SB Nation - Mark Bell

The Five Worst Teams that Outshot their Opponents

Hawerchuk — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:00:35 -0000

R O from Matchsticks and Gasoline wondered what the flip-side of the winning teams who were outshot looked like. That is, which teams outshot their opponents but did poorly either due to poor goaltending, generally mediocre offense or perhaps just multi-year bad luck. I don't think this is a sustainable situation for an organization - if you're good enough to outshoot your opponents, you're probably a good team, and you either need to add a small amount of scoring talent, or trade from your strength for a goaltender. And if you keep losing, coaches and general managers will get fired, leading to a complete remake of a team's characteristics.

At any rate, on to the list: there have been many examples, but I don't think anyone is going to get excited about the 1972-73 Blues, so I'm going to stick to the post-WHA era.

#5. 2005-06 Chicago Blackhawks. Call this the ironic choice. The Hawks outshot their opponents by nearly a shot per game, but they put offensive lightweights Kyle Calder, Mark Bell and Tyler Arnason on their first line power-play and ended up being outscored by 74 goals on the season. The irony is that their goaltending tandem - which posted a very bad .887 save percentage - featured Nikolai Khabibulin and Craig Anderson, both of whom have looked good enough recently for their respective teams' fans to put down the deposit for playoff tickets.

#4. 1990-93 Minnesota North Stars. Over three seasons, they outshot their opponents by nearly 700 shots, but were outscored by 63 goals. Jon Casey played the bulk of Minnesota's games in this span, so he deserves much of the blame. Of course, no one really knows what was going on with the North Stars because despite they ramped up their offense just in time for the 1990-91 playoffs and had a two games to one lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals before the wheels came off and they gave up 19 goals in three games.

#3. 2002-04 Carolina Hurricanes. Truly the gang that couldn't shoot. Over two seasons, they had bad, but not terrible goaltending (903 SVPCT) and a complete inability to put the puck in the net (7.1% shooting percentage), which rendered a four shot-per-game advantage null-and-void. After the lockout, Eric Staal and Justin Williams emerged as scoring threats, and even though their goaltending regressed, they finally outscored their opponents and went from 50-game losers to Stanley Cup champions. Then they went back to outshooting their opponents and missing the playoffs.

#2. 2006-10 Toronto Maple Leafs. Since the start of the 2006-07 season, the Leafs are +670 on shots and -103 on goals. It's not likely any one thing has been terrible - they've just been consistently below average in shooting percentage and consistently worse than average at giving up goals. Too many penalties, weak penalty-killing and poor goaltending are all to blame. If there was ever going to be a dynasty of outshooting your opponents but losing to them anyways, this would be it.

#1. 1985-86 Winnipeg Jets. Well, they had to be #1 at something, didn't they? This was the year GM John Ferguson inexplicably became fed-up with his 23-year-old All-Star two-way defenseman, Dave Babych, and traded him to the Hartford Whalers. This was also the year that the Jets goaltenders posted an 847 save percentage. And it was also the year that the Jets outshot their opponents by more than two shots per game. It pains me to re-visit that Babych trade, but if you were going to trade one of the best five defensemen in the league, wouldn't you try to fix your goaltending problem?

The unbalanced schedule didn't help: some of their misery came from playing 16 games against Edmonton and Calgary, who outscored them 91-65, but they were awful against everyone else too. They went 11-30 in games decided by three or more goals and finished the season with 59 points. And somehow finished third in their division and made the playoffs.

I was at the third and final games of the opening playoff series against the Calgary Flames. I can't remember if it was snow or disinterest that kept the crowd at the Winnipeg Arena to a paltry 8,000 that night, but I was able to walk down to the front row with a couple of my friends. Ferguson had fired his coach with 14 games to go in the season and was still behind the bench in the playoffs. Local sportscasters had noticed that Ferguson had the previously unseen ability to sweat through the armpits of his suit jackets on the bench, and kept a running tab on the number of jackets he'd ruined. Down 2-0 and desperate for goaltending, the Jets plucked 20-year-old 155-pound Daniel Berthiaume directly from the QMJHL to start their do-or-die game. He played well, stopping 39 shots, and the Jets somehow limped into overtime. But the Berthiaume miracle ended as quickly as it started, eight minutes into overtime.

