SB Nation - Detroit Red Wings

Friday links: Wishing for a home ice win tonight edition

averagejoe — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:00:24 -0000

It's Friday. I can't wait for this week to end.

Blues news

The Oilers vs. Blues tonight. Here's a preview. [CBS Sports]
Ty Conklin has done well as a backup. I'm not used to the Blues having a backup who doesn't make me cringe. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
The Oilers are trying to make history in St. Louis. [Toronto Sun]
Pascal Pelletier is pretty happy to get out of the of Syracuse and into the Blues orgnaization. Also, his eyes are very close together. [Peoria Journal Star]
From the good Dr. (drfrankentweed) comes a nice little article on the Eureka fury, Cam Janssen. [Duffer's Dabbles]

Hockey news

Thursday's results. [Yahoo! Sports]
In case you want to watch something while the Blues are on, here are Friday's games. [Yahoo! Sports]
Fenway Park is being set up to play hockey. Stanley Cup of Chowder has some videos of the set up. [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
Dominik only roots for teams that can't score goals. Outside of John Tavares and Matt Moulsan, the Islanders are having trouble putting the puck in the net. [Lighthouse Hockey]
Dan Cleary will be out for a month after hurting himself against the Blues. [TSN]
Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone are both day-to-day. Gotta love the NHL injury rules. [TSN]
At 51, Slave Fetisov — one of the Russian Red Wings — will play for CSKA Moscow on Friday. And it's not a stunt. The team actually needs him. [TSN]
Pierre LeBrun wants to copy baseball and have Summer meetings for the NHL. [ESPN]

Other links

I'm pretty sure we have some House fans around here. I'm told this is the show in a nutshell. [Pic]

Video

I don't know if this video is supposed to be a commentary about how movie trailers are pointless, but all I can say is I'd see this movie.

Poor College Student has the weekend shift. Send him links at gametimelinks(at)gmail.com

Price / Halak - The Stats - November 2009

Chris Boyle — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:13:39 -0000

What a difference a month makes.

Thirty days ago the Canadiens were in the middle of a goaltending controversy. Jaroslav Halak's agent was NITWITTERING Carey Price's won/loss record, the fanbase had placed the bus in reverse and were attempting to leave a fresh set of treadmarks on Price's back and the Canadiens were plodding through their schedule at .500.

Outside of the Canadiens still flirting with the .500 mark, the attitude regarding the goaltending situation has changed dramatically. Since this article is a retrospective on November, it is heavily weighted towards Price. Halak's one start didn't offer enough of a sample to legitimately track his monthly progress. What began as an even split in October, turned into a clear separation as Price started 11 of 12 games in November, almost rendering the title of this article, and its point, moot for at least the time being. A solid performance by Halak in Ottawa suggest that the busy month of December may tell a different story.

Surprised by the turn this has taken, maybe you shouldn't be. This has been typical of the story that Price has written over the first two and a half seasons of his career. Somehow, instead of the fanbase observing the roller coaster ride from afar, recognizing that as the roller coaster descends, a peak exists for it to climb, they jump on the roller coaster eyes closed screaming for dear life on its mad descents only to extol the virtues of the ride when they disembark.

Should Price struggle in February again, it is likely that the fresh imagery that exists in everybody's minds right now will once again dissipate in a mad panic

Panic in Montreal is generally followed by the rewriting OR ignoring of history. Even with Price's strong November this controversy is not over, it will continue to bubble just below the surface. Should Price struggle in January, the detractors who are silent right now will re-emerge with the same arguments, their memories will once again be wiped clean. While the starting goaltender in Montreal is one of the most heavily scrutinized positions in sports, the easiest may be the backup goaltender in Montreal. The backup's flaws are always concealed under the their baseball caps, their past transgressions completely ignored. This will never change.

At Eyes On The Prize, we continue try to look past the surface level blame and analyze what is really going on. This month we will compare Price's performance in November to October and also look back and try to clarify the factors that contribute to a team based stat like a win / loss record and how it relates to Price and Halak.

One of the main arguments against Price in October was his inability to win games. With Halak sporting a 5-2 record and Price at 2-5, the most simplistic argument was "Price doesn't make the big saves when he needs to" and "Halak wins games". That argument ignored plenty of factors, most importantly that wins are a team based stat.

While perusing the internet I came across an interesting perspective at Brodeur is a Fraud. While trying to debunk the myth of Brodeur's career, he came up with an interesting statistic that he refers to as Win Threshold. It essentially projects out what a goaltender would have had to do to earn a point (.500) by including the teams performance in front of him. In a 3-1 victory, the assumption would be that to earn a point the goaltender would have to allow no more than 3 goals. Inversely, in a 3-1 loss the goaltender would need to have allowed no more than 1 goal.

We can calculate what I'll call the "win threshold" for the goalies on each team by taking (shots against - goals for) / shots against. This gives us the save percentage that would result in the team ending up with an equal number of goals for and goals against over the course of the season. If the goalie's save percentage is above that number, the team is likely to win more than the lose, while anything below the threshold means that the team should end up sub -.500 (or sub -.550 in the shootout era).

This simple statistic beautifully illustrates the career of Chris Osgood AND his playoff run that allowed the media to begin the "Chris Osgood is a Hall of Famer" nonsense.

In 2008-09, Detroit's win threshold was .873, which was the lowest in the league. The Islanders' win threshold was .928, which was not only the highest mark in the league but also the highest of any team since the lockout......Naturally, comparing win totals on goalies playing on the Islanders to goalies playing on the Red Wings is completely senseless.

Using this as a starting point, I compared how this statistic affected goalies on the same team. Was the Canadiens offense responsible for Halak's inflated win total, or was it his superior goaltending? What would Price have had to do to compensate for the woeful offense in front of him? Was it that Halak was receiving an easier ride?

