so good. But props go to Avery, who has been playing good hockey. I didn't name my dog after him (I don't own a dog), but this girl did:
Kevin DeLury of New York Rangers Blog is running a big campaign to write him in as an All-Star, which I strongly suggest you participating in. Go vote here or text "Sean Avery" to 81812. Anyway, I only bring it up because of Avery's response to it: "That's great. I will hopefully make the team, and I'll be the first player ever to get an instigator penalty at an NHL All-Star game. That'll be amazing, right?" I love this guy.
Credit also goes out to Brandon Dubinsky, who played a good game tonight, and to Michal Rozsival, who I think has looked in his couple of games back as good as he's looked in two seasons. I'm really glad to have him back.
That's all for Ranger talk tonight, so I wanna make a quick joke about how every time they say Preds goalie Pekka Rinne's full name, it sounds like something Vinnie Barbarino would call a classmate, and then it's time for another edition of Kovalwatch!!!! How have things been since we checked in with the most anticipated off-season athlete signing since 2010's LeBron James? Well, first of all, the Devils still find themselves just above the Oilers and Islanders, not quite at the bottom of the league (although if Edmonton and Long Island win their games-in-hand, Jersey finds themselves back in that #30 spot). At 8-14-2, the Devils are on pace to finish the season with 61.5 points, good enough for the bottom 3 spots in the league every season since the lockout. Hell, 61.5 would put the Devils in the 24th spot back in 1998-'99, the final season that games couldn't be worth 3 points, and there were only 27 teams.
Meanwhile, Ilya himself, whose contract, for those of you who are missing the point, is still 15 years for $100 million, is looking at 4-6-10, putting him on pace to finish the season with 18.2 goals and 27.3 assists. Other players with 4 goals and 6 assists? Blackhawks Jake Dowell ($1.05m/2yr) and Bryan Bickell ($1.625m/3yr), Tampa Bay's Sean Bergenheim ($0.7m/1yr), and Penguin Tyler Kennedy ($1.45m/2yr), among others. The only one whose contract comes anywhere near Kovalchuk's on the list is Zdeno Chara, who is tied for 7th in the league with a +12 rating. Ilya's rating? An abysmal -11.
Minus goddamn eleven. On pace to be worse than -50 for the season. This would be the worst +/- in the NHL since at least 1997-'98. The worst since then has been Rico Fata's -46 in 2003-'04, but NHL.com does not have this data prior to '97-'98. So, quite possibly the worst in a good deal longer than that. Just a total detriment to his team. On pace for 45.6 points and -50.1. At $6.67 million. And this is his prime, no less.
See, guys? Even when you lose to the Penguins, there's always the Devils to look at. Things could be worse.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Worse than the Philly loss?
Man, oh man, does "Lightning 5, Rangers 3" not begin to do this game justice. It wasn't just the lack of goals, shots, or offense at all - we didn't even have any puck possession through two periods of this game. I apologize for ever, in the past, using phrases like "the opponents beat us to every puck and won every battle." Because it's always been something of an exaggeration - there has surely been some puck the Rangers found their way to. In two periods last night, the Rangers could not retain the puck. If it weren't so painful, part of me would want to watch these two periods over and over again, just because it's such a spectacular schooling. It's rare to see such complete denial of even puck possession for so long.
With that said, I again have to wonder about the penalty calling. Let's be clear: completely independently of the officiating, the Rangers still blow this game in a very big way. But I have to wonder if referees Rob Martell and Dean Morton didn't hear Lundqvist's complaints after the Pittsburgh game and maybe want to stick it to him a little bit. Lundqvist got run over all game, and the only time they bothered to call goalie interference, they also called a thoroughly disoriented diving penalty on Hank to cancel it out. I can justify the other bad calls last night by the usual NHL bullshit: if you only have one hand on your stick, and you make contact with any other player, it's "hooking," and so on. But there was no good goddamn reason for that diving call.
But, of course, the worst part was not the officiating, it was the Rangers not coming up big in front of the King. Lundqvist gave up 5 goals on 25 shots across two periods during which Mike Smith, across the ice, was perfect by making 7 saves. Hank needed a big game back, after resting a while as Biron looked good, especially given that Biron might be back in one of the next two. Instead, Lundqvist was protected neither by penalty-calls nor by offensive play from his team, who hung him out to dry for 40 minutes before finally skating around with the puck a little bit in the third.
