If Hockey Players were Beers: Part II




Jeff Halpern: Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

    

A local, obscure favorite. Most people don't even realize the brewery has its own restaurant in Montgomery County. It's not as strong as some of the other IPA's, nor the best tasting. But a good introductory dogfish and a good pick when you need something with just a little flavor and a little class. It's not the kind of beer you want to drink all the time, but when an out of town friend comes to visit, you try to show your snooty knowledge of local micro-brews by grabbing one of these. It will make you look like an experienced beer drinker. Often seen in the same part of the beer isle along side much more potent beers like the Rogues.

Dwayne Roloson: Chimay Grand Reserve

    

As cliche' as it sounds, it's one of the few beers that actually get BETTER with age. A lot of hipsters have just recently got into this beer, not realizing it's been around FOREVER. You can't drink it all the time or you'll either end up broke or blind. It's better left as a one time purchase for a celebration. Plus, if you look at pictures of Scourmont Abbey, where it is brewed, it looks a lot like Skeletor's castle.

Matt Hendricks: Shiner Boch WHEAT Beer. Thanks D'ohboy (ya jerk!)

    

I've said this before: Not just a clever name (I'll give you a moment). Blue Moon was once the king of popular heffeweizen wheat market, but the growing popularity of this reletively new out-of-towner seems to be taking a chunk out of its market share. A lof of heff fans have since adopted Shiner as their new favorite Wheat beer. Blue Moon will alway hold a dear place for many fans, but Shiner is just as good. Plus. the Spoetzl Brewery makes a few different non-heffeweizen types as well... if you really have the hunch to change it up every once in a while.

Trevor Gilles: Olde English 40 oz

   

When you're a white guy trying to look tough, but really just end up looking like a douche, then this is probably what you're drinking. It has no real purpose other than to f$!k you up or to make you think you look intimidating. If anyone makes fun of you for drinking it, you can always crack a bottle over that persons' head and then taunt that person while hes on the ground bleeding as the cops haul you away for attempted murder. You'll probably just get a slap on the wrist for it anyways.

The Staal Brothers: The rainbow of Sam Adams beers

  

Some people love them. Some people hate them. There's plenty of heated debate on both sides. The point is, people won't SHUT THE HELL UP about them. Oh wait, I'm talking about the beers? Sure well, then definately above average, when you consider some of the other garbage in the beer isle and if someone hands me one, I'm not going to turn it down, but it's definitely not the beer I would have in my fridge if I wanted a combination of good taste and descent price. Sure, one of them won some kind of award in the past, but who cares? He's still an assh.. oh.. sorry, we're supposed to be talking about beers here?

I've been working too hard. Needed something mindless to do, so I was poking around the NHL statistics area:

TEAM STATS:

Only 4 teams have more than 3 game misconducts. PHI: 4, BOS: 7 and the top two? You guessed it: PIT: 9, NYI: 11

MOST DISCIPLINED: Nashville: 8.8 PIM/game (FLA has the least # of total penalties)

LEAST DISCIPLINED: PIT. 17.8 PIM/G, 1265 PIM's, 432 total penalties, 71 majors, 33 minors (#1 in ALL of these categories),

REVENGE FACTOR: Caps are anked LAST in goals for: 1st period. Also ranked #1 in goals AGAINST in the 3rd period (only 48 allowed). Good for  #1 in winning % when trailing after 1st (51.2%)

BIG SHOOTERS: SJS: Most shots per game (34.2). Wild has the least (26.0)

STINGY SOB's:NJD  Least shots against per game (26.3).

WTF STAT: Most shots against per game: BOS (33.3). Yet they're 3rd in goals against with 2.3. A lot of people say that a goalie shouldn't be MVP unless they're the only reason his team makes the playoffs, but with numbers like that, would anyone really be that surprised if Thomas won it?

PLAYER STATS:

WORKHORSE: Most faceoffs taken: Eric Staal (1514). That's 21.67 per game! His FO% is only 47.2 though.

BIGGEST @$$#OLe: Most PIM's: Zenon Konopka  (NYI) (243, WAYYYY far in the lead: Ott is next with 183)

MR. TOUGH GUY: Most Majors: George Parros (ANA) (23)

TRASHIEST PLAYER: Most Game Misconducts: You guessed it again: Trevor Gillies  (NYI) with 3.