(Let me preface this by stating that this is judging wins and wins alone. If a goaltender was fantastic and had a .960 SV%, but only needed to produce a .895 SV%, it is not devaluing his performance, only stating that his margin for error was very high. I also understand that early saves can keep a team in a period. Teams play to the score and loosen up when they are up big and that some goals are scored late in a game and alter the margin for the threshold. It is obvious that providing replacement value will never replicate the actual performance that history has provided. This theory is being used only to illustrate that wins are a team statistic and that they are heavily influenced by not only what you save, but what offense your team provides).

To put this in perspective, the league average in save percentage is .910.

In order for Price to gain the majority of his wins, he has had to offer above average goaltending.
His margin for error was slim and when he failed to balance on the high wire, he was open to criticism.
A .915 save percentage is currently good to place 20th in the league.

Halak on the other hand was allowed to navigate with a greater margin of error. He only needed to offer a save percentage of .865 to register his 5 victories. Vesa Toskala's save percentage on the season is .863. So any goaltender slightly more competent than Toskala MAY have registered a similar number of victories as Halak.

Both goaltenders would have had to provide Hall of Fame type performances to avoid the majority of their losses.

How would those statistics translate if you offered up average replacement value? If Jimmy Howard and his .910 SV% replaced Price and Halak, the Canadiens would be in deep trouble. The Canadiens would likely be in the hunt for Taylor Hall, not talking about the importance of their December schedule.

Looking at Price's losses below, it is unlikely that an average goaltender makes any impact on his losses, hell, it's unlikely that Roberto Luongo would have made much of a difference.

Price's threshold in his 11 losses is a SV% of 0.944 and a GAA of 1.69. Numbers that would place him above Ryan Miller as the number one goaltender in the league. Six of those starts would have required a .940+ SV% just to procure a shootout. If the team continues to struggle offensively to this capacity, then it is going to require Jose Theodore 2002 MVP type performances to drag them into the playoffs. With Price and Halak entering their RFA season, THAT is a scary and expensive thought.

You would think with Halak's lack of activity in November, that his stat line would remain unchanged, but with only an 8 game sample, one strong start against the Flames resulted in an 11 point improvement on his save percentage and lopping 1/5th of a goal off his goals against average. In October, Price statistically lagged behind in all the major categories, but with a strong month has lessened the paper gap between himself and Halak. I made the argument in October that Price had a higher ceiling, but was prone to wild swings of inconsistency and the 2009 season has proven that out so far.

Through two months, what has been proven, is that the Canadiens goaltending is in good hands. With the transition of turning over half the team, and the numerous injuries to key personnel, the fact the team came through November at .500 is miraculous. At this moment, Halak's consistency offers the perfect compliment to Price, but due to the idiotic actions of his agent (Halak, Halak it a lot?), it is clear that Halak is eyeing a starting assignment, and will not likely find that in Montreal. You may be reading "Price / Sanford: the numbers" by ~~March~~ December. (note: as I am writing this, Sportsnet has reported that Halak has been placed on the trading block).

The fact that I can even mention a 2002 Theodore-like season is based on the strong November showing by Price. Playing behind an injury ravaged defense that produced roughly the same amount of shots as the previous month, from roughly the same areas, Price's numbers improved across the board. Price also managed to avoid a major meltdown like the Vancouver game, as well as producing a couple of 40+ shot gems against the Bruins and Predators.

With Halak pushing Price for the starting job in October, by all accounts Price responded to the challenge with hard work, which resulted in plenty of positive signs over the last month. With hard work Price's confidence level soared and his return to a hybrid style has allowed his athleticism to re-surface, because of this, Price managed to produce some miraculous saves during November. His patience has also been on display, particularly in shootouts and breakaways where once again he is using his huge frame to his advantage and refusing to commit before the shooter. With his gap control improving, he has been extremely hard to beat in 1 on 1 situations. This is a huge improvement on the tentative approach he used in late 2008-09. Add in his aggressive puck handling and his tenacity in battling to track the puck and the hope in Montreal is that Price has begun turning the corner.

Price's save percentage's also improved in almost every category in November, with his biggest improvement coming in shorthanded situations where his save percentage improved by over .200. His woefully low special teams percentage in October masked the fact that he was producing an elite level even strength percentage. With an improvement to mediocre powerplay standards, Price's statistics all experienced a significant jump across the board.

The question remains, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Did the Canadiens penalty kill improve in November because of Price, or did Price's numbers improve because of the penalty kill? Halak did not suffer the same special teams meltdown. Could that have had anything to do with the power of the opposition, or his own play?

With so many new faces and the loss of Markov, it is no surprise that the PK got off to a slow start. With the return of O'Byrne and Gill and the emergence of White and Pyatt, the October implosion by Price should be avoidable moving forward.

Interesting to note if Price had managed to produce an .878 powerplay SV% in October, his overall SV% would have improved from .889 to .920.

Price and Halak continue to get bombarded by shots and the Canadiens have once again regressed into becoming over reliant on goaltending to win hockey games. With the early season injury to the Canadiens best player (Markov in 2010, Koivu in 2002) and the continual 30+ shot barrages, this season is becoming eerily reminiscent of the 2002 season when Theodore needed to provide the difference every night.

With Price's numbers improving in November, the assumption would be that the Canadiens settled down and began to limit shots and scoring opportunities. The Canadiens actually surrendered an extra two shot attempts per game. Price still is averaging over a shot attempt against per minute on the ice, a trend that will either lead to a statistical regression or an MVP award.

