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Will it ever end?
Apologies for the protracted absence. It was neither intended nor desired, and the proximity of my return to Frank's departure is nothing but coincidental.
The Penguins are mired in a six-game losing streak. We all know this, and as we've seen in the comments here, Elmo hasn't taken the news well. Not to be all emo, but how much longer must we endure this?
/dyes hair black, puts on eyeliner
One of the most reliable methods to tell how well a team is playing is their possession numbers. Since we still don't have a hard and fast zone time statistic from the NHL, we're forced to use surrogates. I'm a fan of the Fenwick number. Applied to a team, it equals the number of shots on goal plus the number of missed shots, minus the same numbers of the opposing team. Positive numbers indicate that a team has possessed the puck more than their opponents, because a team obviously must possess the puck in order to shoot it.
Normally this number is considered to be relevant only for 5v5 play, but I'm going to include all strengths in this post. Let's take a look at what the Penguins have been doing in this losing streak.
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Jagr: From hero to villain in Pittsburgh as he returns as Flyer
A Delaware County Times column talks about Jagr's return and reveals the biggest reason why the former Pen ended up in Philly rather than back home in Pittsburgh: Paul Holmgren just plain tried harder.
Fenwick chart for Pens vs. Jets
Bettman's Nightmare, longtime contributor to Behind The Net and one of the current managers for Arctic Ice Hockey, posted a great Fenwick chart for the Pens/Jets game on Friday. This pretty much confirmed what I saw while watching the game.
The latest steps in Sidney Crosby’s recovery from a concussion have been visits to leading specialists around the country to monitor his progress.
Their conclusion is that he will make a full recovery – it just takes time.
Crosby is expected to be back in Pittsburgh in the next few weeks, where he will continue to work toward a return to the ice, although no specific timetable has been set.
Free Agent Defensemen/Goalies 2011
As was the case last year, I'm putting up threads for each position: C, W, D and G. Maybe it's just that the Penguins don't figure to be big players this year, but it doesn't seem like the crop is that strong. These lists are based on the TSN lists minus people who had salaries under $1M last season because otherwise the lists would be as long as both my arms. I'll include Penguins anyway, though.
Jump for the list.
Free Agent Wingers 2011
As was the case last year, I'm putting up threads for each position: C, W, D and G. Maybe it's just that the Penguins don't figure to be big players this year, but it doesn't seem like the crop is that strong. These lists are based on the TSN lists minus people who had salaries under $1M last season because otherwise the lists would be as long as both my arms. I'll include Penguins anyway, though.
Jump for the list.
Free Agent Centers 2011
As was the case last year, I'm putting up threads for each position: C, W, D and G. Maybe it's just that the Penguins don't figure to be big players this year, but it doesn't seem like the crop is that strong. These lists are based on the TSN lists minus people who had salaries under $1M last season because otherwise the lists would be as long as both my arms. I'll include Penguins anyway, though.
Jump for the list.
Jagr Watch: Penguin again or flirting with more teams?
Greg Wyshynski's take on the latest Peter Svoboda drama.
Charity Point Index 2010-2011
Traditionalists in hockey circles are nearly unanimous in their distaste for the so-called charity point a team gets if they simply manage to make it to overtime. Likewise, many people dislike the shootout, deriding it as a sideshow or skills competition. Every team's point total is inflated due to some games being worth three points, but the inflation is never equitable across the board.
I've devised a quick and dirty Charity Point Index (CPI) to determine which teams are the biggest benefactors of the charity point, and then I'll discuss how the standings would have been different if the league suddenly decided to go back to 1998-1999 standards for scoring, when games could end in a tie and overtime losses were treated as actual losses, and there were always 2460 points to be had.
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Playoff Fenwick Score Tied Update
From Gabe Desjardins: "Pittsburgh gets eliminated despite dominating Tampa."
Pens' Kunitz, Lightning's Downie face hearing over hits
Link title says it all. Suspensions probably incoming.
Simplify scoring: drop the pointless secondary assist
While I don't exactly agree with the title that the secondary assist should be dropped, this article is definitely worth spending a few minutes to read.
Sidney Crosby Controls Pens' Cup Fate
Timo Seppa says what we all knew anyway, but backs it up with evidence.
Despite being out for five weeks, Crosby still leads the league with 47 points at even strength.
Why Future Performance, Not Consistency, Matters
I know people will just love this one.
Consistency is a mirage.
After a bus accident, #Pens players took cabs to practice. Fleury loads his gear http://yfrog.com/h7yyecj
Diagram of a right knee
Here's a diagram of the knee so you know what people are talking about when they discuss knee injuries.
A new way to look at player efficiency
This is really part two of the Bargain Score post from yesterday. However, this time, instead of looking at GVT versus cap hit, this time we're going to be looking at GVT versus time on ice.
Because GVT is a counting stat, not a rate stat, players with more time on ice get more opportunity to increase their GVT, much in the same way that a slugger who plays 150 games is more likely to hit lots of home runs than one who plays 20.
After the jump, I'll throw some data at you.
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A new way to look at player value
Managing a salary cap in today's NHL isn't simply about making sure you don't go over—apologies to Mr. Lamoriello—but about making sure you get proper value for your cap expenditures. While I am not going to discuss here what is the right and proper cap hit for someone with Deryk Engelland's skill set, we can talk about who is a relative bargain so far this year and whose salary is an albatross.
Jump with me.