... I wish I could easily get the most PIM's per game for individuals :)

Most shots:
1 Ovechkin: 332 (Last season he led with 368. He needs 3.6 s/g for the next 10  games to beat this
2 Byfuglien 303 (last season: 211 in 82 games).
3 Kessel 293

Most TOI/G (1. Duncan keith 26:52, 2. Dan Boyle 26:40, 3.  Bouwmeester 25:55)

Most TOI/G for forwards (50. Kovalchuk 22:23, 59. Eric Staal 22:07, 66. Crosby 21:55)

I think it's late enough in the season to start speculating :)

For me it's a tie between:

JEFF SKINNER (C, CAR): 61 games, 22 goals, 24 assists, (46 pts)  -1 but not bad for a team that's -11 so far. 

BRAD MARCHAND (C, BOS) 57 games, 19 goals, 15 assists (34 points). Only 5th in points but leads rookies in +/-.

Hall is playing well and has some flashy goals. Grabner leads rookies in goals, but that isn't going to mean too much in such a tight goal/points race, though. In the end I think the winner will come down to considering how well a rookie is doing compared to his team. I think Skinner just looks so comfortable, consistent, and confident out there. For me... it's SKINNER.

Will a goalie win it this year? I doubt it. CRAWFORD and  BOBROVSKY have good #'s and their teams probably wouldn't be where they are now without them, but I just don't see a goalie winning it this year.

There are some good defensemen in the running. Carlson has shown wisdom beyond his age and leads all rookie defensemen in +/- with an excellent +17. I can definately see him at least getting nominated in the top 3. And you can't talk Carlson without mentioning Subban, Fowler, and Shattenkirk. These guys are rookie D ahead of Carlson in points, but if you must judge a D man by stats, I'd save +/- would be a better stat to go by if you compare them to their team's overall differential. If a D man *IS* going to win it, Carlson is a +17 while his team is +12. Subban is -6 but his team is +8. Shattenkirk is -11 while his team is -10.  Fowler is -21. and the ducks are -8. I just don't see  a rookie D winning unless he is (a) + and (b) performs close to or above his overall team differential. Carlson has respectable goals and assist for a defenseman, let alone a rookie defenseman. Do you guys see Carlson getting nominated? Or do you you see the NHL being more biased towards goals/assists?

For those of you folks in the burbs who live within a few miles near Metro Stops (Arlington, Silver Spring, Rockville, Bethesda, Largo, College Park, Springfield, etc), do you find it easier to get to games by driving to metro'ing?

I live about 3 miles from the silver spring station. For a 7 o'clock game I seriously have to leave at the LATEST by 6pm if I drive, preferably by 5:30 so I can try to find parking. Taking the metro usually seems like it takes the same amount of time. 10-15 minutes to drive 3 miles in rush hour to the station, 10-15 minutes of waiting for the train. , and another 30 minutes or so of travel time

The amount of time is the same pretty much and both have their stress. The red line consantly has its delays. And dealing with the massive herd of getting into the metro cars after the game is annoying as hell. Then again, so is the added stress of trying to find a place to park in DC at 7pm.

So which do you guys prefer? I haven't been to a game this season and I'm itchin' to get out there, but I always find myself so stressed out in just trying to get down to VC. Trying to make my trip less of a pain in the ass this season.

For me:

* I'm not totally surprised to see New Jersey struggling, but I never thought Buffalo would be in the basement. .903? Really Ryan?

* Brent Johnston... Yea....  How about that? And admit it. It's fun to watch Fleury struggle

* If we all voted at the start of the season who would be rookie of October, does anyone honestly think they would have picked Neuvy?

* With all their firepower, SJS I guess really DID need Nabokov afterall

* Tim Thomas still has a career? Lidstrom with over an assist per game?

* A week ago I also would have put Carolina's great start here, but it looks like they've returned to their manic depressive state. Get shut out, get shut out, blow up an opponent, get shut out, score 6 goals, etc

So I downloaded all hockey player stats for people who skated in the NHL for 2009-2010 (879 players total. Wow).

I was curious, if everyone played 82 games, and they all had the exact same ice time, what would everyone's stats look like? So I ran some formulas.

 I multiples everyone's G/A/Pts/PIM times (82/games played for player) to get adjusted stats based on playing 82 games.