Ding Dong: Bell Tolls for Mark Bell *Update

Ben Rothenberg — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:35:47 -0000

Eds. Note: Mark Bell has officially been cut from the team. The Training Camp roster has been updated here.

CSNPhilly.com's Tim Panaccio reports that Mark Bell has almost certainly been cut, as indicated by his absence from camp.

It's cut day in Voorhees, and it appears that Bell is one of the first victims. He hasn't been impressive in training camp thus far, seemingly just going through the motions while other players like Blair Betts and Mika Pyorala work much harder.

It's a sad day for Bell, but its arguably sadder for those who write about the Flyers. Here are just some of the things we'll never get to write about Mark Bell:

"Bell Chimes in on Goalie Controversy"
"Mark Bell Shows More Cracks Than Brother Liberty Bell"
"Bell Rings Up Sidney Crosby"
"Flyers Playoff Hopes Saved by the Bell"

Feel free to share your memories of Mark Bell's time with the Flyers in the comments, as well as any puns you can think of that I may have missed.

Gameday: A real lineup travels to Toronto

Travis Hughes — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:17:42 -0000

Philadelphia Flyers (0-2-0) at Toronto Maple Leafs (2-1-0)
Air Canada Centre - 7:00 PM ET - Toronto, Ontario, Canada
TV: No Local TV, Leafs TV, Look for Webcasts
Radio: 610 WIP
This is the open game thread.
Behind Enemy Lines: Pension Plan Puppets

The Flyers looked sloppy the other night in London, Ontario against a Maple Leafs team that look much more hungry than the orange and black. Paul Holmgren was not happy with the performance, and it appears that Philadelphia is going out tonight with one thing in mind -- winning a hockey game.

No more of that Logan Stephenson nonsense. Only a handful on the roster tonight for the Flyers were AHL players last season, but with Mike Richards, Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, Chris Pronger, and Claude Giroux suiting up, it's an NHL-level roster tonight for the orange and black.

For Mark Bell, it could be one of his last chances to prove himself in this training camp. Coach Stevens has called him "just okay" so far this preseason, and he seemed lazy in the Flyers 3-1 loss to Wednesday night. Bell didn't play on Thursday night in London and if he doesn't show the coaching staff some character this evening, he could be sent packing.

Blair Betts, James van Riemsdyk, and Riley Cote, three players who are not guaranteed roster spots with the Flyers, will play once again tonight. Cote could be sent to Adirondack if the Flyers think his role is already filled by Dan Carcillo and Arron Asham. Betts and JVR have played in all three preseason games and have been some of the most impressive players in camp. If they continue to capitalize on their opportunities, it's going to be hard to keep them off the NHL roster.

Ray Emery and Brian Boucher will share the goaltending duties. After the jump, the full lineups for both teams.

Forwards - James van Riemsdyk, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Danny Briere, David Laliberte, Dan Carcillo, Darroll Powe, Ian Laperriere, Riley Cote, Blair Betts, Mark Bell

Defensemen- Matt Carle, Chris Pronger, Danny Syvret, Braydon Coburn, Ole-Kristian Tollefsen, Randy Jones

Goalies - Ray Emery, Brian Boucher

Forwards:
Niklas Hagman - Matt Stajan - Jason Blake
Alexei Ponikarovsky - Jason Allison - Lee Stempniak
John Mitchell - Nazem Kadri - Christian Hanson
Jay Rosehill - Rickard Wallin - Colton Orr

Defence:
Tomas Kaberle - Mike Komisarek
Francois Beauchemin - Luke Schenn
Carl Gunnarson - Garnet Exelby

Goaltenders:
Vesa Toskala
James Reimer

Go Flyers.

JVR, Betts, Pronger impress as Flyers fall in preseason opener

Travis Hughes — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 13:52:02 -0000

More photos » by JULIAN H. GONZALEZ - AP

Browse more photos »

[Full Coverage] - [AP Recap] - [Boxscore] - [DET Reaction]

The Flyers dropped their preseason opener last night, 3-1, against the Detroit Red Wings. James van Riemsdyk scored for the Flyers early in the second period, but three unanswered goals by the Wings would be too much for the orange and black to handle.

