General Hockey Talk - Injuries, signings, factoids + other news from around the league

wprager wrote:Filppula gone 6-8 weeks with a broken wrist.

A narrower margin for error this year?

Of last night's eight games, six were decided by a single goal; two were decided in overtime and one by a shootout.

Logjams in the standings already after the first month:

In the East, fifth and eleventh spots are separated by three points, with teams in 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th all tied on points.

In the West, 6th through 10th are similarly separated by three points.

If the trend continues, a point won or lost along the way could have major consequences...more exciting of course, for the fans.



...and more goals being scored, or more porous defense? More than half the teams have allowed an average of three or more goals per game.

Last season, only eight teams finished the year having allowed three or more goals per game.

davetherave wrote:A narrower margin for error this year?

Of last night's eight games, six were decided by a single goal; two were decided in overtime and one by a shootout.

Logjams in the standings already after the first month:

In the East, fifth and eleventh spots are separated by three points, with teams in 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th all tied on points.

In the West, 6th through 10th are similarly separated by three points.

If the trend continues, a point won or lost along the way could have major consequences...more exciting of course, for the fans.



...and more goals being scored, or more porous defense? More than half the teams have allowed an average of three or more goals per game.

Last season, only eight teams finished the year having allowed three or more goals per game.

I think it's the attendance. When defensemen hear crickets in the stands they don;t play with as much intensity. Oddly, the chirping seems to have no effect on forwards.

wprager wrote:

davetherave wrote:A narrower margin for error this year?

Of last night's eight games, six were decided by a single goal; two were decided in overtime and one by a shootout.

Logjams in the standings already after the first month:

In the East, fifth and eleventh spots are separated by three points, with teams in 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th all tied on points.

In the West, 6th through 10th are similarly separated by three points.

If the trend continues, a point won or lost along the way could have major consequences...more exciting of course, for the fans.



...and more goals being scored, or more porous defense? More than half the teams have allowed an average of three or more goals per game.

Last season, only eight teams finished the year having allowed three or more goals per game.

I think it's the attendance. When defensemen hear crickets in the stands they don;t play with as much intensity. Oddly, the chirping seems to have no effect on forwards.

Well, whattya know.

By the way, the Leafs find a way to tie the game up in the last 30-odd
seconds, while short-handed, but Buffalo still wins in OT. Are they
(Sabres) the most unimpressive division leaders ever?

Rangers lost, again. To Minnesota, of all teams. I haven't checked the box-score but I take it Gaborik is still out?

Isles beat Caps in OT. The Caps are a team in serious trouble. They've got all that offensive firepower, what they are missing is some good defensive play. Maybe we can convince them that we have a top-10 pick defenseman that needs a change of scenery.

By the way, the Isles *finally* have more points from winning than from losing (3 wins = 6 points; 5 post-regulation losses = 5 points). They are tied for points with the Flyers and Bruins. Who woulda thunk it.

Every person who made predictions for the season is pulling their hair out.

Yet more reason to completely ignore them.

wprager wrote:By the way, the Leafs find a way to tie the game up in the last 30-odd
seconds, while short-handed, but Buffalo still wins in OT. Are they
(Sabres) the most unimpressive division leaders ever?

Rangers lost, again. To Minnesota, of all teams. I haven't checked the box-score but I take it Gaborik is still out?

Isles beat Caps in OT. The Caps are a team in serious trouble. They've got all that offensive firepower, what they are missing is some good defensive play. Maybe we can convince them that we have a top-10 pick defenseman that needs a change of scenery.

By the way, the Isles *finally* have more points from winning than from losing (3 wins = 6 points; 5 post-regulation losses = 5 points). They are tied for points with the Flyers and Bruins. Who woulda thunk it.

@Prager>You forgot to mention how the Canucks were demolished by the Ducks last night. An ugly game to watch for Nuck Nation. With Raycroft in net, they blow a two goal lead and the Waddlers bomb them for seven straight. Cory Schneider, in relief, got bamboozled by a weirdo goal: a longshot that careened off the glass and into the net he had wandered away from.