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Old MacDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O: Penguins 4, Red Wings 1
Games like this have a way of being disappointing. You're hyped up for facing a repeat playoff nemesis and then you find out Joey MacDonald, their backup to the backup goalie is playing. Then you start wondering if it's going to be one of those games where the goalie who shouldn't have a good game instead has a stellar one and you're left wondering why you wasted your time.
This wasn't one of those games.
First things first: Are there other NHL teams besides the Penguins and Capitals?
Nope!Wait, really?
OK, sure, in the strictest technical sense there are other teams in the league. In addition to the Penguins and Capitals, there are also the Flyers, Rangers, Red Wings, Blackhawks and… um… the Lakers. Look, it really doesn't matter. Just pay attention to the Penguins and Capitals and everyone will be happy.Cool, so both those teams will have long playoff runs?
You know what, maybe just focus on the Penguins.
No Catch-22 here: Penguins 5, Panthers 2
Panthers vs Penguins coverage - Panthers vs Penguins preview - Litter Box Cats
Sports talk was abuzz with worry that the Penguins were going to look past the Panthers toward the Capitals game the next night. The Pens showed that those worries were unfounded tonight in a 5-2 rout.
Sidney Crosby and the Top Six Forwards: who are they?
We all know the fuss that's been made over the years about finding a legitimate scoring winger for Sidney Crosby. You've said it, I've said it, the neighbor's dog probably barked it at some point. But what does "Top 6" actually mean, and more importantly, how many of those players do we already have?
Jump with me.
Extra Attacker PensBurgh league week 9 standings
Pressed for time, so no witty banter this week. Nobody was even close to the overall lead last week, so no bad feelings about missing out on the tickets.
Week 9 leaders:
1. A S3R10US P4P3RCUT (150)
2. Imscore (149)
3. Burger. (140)
4. FrankTheTank (136)
5. emins (129)
And overall standings through right now (so some of these people have the bonus 25 points for this week):
1. pittsburgher (912)
2. FrankTheTank (887)
3. moogles (873)
4. Sid's Crustache (868)
5. Pootie Letang (842)
This week, there's a MAF Winter Classic jersey up for the overall (i.e., not Pensburgh league) winner.
Extra Attacker PensBurgh league week 8 standings
This was a particularly weak week for me, but our Week 8 winner, Penguins Fury (aka AppleSweetRose in the comments) got 150 points on the dot, narrowly missing winning the 8GB iPod Touch for being the overall leader for Week 8.
The rest of the top 5 for this week:
2. HobeyBurgh (102)
3. Team Ricks (100)
4. A S3R10US P4P3RCUT (99)
5. Pootie Letang and Gnoussss Gnoussss (97)
And the leaders so far in the Pensburgh EA league:
1. Sid's Crustache (782)
2. pittsburgher (773)
3. FrankTheTank (751)
4. moogles (734)
5. Harples (728)
Extra Attacker PensBurgh league week 7 standings
Quick listing before tonight's game. The Week 7 standings were as follows:
1. Enemy Star (87)
2. Pootie Letang (84)
3. A S3R10US P4P3RCUT and FrankTheTank (78)
5. Team Ricks and Penguins Fury (77)
Overall as of right now, meaning that some people have already gotten their 25 bonus points for the week:
1. Sid's Crustache (748)
2. pittsburgher (731)
3. FrankTheTank (672)
4. Man Of Steel (662)
5. jevans (647)
Extra Attacker PensBurgh league week 6 standings
Week 6 turned into a bloodbath for most of the front runners of the PensBurgh Extra Attacker league. Personally, Ben Lovejoy's -48 score in the Bruins game set my entire week back, and I was never able to truly recover from it.
This week's winner, in his first Top 5 appearance of the season, was Harples with 147 points. The rest of the Top 5:
2. jevans (133)
3. pittsburgher (124)
4. The Imperial Inquisition (122)
5. Boom. Bing. (119)
This seems like a good time for a reminder that simply logging in weekly gives you 25 bonus points, so even if you don't have time to set your roster, at least log in once!
And here's the overall Top 5:
1. Sid's Crustache (681)
2. pittsburgher (656)
3. Man Of Steel (609)
4. The Imperial Inquisition (599)
5. FrankTheTank (594)
Good news, everyone! Penguins 5, Lightning 1
On a night where the Penguins needed a big win, a big win is exactly what they got, including a solid defensive game from Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek, who finally looked comfortable together. Read more after the jump.
Extra Attacker PensBurgh league week 5 standings
Week 5 of the PensBurgh Extra Attacker league has come to a close, and this week's winner was Mr. Man himself, FrankTheTank, with 74 points, just one off the overall leader. Soooooo close to a $50 gift certificate to Pizza Hut, Frank, how can you look yourself in the mirror?
The rest of this week's top 5:
2. Sid's Crustache (65)
3. 4thlinerecall (41)
4. LeTangueray (40)
5. Jonestown Jinx, Mayhem Makers, and Gnoussss Gnoussss (34)
And the top 5 for the season thus far, with Mr. Krypton unseated from the top spot::
1. Sid's Crustache (565)
2. Man Of Steel (544)
3. pittsburgher (532)
4. The Doormats (496)
5. Jonestown Jinx and FrankTheTank (481)
Gloating time!
Is Geno's shift length really that bad?
There has been a debate in some of the threads here at PensBurgh regarding Evgeni Malkin's average shift length. Is it too long? Is it longer than it was before? How does this compare to other young stars in the game?
Answers after the jump.
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