Then, to normalize everyone (simulating they all played the exact same # of seconds), I took the player with the highest Average Time on Ice ( Joni Pitkanen 27:23 or 1643 seconds) and then multipled each players' GAME ADJUSTED stats times (1643/player's time on ice in seconds).  So next person down on AvgTOI was Duncan Keith with 26:36 (or 1596 seconds). So Duncan played all 82 games so his G/A/Pts/PIM stay the same and then are multipled by 1643/1569). So Duncan's 14/55/69 in 82 games turn into 14.41/56.61/71.03 if he played the same amount of minutes as Pitkanen.

My results can be found here in this spreadsheet. (you need Excel 97 of newer). The yellow columns at the end are the adjustments. Here is a screen shot of the top adjusted points as well:

There may be a better way to figure this out, but I think it's a fair enough way to tell who did the most with their ice time.

 Obviously, some players who only got 1-2 games and did really well during their shifts are going to skyrocket to the top of this list, but that's fine. If a player only plays 3 games @ 2 minutes a game and manages to get 2 points. Sure his game adjusted stats (82 games = roughly 55 points). But then  Pitkanen's played 13.69 times the amount of tims so multiply that by 55 and you get 753.

That was just an example. You actually DON'T get anyone anywhere near that. In fact, the highest Adjusted points is 234.71 (Joe Callahan/SJS one game, 9:34 played, 1 assist). But Hell.. if someone only played 6 minutes and got 2 points in that 6 minutes, they deserve some KUDOS. Here are some highlights if you can't download the spreadsheet:

HIGHEST Adjusted Points:

Joe Callahan (SJS): 234 Points (a defenseman!!!), but only 1 game played (Also highest adjusted assists)

HIGHEST Adjusted Points by someone who played at least 10 games:

Daniel Sedin (VAN): 158

MOST Adjusted Goals:

Colin McDonald (EDM): 167 (only 2 games)

MOST Adjusted Goals by someone who played at least 10 games

DUH! Alex Ovechkin: 71.52

MOST Adjusted Goals by a Defenseman:

Marc-Andre Bergeron (MON): 32:29 (Mike Green third with 22.32)

MOST Penalty Minutes

Joel Rechlicz (NYI) 3765

MOST Penalty Minutes by someone who played at least 10 games:

Trevor Gillies (NYI)  3151 

MOST Points by a player 30 years or older:

Keith Aucion (WAS): 141.75 (In fact, he's #10 overall !!!)

MOST Goals by a plyer 30 years or older:

Teemu Selanne (ANA): 64.83 (He's still got it!)

I've said it before and I'll stress it again. Great athletes aren't just the ones with great skills. The true measure of an athleme, IMHO, is consistency. And no more is that quality needed than in goal.

If your superstart Defensemen or Offensive players are in a slum, at least you have other guys that can bail you out. The goalie, though, you're stuck with. All you can do is pull a goalie if he's laying an egg (and I don't mean the big goose ones). But by then, you're already screwed. If you're down by 3 goals, you know, as a caps fan, that can change really quick. Even if you're down by two goals with a minute left, with the team we have, we can pull it off.

But nothing will screw over the momentum of a comeback game then letting the wining team score a few more on ya'. In that respect, consistency is way more important for a goalie than other positions.

There's been a lot of talk about which goalies are better, Neuvy or Varly. So lets look at overall consistency of their games last season. Granted there isn't TOO much to work with here but lets just look at some trends.

GREEN=Jose

RED=Varly

BLUE=Bjork

Left = Save percentage for each game. bottom axis is just the # of games played. Each line DOESN'T correlate to the other lines in any way. I just put them all on the same graph so we could have the lines on the same scale.

If I had to make a choice, i'd say Varly was the most consistent. It's totally hard to say because those really nasty bottom-outs for Neuvy's and Jose's lines are due to them being pulled. So their sv% may have gotten better as the games went on, but I kept them in just so you could see that they both had major brain farts at some point during the season.

Jose's line: Despite some ugly-ass games he did finish the season with a respectable sv%, .911. Consistency, nope. But he seemed to be the only goalie that had an upward trend as the season went on

Varly's line: Probably the most consistent, althrough he finished the season with the lowest sv% of the three: .909. Still, not bad. The average league wide this season, I believe, was .910. He had some bad games, but none extramely terrible, at least not enough to get pulled.  The line does get a little shaky at the end. That one ugly sv% there is .786 and that was the first game back after his injury so many we can't totally fault him for it. And even though, as you can see, he started getting his game back at the end.

