Best point totals for players in their first six seasons:
1      Wayne Gretzky*      1980      1985      EDM      NHL      C      473      429      693     
2     Mario Lemieux*     1985     1990     PIT     NHL     C     427     345     493     838
3     Peter Stastny*     1981     1986     QUE     NHL     C     463     251     462     713    
4     Mike Bossy*     1978     1983     NYI     NHL     RW     466     365     328     693    
5     Jari Kurri*     1981     1986     EDM     NHL     LW/RW     441     300     344     644
6     Bryan Trottier*     1976     1981     NYI     NHL     C     460     228     403     631
7     Dale Hawerchuk*     1982     1987     WPG     NHL     C     479     268     363     631    
8     Denis Savard*     1981     1986     CBH     NHL     C     468     217     413     630    
9     Alex Ovechkin     2006     2011     WSH     NHL     LW     472     299     311     610


I took the average of the total goals per game for each of these players' first 6 seasons, and divided it by the average of total goals per game from Ovechkin's first 5 seasons. (I don't have the data for this season.)

7.342833 total goals per game during Bossy's first 6 seasons
7.84 for Stastny, Kurri
7.5296 for Lemieux
7.688 gor Gretzky
5.6948 for Ovechkin
 
I took the average of the total goals per game for each of these players' first 6 seasons, and divided it by the average of total goals per game from Ovechkin's first 5 seasons. (I don't have the data for this season.)  For example, 7.342833/5.6948=1.289.  I took this ratio and multiplied it by Ovechkin's total points from this season.
 
 610*1.289=786.53 for Bossy's years.  Bossy had 693 points.
 610*1.37669=839.78366 for Stastny, Kurri's seasons.  Stastny had 713 points, Kurri had 644.
 610*1.322=806.42 for Lemieux's seasons.  Lemeiux had 838 points.
 610*1.35=823.5 for Gretzky's seasons.  Gretzky had 1122 points.
 
 So while he's not anywhere near Gretzky's total, he's clearly ahead of Bossy, Stastny, and Kurri.  I didn't bother doing anyone below them, because they played in similar years and had even fewer points.
 
And this season isn't even over.
 
 The list of the top scorers in their first six seasons is here: http://www.hockey-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=combined&year_min=&year_max=&season_start=1&season_end=6&age_min=0&age_max=99&birth_country=&franch_id=&is_active=&is_hof=&pos=S&handed=&c1stat=points&c1comp=gt&c1val=600&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=300&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=goals.
The data on goals per game for each season is here: http://www.quanthockey.com/StaticTables/GoalsPerGameData.php

These are all of the Capitals' picks in the 20-30 range from the past 10 drafts:

2001, 2002, 2003, 2007: no picks

2004: Schultz (27), Green (29)

2005: Finley (27)

2006: Varlamov (23)

2008: Gustafsson (21), Carlson (28)

2009: Johansson (24)

2010: Kuznetzonv (26)

Of these eight picks, five have made the NHL, with a sixth looking very likely in Kuznetzov.  And all of those five have not just made the NHL, but are at minimum good NHL regulars, with Green already being a star and Carlson and Varlamov having star potential.  Obviously, Finley and Gustafsson appear to be poor picks, but overall, 3/4 of these picks look to be successful.

Let's compare that to other teams' drafting in the 20-30 range.

Continue reading this post »

Steve Johnson failed to make it through the 4th inning, allowing five runs on five hits, including a three-run home run in the first.  He also failed to set a new minor league record for walks in a game, but Komminsk thwarted his effort and replaced him with Tanaka after only six walks in 3 1/3 innings.  Johnson was lucky to only allow five runs, as he walked the bases loaded in the 2nd and escaped with no damage, and an amazing diving catch by Tucker prevented a big inning in the 3rd.

The Baysox offense was non-existent until the 5th inning, when Henson started a rally with a single, only the Baysox's second hit of the game. After Joseph and Miclat reached base, Craig Wescott, the Flying Squirrels' starter loaded walked in a run, and then followed that with allowing a single to  Avery, which scored an additional two runs.  Wescott was replaced by Daryl Maday, who followed his lead by giving up a single to Rojas and walking in another run.  Luckily for Maday, the line drive Guzman hit was right to their second baseman, allowing the Flying Squirrels to turn a double play and keep the score at 6-4. 

Jim Johnson (yes, that one) came in to pitch the 6th and was solid expect for a home run.  In the bottom of the 6th, Joseph led off with a single.  Miclat followed with a ground ball to their shortstop, but a good slide from Joseph prevented the Flying Squirrels from turning a double play.  This proved to be especially advantageous, as Tucker and Avery followed with doubles, making the score 7-6.  Avery was the clear star of the day for the Baysox, with three hits - two singles and a double - and four of their six RBIs.

The rest of the game was dominated by the relievers, and no more runs were scored by either team.

to the tune of Orioles Magic

Something tragic happens
Every time you go
You see the tragic happen
The tragic is Orioles baseball

When the game's not close
And the weather's hot
There's a thundering roar from Baltimore
That you can smell the rot

And you never know
Who will trip and fall
Every game leaves a different scar
As the Orioles drop the baseball

Orioles, tragic! Feel it happen!
Orioles, tragic! Feel it happen!