Goaltender Ray Emery played the first two periods and he didn't look like a goaltender that hasn't played NHL hockey in two years. If there is any gripe with his play last night, he could have corralled his rebounds a little better, but otherwise it was an excellent two periods of hockey for Razor. It's tough to complain with 23 saves on 25 shots.

James van Riemsdyk continues to up his game. We mentioned before the challenges he's faced thus far in training camp, and he's continuing to up the ante. He scored the lone Flyer goal last night, an unassisted shot from the wing that snuck by Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard. Considering that Jeff Carter, Scott Hartnell, Johan Franzen, Pavel Datsyuk, and Tomas Holmstrom were all on the ice for his tally, it's an impressive feat.

As for the biggest acquisition of the summer, Chris Pronger was nothing but spectacular last night in his Flyers debut. He blocked six shots and played 26 minutes, mostly due to an unbalanced amount of time on the penalty kill. He was everything as expected, and the Detroit fans (the Joe was half full, by the way) let him know every time he touched the puck with a chorus of boos.

Pronger wore an A on his sleeve and following the game in his post-game news conference, he seemed to take on a bit of a leadership role with his comments. He praised Emery's performance while also calling out the penalty takers, saying that it's too taxing to be taking so many penalties and that it has to stop in the future.

Pronger didn't name names, but if you had to guess one player who took a stupid penalty last night, who would it be? That''s right, our old friend Scott Hartnell might not have learned anything in the offseason, as he took a double minor for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct in the first period. Coach John Stevens talked to him about it after the game, and he stressed that Hartnell has to reign in his emotion at times.

Blair Betts, a guy the Flyers could use on the penalty kill, played a fantastic game, and his coach was all praise about his performance.

"[Betts wears] his heart on his sleeve," Stevens said postgame. "He's laying down in front of pucks, putting in extra effort all over the ice. He takes the role very seriously."

He did what he had to do to get noticed, and that's what's important when you're in camp on a try out basis. You need to give it your all and Blair Betts is showing that he wants a spot on this roster. Mark Bell, also in camp on a pro try out basis, played 10 minutes and, as Chris Therien put it on radio, "he seems to be just going through the motions." That's not how you win a roster spot on an NHL team, or even an AHL team for that matter.

Brian Boucher played the third period in net and allowed one goal on 10 shots.

The team is in London, Ontario today to take on the Maple Leafs in what could be a very physical matchup. The puck drops at 7 PM and it's on NHL Network in the US.

Morning Fly By - September 15, 2009

Geoff Detweiler — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:00:22 -0000

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This is something we've been wanting to do for awhile now, so here's the first in what hopefully is a recurring post. The name is up for debate. Any ideas, feel free to let us know. But here are some links to enjoy:

Munkcy from A Clockwork Orange (and Black) did a great job with the Flyers Training Camp roster.

Tim Panaccio has a piece on Mika Pyorala, and it includes the names Timonen, Kapanen, and yes, even Lasse Kukkonen.

Panaccio follows that up with quotes from Joe Frazier. He's quite the dresser these days.

Ryan from Flyers Goal Scored By... shows his displeasure with recent quotes from Mark Bell.

SBN Hockey is kicking off a series of team previews this morning. The 15-day series kicks off today with the Atlanta Thrashers and the Anaheim Ducks (you've gotta love that alphabet). Head over to Bird Watchers Anonymous and Battle of California for all the preseason goodness. From The Rink has the schedule for the whole series as well.

More after the jump...

Andrew from The700level recalls 14 September 2006, the day Keith Primeau retired.

Ryan Bright, author of Phila.bright, has been twittering at training camp for over a week, and he found out Matt Carle is disappointed... that Team USA didn't invite him to their Olympic Camp. Really?

Jonathan Willis - of The Copper & Blue - writes on his other site, Hockey or Die! that Petr Sykora finally found a team willing to invite him to training camp.

Lastly, from the former Flyers department, Donny from LitterBoxCats writes about the addition of Dennis Seidenberg.

