Observations XXII

[GoldOnGold]

On the plus side: Bonino is one point below his total from last year with 33 games left to play

 

[AdmiralsFan24]

A 5'9" winger who shoots right handed. Between him, Arvy and Rocco this could get confusing.

#23, 33 and 43 too. It's like the Preds are trolling.

 

[Montross]

we wake up this morning at 28-18-4.

….If we go 25-0-7 the remainder of the way we finish with the exact same record we finished with last year.

...that's right, we now have lost the exact number of games we lost last year (53-18-11). with 32 games remaining.

...pretty disgusting to me.

Crazy to think they have already matched last season’s loss total. And I saw Vingan post about how the PP is almost as inept as it was when the franchise first started. That is simply unacceptable with the talent on this roster.

 

[Drake744]

As awesome as the Central has been in the past few season we are this years version of the old Southeast. The fact that the Jets havent run off and buried us is amazing. That none of the Avs, Wild, or Stars are even threatening us is mind blowing.

I guess an optimist might think if ever there was a year to have a year like this, this is the year.

But I'm not an optimist so this sucks donkey balls

I got bored and decided to crunch some numbers for this season so far and last year.

Looking at the standings and doing the math to figure out each division's combined point per game total it goes like this....

This year:
Atlantic - 1.13
Metro - 1.10
Pacific - 1.09
Central - 1.08

Last year:
Central - 1.20 (good lord)
Metro - 1.12
Pacific - 1.08
Atlantic - 1.06

My takeaways are that our division isn't great this year, but 2 of the other 3 divisions top to bottom aren't much different. (and the other is boosted by Tampa Bay.) Also, last year didn't have a lot of parody. The Atlantic and Pacific were either worse or the same as the Central this year, the Metro was solid, and ours was unreal.

 

[PredsV82]

Nice work Drake. I really hadn't paid attention to the east. Now I see that the Isles are leading the Metro (!!)

And how crazy is it that Calgary is the only team with even a remote chance of catching Tampa for the Presidents Trophy

 

[101st_fan]

Five consecutive games without a PP goal (20 unconverted opportunities in that time) ... down to a 13.5% conversion rate for the season.

Starts so slow that even Mase calls them out coupled with an invisible powerplay lead to losses against very beatable teams. It's beyond time for the leadership group to step up and take action.

 

[PredsV82]

Five consecutive games without a PP goal (20 unconverted opportunities in that time) ... down to a 13.5% conversion rate for the season.

Starts so slow that even Mase calls them out coupled with an invisible powerplay lead to losses against very beatable teams. It's beyond time for the leadership group to step up and take action.

This is where we miss Shea Weber the most. I just dont think Josi is going to rally these guys, and Peks cant do it when his play has been suspect lately.

 

[GoldOnGold]

Since 1998-1999, NHL teams have played 597 seasons.

Only 36 had worse PP% than the Preds do this season.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

Since 1998-1999, NHL teams have played 597 seasons.

Only 36 had worse PP% than the Preds do this season.

f*** it.. why stop now? nothing is going to change. let's shoot to have the worst ever.

 

[Drake744]

Since 1998-1999, NHL teams have played 597 seasons.

Only 36 had worse PP% than the Preds do this season.

I remember one season in recent history, 2011-12, we had the top power play in the league and lost in 5 in the second round. The year we made the Final we had the 16th ranked PP. It's yugely beneficial to have a great power play but I don't think it's quite as vital in the playoffs from the standpoint that less calls are made.

With that said, yes it's pathetic this year and needs to be fixed.

 

[101st_fan]

I'm not worried about having a great powerplay. Simply mid pack would do. The difference between a 20% conversion rate and the team's current 13.5% is 11 goals so far over the 170 powerplay opportunities.

 

[Pred303]

absolutely no idea which team shows up for the game today.

 

[hockey diva]

My SIL, niece and nephew are going. They usually cheer for the Preds but I may tell 'em not to bother.

 

[Roman Yoshi]

absolutely no idea which team shows up for the game today.

Probably the one with the white jerseys with yellow.

But sometimes they wear yellow.

 

[hockey diva]

Would one of the mods sticky this thread and unstick the other one? Thank you!

 

[LCPreds]

Let's talk about the PP a little bit because honestly it's the elephant in the room in terms of unlocking this team's full potential.

How do you fix it?

First, I've seen reference to getting a new coach. OK, going down that path, who are we going to snag more than halfway through the season?

Second, I've read or heard a few times that part of the issue is lack of practice time available to even solve the problem. If that's true then I'm not sure a new coach really answers anything if there is no time to actually spend correcting the problem.

Finally, let's assume it is a coaching issue. Is there some reason they couldn't simply bring in help to solve the problem without getting rid of any of the current coaches? This assumes they can even find available time to solve anything (#2 above).

 

[Drake744]

It's low key awesome that Lavy and Torts are currently in a daily battle for most wins by an American coach

 

[Roman Yoshi]

Who would've guessed Bonino would become a scoring machine for us?

 

[GoldOnGold]

Who would've guessed Bonino would become a scoring machine for us?

Very happy with his production this season so far. This Bonino is worth the $4 million he gets.

 

[Armourboy]

So apparently part of our issue with the PP is the fact we keep using point shots. According to a couple of guys on NHL radio with the changes to modern defenses it is now the single worst shot in the game percentage wise.

It's the reason you don't see a ton of teams use it anymore and is at least part of the reason ours has been so bad.

 

[Pred303]

hockey is such a strange game. you can play well and lose but play poorly and win. some amazingly good counter attack opportunistic goals. well in fact all of them. rinne should be credited 2 wins for this one.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

So apparently part of our issue with the PP is the fact we keep using point shots. According to a couple of guys on NHL radio with the changes to modern defenses it is now the single worst shot in the game percentage wise.

It's the reason you don't see a ton of teams use it anymore and is at least part of the reason ours has been so bad.

Well, our guys do seem to move it around so much that eventually somebody just gives up and shoots... whether a point man or somebody near the wall... it just doesn't seem like they shoot when it's the best moment, more just because a shot is "overdue". So to me, whether the shot comes from the point or anywhere else, they aren't timing it right, they aren't shooting when they've got the opponent or goalie at a disadvantage, but more as a "last resort". They've had stretches in the not-distant past where Ellis or Subban in particular were very effective with point shots. I don't know if I buy that a point shot is automatically ineffective. But it's definitely not going to work when there's no traffic and they don't have the goalie moving or screened, if it's more just a desperate hail mary after just having tossed the puck around too long.

 

[NoNecksCurse]

point shots are definitely the worst shot on a PP.

now ES, point shots are all that's available at times. it's all about traffic in front of the net.

we have the talent/personnel to run just about whatever PP we would like. it's all the same w/ what 303 refers to and our umbrella. it just gets funneled back to the point for a shot/one timer.

 

[predfan24]

Nice work Drake. I really hadn't paid attention to the east. Now I see that the Isles are leading the Metro (!!)

And how crazy is it that Calgary is the only team with even a remote chance of catching Tampa for the Presidents Trophy

Trotz is a great coach. He really excels with teams that aren't dripping with offensive talent. Will he make the Hall of Fame?

 

[Jonesey]

I really wish we would move Forsberg to the other side of the ice on the PP. His one timer is incredible but we are wasting it on having him on his off-wing playing for the curl snap shot when no one is screening the goalie.