Neuvy: if you actually toss out the two back to back games where he got pulled, his line would be the most consistent. As a matter of fact, the two back to back games he got pulled, he had the EXACT same save % facing the same # of shots (and same goals against on those shots). So if you think about it.. that's pretty damn consistent too :)

So.. draw your own conclusions. I didn't include playoff status but if you're interested,  Varly played 6 games vs montreal with the following respective sv%'s (shots against and goals against in parenthesis)

.864 (22/3), .963(27/1), .923(39/3),.929(28/2), .857(21/3),.875(16/2) : he finished with a .908% (not that bad)

There's good in bad in there. As you can see his BEST games were the ones with the MOST shots against. And his worst games were the ones with the least shots against.  Now they say that the goalie can be judged not so much by sv% but by making the big saves at the right times. That might be true, but that doesn't excuse a game where he faces 10 shots and lets 2 of them in.

The only real conclusion I can draw is that you really can't figure out which goalie next season is a worthy starter. Everyone who claims Varly or Neuvy is better I think has no idea what they're taling about.

Varly shows consistency during the regular season more than anyone else, but he has yet to prove himself as consistent in the post season. When he gets i a groove, he sticks with it. Neuvy on the other hand doesn't seem quite as consistent, but his bad luck seems to run in streaks. When he's hot he's hot.

So I had a theory today that the more power play opportunities per game, the higher the PP% would be because the more PP opportunities, the more "practice" to fine tune your power play.

I was wrong. The yellow and line blue lines tell it all. There doesn't seem to be any sort of correlation between # of PPO and PP%. I guess that's because it works both ways: The more "practice" your power play gets... the more "practice" the other team's penalty kill gets. It almost looks like there's a correlation. It seems almost as if the OPPOSITE is true; that the more opporunities the lower the %... but I think the PP% is more linked to the SV% than anything else. Although..   maybe there is a correlation. Maybe the more PPO per game, the worse the PP% because the more you get the lazier you get. I don't know. It would be nice if hockey reference has a stat for power play shots and power play saves.. then we could open up a whole other can of crazy and really analyze the power play.

As expected, as the SV (line at the top) slowly gets better, the ultimate trend of the PP% is going down... just more proof that your goalie is your best penalty killer. What's weird though is that even though SV% has gone through the roof (it's up to a league avg of 9.11 now) , the PP% seems to be on the rise.

Here's the one REALLY interesting thing I noticed. Yes, the Power Play goals per game has the same overall trend as total goals per game (the both go down and up at the same time as expected).. however the power play goals haven't gone down anywhere NEAR as much as total goals per game.. in other words.. over time the power play goals have made up a much higher % of the team's overall goals. 

Proof.... Live by the power play... die by the power play.

So we started talking in the OT thread about SV% and how 88-89 saw the beginning of a shift in the way hockey is played. Someone mentioned how if you had a sv% of .900 in the 80's then you were practically the Vez cup winner and how goals were much more frequent. So I got intrigued and compiled some #'s to (a) satisfy my curiosity and (b) redeem myself for all the umm... sub-par.. posts I've been cluttering the board with. So take a look at these numbers. I double checked all my stats and I pray to God that I didn't make any mistakes.

vez sv% = Vezina winner's regular season sv %

cup sv % = Playoff sv % for the winning team's primary goalie

avg sv%= regular season sv % for the entire league (total shots fired the entire season / total saves made the entire season for all goalies)

shots/g = regular season average number of shots per game (total shots fired the entire season / (# games in regular season  * # teams))

gpg =  regular season avg # of goals scored per game by a single team

wgpg and mpgp = Just for fun, and to have another measuring stick I threw in Gretzky's and Lemeiux's regular season goals per game

Events = Anything significant that might have contributed to the way the game is played

All decimals are truncated, not rounded.

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So take it in.. this is mostly just for fun BUT... two questions come to my mind:

1) What the heck happened? How did the game start changing so much from an offensive game to a defensive game? Were the goalies just THAT crappy back in the 80's or were the offensive stars just THAT good back then... or did players change the way they shot the puck in the early 90's? Around 1989 did people realize that there was much more of an art form to goal tending? It's not like the players had more chances. Of all these numbers the only one that has been consistent is the # of shots per game.