Thursday's Here

blurr1974 — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:41:01 -0000

via i249.photobucket.com

Friend of the site, jrwendelman went to a Leafs game, and you'll never guess what broke out.
Is Brian Burke about to make a trade...for someone not named Phil Kessel? TSM heard it through the grapevine.
CBC's Elliot Friedman has a few reasons why taking a stab at Phil Kessel would be a mistake.
The Bruins Blog has the latest on the Leafs vacant captaincy.
From the "where are they now?" file, Mark Bell has been invited to camp by the Flyers.
Eklund is a fraud, in case you didn't know...
In case you haven't heard, Jim Balsille has decided that if he should win in his bid for the Coyotes, he's going to have just the man on board to run that team into the ground.
Take a step back in time, to when hockey was a game of six teams, and Leafs season tickets were still a ten year minimum wait.

Update:

You in Mississauga? Meet Luke Schenn!
Is perception reality? Koopa Kid says...well, find out.
Podcast Pals CT and Forklift give the best and worst case scenarios for the Eastern Conference.

Training Camp Allows for Position Battles

Geoff Detweiler — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:29:40 -0000

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Finally, hockey is upon us. Well, almost.

The Flyers started their rookie camp this week, and the story has already shifted from "Does JVR impress enough to win a spot?" and "Is Patrick Maroon a credible threat to make the opening night roster?" to "Flyers invite two players to camp, both could make team."

The first player - Mark Bell - is possible, but the newest addition - Blair Betts - has an even better chance to make the team. As Ben mentioned in his story earlier, the Flyers have a shortage of wingers and an abundance of centers. But with Tim Panaccio saying Giroux will start as the RW on Carter's line, the line combinations could take any number of turns.

After the jump, some of the possible scenarios.

With Hartnell-Carter-Giroux, the team could very easily return to Gagne-Richards-Briere, as it did at the start of last year. One would figure that Ian Laperriere is guaranteed a spot while Arron Asham, Darroll Powe, and Dan Carcillo have jobs that are theirs to lose. Riley Cote appears to be fighting for his job, with one more forward spot open.

So, for arguments sake, suppose the third line is Carcillo-Powe-Laperriere. If Blair Betts makes the team, the team has a fourth line center and another penalty killer. Cote and Asham could fill the remaining roster spots. Or both Betts and Mark Bell could make the team, leaving Cote without a job.

On its face, Betts seems like a perfect fit for 4th-line center. He had the second most blocked shots among Ranger forwards last year, had a 7:32 giveaway-to-takeaway ratio, averaged 2:59 SHTOI/G, and was tied for fifth best on the Rangers with a 2.39 GAON/60 (would have been 8th best on the Flyers last year). But there are plenty of centers on the Flyers trying to make the team as well.

Does Betts fill out the lineup with Cote keeping his job? If Cote is in fact the odd one out (Maybe it's Asham, Powe, or Carcillo?) will a rookie claim a spot? Does Ross keep the job of 4th line center he occupied in the playoffs? If Betts wins that job, can Ross move to the wing, forcing someone out? Will either Matsumoto or Patrick Maroon crack the NHL? Can Kalinski come back from his injury and earn a spot? Could one of the veteran forwards signed make their way back to the NHL? With so many players fighting for two spots, camp will be very interesting.

And that's only the forwards! Kidding, the back 7 appears set (Kimmo, Pronger, Coburn, Carle, Parent, Jones, and Tollefsen)

If you have answers to these questions or have questions of your own, now's the time to share.

I Keep Trash Bags With Me

Chemmy — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:37:46 -0000

I wanted to make sure visiting Sens fans weren't too intimidated to read the article, so I made a poorly compressed unfunny image to put on top.

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... Never known when you gotta dump a body. Noted optimist eyebleaf alerted me to this article posted on some Ottawa blog: A Brief Look at the Toronto Maple Leafs. We here at PPP Amalgamated Heavy Industries and Kitten Petting Consortium LLC GmbH S.A. believe in equal opportunity team bashing and feel it's our duty as a captain of industry to respond to any and all poorly written articles that are derogatory about God's Team.