Washington is leading their division with an 8-2-3 record. You say they're in serious trouble? How so?

davetherave wrote:
@Prager>You forgot to mention how the Canucks were demolished by the Ducks last night. An ugly game to watch for Nuck Nation. With Raycroft in net, they blow a two goal lead and the Waddlers bomb them for seven straight. Cory Schneider, in relief, got bamboozled by a weirdo goal: a longshot that careened off the glass and into the net he had wandered away from.

Washington is leading their division with an 8-2-3 record. You say they're in serious trouble? How so?

I'm mainly concentrating on the East. Also, with Luongo out I'm not surprised the Canucks got hammered.

As for the Caps, they are 8-2-3 but that's not going to help them much in the playoffs. They remind me of the Sens all those years.

Buffalo finally loses one. Biron with a 38-stop shutout. Wow, those Isles beat two Division leaders on back-to-back nights. Pittsburgh is relieved they don't play them for 4 weeks yet.

Leafs just tied it up in the last minute. Another 3 points game looms.

So far this year, one in four games has been decided in OT.

Very exciting for the fans.

Meanwhile, after month number one, the battle for playoff spots in the East already looks crowded, as the Islanders now join the party.

Just one point separates the 6th and 10th spots...with three teams tied on points for 8th/9th/10th, and just two more points separating Tampa and Atlanta from the pack.

Very exciting for hockey fans.

What is going on in this league? The Wild beat the Rangers Friday night, then knocked off the Conference-leading Penguins Saturday night. Minnesota was 3-9 before this "streak".

The Islanders did one better, beating division leaders on back-to-back nights (Buffalo last night and Washington the night before). Their record coming into the Hallowe'en weekend was an unimpressive 2-4-5.

And it's not even quite full moon yet (that'll be tomorrow night).

Set your clocks back one hour and hang on tight.

The one constant seems to be the Leafs -- losing in the SO after tying it up in the last minute. They are the only team who have more points from losing than from winning -- twice as many points, in fact.

If 94 points is what it takes to get into the playoffs, they can manage that feat by winning 18 of their remaining 70 games and losing the rest after regulation. Has a team with fewer than 20 wins ever made it to post season? Excluding football, that is.

Montreal Canadiens were 19-19-12 in 42/43, the first season of the "Original Six" league. Two years later the Bruins made it to post-season with just 16 wins. Neither team made it past the 1st round. I think it's safe to say that no team, since the introductio of the 80+ game schedules has made it to the post season with fewer than 20 wins.

wprager wrote: As for the Caps, they are 8-2-3 but that's not going to help them much in the playoffs. They remind me of the Sens all those years.

@Prager> so playoff predictions are already on your menu, are they?

How badly is Ovechkin hurt? Yikes if long.

SpezDispenser wrote:How badly is Ovechkin hurt? Yikes if long.

Markov, Gonchar, Volchenkov, Malkin, Kovalchuk, Ovechkin...Russians are dropping like flies!

Somebody warn Kovalev.

davetherave wrote:

wprager wrote: As for the Caps, they are 8-2-3 but that's not going to help them much in the playoffs. They remind me of the Sens all those years.

@Prager> so playoff predictions are already on your menu, are they?

One team and I'm not really predicting other than to say they will find it very different in the post-season. Who have they got on D that will do what is necessary to win in the playoffs?

Oh, and AO is hurt now? Maybe I was just being prophetic

wprager wrote:

davetherave wrote:

wprager wrote: As for the Caps, they are 8-2-3 but that's not going to help them much in the playoffs. They remind me of the Sens all those years.

@Prager> so playoff predictions are already on your menu, are they?

One team and I'm not really predicting other than to say they will find it very different in the post-season. Who have they got on D that will do what is necessary to win in the playoffs?

Oh, and AO is hurt now? Maybe I was just being prophetic

The implications of your prophetic gifts are frightening.