2) What does this mean for the Caps? These are  just my opinions.. which are usually WRONG. I'm curious as to what you guys might think about this.

a) I think we should stick with Theodore for the playoffs. Look at Ed Belfour. The man won the Vezina with (what was then) a solid sv %, and then his sv% over his career stagnated to just barely above league averages for a few years. Maybe he was just getting adjusted to a new team but he eventually found the right chemistry at the right time his second season with Dallas. I think Jose is ripe to recreate that scenario. "American lives don't have second acts" .. but Theodore is Canadian, damn it..

b) The caps are scoring 3.95 goals per game. There have been times that teams have reached that mark before but the overall league average hasn't been like that since 85-86. If we can play an old school offense maybe we can win with a save % that isn't the best.. as long as it's consistent throughout the playoff stretch.

c)  M.A. Fluery 2009 playoffs .. I rest my case.

Two more random questions?

* How the hell did Jim Carey get the Vezina in 96?

* When did the goalie mask switch to the cage style? I'm assuming more protection against the neck and face would make a goalie less nervous and would make their save % increase.

So I made a couple bets with you guys regarding the 'Canes making the playoffs.

Fehr and Balanced and I have a carbomb wagered. And who was it that I bet the fun of having to change the other's avatar for a while month?

I'm about to close the books after tonight. Anyone else wanna' get in on this? Maybe someone having to wear a "I <3 Crosby" tshirt to the next game?

So... Now that the Olympics are winding down, let me get back on a Caps related question for everyone:

*Do you want the Caps to win the President's Trophy?*

You'd think that everyone would answer yes, but this question has popped up from time to time and a surprisingly large amount of people have said "no". For me.. it's a YES for two reasons

1) The obvious: The honor. It would just be nice to be able to raise one more banner in VC

2) The most important reason: HOME ICE advantage for the *entire* playoff run. Not only is this good for the team's morale but it's also great for us, the fans. It means there are THAT many more games we'll be able to purchase tickets for. The Caps are happy, Ted will be happy, and we the fans will be happy.

Now.. the two biggest reasons I've heard AGAINST wanted to win the prez trophy are:

1) Superstition: Everyone keeps bringing up that for the most part, the prez cup trophy winners haven't been the Stanley Cup winners. Well.. that may be true, but they still have a higher % of Stanley Cup wins than any other placed team over the past 10-20 years (If someone wants to dig through a post from about 3 months ago that talks about this I'd really appreciate it). Sure they may only have won the cup 25-30% of the time, but I'll take those odds over 15%, 10, 5, etc.

2) The Caps' heads would grow too big. I'm not a superstitious person so I tend to scoff at #1, but #2 definitely holds water. We've seen the caps "take the foot off the gas pedal" too many time. Enough that that this should be at least a minimal concern. Although, I don't know about you guys, but I think they've matured a bit this season. Personally, I think the Caps have finally humbled themselves to learn how to play a solid 60 minutes of hockey. I believe that this humility will carry over into a full series, not just a full game. But that's just me.

Are there any other people who have different reasons for hoping for/against the prez trophy?

an Avery - Arrogant Bastard

 * More than a clever name: Arrogant bastard is an underrated beer, often dismissed as just a  novelty beer because of the name, it's actually not bad (if you're into bitter beers) and at 7.2%  ABV it will sneak up on you. While not extremely powerful, it's not a weak beer by any means. When  you order it at the bar you expect a descent buzz, but but the time you finish 22 oz of it, you're  staggering out of the bar, vomiting, and wake up in the morning blacked out and cast aside by all  your friends because you apparently called all their girlfriends sluts. Then later that day when  you're nursing your hangover you find a receipt in your pocket and slap yourself when you find out  you just spend 12 dollars on a single 22oz glass. The text on the back of the bottle actually  insults you despite the fact that it doesn't even know you.

