SHOOTANDSCORE
Eeny Meeny Miny Moe
- Sep 25, 2005
- 10,952
- 4,675
Yup. I'm fully prepared for him to be dumped predraft.
I'm not even going to finish this post because it would just be lines of censoring
News Article: Rutherford confident Penguins are ready for playoffs
- Thread starter BHD
- Start date
I'm not even going to finish this post because it would just be lines of censoring
Penguinator
Kesselator
This week's power rankings (i guess they must take the Pens injuries into account):
SUPER 16: NHL POWER RANKINGS
Super 16: Three must buck metrics trend to win Cup
Friday, 03.27.2015 / 3:00 AM
Corey Masisak - NHL.com Staff Writer
There have been some crazy championship marches in the NHL in the past four seasons.
The Boston Bruins needed three Game 7s, including two decided by one goal and one that went overtime, to win the Stanley Cup in 2011. The Los Angeles Kings tore through the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2012 like no team had in the sport's history, and did so while becoming the first No. 8 seed to win a title.
Two years later, the Kings might have upped the ante, rallying from a 3-0 series deficit in the opening round and playing the full 21 games against a gauntlet of elite teams (San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks). Even in 2013 when the Blackhawks essentially went wire-to-wire in a shortened season, the Stanley Cup Final was filled with overtimes and incredible games.
All of that is a lead in to this: The 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs might get weird.
The best puck possession team in the League, the Kings, might not even make the tournament. The other team that began the season as essentially co-favorites, the Blackhawks, are short a world-class player, though he might return at some point if they win for long enough in the spring.
There is also this fascinating fact about the teams near the top of the standings: The three clubs with the best chance to win the Presidents' Trophy, the Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, will all have to buck recent history to win the Stanley Cup.
The Kings and Blackhawks have been leaders in illuminating the general public about why certain metrics that most people didn't know existed until recently matter, and often more than the standings when trying to predict a champion.
In the past five seasons, four times the eventual Stanley Cup champion has been great at two things: possessing the puck and suppressing shot attempts by the opponent. These are two similar but distinct things. There have been several teams who are great at possessing the puck but do so in a more wide-open style, which leads to more shot attempts against.
They were also usually pretty good on the penalty kill, or got better once the postseason began.
Check out the accompanying table for a look at the Cup finalists and champions from the past five seasons, and compare those numbers to the Ducks, Canadiens and Rangers to this point in the 2014-15 season.
HISTORY LESSON?
Team, Year SAT% SAT%, last 25 SATA/60, last 25 PK%
Los Angeles Kings, 2013-14 56.8% (1st) 57.2% (1st) 46.4 (4th) 83.1% (11th)
New York Rangers, 2013-14 52.4% (T-7th) 53.6% (9th) 52.7 (13th) 85.3% (3rd)
Chicago Blackhawks, 2012-13 54.1% (4th) 55.0% (3rd) 45.9 (T-2nd) 87.2% (3rd)
Boston Bruins, 2012-13 54.3% (3rd) 54.4% (5th) 51.8 (9th) 87.1% (4th)
Los Angeles Kings, 2011-12 54.7% (2nd) 58.1% (1st) 44.0 (2nd) 87.0 (4th)
New Jersey Devils, 2011-12 50.3% (T-12th) 52.3% (6th) 43.7 (1st) 89.6% (1st)
Boston Bruins, 2010-11 50.7% (14th) 51.3% (T-10th) 55.0 (15th) 82.6% (16th)
Vancouver Canucks, 2010-11 52.2% (5th) 53.7% (4th) 49.4 (T-3rd) 85.6% (3rd)
Chicago Blackhawks, 2009-10 56.4% (1st) 56.5% (1st) 46.3 (2nd) 85.3% (4th)
Philadelphia Flyers, 2009-10 50.9% (14th) 50.8% (16th) 56.8 (21st) 83.0% (T-11)
Anaheim Ducks, 2014-15 51.4% (T-13th) 51.7% (T-11th) 51.8 (9th) 80.9% (T-18th)
Montreal Canadiens, 2014-15 48.4% (23rd) 48.2% (23rd) 59.4 (26th) 84.4% (6th)
New York Rangers, 2014-15 49.9% (19th) 50.3% (17th) 587.7 (T-24th) 83.5% (8th)
KEY: SAT% = shot attempt percentage at even strength; SAT%, last 25 = shot atttempt percentage, last 25 games of the regular season; SATA/60 = shot attempts against per 60 minutes (League rank in paranthesis)
Even the fifth team that won, the 2011 Bruins, eventually was great at puck possession. They were steadily improving in the second half of the season, and from March 15 until the end of the season (14 games for Boston) the Bruins were fifth in shot attempt percentage (SAT%) and 10th in shot attempts against per 60 minutes.