Torts reacted appropriately, chewing out various Rangers during the game for letting Bolts make residence in the King's crease, and calling out Gaborik after the game, saying, "He's supposed to be our best player. I looked at their best players, and they were pretty good tonight. I didn't see our best players." Also, props to Torts for not pulling Lundqvist, even though he almost did. The right thing to do was to let Hank battle on - it's not like any of the goals were his fault.
But, of course, I have some questions for John Tortorella also. Mostly, they center around Sean Avery. For a guy with a reputation for changing lines around all the time, Torts reacted to last night's disaster by swapping Callahan for Gaborik on the first and second lines, and double-shifting Gaborik in place of Boogaard on the fourth line (before, of course, benching Anisimov for some reason). Besides Anisimov and Boogaard, Avery was the Ranger with the least ice time.
But you know how I hate to make a big deal of outliers. Let's go back and look at some more numbers. Monday's tight 2-1 victory over the Flames: Boogaard 7:15; Avery 8:34; Next Ranger (Christensen) 10:13. Saturday's big 5-2 win over the Wild: Boogaard 5:28; Avery 8:12; Next Ranger (Anisimov) 12:29. The previous night's 5-1 loss to the Avs was much more balanced, but it featured Todd White (Boogaard being absent with a punching-too-much injury). Interesting.
Over the 4 games previous to these (before which we didn't really use the lineup we've had lately), 2 featured White instead of Boogaard, and the other two look the same as above. To sum up the numbers, over the last 8 games, the 5 that had Boogaard in them totaled some disappointing numbers: Boogaard with 29:38 of ice time, Avery with 43:13, and the next sparsest Ranger (who spanned across 4 different Rangers in these 5 games) with 52:21.
So, clearly, Boogaard gets the least ice time, Avery gets the next least, and then everyone else gets a mix. Can someone explain that to me? Win or lose, Avery consistently makes things happen on every shift. It's one thing when we're winning - "don't change a recipe for success" or whatever. But for it to not even occur to Torts to give Avery a little more time in last night's debacle concerns me. That shows me there's no confidence there. And the way Avery still plays night after night, even on a line with Christensen and Boogaard, that's just not right.
Anyway, last night sucked. The third period served only to make it look like a game: in final score, shots on goal, and penalty calls. It was never actually a game, and the third period didn't really change that. The only interesting thing to happen was when Avery went after Mattias Ohlund for a big hit on Erik Christensen. I turned to my father and asked if he thought Christensen would also consider that move a "cheap shot" (it looked remarkably similar to the Ladislav Smid incident). Ah, well. Good for Avery, and fuck Christensen. Let's shake last night off; Happy Thanksgiving; see you Friday.
With that said, I again have to wonder about the penalty calling. Let's be clear: completely independently of the officiating, the Rangers still blow this game in a very big way. But I have to wonder if referees Rob Martell and Dean Morton didn't hear Lundqvist's complaints after the Pittsburgh game and maybe want to stick it to him a little bit. Lundqvist got run over all game, and the only time they bothered to call goalie interference, they also called a thoroughly disoriented diving penalty on Hank to cancel it out. I can justify the other bad calls last night by the usual NHL bullshit: if you only have one hand on your stick, and you make contact with any other player, it's "hooking," and so on. But there was no good goddamn reason for that diving call.
But, of course, the worst part was not the officiating, it was the Rangers not coming up big in front of the King. Lundqvist gave up 5 goals on 25 shots across two periods during which Mike Smith, across the ice, was perfect by making 7 saves. Hank needed a big game back, after resting a while as Biron looked good, especially given that Biron might be back in one of the next two. Instead, Lundqvist was protected neither by penalty-calls nor by offensive play from his team, who hung him out to dry for 40 minutes before finally skating around with the puck a little bit in the third.
Torts reacted appropriately, chewing out various Rangers during the game for letting Bolts make residence in the King's crease, and calling out Gaborik after the game, saying, "He's supposed to be our best player. I looked at their best players, and they were pretty good tonight. I didn't see our best players." Also, props to Torts for not pulling Lundqvist, even though he almost did. The right thing to do was to let Hank battle on - it's not like any of the goals were his fault.
But, of course, I have some questions for John Tortorella also. Mostly, they center around Sean Avery. For a guy with a reputation for changing lines around all the time, Torts reacted to last night's disaster by swapping Callahan for Gaborik on the first and second lines, and double-shifting Gaborik in place of Boogaard on the fourth line (before, of course, benching Anisimov for some reason). Besides Anisimov and Boogaard, Avery was the Ranger with the least ice time.
