Around The League II

[Replacement*]

This Hawks/Jets game is great. Winnipeg when they're on look beastly. Very similar to the Kings but a little more creativity in their play. They just scored a beautiful SHG. Playoff hockey here.

Hawks are another team that play like crep when pushed recently. Haven't been very good the last couple months or playing without Kane.

its getting harder and harder to see who the top WC teams are.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Hawks are another team that play like crep when pushed recently. Haven't been very good the last couple months or playing without Kane.

its getting harder and harder to see who the top WC teams are.

Kings. Even though they lost last game they made the Wild look like the Flames.

 

[nexttothemoon]

If Dubnyk stays hot I can see the Wild upsetting a team in the 1st round and who knows after that.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

If Dubnyk stays hot I can see the Wild upsetting a team in the 1st round and who knows after that.

If they play the Ducks I give the edge to the Wild.

Actually I give the edge regardless of who plays the Ducks.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Flames catch yet another break.

Way to tie up Toews, Myers.

 

[nexttothemoon]

C'mon you choking ****ing Sharks... at least hold the Pens to one point.

 

[AJGass4]

Good thing LA plays us twice

 

[nexttothemoon]

This isn't good for the blood pressure... having this 2nd 1st rounder has me scoreboard watching and irritated at a dozen different teams as they can't pass the Pens.

It was much less stressful when I only had the ****** Oilers to be irritated with.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Jets are the anti-Flames...continually giving up last minute goals

 

[McXLNC97]

This isn't good for the blood pressure... having this 2nd 1st rounder has me scoreboard watching and irritated at a dozen different teams as they can't pass the Pens.

It was much less stressful when I only had the ****** Oilers to be irritated with.

The Sharks were on a 4-3 pp for the final 3:49 of overtime and couldn't score....then lost the shootout in a 2 and out.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Balls... Pens win in the shootout.

I'd curse the Sharks and say I hope they never win anything ever... but that's a given.

 

[KGM]

They started Hutton who was predictable garbage. Haven't beat the Flames all year and have looked bad in every game.

Not only is Rinne 0-2 against the Flames this season, giving up 6 goals on 58 shots, but he also played last night in Washington. The obvious starter today was Hutton, and for completely logical reasons... doesn't take a tin-foil hat conspiracy to explain that move.

Maybe you can explain why a club that is drastically better on paper is getting owned by the Flames.

This is the NHL, and any team can win any night. How long have you been a fan? This is nothing new. You're right in that the Preds are drastically better... which is why they're fighting for the President's Trophy, while the Flames are fighting for one of the final playoff seeds.

 

[Mowgli]

That, and hockey isn't played on paper. I'm sure the preds would've rather won that game. Oh well

 

[Replacement*]

Not only is Rinne 0-2 against the Flames this season, giving up 6 goals on 58 shots, but he also played last night in Washington. The obvious starter today was Hutton, and for completely logical reasons... doesn't take a tin-foil hat conspiracy to explain that move.



This is the NHL, and any team can win any night. How long have you been a fan? This is nothing new. You're right in that the Preds are drastically better... which is why they're fighting for the President's Trophy, while the Flames are fighting for one of the final playoff seeds.

look, you're a Calgary fan so I don't expect you to realize what a complete joke it is that a poor lineup like the Flames has swept one of the supposedly better teams in the conference, if not league. Again the Flames are also 5th in scoring in the NHL. Given the lineup of lunchbuckets can anybody figure that one out? Its hard work, sure, but theres something wrong with a league where teams with much superior talent are chronically beat and outscored by lesser lineups like this. I mean look at the Calgary lineup. Its a hodge podge mostly of who are these guys.

Bouma for instance has 16 and counting goals this being an absolute freakshow year for him. Most he ever hit for in Junior was 14. He'd only scored 6NHL goals before this season. Suddenly he's a 20 goal scorer. omfg Its that kind of improbability all down the line for the flames.

I'd respect it somewhat if I could take some of these opponents seriously. preds have always been jokes and that seems only to continue. Even the Oilers typically fare well against Nashville. One of those clubs that never goes anywhere in playoffs but somehow get all these regular season pts against somebody.