In 8 of his 11 starts in November, Price faced 30+ shots, including a team record tying 53 saves against the Predators and a 42 save gem that was seconds short of his 1st shutout of the season. Only once in his 11 games did he have less than 50 shots directed at him. Price continued to excel on shots outside of 20+ feet as he only allowed 7 of 257 shots to beat him. His SV% below 20' feet

Price offered up plenty of spectacular saves in November, but also had some concentration lapses that resulted in some questionable goals, something that had been absent from his game in October (only 5 of 25 came in as questionable, with zero registering at fault). Although his statistics drastically improved over the month of November, with the Canadiens lack of scoring ability (25th in the NHL) and his unbelievably tough win threshold (see above), his margin for error was slim. This can be witnessed by his 0-4 record in the 4 games I credited a bad goal. In two of the games (Detroit and Atlanta) the margin of victory was one goal, the other two (Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh) were decided by two goals. As he matures, these goals should occur less frequently allowing him to become even more of a game changing player. He isn't yet ready to carry a team, but it seems the Canadiens have given him little to no choice in the matter presently.

Looking at the zones where Price has given up goals, his glove hand continues to be much maligned even though he has only been beaten high glove side 11 times through November (11/53). The reason for the questions lies in the amount of bad goals high glove side. Out of the 12 goals categorized as suspect or bad, 6 have been high glove side, making it much easier to understand AND defend the criticism.

Looking at his November chart also gives the impression that he is very vulnerable low stick side, but looking at the video below shows that a lot of those goals came as the result of cross ice passes in which Price was not able to square up and were the result of him in transition. A small concern for me through two months has been his vulnerability through the 5-hole, an area he has not been able to cover with his stick either in transition or static and squared up.

Goals deemed questionable or bad are marked in bold.

26. Rich Peverley feeds it in front and it deflects off Bryan Little by a moving Price beating him 5-hole. 10 ft.
27. Pass from behind the net to a wide open Peverley in the slot, snaps a shot by Price low-stick side. 14 ft
28. Point shot by Mark Popovic that knuckles by Carey Price beating him high glove side. 59 ft.
29. 5 on 4 PP. Cross crease feed to a wide-open Pavel Kubina who directs it pass Price into an empty net. 5 ft.
30. Kane cross crease pass to a wide open Colby Armstrong who beats Price low stick side. 8 ft.
31. 6 on 5. Point shot. Price makes the initial stop, Patrice Bergeron rebound beats Price low-stick side. 5 ft.
32. 5 on 4 PP. Scramble. Price makes 2 saves but cannot stop Ryan Malone as he beats him five-hole. 11 ft.
33. Price, big rebound and Alex Tanguay alone, chips it over Price beating him high glove side. 14 ft.
34. 2 on 1. Scramble. Wright beats Gorges to the puck and slides it into an empty net. 6 ft.
35. Price highsticked in the throat by Mara falls down leaving an open net. Robert Lang puts it top shelf. 15 ft.
36. Point shot wide deflects into an open net off Bissonnette's skate beating Price low glove side. 12 ft.
37. Price makes initial save, Steve Sullivan all alone finishes off his rebound beating Price 5-hole. 7 ft
38. 5 on 3 PP. Point shot stopped, Sullivan at the side of the net beats Price low stick side. 14 ft.
39. Odd man rush, cross ice feed to the slot. Brandon Sutter chips it over Price, high glove side. 14 ft.
40. 3 one 2, cross ice feed one timed by Jussi Jokinen beats Price low glove side. 32 ft.
41. Eric Fehr snaps a shot from the face-off dot beating Price high-glove side. 25 ft.
42. Morrison takes a pass in front and moves opposite to Price's momentum beating him low glove side. 6 ft.
43. 5 on 4 PP. Brad Stuart point shot handcuffs Price and trickles in. 55 ft.
44. 5 on 3 PP. Brian Rafalski point pass tipped home by Pavel Datsyuk at the side of the net. 12 ft.                         45. Nash behind the net finds Vermette who one-times it past Price beating him high blocker side. 11 ft.
46. 5 on 4 PP. Rick Nash centers it, Stralman cheating off the point beats Price low blocker side. 24 ft.
47. 5 on 4 PP. Antoine Vermette's shot stopped, rebound back to him, beats Price low blocker side. 20 ft.
48. Sidney Crosby snap shot from the top of the faceoff circle beating Price high glove side. 38 ft.
49. Bill Guerin from the corner. Price makes initial save, doesn't hold the post as he beats him 5-hole. 8 ft.
50. Crosby with a beautiful pass to a streaking Sergei Gonchar who beats Price 5-hole all alone. 8 ft.
51. Point shot deflected in front by Brooks Laich beats Price low blocker side. 18 ft.
52. Alex Ovechkin one timer from the top of the faceoff circle beats Price low blocker side. 38 ft.
53. 6 on 4 PP. Price stops a one-timer by Ovechkin, Fehr slides home the rebound beating Price 5-hole. 10 ft.

The November verdict: You have to be encouraged by the performance of Price and Halak through November and the improved penalty kill is a positive sign and a factor in Price's improved numbers. The volume of shots and scoring opportunities remain a major concern. In October I preached patience because of the integration of 10-12 players and the introduction of a new system. With injuries creating a revolving door of players it is likely that this team has still not properly gelled. The Canadiens have fallen into a pattern of struggling to produce offense and relying on Price and Halak to bail them out, and this is a dangerous game to play with developing goaltenders. They have been able to provide some fantastic results through November, but if this continues they will struggle to make the playoffs. To provide room for improvement moving forward, the goaltenders get a B+ for November.

To view the October Price / Halak analysis, click here.

Cleary out for up to four weeks...great

MrNorrisTrophy — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 18:43:05 -0000

More photos » by Paul Vernon - AP

7 months ago: Detroit Red Wings' Dan Cleary celebrates his goal against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the first period of a first-round NHL hockey playoff game Thursday, April 23, 2009, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)

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As if those players already sitting in the stands weren't enough, add forward Dan Cleary to that group. Cleary will join Johan Franzen, Niklas Kronwall, Jason Williams, Valtteri Filppula, and Andreas Lilja on the injured list. Cleary separated his shoulder in last night's 1-0 loss to the Blues and is expected to miss a month at the most of the season.