But you know how I hate to make a big deal of outliers. Let's go back and look at some more numbers. Monday's tight 2-1 victory over the Flames: Boogaard 7:15; Avery 8:34; Next Ranger (Christensen) 10:13. Saturday's big 5-2 win over the Wild: Boogaard 5:28; Avery 8:12; Next Ranger (Anisimov) 12:29. The previous night's 5-1 loss to the Avs was much more balanced, but it featured Todd White (Boogaard being absent with a punching-too-much injury). Interesting.
Over the 4 games previous to these (before which we didn't really use the lineup we've had lately), 2 featured White instead of Boogaard, and the other two look the same as above. To sum up the numbers, over the last 8 games, the 5 that had Boogaard in them totaled some disappointing numbers: Boogaard with 29:38 of ice time, Avery with 43:13, and the next sparsest Ranger (who spanned across 4 different Rangers in these 5 games) with 52:21.
So, clearly, Boogaard gets the least ice time, Avery gets the next least, and then everyone else gets a mix. Can someone explain that to me? Win or lose, Avery consistently makes things happen on every shift. It's one thing when we're winning - "don't change a recipe for success" or whatever. But for it to not even occur to Torts to give Avery a little more time in last night's debacle concerns me. That shows me there's no confidence there. And the way Avery still plays night after night, even on a line with Christensen and Boogaard, that's just not right.
Anyway, last night sucked. The third period served only to make it look like a game: in final score, shots on goal, and penalty calls. It was never actually a game, and the third period didn't really change that. The only interesting thing to happen was when Avery went after Mattias Ohlund for a big hit on Erik Christensen. I turned to my father and asked if he thought Christensen would also consider that move a "cheap shot" (it looked remarkably similar to the Ladislav Smid incident). Ah, well. Good for Avery, and fuck Christensen. Let's shake last night off; Happy Thanksgiving; see you Friday.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Two losses later
So, we actually played what I thought was a pretty solid game against the B's. Lost 3-2 in what was a reasonably solid battle, good hockey from both sides, and we were the ones that came up short. I don't hate losing a game like this (unless it's to, like, the Devils), even though it's a loss.
As for the Avs last night, that was awful. Just awful. Looking forward to a quick chance to come back tonight against the Wild. Also, welcome back to Gaborik and Boogaard - we'll see how that goes.
Right now, I wanna talk some about personnel. In net, I wanna give a compliment to Marty Biron, who, without looking spectacular, has shouldered a whole lot of burden lately, and it's nice to have a backup who can be relied on like that. Woot. As for Hank, I think pulling him last night was more a move to give him reprieve so he can play fresh tonight than it was an indictment of his play. People were quick to get on him for his mediocre play, but he didn't really have a clear, easy shot on any of the three goals against him last night. He wasn't regal, but he wasn't awful. I tend to think in a European way about goaltender changes anyway: if a guy isn't feeling it, pull him out - no big deal.
On defense, gold stars go to Matt Gilroy and Mike Sauer, who have really stepped up and acted as a reasonably solid third pair since Michal Rozsival's been injured. Eminger is not the defenseman Rozsival has been this season, but he's played fairly well in some key minutes. What he lacks in talent, he's been making up by hitting people, which is a recipe I support.
On the other hand, Michael Del Zotto (why is half of our defense named Michael?) has been the defensive let-down I expected. Not that any Rangers played particularly well through the first half of last night's game, but all the glaring errors go to him. This is, in fact, the sophomore slump I anticipated, and I wouldn't blame Torts if Eminger's the one who stays on the second pair when Rozsival returns.
Up front, I recommend a change for tonight: switch Avery and Fedotenko. I like the switch of Christensen and Stepan (one step closer to Hartford, Erik. I love to say I told you so, so: I told you so). Now, I'm not suggesting that Fedo, who has played good hockey for us, deserves a demotion to the fourth line. But right now, of Prust, Avery, and Fedo, one of them needs to go down (unless we teach one of them to play center). I've liked the Avery - Boyle - Prust line the few times we've seen it this season, and I still maintain that Avery deserves more ice time than he's getting right now. He looks solid almost every shift he's out there, and I think he makes things happen if he gets more time out there, especially if it's more time that he's opposite Prust (or Fedo) instead of White or Boogaard. Then see what Fedotenko, Christensen, and Boogaard can do. Can't hurt, right?
Stop writing, Aaron. You've said all you had to say, and you're just gonna reiterate it. Your 3 readers get it. Shut up and click "Publish."
As for the Avs last night, that was awful. Just awful. Looking forward to a quick chance to come back tonight against the Wild. Also, welcome back to Gaborik and Boogaard - we'll see how that goes.