What does this mean for the Ducks, Canadiens and Rangers? There is more time left in this season, and the Rangers and Ducks have been improving in puck possession (but not as much in shot suppression) of late. Last season Montreal added players at the NHL Trade Deadline and improved in these categories, and a bigger dose of Jeff Petry (and lesser doses of a few guys) would help.
Another thing working in their favor is some of the teams that have been great in these areas are slipping. The Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings were the two best at shot suppression early in the season but they're falling back. If the Kings do not make the playoffs, that's a good thing for these teams, particularly the Ducks, who would probably see them in the first or second round.
There is also the possibility this becomes known as a weird season. The three best teams in the NHL since Feb. 1 that could make the playoffs in score-adjusted SAT% are the Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets.
Is anyone going to pick the Penguins or Jets to win the Cup? What about the Kings, if they even make it?
It's certainly possible for the Ducks, Canadiens or Rangers to win the Stanley Cup, and plenty of pundits will pick one of them to do so. It appears they will need to reverse the recent course of NHL history in order to pull it off.
DISCLAIMER: While the Super 16 is NHL.com's weekly power rankings, it focuses more on the "power" than the "rankings" when determining the order. It's not always going to look like the League standings and likely will take more of a long view than a short one. If two teams are close the tiebreaker almost always is this: If the two teams started a seven-game series right now, who would prevail? Stop by to see where your favorite team ranks, but stay for the information. All rankings, records and statistics are through the games played Wednesday night.
1. Tampa Bay Lightning
Ondrej Palat has 120 points in 162 NHL games. He was a seventh-round pick (No. 208) in the 2011 NHL Draft. No seventh-round pick in the 2006-2010 drafts has as many career points as Palat. Patric Hornqvist, the last pick of the 2005 draft, has 261.
2. St. Louis Blues
No other Russian player besides Alex Ovechkin has scored 40 goals in the NHL since 2009-10, when Ilya Kovalchuk had 41 and Alexander Semin had 40. Vladimir Tarasenko needs five in the Blues' final eight games to get there.
3. Los Angeles Kings
Since 2007-08, no team that finished higher than fourth in score-adjusted shot attempt percentage (SAT%), according to www.war-on-ice.com failed to make the playoffs. Those teams are 21-for-21, but the streak is in jeopardy if the 2012 and 2014 champions do not make it.
4. Chicago Blackhawks
Here is the Blackhawks' ranking in goals per game since they first made the Stanley Cup Playoffs with this core of players in 2009: Fourth, third, fourth, tied for fifth, second, second. This season Chicago is 14th. The Blackhawks remain a strong goal prevention team, but they could use a few more goals too, obviously.
5. New York Rangers
Earlier in the season, the No. 3 center spot in the Rangers lineup was a big question mark. Is it possible Kevin Hayes is the best No. 3 center in the Eastern Conference right now? He has four goals and a team-leading 11 points in the past 15 games. During that time his points per 60 minutes is better than any East center except for Pavel Datsyuk, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Take away power-play time (because Hayes doesn't see a whole lot of it) and he's second to Malkin.