Here's pretty much what this will mean for the Red Wings until either Cleary or Filppula returns:

1. No call ups will be made (according to Babcock) so everyone available will play
1a. An injury to a forward within that time span will likely result in a call up but don't expect one for insurance
1b. If there is another injury not only will I assuredly curse, we could POSSIBLY see Tomas Tatar called up. Unlikely but he has shown in a short amount of time that he is an explosive scorer. Don't bank on it but don't be surprised either.

2. Dan Cleary is invaluable to this team. Sure he doesn't put up the offensive numbers to warrant the same respect of a Marian Gaborik or Evgeni Malkin but he's a huge part of this offense by positioning himself very well, passing at the right times, and having a pretty good shot. Along with the offense, he is a crucial defender and is probably the third best defending forward that the Wings have.

3. Cleary's 7 goals and 16 points will surely be missed but it may mean that Ville Leino will have to produce in the absence and can improve his game while playing on the second line in Cleary's spot.

Hopefully Cleary will be back sooner rather than later but that void is going to be hard to fill with the lack of production from a lot of guys that were expected to be big time secondary players on this team.

Ty Conklin, Blues shut out Red Wings 1-0

joehass — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:31:10 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Ty Conklin stops a Tomas Homstrom shot. Conklin made 42 saves for the shut-out victory.

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During the offseason, the Detroit Red Wings made the decision to go with Jimmy Howard as the goalie of the future, releasing Ty Conklin who signed with the St. Louis Blues. Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena, the former goalie of the future bested the current one.

Brad Boyes scored just 1:56 into the first period, and the red lights would remain off the rest of the night as the Blues shut out the Red Wings 1-0. On a night when the Red Wings had 42 shots on goal and another 43 attempts on net, Conklin stood on his head.

For a Detroit team that has been struggling all season long with putting the puck into the net, tonight's game became a painful reminder of their struggles. Henrik Zetterberg had 11 shot attempts, including seven shots. Pavel Datsuyk had 10 shot attempts. Only three skaters didn't have at least one shot on net (Brett Lebda, Brad May, and Kris Draper).

On his goal, McDonald moved the puck out from behind Jimmy Howard to his left. He passed it out to Carlo Colaiacovo between the faceoff dots. Colaiacovo spotted an open Brad Boyes about 20 feet out, who put it past Howard for his eighth of the season. It would be the only blemish on Howard's record, but it's the only one the Blues needed.

The Red Wings will have an off day before the Anaheim Ducks make their second visit to Joe Louis Arena this season.

Player of the game: Jimmy Howard. Howard's only goal allowed was more of a defensive failure than a goaltending one, but on most nights, that's the kind of performance that should garner a W instead of an L.

Pre-game thoughts/news: Blues @ Wings

MrNorrisTrophy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:48:26 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

BYAH!

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Finally game day is here after a long wait since Sunday's win over the Rangers. Here's a few things to look at heading into tonight's game:

Ville Leino will sit again tonight with Brad May/Drew Miller/Patrick Eaves filling his spot. I have absolutely no objection to this. When you are unable to produce points you have to be able to provide something else to keep your spot in the lineup and Leino simply isn't cutting it. He isn't producing many points and is sometimes a liability defensively. May, Miller, or Eaves all have the ability to play a tough physical game or provide a lot of energy through speed but Leino is often the one receiving hits and lagging behind.
Justin Abdelkader, the resident Napoleon Dynamite look-a-like, will play some shifts centering the second line tonight. Alongside him will be Dan Cleary and Todd Bertuzzi as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are with Tomas Holmstrom again tonight. Abdelkader has earned this spot I think. It would be stupid to break up Draper-Helm-Eaves and Babcock knows that. Abdelkader provides a lot of hits to an already physical line and has a lot skills (hence Napoleon Dynamite reference again) that don't show up in the stat column.
Jimmy Howard's going to start in net again tonight. I like this matchup because of how he has been playing over the past few games. Sure, he hit a speed bump against Edmonton but he's 7-3-0 in his last 10 with one of the losses being the Brad May non-goal against Dallas game and the other being the brilliant night at the other end by Ondrej Pavelec. Howard should have some continued success against a St. Louis team that is averaging 2.39 goals/game, second worst in the league.
Matchup of the night: Pavel Datsyuk vs. St. Louis defense. This defense is tough and hits a lot but we all know the magic Pavel can work at any given moment. I look for him to continue to crawl out of his slump whether its in the goal column or dishing out his exceptional passes.
Brad May fight predictor: 2nd period, Cam Janssen.
Predicted scorer(s): Dan Cleary, Nick Lidstrom (FINALLY), and Tomas Holmstrom

Sawchuk

Bruce McCurdy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:30:13 -0000

Terry Sawchuk as he appeared in the March 4, 1966 issue of Life magazine. In a horrifying prequel to Gerry Cheevers' famous "scar mask", the real life scars accumulated by Sawchuk over twelve NHL seasons before he donned facial protection in 1962, have been touched up by a make-up artist to make it appear that all had occurred within a single ugly season. The brooding eyes, however, are all Sawchuk.

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Six attackers, frantic to even the score,
the rink tips, bodies piling onto me. Ferguson
hacks my bad elbow, his look says, Here’s bone for your jar.
Hooks my feet from under me, lands on my legs. I punch
at the back of his head and get this whiff of hair cream.
All of this in silence. Nothing personal,
though there may be memories
"Next Time" by Randall Maggs,
from Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems (Brick Books, 2008)

It's probably yet another sign of my advancing years, but when a major record gets tied or broken I always like to reflect on the guy who set the existing standard. In a perfect world the heroes past and present meet at centre ice to congratulate each other, as Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe did in Northlands Coliseum when the Great One smashed Mister Hockey's career points record 20 years ago this fall.