Right now, I wanna talk some about personnel. In net, I wanna give a compliment to Marty Biron, who, without looking spectacular, has shouldered a whole lot of burden lately, and it's nice to have a backup who can be relied on like that. Woot. As for Hank, I think pulling him last night was more a move to give him reprieve so he can play fresh tonight than it was an indictment of his play. People were quick to get on him for his mediocre play, but he didn't really have a clear, easy shot on any of the three goals against him last night. He wasn't regal, but he wasn't awful. I tend to think in a European way about goaltender changes anyway: if a guy isn't feeling it, pull him out - no big deal.
On defense, gold stars go to Matt Gilroy and Mike Sauer, who have really stepped up and acted as a reasonably solid third pair since Michal Rozsival's been injured. Eminger is not the defenseman Rozsival has been this season, but he's played fairly well in some key minutes. What he lacks in talent, he's been making up by hitting people, which is a recipe I support.
On the other hand, Michael Del Zotto (why is half of our defense named Michael?) has been the defensive let-down I expected. Not that any Rangers played particularly well through the first half of last night's game, but all the glaring errors go to him. This is, in fact, the sophomore slump I anticipated, and I wouldn't blame Torts if Eminger's the one who stays on the second pair when Rozsival returns.
Up front, I recommend a change for tonight: switch Avery and Fedotenko. I like the switch of Christensen and Stepan (one step closer to Hartford, Erik. I love to say I told you so, so: I told you so). Now, I'm not suggesting that Fedo, who has played good hockey for us, deserves a demotion to the fourth line. But right now, of Prust, Avery, and Fedo, one of them needs to go down (unless we teach one of them to play center). I've liked the Avery - Boyle - Prust line the few times we've seen it this season, and I still maintain that Avery deserves more ice time than he's getting right now. He looks solid almost every shift he's out there, and I think he makes things happen if he gets more time out there, especially if it's more time that he's opposite Prust (or Fedo) instead of White or Boogaard. Then see what Fedotenko, Christensen, and Boogaard can do. Can't hurt, right?
Stop writing, Aaron. You've said all you had to say, and you're just gonna reiterate it. Your 3 readers get it. Shut up and click "Publish."
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
I need an editor
That last post was unreasonably long. This one contains a few small notes:
1) Tortorella's response to the ridiculous officiating last night was to tell everyone, twice, not to ask him about the officiating. He went on to talk about how proud he was of the team for coming together and battling back last night.
2) Lundqvist apparently admits that he threw his stick near the end of the game to express to the officials just how bad he thought they were. He expected the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that he got from it. Is it OK if that makes me like him more?
3) Check this out. It's 3-1, Sharks over Kings. The Kings score, but the goal judge doesn't call it, the puck bounces out, and the play continues. They will review it at the next stoppage. Before play stops, the Sharks (maybe) score, but the puck bounces out, and play continues. They will review that, if necessary, at the next stoppage. The next stoppage comes...because the Sharks score! This one stays in the net and play stops. 4-1 Sharks. Only they go back and review, and the first Kings goal counted. So...3-2 Sharks. Awesome.
4) KOVALWATCH! It's November 16. The 5-11-2 Devils are not currently a league worst, having pulled a point ahead of both the Oilers and the Islanders, though they've also played more games than either of those teams. However, none of those 5 wins have come at the Rock, making the Devils the only NHL team to somehow still not have won at home yet this season! Alternate Captain Kovalchuk ($100m/15yr) has 4 goals and 5 assists in that time, putting him exactly on par with Erik Cole ($5.8m/2yr), Mark Letestu ($1m/2yr), Valtteri Filppula ($15m/5yr), and Nikolai Kulemin ($4.7m/2yr). The Devils have three more chances to win at home this month, versus the Capitals, the Flames, and the Flyers. So, let's go those three guys!
1) Tortorella's response to the ridiculous officiating last night was to tell everyone, twice, not to ask him about the officiating. He went on to talk about how proud he was of the team for coming together and battling back last night.
2) Lundqvist apparently admits that he threw his stick near the end of the game to express to the officials just how bad he thought they were. He expected the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that he got from it. Is it OK if that makes me like him more?
3) Check this out. It's 3-1, Sharks over Kings. The Kings score, but the goal judge doesn't call it, the puck bounces out, and the play continues. They will review it at the next stoppage. Before play stops, the Sharks (maybe) score, but the puck bounces out, and play continues. They will review that, if necessary, at the next stoppage. The next stoppage comes...because the Sharks score! This one stays in the net and play stops. 4-1 Sharks. Only they go back and review, and the first Kings goal counted. So...3-2 Sharks. Awesome.