The Leafs bashing article starts off with this image which is hysterical if you and your dad both know your sister intimately and use that commonality as a basis for discussion at the dinner table. Be fair though. That the world outside of Ottawa has mostly moved on from insulting people based on their sexual preferences shouldn't cause us to judge their puerile insults harshly; they're misguided and it probably has something to do with the water in Ottawa. We should take pity on their wretched souls.

I despise the city of Toronto, and everything in it.

I hate driving through it. If I'm moving at all, I invariably get stuck behind some putz doing eighty, weaving all over eight lanes of the 401 because he's yammering on his cell phone.

So this guy is swerving over eight lanes of traffic and the author is stuck behind him? Either this guy really sucked at Frogger growing up or he's following some maniac to try and get a glimpse of his newfangled "cellular telephone". Don't worry buddy, mobile phone service will make its way out to Ottawa eventually. (Save your first phone, eventually it'll be cool in an ironic way. We call it the "Zack Morris".)

I hate flying over it. It happens every time. Just as I'm finishing my complimentary stale peanut and seven dollar thimble of Coors Light, the announcement comes: *kshhhht* "Ladies and uhhhhhh...gentlemen, this is your captain. If you'd...uhhhhh...care to look to your left, you'll see the tallest free standing structure in the world, the...uhhhhhh...CN Tower" No, actually, I can't see it. And do you know why I can't see it, you glorified fucking cabbie?? I'M IN AN AISLE SEAT, YOU FUCK!

Apparently Toronto sucks as a city because SLC sits on aisle seats in planes where his legs are cramped up. (N.B. Most people sitting in the aisle on a plane stick their legs into the aisle to use more leg room.) It can be weird leaving your tiny home and travelling to a city full of sights and sounds but if you approach it with an open mind the big city isn't so scary.

The Leafs last won a Stanley Cup in 1967. Since then, they've been a 42 year train wreck of mean, miserly, and hysterically incompetent ownership, interspersed with just enough success to keep a fawning Leaf Nation from finally waking the fuck up and questioning whether maybe, just maybe, there may not be a better way of going about things than grabbing its ankles and begging for more.

This is my favorite game. The Ottawa Senators last won the Stanley Cup in "never", despite one of their players scoring a cup winning goal in 2007. The team the Ottawa Senators stole their name from was wildly successful, winning the Stanley Cup in 1927 and then being moved to St. Louis before being dissolved because no one wanted to see them play. To quote Wikipedia:

Despite finishing in last place for the second year in a row, the Senators actually improved their attendance over the previous season.

Terrible team? Financial trouble? Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, no?

(Dear Leaf Nation: For those of you too young to remember, or otherwise unfamiliar, the Stanley Cup Final is the round that comes after the...ah, fuck it...never mind). The other 2.4% will come from snickering opponents as they dance and whirl around, through and over the Leafs paleolithic defence on the way to yet another power play goal. Sorry Leafers, there really is nothing else behind the curtain.

Courtesy of Excel Emperor daoust:

Regular Season - since 92/93

	W	L	T	OTL	SOL
TOR	610	495	112	36	25
OTT	559	547	115	34	22

Playoffs - since 92/93

	GP	W	L	Series Won
TOR	132	66	66	10
OTT	103	49	54	8

Ottawa will be icing a top six D of Kuba, Phillips, Volchenkov, Lee, Picard and Campoli. I don't need to say anything witty about that.

From Tiger Williams through Nick Kypreos, Tie Domi, Mark Bell, Darcy Tucker, and Gary Fucking Roberts (Yeah, I said it!), the Leafs boast a proud history of cheap shotting, chicken shit cock gobblers who won't hesitate to spear, slew foot, dive, whine, cry, or bleed on cue if it means they won't have to answer for their pussified behaviour on the ice.

Aside from crashing his teammates into trees Dany Heatley loves to kick people, Daniel Alfredsson shoots pucks at the other team after the whistle when his team is getting smeared and as far as not answering for their behavior on the ice I'm pretty sure we all saw Tucker dive into the Sens bench. The Leafs haven't been the wimp team in this rivalry in the past and I doubt they will be in the future either.