Alas, Terry Sawchuk lived in an imperfect world, and he died in it, two years before the man who would break his most famous record was even born. Today, as Martin Brodeur shares the record that Sawchuk had held alone for almost 46 years, let's reflect on the man who first reached the staggering total of 103 career shutouts. Brodeur will have other days in the limelight; Sawchuk likely won't.

The NHL was half of its current age in the 1963-64 season when Sawchuk surpassed the previous standard, the 94 clean sheets of the great depression-era goalie George Hainsworth. That winter I was a much tinier fraction of my current age, taking in my first full NHL season, and Hockey Night in Canada was appointment viewing, no matter whether my Maple Leafs or the hated Canadiens were playing. My allegiances to American teams and players flipped like a switch depending on which Canadian team they were playing. It so happened that the record-setting game occurred on a Saturday night in the Montreal Forum, so I was unabashedly rooting for Terry Sawchuk when it happened...

Sawchuk loved to torment the Habs, the team he beat in the Finals for all four of his Stanley Cups. Earlier that season he had equalled the mark of Hainsworth, a former Canadien, in a memorable game against Montreal in the Detroit Olympia. Sawchuk made 39 saves in a 3-0 shutout, but played second fiddle to Gordie Howe, whose shorthanded marker in the second period was the 545th of his legendary career, eclipsing the career record of the most famous Canadien of all, Rocket Richard.

Sawchuk and Hainsworth poised together atop the leader board for ten long weeks as Sawchuk battled physical problems and Detroit's latest netminding phenom, Roger Crozier, posted a couple of shutouts in various cameos. On Sat. Dec. 28, 1963, in a televised game at the Forum, Sawchuk nursed a 1-0 lead into the last three minutes before Bobby Rousseau scored a late powerplay goal to earn a 1-1 tie and disappoint us Hab-haters yet again. I remember being upset with the ref who called the late penalty on Detroit rearguard Marcel Pronovost, as well as at the Hab-lovin' host, the odious Frank Selke Jr., who had applied the jinx by constantly mentioning the "SO" word in the game's late stages. Whatever, the record would have to wait.

Well I figured that was it for my chance to see an important record, and like Howe's goal it would probably happen stateside in some game I would hear about on the radio the next morning. Well wouldn't you know it would be just three weeks later that the Wings again visited the Forum to take on the first-place Habs in another nationally-televised game. The record was still on the line, as Selke Jr. reminded us a little more circumspectly this time, and Sawchuk was not to be denied. He was in command throughout and again kept that big 0 on the board into the late stages. A last-minute penalty, again to Pronovost, caused a few anxious moments but ultimately the masked marvel was unbeatable against 36 Montreal shots and had a 2-0 shutout to prove it. A budding young goalkeeper myself, I thrilled to see my first major record set by a custodian of the cord cottage.

At the time I knew about the "how many" -- 95 -- but had little idea about the "how". How Terry Sawchuk was born in the dead of winter in Winnipeg, two months into the Great Depression. How he had lost both of his older brothers to premature deaths in childhood. How he had suffered in silence a serious elbow injury whose improper healing resulted in his right (stick) arm being two inches shorter than his glove side. How he had gone to work in a foundry at 14. How he had been rookie of the year in two minor professional leagues, convincing "Trader Jack" Adams to make room for the young phenom by trading away Harry Lumley, a future Hall of Famer and current Stanley Cup champion. How he won a third rookie award, the Calder Trophy, in his first year with the Red Wings in 1950-51. How Adams had insisted Sawchuk lose 40 pounds after that rookie season, a process that saw the previously-affable young man become sullen and remote. How he had taken the league by storm in his first five seasons, leading the NHL in Wins each year, posting a rock-steady GAA between 1.90 and 1.99 along with 9-12 shutouts in each of those seasons. How the Wings had finished in first place each of those seasons and won three Stanley Cups. How his face, and his back, had taken a cruel beating due to his unique "gorilla crouch" and his unflinching desire to stop every puck. How he had been cast aside at the caprice of Jack Adams in a blockbuster trade/salary dump in the summer of 1955, another Hall of Famer and current Stanley Cup champion traded for "magic beans" to lowly Boston to make room for yet another young phenom, Glenn Hall (who had himself won a "league-cup double" with Detroit's top farm club, the Edmonton Flyers). How this betrayal had embittered him, leading to a nervous breakdown and drinking problems that persisted for the rest of his life. How Adams had traded yet another phenom and Flyers star, forward Johnny Bucyk, to Boston to recover Sawchuk for a second term with the Wings. How both the team and its star goalie had faded from dominant to merely very good as first Montreal, then Toronto ruled the roost. How he played with pain in the one-goalie era and how he struggled with injury, including three operations on his right elbow, an appendectomy, a broken instep, a collapsed lung, ruptured discs in his back, severed tendons in his hand, and countless facial injuries resulting in an estimated 400-600 stitches. How the shutout rate had slowed from a double-digit torrent to a merely respectable stream of 3-5 per season, but how year after year the total continued to mount into Hainsworth territory. How Sawchuk burned with the shame of being traded, of being merely one of the best goalies in the league, of the losing that inevitably ended every season. How Terry Sawchuk drank, and how he raged.

By 1963-64 the face was covered but no mask could hide those blazing eyes. That season would be his last in Detroit, as he guided his team within a fluke Bob Baun goal of a surprise Cup but didn't win it. Not that that would have saved him given the club's history. That fall Sawchuk wound up with "my" Leafs in Toronto, where he formed half of a venerable tandem that included the ageless Johnny Bower. For the next three seasons I watched both men as intently as is possible for a young wannabe goaltender to do. All on TV, unfortunately; to my regret I never did see Terry Sawchuk live. But I got an eyeful over the airwaves.