4) KOVALWATCH! It's November 16. The 5-11-2 Devils are not currently a league worst, having pulled a point ahead of both the Oilers and the Islanders, though they've also played more games than either of those teams. However, none of those 5 wins have come at the Rock, making the Devils the only NHL team to somehow still not have won at home yet this season! Alternate Captain Kovalchuk ($100m/15yr) has 4 goals and 5 assists in that time, putting him exactly on par with Erik Cole ($5.8m/2yr), Mark Letestu ($1m/2yr), Valtteri Filppula ($15m/5yr), and Nikolai Kulemin ($4.7m/2yr). The Devils have three more chances to win at home this month, versus the Capitals, the Flames, and the Flyers. So, let's go those three guys!
That was the best!
I think I like the new arena.
There are so many places I could start. Let's talk about the abysmal first period, in which the return of the King was clearly all that kept us in it. We were outshot 12-5 over the course of that period, and with all due respect to Biron, I'm not sure we would have had a scoreless game after one with him in net. It wasn't so much a spectacular save here and there (those came in the third) as it was a solid effort that came out of us spending almost the entire period in front of him. As Torts put it, "No disrespect to Edmonton, but [the Pens] are a much better team than Edmonton, and we looked like we were playing Edmonton in the first period. We couldn't play that way."
Other than Callahan fighting Mike Comrie (awesome), there wasn't a ton of excitement generated by the Blueshirts in the first. On top of the coincidental majors that obviously came from that fight, there were 4 other penalties called in the first: a pair of coincidental roughings to Del Zotto and Evgeni Malkin early on, and a pair of coincidental unsportsmanlikes to Avery and Matt Cooke (which I think should have gone to Del Zotto and Arron Asham, who were actually the instigators on the play in question, but the officials saw Avery and Cooke on the ice, so they assumed it must have been them).
In the second period, we spend a good deal more time in the Pens' end. I still felt like we were outplayed for a lot of it, but we battled back and got our chances, one of which found its way to the back of the net, off the stick of Erik Christensen (whom I proudly gave the evil eye pregame after learning about his comments yesterday). Hooray! 1-0 Rangers!
Oops. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. The Pens were supposed to be winning. What can we do about this?
That...was the floating voice of the NHL. I heard it on the wind, after Christensen scored. And so, in came the officiating brigade. A handful of really weak calls against the Rangers closed out this game, coupled with really embarrassing non-calls for the Penguins, including two really inexcusable misses: Crosby skating through Lundqvist's crease and taking his legs out from under him (the play was up at the blue line, going in the other direction); and - well, what do you know, Crosby again - slashing Girardi while on the power play. I know, I know: you come here for the numbers, not the words. OK, here you go:
Christensen scored almost exactly halfway through the game, at 10:16 of the second. In the 30:16 of hockey preceding the goal, the Rangers were shorthanded for 2:00, and the teams were at even strength for the remaining 28:16. Following the goal, in 33:22, the Rangers were shorthanded for 10:00, and at even strength for the remaining 23:22. For the first time in over 3 seasons, the Rangers did not find one second of power play time. And yes, that includes a double minor for high-sticking against Staal, and an unsportsmanlike for Hank breaking his stick. But it also includes some really soft calls, like a hook on Gaborik and a hold on Callahan. As usual, as the game got closer and closer to its end, with the Rangers holding onto their narrow lead, the calls got worse and worse: the Rangers were shorthanded for 5:53 of the final ten minutes of the third period (that's 59%).
But the rankness of the calls was really compounded by the non-calls in the other direction: taken alone, the calls were just kinda bad news, but when looking at the things the Penguins weren't called for, one has no choice but to cry shenanigans. As Lundqvist put it after the game, "I'd like to see the penalty record the last five years in Pittsburgh. We're shorthanded so many times in Pittsburgh, and it's definitely not our fault." I make take Hank up on that, if I get the chance later.
Brooks, in the article I liked to above, says "The Rangers don't want to get a reputation as whiners, but last night was a joke, both on calls made against the team as well as those not made against the Penguins." I, too, don't want to sound like a whiner, and I tend to refrain from blaming officials for games, knowing we have to battle back as a team even when calls are awful. So why go on and on about the refs last night? Because it didn't fucking matter. Because we did battle back as a team. We killed every Penguin power play, including the one late in the 3rd wherein Callahan was in the box and Girardi was off with what looked to me like some kind of minor arm problem.
