Around the League 2018-19 v6

[CantHaveTkachev]

Wonder no longer champ. The Leafs (2nd best record in the show) at the Christmas break are 11-3 against the big bad scary west. Add to that 2 wins against the west #1 team.

Leafs will get slapped around when it counts cause their defense is porous and they're butter soft

 

[BlackDogg]

Pretty neutral night on the OOT. Oilers still in that last playoff spot....

 

[Mav3rick07]

Sounds like Dumba is injured for 3 months .

Oilers playoff hopes just got a little better.

 

[oobga]

Sounds like Dumba is injured for 3 months .

Oilers playoff hopes just got a little better.

Yikes, what a crappy fluke injury.

But hey, if Minny is somehow cursed for all the years of boring fans of other teams to tears, I'd call it fair.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Oilers are still in a playoff spot... it's a Christmas miracle little Timmy.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Its funny how I get warning points for trolling in the Leaf section when reacting to Leaf fan reaction to thumping the worst team in the East as a bit over the top, yet Leaf fans continually come in here to take a **** all over our forum. Hey @Troll Stomper maybe take your Leaf jersey off and start doing your job over in this section FFS.

I wish I could like this, alot of mouth breathing wearing leafs jerseys always show up here.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Oh and I forgot to tell you to **** Off and go back to the Center of the Universe. Enjoy getting smoked in the first round again, and we will be hearing of how unfair the playoffs suddenly are from all you snivelling snot nosed entitled Leaf Fans. Now go watch your TSN 24-7 wall to wall coverage of Marner and Nostrils dancing in ballet tights and wondering what is wrong with your $10 million dollar holdout and his hair care products.

“Marner and nostrils” hahahahaha that made me laugh out loud

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Oh and I forgot to tell you to **** Off and go back to the Center of the Universe. Enjoy getting smoked in the first round again, and we will be hearing of how unfair the playoffs suddenly are from all you snivelling snot nosed entitled Leaf Fans. Now go watch your TSN 24-7 wall to wall coverage of Marner and Nostrils dancing in ballet tights and wondering what is wrong with your $10 million dollar holdout and his hair care products.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

Lead story on NHL.com....what jammies Matthews’s wore at Christmas. It’s not enough we got a summer full of Tavares’s childhood Jammie’s pics, like anyone actually gives a flying f***.

This season long media ejaculation over Matthews and the Leafs has gotten beyond the bedside vomit stage already.

Leaf fans must have no lives as they are continually fed non hockey stories from broken glass in practice to what healthy snacks Marner eats to Nylanders hair care to Nostrils ballet tights and Christmas Jammie’s. And because the NHL, TSN and SN thinks everyone else in Canada loves the Leafs we are force fed that Leafs shit on a minute by minute basis.

Signing John Traitor and his Leafs Jammies was bad enough. God help us if Leafs Loser Nation ever wins a Cup.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

It's the David Rittich show so far. Winnipeg has had about 4 or 5 grade A chances and can't beat him.

 

[Mav3rick07]

Rittich can go back to sucking any time now.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Kucherov is starting to take over the Art Ross race.

 

[Mez]

Kucherov is starting to take over the Art Ross race.

Yah no kidding. He is on an insane run. Thats what happens when good players are surrounded by good players.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

Winnipeg tied it late in the second just to let the hob-knob score his second of the game a minute later.

 

[OilCountry93]

Buff might’ve put Johnny on the IR. Can’t say I’m disappointed about it.

 

[BlackDogg]

Think I saw Johnny Shakey at it again. Don't know the outcome yet.

 

[yukoner88]

Buff might’ve put Johnny on the IR. Can’t say I’m disappointed about it.

Should go see the cryfest on the main boards about it

 

[Del Preston]

Every time I check the Vegas game they are on the power play.

 

[Del Preston]

John Gibson got injured tonight.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Random thought but this scoring race is so insane and so many players getting inordinate pts/game that Sidney Crosby is as far back as 20th in pts.