Terry Sawchuk was a "gamer". His work habits were so poor that teammate Dave Keon described his practice net as being so full of pucks it looked like a coal bin. He didn't care, unless and until practice ended with a shootout with money on the line. But come game time he battled with everything he had, bringing a nasty edge that might go off at any time on an opponent, a referee, a fan. The closest modern goalie to him in my opinion is Ed Belfour.

In his first year in Toronto Sawchuk and Bower split duties equally and became the first tandem to share the Vezina Trophy, then the equivalent of the modern Jennings Trophy (fewest GA), the fourth of Sawchuk's career. Two years later the duo shared another, sweeter fourth, as both would win their fourth and most improbable Stanley Cup. First order of business occurred late in the regular season as Sawchuk posted his milestone 100th shutout, in another Hockey Night in Canada affair that it was my privilege to watch. That night Sawchuk's victims were the Chicago Black Hawks, on their way to a league record for goals but held off the sheet by the venerable shutout master on this night.

It seemed unlikely at the time, but that game foreshadowed the playoffs where Sawchuk contributed 6 of Toronto's 8 wins, allowing just 5 goals in those wins but, paradoxically, recording no shutouts in the process. Five one-goal games and the greatest job of relief goaltending I've ever seen, in which Sawchuk replaced an injured Bower after the first period of Game 5 at hostile Chicago Stadium, series tied 2-2, game tied 2-2. For the next 40 minutes the powerful Hawks peppered Sawchuk with 37 shots, some 14 of them by Bobby Hull, but nary a one found a crack in his armour. 5 times the awesome Hawks powerplay (Bobby Hull, Dennis Hull, Phil Esposito, Stan Mikita, Kenny Wharram, Doug Mohns, Pierre Pilote) got an opportunity, and 5 times it was denied by the masked man's magic. The Leafs popped a couple of third-period markers against the flow of play and stole away with a 4-2 victory. Three nights later Sawchuk would flummox the Hawks one final time, this time by a 3-1 count, and the Prince of Wales Trophy winners and record-breaking Stanley Cup favourites were down for the count.

That set the stage for an all-Canadian Stanley Cup Finals, utterly appropriate in Centennial Year. To a Leaf-lovin' Hab-hatin' Canadian boy of eleven, that series meant everything: the only two possible outcomes were joy and despair. After Sawchuk got smoked in Game 1, Bower became the early series hero with a shutout and a thrilling 60-save, double-overtime win, but reaggravated his injury and was lost for the series. Into the breach once more stepped Sawchuk, and after getting lit up a second time in Game 4 he bounced back with a pair of goaltending gems as the Leafs toppled the mighty Habs 4-1 and 3-1 to take the Cup. Sawchuk ended his Jekyll-and-Hyde playoff run with a record of 0-4, 5.33 on Thursdays and 6-0, 0.82 on the other days of the week. His overall stats were middling (6-4, 2.65 GAA) enough that he got overlooked for the Conn Smythe, but he could well have won it on the strength of the several individual games that he stole.

That was the last hurrah. That fall the NHL expanded to twelve teams and both Terry Sawchuk and the Stanley Cup left Toronto forever. The aging great found himself in Los Angeles for a year, where he posted 2 more shutouts, the 19th consecutive season he had recorded at least one whitewash. After that came a third tour of duty in Detroit (just 13 GP) and then a final season at age 40 in New York backing up Eddie Giacomin. Just 8 GP, but in one of them Sawchuk recorded his 500th NHL victory (regular season and playoffs), and in another he posted his 103rd and last shutout, setting a standard that I frankly thought would never be approached let alone equalled and, presumably, broken.

That spring Terry Sawchuk died. The story has never been entirely clear, but he had a blow-up with his teammate and roommate Ron Stewart over some unpaid bills. Punches were thrown, and Sawchuk reportedly fell into a barbecue pit, injuring himself seriously. He was hospitalized for some weeks before news filtered out of his sudden passing from liver complications.

Although his death somewhat mirrored the celebrated in-career passings of famous netminders Georges Vezina and Charlie Gardiner, in more ways it resembled that of Howie Morenz who was facing the end of the line square in the face when he just let go and died. As Morenz was born to skate, Terry Sawchuk was born to tend goal. When he finally reached his "best before" date, he simply expired.

Wednesday Links: Pretending the game tonight is in Sweden edition

averagejoe — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 11:00:21 -0000

by Tom Gannam - AP

Listen Polak, the puck goes in the net, not the player. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

View full size photo »

All games are exciting, but games against the Red Wings carry that little something extra. That something? Pure, unfiltered hate. I won't be wearing anything red tomorrow. Let's go Blues.

Blues news

For your viewing pleasure: Blues vs. Wings. Tonight. Hopefully, there will be blood. [CBS Sports]
Unreal: "You get a chance and you start thinking about it and trying to pick a spot. That's when you get into trouble." -- Brad Boyes about the Blues struggling offense. Shockingly, the team is going to try putting the puck ON net tonight. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
Columbus and the Blues made a trade yesterday. In case you missed it, the Blues have acquired the new Trent Whitfield. Odds Pascal Pelletier even sniffs this NHL this year? [Belleville News-Democrat]
Kick-ass read on Wendy Pleau and her battle with cancer. Only downside to this argument, I kind of think less of Larry Pleau. How do you not know how to use the microwave or washing machine? Come on, man. [ESPN]

Scouting the Enemy

Detroit forward Valtteri Filppula got his wrist cast off, but is still a few weeks away from coming back. [Freep]
Even though he's a Wing, I gotta admit Justin Abdelkader has a cool name. He's playing a bigger role for the Wings. Oh and Ville Leino will be scratched tonight. [MLive]
To find more about the Wings, feel free to check out Winging it in Motown. If you want to fit in, just say things like "Steve Yzerman is a god." or "Our goaltending sucks." Or, you could just say nothing at all since that seems to be the norm over there. [Winging It In Motown]