After the second period, I said "We can't win this game 1-0." As the bad calls kept pouring in, I started muttering to myself, in my seat at not-the-Igloo, like some kind of crazy person, "I've seen this movie before. I know exactly how it goes. Don't let this happen. This movie sucks. Show me a different movie." et cetera. And then on the heels of killing off Callahan's phantom-hold, there it was: a 1-1 game, with Pens fans screaming all around me. And 27 seconds later, 2-1. Everyone screaming. Me, pouting: "I've seen it too many times. This movie fucking sucks." And after Lundqvist stood on his head all night, making a handful of saves I still don't understand, all of CONSOL is taunting him, chanting his name. "Luuuuund-qviiiiist. Luuuuuund-qviiiiiist." I fucking hate this movie.
You know, there's not a ton of difference between this year's officials and last year's officials. Or between this year's Crosby brigade and last. You know what's new this year? We don't stop battling. And so, 27 seconds into Lundqvist's deserved unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for breaking his stick in frustration (and for sending the shaft down the ice toward an official, which was equally deserved), Dubinsky made a really pretty move around Alex Goligoski and fed Staal in front. And the next thing I knew, I was up on my feet, surrounded by an abyss of angry silence, screaming, "Fluuuuuuuu-eryyyyyyyyy! Fluuuuuuu-eryyyyyyyy!" And it was a tie game again.
Well, we all know what happened next. With a minute and a half left in overtime, Dubinsky and Callahan came down the ice and...well, just watch it. The whole video. Twice, at least.
Yes. Yes to life, and yes to hockey, and yes to everything. It's worth noting that Callahan is the one who netted that last one. That's worth noting because, along with his assist on Staal's tying goal, and his fight with Comrie in the first, Callahan earned himself a Gordie Howe Hat Trick last night. And that's awesome. This game was just the best. The Pens' offensive onslaught, the officiating disaster, and none of it mattered. We kept fighting, and 2 teams' 4 goals in 6:09 later, we came out on top. Yes, yes, and fuck yes.
Before I go, I hope you'll indulge me for a Special Rant, on the topic of Penguin fans.
---------------
SPECIAL RANT:
As an obsessive Ranger fan outside of New York, I tend to travel to a lot of away games to see my boys. Yes, I'll catch a game or two at the Garden each season, but I'll also see three in Pittsburgh, as well as the occasional trip to Jersey, or DC, or Toronto, and so on. I've seen NHL games in 12 different arenas, most of them Ranger games. So I'm in an uncommon position, in that I am regularly a big fan of the visiting team, wherever I go. As such, I'm never looking to start a fight. I always come in respectful, cheer for opposing players that I like, and so on. I don't mean to be talking about how I'm great, but as a regular visiting fan, I am always careful to be appropriate wherever I go. I will cheer loud and long for the Rangers, but I'm not one of these guys who calls out other fans around me: they're there to enjoy the game, just like me.
Which is why I have all this pent-up aggression that I need to get out here on the blog: these fans are terrible! Maybe last night was a specifically bad set of circumstances, but by God with this fan base's knowledge of hockey you couldn't run a skate rental shop. First of all, even when they're getting every officiating break in the book, they want more. We were lucky enough to bring a friend, who is just now learning the sport (this was his second game ever), and at one point, some Pen fan screamed out "Why wasn't that interference?" at such an incorrect play that even our near-hockey-virgin friend was able to answer (under his breath, of course) "Oh, I know this one! Because the puck was right there!"
This lack of awareness is extended beyond just a silly penalty call bias. My favorite moment was after Lundqvist's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which was being served by Avery, when everyone around me started getting on Sean Avery's case, because they saw him in the box. It reminded me of a moment in Atlanta a few years back, when the Thrashers scored on a soft shot from the point, and the entire arena started chanting "Luuuuuund-qviiiiiist," despite Stephen Valiquette being in goal. Everyone was getting on Avery because they read somewhere that they were supposed to, even though the call was on Lundqvist. Just a total lack of awareness of the game.
And, finally, I'm bitter, because I am nothing but nice to these people, and I smile and nod when they say incredibly stupid things about the game, and then I get called an asshole anyway, just because my team won. On my way out of the seats: "Go back to New York, you asshole!" Really? So, that I replied to: "Actually, I've lived in Pittsburgh for a decade, I just can't stand your hockey team. But thanks for being so friendly - you're doing a great job of representing our city. It was nice to meet you."
Look, I really do love the city of Pittsburgh. And I am friends with a number of Penguin fans, some of whom even know what the hell they're talking about when it comes to hockey. But a lot of these Penguin fans need to get a fucking clue. The exemplar, for me, was when some guy behind me yelled just before the phantom-hook on Gaborik, "Come on, that'd be holding in the NFL!" Not only did he get even the phantom-call wrong, but I've always said this about Penguin fans: they really know their football.