Malkin 32nd

Taylor Hall well above ppg and only good enough for 36th although he missed some games. Some seasons only 10 players are PPG. This year 40/43 top pts players are PPG or better.

Crazy season.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

John Gibson got injured tonight.

There's a surprise. Dude is a walking emergency clinic.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Did some more digging. This years scoring race is insane. As little as two seasons ago Connor McDavid won the scoring race with 100pts. Only 7 players had as many as 82pts.

Last season Connor won scoring race with 108pts. 20 players had as many as 82pts.

This year at least 40 players are on pace to get as many as 82pts.

This season Kucherov is on pace for 131pts with Rantanen in a deadheat.

Connor is on pace for 123pts and somehow is as far back as 4th in scoring race. He would smash his best ever pt totals as the Hart Trophy winner the past couple seasons and still has a ton of work to do.

At least 10 players this season are on pace for as many pts as Connor won the Hart with a year ago. 20 have the kind of pace Connor won with two seasons ago.


Some radical shift is occurring. Surprised there hasn't been more commentary on this. Its not speed and skill either, that is nothing new. Its not new tech related, graphite sticks have been around for many years now. There is no easy explanation for these dramatic changes. The only one I can think of is that in recent seasons its more of a tendency for teams to match strength against strength and so that top players are not playing checking lines often. All that its resulting in is top players producing more, good for the agents and players financially, but not with any appreciably different impact on games or results.

 

[Fixed to Ruin]

Did some more digging. This years scoring race is insane. As little as two seasons ago Connor McDavid won the scoring race with 100pts. Only 7 players had as many as 82pts.

Last season Connor won scoring race with 108pts. 20 players had as many as 82pts.

This year at least 40 players are on pace to get as many as 82pts.

This season Kucherov is on pace for 131pts with Rantanen in a deadheat.

Connor is on pace for 123pts and somehow is as far back as 4th in scoring race. He would smash his best ever pt totals as the Hart Trophy winner the past couple seasons and still has a ton of work to do.

At least 10 players this season are on pace for as many pts as Connor won the Hart with a year ago. 20 have the kind of pace Connor won with two seasons ago.


Some radical shift is occurring. Surprised there hasn't been more commentary on this. Its not speed and skill either, that is nothing new. Its not new tech related, graphite sticks have been around for many years now. There is no easy explanation for these dramatic changes. The only one I can think of is that in recent seasons its more of a tendency for teams to match strength against strength and so that top players are not playing checking lines often. All that its resulting in is top players producing more, good for the agents and players financially, but not with any appreciably different impact on games or results.

You're probably correct in identifying a shift towards a more offensive style of hockey. However, i feel in almost any sport there are cyclical trends that come in and out as time goes on. When I look at the team statistics it seems to be that most of the scoring is condensed in a group of about 8 or so teams that are scoring at an extremely higher rate than the rest of the league. TB, TOR, CGY, COL, WSH, SJ, WPG, PIT (honorable mention to CLB, OTT, VAN) with the rest of the league having more or less an average offensive output.

I think with a cap system this will even itself out overtime. Toronto, Tampa Bay, Winnipeg won't be able to hang on to their scoring depth for much longer. Ottawa is probably going to lose Stone and maybe Duchene and Columbus will lose Panarin to free agency. Tampa Bay is going to have to pay big money to Point, Vasilevskiy and maybe Sergachev in the coming seasons so they will lose some of their scoring depth. SJ have Pavelski and Thoronton in their mid to late 30s with no impact player to replace them with if they are intending to use their remaining cap space to sign Erik Karlsson and fill out the rest of their roster. The scoring depth players from these elite teams today will probably get big money in free agency or get traded to teams desperate for scoring in the offseason. (e.g. Kings, Islanders, Oilers?, ect.)

 

[JSlick]

wth, I just noticed Kucherov took over the lead in the scoring race

 

[Drivesaitl]

wth, I just noticed Kucherov took over the lead in the scoring race

Thanks in part to a career best 5 pt game he had against the Oilers. That brought him to shooting range of Rantanen, then he passed him.