Donald Brashear - Steel Reserve

 * Probably one of the worst tasting beers in the world, yet it's always in demand. Passing by that distinctive, bold font in the beer isle, you may have a repressed memory resurface just briefly so you usually pass it while sticking your fingers in your ears, singling "la la la la". Everyone who gets into this beer at one time or another seems to grow out of it quckly, but it's still nice to see that it's available. Why? Because a few nights a year you just need something cheap and dirty that  gets the job done. Most people talk smack about this beer, saying it's crap, but lets face it: If you're having a crappy night, are looking to drown your short term memory and only have $3.12 in  change in your pocket.... what else are you going to buy?

Alex Ovechkin - Delerium Nocturnum/Tremens (a rogue beer would have just been a little too easy here)

* Never mess with a beer that has a giant pink elephant on the label. It's quite distinctive sitting on the shelf behind the bar because it's it's "stone" looking fascade. This beer has won its share of awards, yet Canada and The United States initially banned this beer when it was first imported  because the government officials in charge of making such decisions are big pussies. It's 8.5% ABV so it packs a mean punch but still maintains a great taste, although an ignorant few will debate the latter. Unfortunately, not many people can afford this brand at $19.99 for a four pack.

Dan Carcillo - Corona

 * Bottled piss trying hard to pass as real beer. In fact, the only thing that makes this "beer" remotely pallatable is by teaming it up with additional liquid (i.e. lime juice), but it barely hides the fact that it's still garbage. This sham of a beverage has no place in the beer isle.

Olaf Kolzig- Blue Moon

 * There's something comforting and nostalgic about this beer. It's most closely defined as a hefeweizen, a German name for "wheat beer", boasts a belgian style, and is sold mostly in North America... so you're left scratching your head when someone asks you what country it's from. Since 2006, its brewing company has tried a few variations and seasonal versions, but they just aren't the same. There will never be another one like the original. It was probably a staple for most people at one point in there lives even if they don't buy it much anymore. However, if you find yourself at a restaurant with a limited selection of domestics, odds are this is the one that's going to end up on your bill.

Mike Green - La Fin Du Monde

* The most underrated Canadian beer ever. It has an amazing taste, yet it's completely off most people's radars probably due to the intimidating name and alcohol content (9%). Most people will avoid it because they assume a bottle will leave you on the sidewalk at 2am crying and bleeding, but those of us who know what a gem this beer is don't care what other people think. That just leaves all the more for us! ...Plus... some people like me who speak terrible french might accidentally translate "the end of the world" as "game over".

Sidney Crosby - O'Douls.

 * This beer may boast that it's "Now richer and smoother", but no matter how you package it, it's  still .. well...
 * I also would have settled for Pabst because it's the beer most commonly found in dives... Get it? Dives? (taps the microphone)... Is this thing on?

My fiance's mom came out from LA around thanksgiving this year. I decided to give her a welcome weekend by taking her to her first hockey game (the one against the Wild a few weeks back) and a punk rock show.

At the game, Brooks decked a Wild player into his own benches and her mom loved it. She said Brooksie is her favorite player now (after watching one game). I figured it would be a fun send her a red caps tshirt gift with Brooksie's name/number on back and have her represent that caps on the west coast, but the stores I've found in the area that have caps apparel only seem to have ones with the names Ovechkin, Green, Backstrom, Semin and Valamov

Has anyone seen any stores that sell a caps tshirt with "LAICH" on the back?

I remember just a few years ago when I would walk into even the biggest sports apparel stores in the area and you'd be lucky to even see a generic caps shirt or cap. Now there's just red everywhere. Funny how things change so fast huh? This past summer I started seeing tons of Varly tshirts everywhere... even more than Ovechkin. Sure he did good for us in the playoffs and everyone had a lot of faith in him.. but that seemed like a risky move... pumping tons of money into printing varly tshirts when the kid had only played a handful of nhl games at the time.

....Nylander

Followed a year later by the class of: Laich, Gordon, Semin, and Morrisonn

http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/WSH/skaters.html

Isn't that sad?

Unless you guys can find someone else in there with an earlier start date. Sorry. I just discovered this site after the note about Varly being in 22nd place for the Caps in tems of wins.... and i'm obsessed with it now.

Other weird things I learned:

* After just BARELY one season, Theo's #8 in all time wins.

* JIm Carey (remember that guy) has more SO than Beaupre and played half the games

* Chris Clark has more short handed goals than anyone else actively with the Caps... .... .. WTF???

* Chris Simon had exactly 666 PIM's with the Caps. I might actually make a comment about how cool that is if Simon wasn't a douche sanwich.