---------------
Thanks for the indulgence. Anyway, I love to see what I saw last night, and I'd love to see us bring it back home to play the Bruins tomorrow. This has the workings of a pretty good hockey team, and it's been a while since I've been able to honestly say I'm just excited about the team. Let's go Rangers.
There are so many places I could start. Let's talk about the abysmal first period, in which the return of the King was clearly all that kept us in it. We were outshot 12-5 over the course of that period, and with all due respect to Biron, I'm not sure we would have had a scoreless game after one with him in net. It wasn't so much a spectacular save here and there (those came in the third) as it was a solid effort that came out of us spending almost the entire period in front of him. As Torts put it, "No disrespect to Edmonton, but [the Pens] are a much better team than Edmonton, and we looked like we were playing Edmonton in the first period. We couldn't play that way."
Other than Callahan fighting Mike Comrie (awesome), there wasn't a ton of excitement generated by the Blueshirts in the first. On top of the coincidental majors that obviously came from that fight, there were 4 other penalties called in the first: a pair of coincidental roughings to Del Zotto and Evgeni Malkin early on, and a pair of coincidental unsportsmanlikes to Avery and Matt Cooke (which I think should have gone to Del Zotto and Arron Asham, who were actually the instigators on the play in question, but the officials saw Avery and Cooke on the ice, so they assumed it must have been them).
In the second period, we spend a good deal more time in the Pens' end. I still felt like we were outplayed for a lot of it, but we battled back and got our chances, one of which found its way to the back of the net, off the stick of Erik Christensen (whom I proudly gave the evil eye pregame after learning about his comments yesterday). Hooray! 1-0 Rangers!
Oops. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. The Pens were supposed to be winning. What can we do about this?
That...was the floating voice of the NHL. I heard it on the wind, after Christensen scored. And so, in came the officiating brigade. A handful of really weak calls against the Rangers closed out this game, coupled with really embarrassing non-calls for the Penguins, including two really inexcusable misses: Crosby skating through Lundqvist's crease and taking his legs out from under him (the play was up at the blue line, going in the other direction); and - well, what do you know, Crosby again - slashing Girardi while on the power play. I know, I know: you come here for the numbers, not the words. OK, here you go:
Christensen scored almost exactly halfway through the game, at 10:16 of the second. In the 30:16 of hockey preceding the goal, the Rangers were shorthanded for 2:00, and the teams were at even strength for the remaining 28:16. Following the goal, in 33:22, the Rangers were shorthanded for 10:00, and at even strength for the remaining 23:22. For the first time in over 3 seasons, the Rangers did not find one second of power play time. And yes, that includes a double minor for high-sticking against Staal, and an unsportsmanlike for Hank breaking his stick. But it also includes some really soft calls, like a hook on Gaborik and a hold on Callahan. As usual, as the game got closer and closer to its end, with the Rangers holding onto their narrow lead, the calls got worse and worse: the Rangers were shorthanded for 5:53 of the final ten minutes of the third period (that's 59%).
But the rankness of the calls was really compounded by the non-calls in the other direction: taken alone, the calls were just kinda bad news, but when looking at the things the Penguins weren't called for, one has no choice but to cry shenanigans. As Lundqvist put it after the game, "I'd like to see the penalty record the last five years in Pittsburgh. We're shorthanded so many times in Pittsburgh, and it's definitely not our fault." I make take Hank up on that, if I get the chance later.
Brooks, in the article I liked to above, says "The Rangers don't want to get a reputation as whiners, but last night was a joke, both on calls made against the team as well as those not made against the Penguins." I, too, don't want to sound like a whiner, and I tend to refrain from blaming officials for games, knowing we have to battle back as a team even when calls are awful. So why go on and on about the refs last night? Because it didn't fucking matter. Because we did battle back as a team. We killed every Penguin power play, including the one late in the 3rd wherein Callahan was in the box and Girardi was off with what looked to me like some kind of minor arm problem.
After the second period, I said "We can't win this game 1-0." As the bad calls kept pouring in, I started muttering to myself, in my seat at not-the-Igloo, like some kind of crazy person, "I've seen this movie before. I know exactly how it goes. Don't let this happen. This movie sucks. Show me a different movie." et cetera. And then on the heels of killing off Callahan's phantom-hold, there it was: a 1-1 game, with Pens fans screaming all around me. And 27 seconds later, 2-1. Everyone screaming. Me, pouting: "I've seen it too many times. This movie fucking sucks." And after Lundqvist stood on his head all night, making a handful of saves I still don't understand, all of CONSOL is taunting him, chanting his name. "Luuuuund-qviiiiist. Luuuuuund-qviiiiiist." I fucking hate this movie.