 

[KGM]

what a complete joke it is that a poor lineup like the Flames has swept one of the supposedly better teams in the conference, if not league.

You know what, you're right. The elite teams are throwing games against the Flames this season in an attempt to keep LA out of the playoffs. LA for example, defending Stanley Cup champs, way better on paper, have got owned in the season series versus the Flames this year, in an blatant effort to keep LA out of the playoffs so they don't have to play LA.

Wait a minute....

 

[Replacement*]

You know what, you're right. The elite teams are throwing games against the Flames this season in an attempt to keep LA out of the playoffs. LA for example, defending Stanley Cup champs, way better on paper, have got owned in the season series versus the Flames this year, in an blatant effort to keep LA out of the playoffs so they don't have to play LA.

Wait a minute....

Owned? lmfao. KIngs have outplayed, outshot, and dominated the Flames in every game. Only ****ing out of their heads goaltending and horseshoes impacted the results in those games and you know that.

This is the Oilers board, you know that right? Maybe take this flames fan **** elsewhere since its obvious what you're doing with that kind of bolded foolish statement.

 

[KGM]

Only ****ing out of their heads goaltending and horseshoes impacted the results in those games and you know that.

Looks like you just acknowledged that there are more variables affecting the outcome of a game than how a team looks on paper.

That's progress.

 

[nexttothemoon]

It's an "odd" year.

Just look at the scoring leaders. Crosby is at the top with 79 pts with like 6 games to go. There's just a 19 pt spread from #1 to #30 amongst the scoring leaders. I haven't looked up that in previous years... but that has to be one of the lowest spreads in years.

It seems that parity is at all all-time high. You have a few obvious bottom feeders and then the majority of the rest of the league is relatively even.

Just for the hell of it... I looked at the point spread between teams 1-22 in the standings for the previous 13 seasons. That basically highlights all the playoff teams plus teams battling for playoff spots.


This year there is only 23 pts currently between 1st and 22nd.
That may widen slightly by the end of the year... but likely not by much more.

The previous 13 seasons (all with 30 teams in the league to make a valid comparison):


spread between 1st and 22nd teams in the standings :
13/14 33 pts
12/13 29 pts
11/12 27 pts
10/11 32 pts
09/10 37 pts
08/09 34 pts
07/08 30 pts
06/07 32 pts
05/06 40 pts
03/04 33 pts
02/03 38 pts
01/02 37 pts
00/01 47 pts

I think that illustrates that there is a lot more parity and less differential between the majority of teams in the league.

It's hard to separate from the pack and on the flipside most teams have a shot at winning most games... again unless you are in that lowest tier.

 

[Mr Positive]

Looks like you just acknowledged that there are more variables affecting the outcome of a game than how a team looks on paper.

That's progress.

that's a trend that's sweeping this whole league btw. It no longer really matters how a team looks 'on paper'. Scoring by top players is way down. Having talent evenly spread across the roster is preferable.

It's not about elite players doing exciting plays. It's about teams seeing how much they can get away with obstruction interference and screening/contacting the goalies.

Teams like the Habs, Flames, and Wild shouldn't be given the prominence they are getting. They aren't bad teams but there are more exciting teams that are not gaining traction.

 

[Replacement*]

Looks like you just acknowledged that there are more variables affecting the outcome of a game than how a team looks on paper.

That's progress.

Of course there is. But luck can be a big factor in games. Whats inexplicable is how much one club can roll with such improbability. That the Flames, with a putrid lineup, are somehow 5th in league goalscoring is more testament to how little a lot of teams take regular season games seriously vs anything else.

The real game is in the playoffs. Still hope the Flames miss out on the last game or two but would be fun to see them get kicked in the balls by a real team when the games actually matter.

 

[nexttothemoon]

Just looked at the scoring leaders from this season and the previous 13 seasons as well:

Spreads between 1st and 30th in scoring:

14/15 19 pts
13/14 39 pts
12/13 19 pts (lockout year 48 games)
11/12 42 pts
10/11 38 pts
09/10 42 pts
08/09 40 pts
07/08 40 pts
06/07 42 pts
05/06 46 pts
03/04 29 pts
02/03 37 pts
01/02 29 pts
00/01 45 pts

Another confirmation that parity is rising in the league and the separation amongst players is narrowing as well.


Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I'll let others debate that but it's interesting to see the stats confirm what we seem to be seeing out there in the games as well.

Too bad the Oilers are so ****** and are in that small "have not" group or else they'd likely have a decent shot at squeaking in and who knows what happens in the playoffs... more than ever it could be the case of a hot goalie or one goal scorer catching fire that decides the eventual Cup winner when every team is so closely matched.

 

[Replacement*]

that's a trend that's sweeping this whole league btw. It no longer really matters how a team looks 'on paper'. Scoring by top players is way down. Having talent evenly spread across the roster is preferable.

It's not about elite players doing exciting plays. It's about teams seeing how much they can get away with obstruction interference and screening/contacting the goalies.

Teams like the Habs, Flames, and Wild shouldn't be given the prominence they are getting. They aren't bad teams but there are more exciting teams that are not gaining traction.

I dunno. Cap of course produces some kind of parity but there are lineups that defy where they should legitimately be. The Flames to start out the season had a lineup that looked equal to, or worse than the Arizona Coyotes. Parity due to cap or not most teams have lineups much more skilled and deeper than this that should be able to fare better. Really the way I see it theres lots of failing effort teams in the league like SJ Sharks that are not anywhere close to where they should be.

What I've long suspected in the NHL, and that keeps it from being a truly respected big league sport is that the stars in this game just generally don't care enough to excel against far lesser players. In the NHL we're talking for the most part contractually sated star players that get paid one way or the other and often times not giving their best and within teams that probably notice and as a result don't bust their backs either when the high priced help isn't doing it.

The NHL is often a lazy league with indifferent regular season play. No team comes close to playing near their best in even 75% of the games. Thus setting the table for lunchbucket teams composed of players "just happy to be here" outworking players that should be much superior.

Its completely on the star players that they don't currently resemble stars in this league. A large part of the reason is most stars in this league on average take every 2nd game off.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

Flames were getting completely dominated and taking icing after icing...could've been 3-1 or 4-1 Stars
but Flames get an incredibly lucky goal when Hudler bounced one off the Stars D and tie it up 2-2
then thats all she wrote...cruising to an easy win

 

[harpoon]

I dunno about the theory you are advancing in this thread Replacement, or maybe its just my misunderstanding of what you're saying. Seems to me that you take what other teams give you every night, and every goal (lucky or silky) counts the same. You are probably right about some guys scoring over their heads, but its hard to say that they aren't deserving of those goals. I mean its the NHL, are there really that many freebies out there?

I think its definitely fair to say that teams take the Flames a lot more seriously than they do the Oilers. If the Flames are benefiting from not seeing opponents' best efforts, then how much more should the Oilers be reaping those same benefits and more? Yet somehow ....

I hate the Flames as much as anyone. That's why you'll never see me "respecting" them or "tipping my hat to them" as some have suggested we do. But I'm also not going to go out of my way to belittle a legit result this season. 41-28-7 , you don't fluke that record in this league.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

I dunno about the theory you are advancing in this thread Replacement, or maybe its just my misunderstanding of what you're saying. Seems to me that you take what other teams give you every night, and every goal (lucky or silky) counts the same. You are probably right about some guys scoring over their heads, but its hard to say that they aren't deserving of those goals. I mean its the NHL, are there really that many freebies out there?

I think its definitely fair to say that teams take the Flames a lot more seriously than they do the Oilers. If the Flames are benefiting from not seeing opponents' best efforts, then how much more should the Oilers be reaping those same benefits and more? Yet somehow ....

I hate the Flames as much as anyone. That's why you'll never see me "respecting" them or "tipping my hat to them" as some have suggested we do. But I'm also not going to go out of my way to belittle a legit result this season. 41-28-7 , you don't fluke that record in this league.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/standings.htm?season=20132014&type=con#&navid=nav-stn-conf