Hockey news

Results from Tuesday. [Yahoo! Sports]
Oh, Wednesday is another full slate of games. [Yahoo! Sports]
In an investigation that won't change shit, Marc Savard' contract is being looked at by the NHL. Just like Chris Pronger and Marian Hossa before him. What happened to those guys? [Stanley Cup of Chowder]
The Hurricanes Cam Ward is back. [ESPN]
Montreal forward Ryan White was called up from the AHL, but the Canadiens didn't report it properly forcing his removal from the game. [ESPN]
Team Canada (hockey) will be announced on Dec. 30. [CTV Olympics]
Brendan Witt is a bad, bad man. [Puck Daddy]

Other links

I have a good friend whose facebook updates 80 percent of the time about how awesome he is. He is, a facebrager. [facebraggers]
MTV has a new show called "Jersey Shore" that has some of the most incredible (and not in a good way) people. Anyway, apparently (I don't watch the show) the characters all have some stupid nickname. If I were on this site, my name would be DJ Douchebag. What's yours? [Unlikely Words]

Video

This video is simply amazing. This is sexism at its finest, and by the I mean holy shit is this sexist.

Bonus video

Anyone know the weather forecast for tonight in Detroit?

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com. I'll be working tonight so I won't be at the GDT, but you guys should still kick ass without me.

Did you find the hidden message in today's links?

December 8 :: Numbers and Awards

mpetrella — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:25:56 -0000

More photos » by Paul J. Bereswill - AP

Even in a draft-centric team re-creation, here's your backup goaltender. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bereswill)

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Much is made of the Red Wings' ability to built a championship team while never selecting very high in the draft (**cough**Pittsburgh**cough**). People point to Jonathan Ericsson (the 291st and final selection of the 2002 Draft), Henrik Zetterberg (210th in 1999), and Tomas Holmstrom (257th in 1994) are glowing examples of a draft science that has been perfected by the organization. Sometimes, they pick up guys that haven't lived up to their draft pick, like Dan Cleary and Patrick Eaves, but have you ever wondered what the Red Wings would look like if the team was formed -- and the line combinations were made -- based solely on their draft selection? Well, it would look like this:

Cleary (13) -- May (14) -- Bertuzzi (23)
Eaves (29) -- Ferraro (32) -- Emmerton (41)
Abdelkader (42) -- Tatar (60) -- Draper (62)
D. Axelsson (62) -- Maltby (65) -- Nestrasil (75)
TOP CALL-UPS: Joakim Andersson (88), Valtteri Filppula (95), Johan Franzen (97)

Stuart (3) -- Kindl (19)
B. Smith (27) -- Kronwall (29)
Lidstrom (53) -- Lilja (54)
TOP CALL-UPS: Doug Janik (55), Gleason Fournier (90), Max Nicastro (91)

McCollum (30)
Osgood (54)
TOP CALL-UPS: Jimmy Howard (64), Daniel Larsson (92)

AFTER THE JUMP, some more numbers and award updates

Justin Abdelkader is going to get the opportunity to center the second line against the Blues, but he's the only Red Wing faceoff-taker with a percentage below 50 (minimum 100 faceoffs). He's currently winning only 42.8% of his draws.

The Red Wings have only scored the first goal of a game ten times this season, with Tomas Holmstrom and Dan Cleary each netting that goal twice. Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Kris Draper, Brad Stuart, Drew Miller, and Justin Abdelkader each have the distinction once.

Kris Draper and Niklas Kronwall co-lead the team in goals against division opponents (3 each). Henrik Zetterberg and Tomas Holmstrom co-lead in goals against opponents from other divisions (9 each). Henrik Zetterberg leads the team in points at home (16) and on the road (14).

The only players to have negative +/- both at home and on the road are Dan Cleary, Derek Meech, Brett Lebda, and Todd Bertuzzi. On the contrary, the only players to be positive both at home and on the road are Kris Draper, Patrick Eaves, Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Kirk Maltby is the only Red Wing with a point while shorthanded -- an unassisted goal.

Justin Abdelkader leads the way with 78 hits, followed by Brad Stuart (75), Darren Helm (73), Dan Cleary (50) and Patrick Eaves (50).

CHRIS CHELIOS AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings defensemen with the fewest goals scored in the most games played. The player must have played in at least 3/4 of the team's games. The award is named for Chris Chelios, who scored 23 goals in his final EXACTLY 600 games as a Red Wing (regular season and playoffs).*
1. Nicklas Lidstrom (1 goal in 29 games)
2. Brett Lebda (1 goal in 26 games)
3. Brad Stuart (2 goals in 29 games)
4. Brian Rafalski (2 goals in 26 games)
5. Jonathan Ericsson (3 goals in 27 games)

DANNY CLEARY "SACRAFICE YOUR FACE" AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most blocked shots. Award is named for Dan Cleary, who is used to becoming synonymous with "black eye" and/or "broken jaw."*
1. Darren Helm (20)
2. Danny Cleary (15)
3. Henrik Zetterberg (14)
4. Pavel Datsyuk (13)
5. Justin Abdelkader (9)

DEREK MEECH AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wing with the most games spent in the press box. Award is named for Derek Meech, who was a healthy scratch 35 times last season.*
1. Derek Meech (15)
2. Brad May (8)
3. Patrick Eaves (7)
4. Kirk Maltby (5)
5. Brett Lebda (3)

GREG STEFAN AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings goaltender that makes you question how they're in the NHL and you aren't. Award is named for Greg Stefan, who played nine seasons for the Red Wings, but only three that had a goals against average under 4.*
1. Chris Osgood (6-5-4, 2.75, .896)
2. Jimmy Howard (8-5-1, 2.55, .910)