You know, there's not a ton of difference between this year's officials and last year's officials. Or between this year's Crosby brigade and last. You know what's new this year? We don't stop battling. And so, 27 seconds into Lundqvist's deserved unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for breaking his stick in frustration (and for sending the shaft down the ice toward an official, which was equally deserved), Dubinsky made a really pretty move around Alex Goligoski and fed Staal in front. And the next thing I knew, I was up on my feet, surrounded by an abyss of angry silence, screaming, "Fluuuuuuuu-eryyyyyyyyy! Fluuuuuuu-eryyyyyyyy!" And it was a tie game again.
Well, we all know what happened next. With a minute and a half left in overtime, Dubinsky and Callahan came down the ice and...well, just watch it. The whole video. Twice, at least.
Yes. Yes to life, and yes to hockey, and yes to everything. It's worth noting that Callahan is the one who netted that last one. That's worth noting because, along with his assist on Staal's tying goal, and his fight with Comrie in the first, Callahan earned himself a Gordie Howe Hat Trick last night. And that's awesome. This game was just the best. The Pens' offensive onslaught, the officiating disaster, and none of it mattered. We kept fighting, and 2 teams' 4 goals in 6:09 later, we came out on top. Yes, yes, and fuck yes.
Before I go, I hope you'll indulge me for a Special Rant, on the topic of Penguin fans.
---------------
SPECIAL RANT:
As an obsessive Ranger fan outside of New York, I tend to travel to a lot of away games to see my boys. Yes, I'll catch a game or two at the Garden each season, but I'll also see three in Pittsburgh, as well as the occasional trip to Jersey, or DC, or Toronto, and so on. I've seen NHL games in 12 different arenas, most of them Ranger games. So I'm in an uncommon position, in that I am regularly a big fan of the visiting team, wherever I go. As such, I'm never looking to start a fight. I always come in respectful, cheer for opposing players that I like, and so on. I don't mean to be talking about how I'm great, but as a regular visiting fan, I am always careful to be appropriate wherever I go. I will cheer loud and long for the Rangers, but I'm not one of these guys who calls out other fans around me: they're there to enjoy the game, just like me.
Which is why I have all this pent-up aggression that I need to get out here on the blog: these fans are terrible! Maybe last night was a specifically bad set of circumstances, but by God with this fan base's knowledge of hockey you couldn't run a skate rental shop. First of all, even when they're getting every officiating break in the book, they want more. We were lucky enough to bring a friend, who is just now learning the sport (this was his second game ever), and at one point, some Pen fan screamed out "Why wasn't that interference?" at such an incorrect play that even our near-hockey-virgin friend was able to answer (under his breath, of course) "Oh, I know this one! Because the puck was right there!"
This lack of awareness is extended beyond just a silly penalty call bias. My favorite moment was after Lundqvist's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which was being served by Avery, when everyone around me started getting on Sean Avery's case, because they saw him in the box. It reminded me of a moment in Atlanta a few years back, when the Thrashers scored on a soft shot from the point, and the entire arena started chanting "Luuuuuund-qviiiiiist," despite Stephen Valiquette being in goal. Everyone was getting on Avery because they read somewhere that they were supposed to, even though the call was on Lundqvist. Just a total lack of awareness of the game.
And, finally, I'm bitter, because I am nothing but nice to these people, and I smile and nod when they say incredibly stupid things about the game, and then I get called an asshole anyway, just because my team won. On my way out of the seats: "Go back to New York, you asshole!" Really? So, that I replied to: "Actually, I've lived in Pittsburgh for a decade, I just can't stand your hockey team. But thanks for being so friendly - you're doing a great job of representing our city. It was nice to meet you."
Look, I really do love the city of Pittsburgh. And I am friends with a number of Penguin fans, some of whom even know what the hell they're talking about when it comes to hockey. But a lot of these Penguin fans need to get a fucking clue. The exemplar, for me, was when some guy behind me yelled just before the phantom-hook on Gaborik, "Come on, that'd be holding in the NFL!" Not only did he get even the phantom-call wrong, but I've always said this about Penguin fans: they really know their football.
---------------
Thanks for the indulgence. Anyway, I love to see what I saw last night, and I'd love to see us bring it back home to play the Bruins tomorrow. This has the workings of a pretty good hockey team, and it's been a while since I've been able to honestly say I'm just excited about the team. Let's go Rangers.
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