R! - E! - N! - D! - O! - N!

Tragic, tragic, tragic, tragic

Something tragic happens...

Something tragic happen...

take one sip when:
Jones strikes out swinging on a low curve ball
Wiggy pops out
an Orioles makes a one-pitch out
an Oriole makes a stupid base running mistake
the opposing team scores an earned run

take two sips when:
the opposing team scores an unearned run
every inning past the fourth that an opposing pitcher maintains a no-hitter (take an extra sip if the pitcher is Pettite)
the opposing pitcher uses 10 pitches or less in an inning
the Orioles blow a four or more run lead
the Orioles blow a save
two fielders watch a ball fall between them that they both could have caught
the Orioles make an out with two outs and a RISP
the Orioles have runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and don't score
Guthrie pitches 7+ innings giving up 2 or fewer runs and still gets the loss

take three sips when:
every inning past the fourth that an opposing pitcher maintains a perfect game (take an extra sip if the pitcher is Pettite)
the Orioles four+ run lead... in the 9th
the Orioles have the bases loaded with no outs and don't score
the Orioles are shutout

chug:
the opposing pitcher throws a no-hitter
the Orioles lose by 10+ runs

replace the alcohol with poison when:
the opposing pitcher has a perfect game
the Orioles lose a game 30-3

The O's will always be my favorite.  But since I'd like to root for a team that will occasionally win, I've decided to adopt a few more teams.  These are my choices.

Nats
Pros: very close, I like the team especially Strasburg and both Zimmerman(n)s, I love DC, already my number 2 team
Cons: they aren't much better than the O's, Lerner is cheap

White Sox
Pros: I lived on the south side of Chicago so I already like them, Beckham
Cons: AL team, they might not be any good

Brewers
Pros: my dad's from Milwaulkee
Cons: 1982

Giants
Pros: color scheme, I like SF, Lincecum, Emmanuel Burriss was in my 10th grade history class, my sis lives in Berkeley
Cons: far away

Dodgers
Pros: apparently my great-grandfather rooted for them, great history, I've been to Dodger Stadium, they made the playoffs last season
Cons: far away

St. Louis
Pros: Pujols, they made they playoffs last season, great history
Cons: I have no personal connection to them


If anyone has any advice or even suggestions for a different team, I would greatly appreciate it.

There's virtually no information on the official site.

The link to the Ticketmaster site has only this:

Tickets are currently not available online for one of the following reasons. Please check back for availability.

• Tickets may not be on sale yet
• Tickets may not be available at this time. More tickets may become available later
• Tickets may not be available online just hours before an event occurs
• On rare occasions, tickets may only be available at ticket outlets or the box office

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Everyone knows that the PK has been a huge weakness of the Caps all season.  And I assume most remember the game against Dallas two weeks ago, which was lost largely due to poor PK, as the Caps went 0/2 and allowed Dallas to get back into the game.  But since then, the PK has been phenomenal.

• Carolina (at home): 4/5
• Tampa Bay (at home): 1/1
• Chicago: 2/3 (The one goal was on a 5-on-3, and the rest of the PP was killed so does that make it actually 3/4?)
• Florida: 4/4
• Carolina: 4/5 (The one goal was on a 5-on-3, and the rest of the PP was killed)
• Tampa: 4/4

Total: 19/22=86%
5-on-4: 19/20=95%

Obviously, there's not a large sample of games here, so it's hard to draw any conclusions.    Corvo (and Belanger?) spoke out after the game, saying how they were used to less passive power plays.  And BB mentioned specifically how the Caps would work on the PK.   But it's very possible that this is simply due to the small sample size and the relatively weak oppositions.

To my eyes, the PK does look more aggressive and has contributed some to the recent success, although I could not say to what degree.  What do other people see as the reasons for this improvement?

And to what degree could this improvement help us in the playoffs?

Cabrera just  missed hitting Jeter.

Your FanPost must be at least 75 words long. Right now it's only 5 words long. If you just have a quote, link, video or photo you'd like to share with the community, try creating a FanShot instead. Your FanPost must be at least 75 words long. Right now it's only 5 words long. If you just have a quote, link, video or photo you'd like to share with the community, try creating a FanShot instead. Your FanPost must be at least 75 words long. Right now it's only 5 words long. If you just have a quote, link, video or photo you'd like to share with the community, try creating a FanShot instead. Your FanPost must be at least 75 words long. Right now it's only 5 words long. If you just have a quote, link, video or photo you'd like to share with the community, try creating a FanShot instead.

Crappy article with bad pic

Pretty box score

If you want to listen to the radio announcer's calls of the HRs, the link is on the box score page.  They're at 1:30:20 and 2:05:30. Apparently, both were crushed.

Who do I have to kill to get video footage of these?  Any chance it's someone on the Yankees?

Bets on how long he's there before he's promoted?  I'm guessing two months.