MIKAEL SAMUELSSON AWARD Update
*Given at the year's end to the Red Wings forward with the most shots to miss the net. Award is named for Mikael Samuelsson, who literally must have been aiming for the 11th row.*
1. Henrik Zetterberg (52)
2. Todd Bertuzzi (29)
3. Tomas Holmstrom (28)
4. Ville Leino (27)
5. Pavel Datsyuk (21)

PAST AWARD WINNERS
Patrick Eaves Goodfellas Award: Patrick Eaves (last player to be penalized)
Aaron Downey Award: Derek Meech (last player to score a goal)

Brodeur ties Sawchuk

MrNorrisTrophy — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:19:49 -0000

View full size photo »

Last night, Martin Brodeur tied Terry Sawchuk's career shutout record with his 103rd perfect night in net. The Devils beat Buffalo 3-0 to earn the win and shutout for Brodeur. Sawchuk recorded the majority of his 103 shutouts with a red and white sweater on while Brodeur recorded all of his in New Jersey. Sawchuk was arguably the best goalie of the past and Brodeur is arguably the best goalie of modern hockey. I hesitate to declare either as the best of all time because of the changes in the game that have occurred. Both eras are completely different from each other but both accomplishments are incredibly noteworthy as well.

Theoretically, Brodeur may never surpass the mark but that's kind of ridiculous to think too. He's too good to not do it again and he's left his legacy before he's even done playing. The saying that you can build a team around goaltending has been true for New Jersey over the past and there is no goalie in the modern game better to build your team around than Marty Brodeur. The four time Vezina trophy winner has spent his whole career in New Jersey and has been the backbone of the team since 1993, being a reliable force at the other end of the ice for the offense to rely on. Sure, he's had his bad nights but he's had even more great nights and 103 perfect nights.

Brodeur and Sawchuk are both synonymous with the position within their respective franchises. Just as Terry's "1" hangs in the rafters at The Joe, Marty's "30" will undoubtedly hang in The Rock. Congratulations to Marty on an incredible accomplishment.

Your Ottawa Senators: The best-managed team of the decade

PeterR — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:00:16 -0000

Although the first decade of the new millenium is finishing on a different tone than it began, the Ottawa Senators have still put together a very strong string of ten years. There are all sorts of way you can try to measure that success, but it's hard to argue with what Bird Watchers Anonymous used as criteria for measuring managerial success in the NHL: A balance of value-for-money (measured in Salary efficiencies) and statistical, particularly post-season, success. With those variables in mind, the Ottawa Senators came out convincingly ahead of the rest of the league.

According to Falconer from BWA, the Senators' success based on those measures is something to admire:

The Ottawa Senators came out #1 because they were extremely adept at earning wins in the regular season with a payroll that was often below the NHL average. Only Ottawa and Nashville have managed this feat on a consistent basis. Unlike Nashville, Ottawa also managed to rack up 43 playoff wins (which ranks them 8th out of 30 teams in the last decade) beating out many higher spending franchises. Although the Senators came up short of the Cup, their management had extraordinary success when you consider the modest player expenditures.

To read a bit more about the numbers and how Falconer arrived at his conclusion, and see the raw data, take the jump to read the rest of the post.

The data on which Falconer based his conclusions are presented below. Essentially, he calculated a 'bang-for-buck' measure ("adjusted wins:$$$") by taking regular season and playoff success into consideration, and comparing that success to the amount of money the team spent in getting that success (defined as salary efficiency). What this results in is a measure that penalizes teams that don't have on-ice success, even if they've lived on a budget, but also doesn't reward teams whose success has been due in large part to forking out ridiculous amounts of money.

	TEAM	ADJUSTED WIN:$$$	PLAYOFF WINS	REG. SEAS. WIN:$$$
1	Senators	2.99 (1)	43 (8)	2.51 (3)
2	Devils	2.91 (2)	64 (2)	2.29 (7)
3	Predators	2.84 (3)	6 (T-25)	2.76 (1)
4	Sharks	2.79 (4)	44 (6)	2.34 (6)
5	Penguins	2.75 (5)	46 (5)	2.22 (10)
6	Sabres	2.70 (6)	28 (12)	2.39 (4)
7	Wild	2.68 (7)	11 (23)	2.54 (2)
8	Canucks	2.60 (8)	23 (T-14)	2.35 (5)
9	Red Wings	2.52 (9)	72 (1)	1.96 (21)
10	Flames	2.52 (10)	23 (T-14)	2.26 (8)

It's important to remember that this measure won't, and was never intended to, measure the success of a team in absolute terms. Rather, it's intended to measure the success of a team based on how much they've spent, and that's why a team like the Senators, who operated on a strict budget for the first half of the decade, is ranked higher than teams like the Detroit Red Wings or the New Jersey Devils, both of whom far outpace the Senators in playoff success.

My question, though, is this: Can you really call teams that haven't won much of significance the best-managed? The Senators, obviously, haven't won a Stanley Cup in the decade, although they have won three Northeast Division and one Eastern Conference banners in the decade. The Nashville Predators, however, have only qualified for the playoffs four times, never advancing past the first round, winning only six post-season games after that.

Conclusion

Obviously, the regular-season success the Preds have had on such a tight budget owes a lot of credit to GM David Poile (and a lot to head coach Barry Trotz, too), and that was the point Falconer was trying to make. I'll leave my argument with this, though: Just because the Red Wings have paid their much stronger lineup much more than the Predators have paid their much weaker lineup doesn't mean they've been poorly managed. Eight consecutive division titles, three conference championships, and two Stanley Cups; no, I'd say they've been pretty well-managed.

In order to make the statistic more well-rounded, I think it's going to have to find a way to equalize regular-season success with that of playoff success. The fact that the Wings won 12 times as many playoff games as the Predators tells me that their success wasn't appropriately taken into account. Just because money is spent doesn't necessarily mean that it's not managed well.