Your instinctive reaction to brand anyone born after 1967 who may have had the temerity to develop an affinity toward another Canadian team as Johnny-come-lately traitors worthy of grunted derision betrays that which you fear the most, namely that sooner or later, everyone will realize that the Blue and White isn't some holy flag flying on a crusader's staff, but the colours of a historically mediocre to comically putrid hockey team that will never, ever, win anything ever again.

Historically mediocre? That must be compared to Ottawa who went undefeated from 1934 to 1991 right? Good job adding another gutless lazy floater who's already gone on record saying he wants to retire somewhere else. Alex Kovalev was been born in a Soviet slop trough and even he doesn't want to be in Ottawa.

Off the Post September 3

Conico do Mayo Miracle — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:00:36 -0000

Let's see what's floating around the interwebs, hmmmm?

Plank answers salary cap questions and muses about Phil Kessel.
Fear The Fin's fantasy hockey league is up and running, as well as FTF's Night At The Tank.
Taylor Pyatt, devious s.o.b. that he is, breaks the heart of his one true love, That'll Cheech You, and signs with the ~~Saskatoon~~ Phoenix Coyotes.
Devin Setoguchi will be at the Sharks Store on September 10 from 4:30 to 6:30pm - note the extended time (normally only 90 min.). If you ask nicely he might write "The Gooch," just for you. "Goochy Goochy Goo" is definitely out, however... I've already tried.
Did you say to hell with the economic downturn (and our postseason flameout) and renew your season tickets anyhow? Lucky bastard. (If you have photos, we want to see them)
Former Sharks pugilist (and Californian by birth) Scott Parker is retiring. George Parros' mustache just wept a little.
Speaking of former Sharks, Mark Bell got invited to the Flyers training camp. And the award for the most maladjusted squad in the NHL goes to....
Remember the "Dany Heatley to the Sharks in the next 48 hours" bullshit from the Ottawa Sun? Those 48 hours will turn one month old tomorrow.

Now that Roberto Luongo is inked to 12 years in Vancouver, Nucks Misconduct wonders what will become of Cory Schneider.
With a potential Phoenix relocation in mind, Lighthouse Hockey reminds us of a curious clause in the NHL bylaws.
Glenn Anderson and Tie Domi will be two of the NHLers on a Canadian version of Dancing with the Stars - egad.
NOT HOCKEY = Ever wanted to see Nirvana perform covers of Public Enemy, Megadeth, and Bon Jovi? This is as close as you'll get. Absolutely hilarious.

Someone gives Love a bad name (Hint: Courtney) (via corporalgregg2)

2009 NHL Free Agency / Teams by Cap Space / Unsigned UFA's and RFA's

Robert L — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 19:19:41 -0000

This is a listing of NHL teams by order of remaining cap space as of July 4. The Islanders top the list with approximately $23M left to spend. The Sharks have just under $2M remaining. The list is helpful in determining which team are closest to filling out their 2009-10 lineup. As one can see, there is much work to be done at both ends of the spectrum. The numbers figures are based on totals given by NHL Numbers.com.

1 - New York Islanders: $23.265 (18)

UFA: Andy Hilbert C 28, Dean McAmmond C 36, Mike Sillinger C 38, Thomas Pock D 27, Yann Danis G 28, Joey MacDonald G 29.

RFA: Nate Thompson C 24, Jeremy Colliton C 24, Jamie Fraser D 23, Jack Hillen D 23.

2 - Phoenix Coyotes: $21.972 (18)

UFA: Brian McGrattan R 27, Dmitri Kalinin D 29, Ken Klee D 38.

RFA: Nigel Dawes L 24, Joakim Lindstrom C 25, Enver Lisin R 23, Scottie Upshall R 25, Daniel Winnik C 24, Keith Yandle D 22.

3 - Atlanta Thrashers: $19.599 (15)

RFA: Eric Perrin C 33.

UFA: Kari Lehtonen G 25, Colby Armstrong R 26, Jim Slater C 26, Boris Valabik D 23.

4 - Nashville Predators: $17.913 (16)

UFA: Radek Bonk C 33, Scott Nichol C 34, Greg de Vries D 36.

RFA: Ryan Jones R 25, Antti Pihlstrom L 24,.