* OV is a lifetime +28. Backstrom +30. Semin is -1

* OV has barely played 1/3 of Bondra's seasons as a cap (not just seasons but in games played) and it says his TOI is almost the same? That doesn't make any sense. Am I reading that wrong or is something with that stat a little messed up? (Maybe they didnt record TOI until halfway through the 90's??)

* Bruce's win% as a coach in the regular season is WAY ahead of anyone else by a landslide but has had (virtually) the same luck in the playoffs as anyone else

* McPhee should have grovelled to keep Gonchar... oh wait.. crap.. Sorry .. accidentally mixed in an opinion with the stats. Of course I don't really know the history about that. The year he left was the year I least payed attention to hockey.

Is it just me, or does it seem like the Caps have a record  of losing legendary D men right during their prime. Makes me fear if we're going to lose Greenie one day.

Consider the following hypothetical situation. Yes... it's VERY hypothetical, but it's just an example of something that *could* happen.

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It's February 2010. It's the gold medal game vs Russia and.. oh let's say.. Sweeden. The game is tied and it's in OT. The Russians chip the puck ahead and it curls around behind Lindqvist. Nick Bacstrom zooms back and chases it around the net... but there's OV... rushing in on the other side like a freight train. Backstrom is caught like a deer in the headlights. The way OV plays, he slams into Nikkie with the same zealousness that he used when he blew that hit on Malkin.. hitting him hard enough to get him to cough up the puck and there's OV... all by his lonesome right in front of Henrik with the puck. He roofs it and wins the gold.

Rewind to right before OV makes the hit, during his charge. Do you think it's possible something might pop up in his mind last split second that makes him think "I could destroy Nikkie, get the puck and there's my chance to win the gold.. BUT that might injure him and take him out for months... thus significantly reducing our NHL teams' chances at winning the Stanley cup"?

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I know it's a stretch (and let's forget about how possible a scenario is like the one above) but we have to admit: Situations like this might pop up; either super critical ones like above mentioned or something as minor as a D-man deciding if he should really whale that hard on the guy creating a screen in front of him because the guy happens to be his NHL-teammate (I don't know why but the pic of tom Poti ramming his stick into Umburger's back before getting owned the other week is popping into my head).

The decision to not allow NHLers to play in 2014 olympic hockey has me torn, not so much about worries over injuries to players who are getting paid tons of money but because of the following dilemna:

* If you want to prove your  country's team is the best in the world, then shouldn't you have the BEST players so there's no doubt your country earned that gold medal?

But on the other hand..

* You have to wonder if there are little alliances that could, even subliminally, be making your team "pull their punches", causing the best players to play less then their best, effectively giving us less of a "world class" performance anyways? I guess it wouldn't be as big of a deal during the non-Olympic world championship because it's played during the NHL offseason, and your team would have enough time to rearrange a few things. But the Olympics come right at the start of the home-stretch for the NHL: The do-or-die time where a club teetering on the #8 position needs every tiny little advantage it can get.

I loved the ol' Caps Center back in Landover. The noise meter, the infestation of birds in the rafters, the dense vampire fog while driving up 301 to the game.

One thing I used to see at just about EVERY game back then was watching some group of guys start THE WAVE. We n ever see this anymore? WTF. I mean really.. it's not THAT lame. For those of you who used to go to all the games at the old arena... I know you remember how much fun it was.

Of course.. the few times where someone COULDN'T get it going, they looked like an idiot. Maybe that's why no one starts waves anymore. They're too afraid of looking like a tool.

However.. I AM not. For I am a tool and proud to admit it. So next game if you see some dork, scruffy 30 year old with glasses in the nosebleeds trying to start a wave... no I am not having a seizure. Stand up and confront your tool-ness and join me and lets RECLAIM THE WAVE!!!!!

->Brian

It's lame. It's not a goal. The player doesn't earn it.. It's a breakaway given to him and the team gets the goal, not the player.

I think it's everyone's dream to throw their hat on the ice for a hat trick and I'm waiting for the day where I can too have that pleasure. But .. to mangle the words of Dave Chapelle, if hat tricks were a stock, their prices would be plummeting right now. What's next? Are we going to credit a goal tender with a shut out if they didn't allow any goals after coming in halfway through the game?