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
In a span of time that includes Pittsburgh's past 25 games, the Penguins are second in the NHL to the Kings in score-adjusted SAT%. They are sixth in scoring chance percentage at even strength, according to War on Ice. They are not scoring enough, but they also have the fourth-worst shooting percentage in the NHL in that span. If they control the puck, suppress shots and continue to have a strong penalty kill (third in the League this season), this is a Stanley Cup contender and one of the best bets to survive the tight Eastern Conference, even if it certainly doesn't seem like the Penguins are being perceived that way in a lot of places.
SUPER 16: NHL POWER RANKINGS
Super 16: Three must buck metrics trend to win Cup
Friday, 03.27.2015 / 3:00 AM
Corey Masisak - NHL.com Staff Writer
There have been some crazy championship marches in the NHL in the past four seasons.
The Boston Bruins needed three Game 7s, including two decided by one goal and one that went overtime, to win the Stanley Cup in 2011. The Los Angeles Kings tore through the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2012 like no team had in the sport's history, and did so while becoming the first No. 8 seed to win a title.
Two years later, the Kings might have upped the ante, rallying from a 3-0 series deficit in the opening round and playing the full 21 games against a gauntlet of elite teams (San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks). Even in 2013 when the Blackhawks essentially went wire-to-wire in a shortened season, the Stanley Cup Final was filled with overtimes and incredible games.
All of that is a lead in to this: The 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs might get weird.
The best puck possession team in the League, the Kings, might not even make the tournament. The other team that began the season as essentially co-favorites, the Blackhawks, are short a world-class player, though he might return at some point if they win for long enough in the spring.
There is also this fascinating fact about the teams near the top of the standings: The three clubs with the best chance to win the Presidents' Trophy, the Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, will all have to buck recent history to win the Stanley Cup.
The Kings and Blackhawks have been leaders in illuminating the general public about why certain metrics that most people didn't know existed until recently matter, and often more than the standings when trying to predict a champion.
In the past five seasons, four times the eventual Stanley Cup champion has been great at two things: possessing the puck and suppressing shot attempts by the opponent. These are two similar but distinct things. There have been several teams who are great at possessing the puck but do so in a more wide-open style, which leads to more shot attempts against.
They were also usually pretty good on the penalty kill, or got better once the postseason began.
Check out the accompanying table for a look at the Cup finalists and champions from the past five seasons, and compare those numbers to the Ducks, Canadiens and Rangers to this point in the 2014-15 season.
HISTORY LESSON?
Team, Year SAT% SAT%, last 25 SATA/60, last 25 PK%
Los Angeles Kings, 2013-14 56.8% (1st) 57.2% (1st) 46.4 (4th) 83.1% (11th)
New York Rangers, 2013-14 52.4% (T-7th) 53.6% (9th) 52.7 (13th) 85.3% (3rd)
Chicago Blackhawks, 2012-13 54.1% (4th) 55.0% (3rd) 45.9 (T-2nd) 87.2% (3rd)
Boston Bruins, 2012-13 54.3% (3rd) 54.4% (5th) 51.8 (9th) 87.1% (4th)
Los Angeles Kings, 2011-12 54.7% (2nd) 58.1% (1st) 44.0 (2nd) 87.0 (4th)
New Jersey Devils, 2011-12 50.3% (T-12th) 52.3% (6th) 43.7 (1st) 89.6% (1st)
Boston Bruins, 2010-11 50.7% (14th) 51.3% (T-10th) 55.0 (15th) 82.6% (16th)
Vancouver Canucks, 2010-11 52.2% (5th) 53.7% (4th) 49.4 (T-3rd) 85.6% (3rd)
Chicago Blackhawks, 2009-10 56.4% (1st) 56.5% (1st) 46.3 (2nd) 85.3% (4th)
Philadelphia Flyers, 2009-10 50.9% (14th) 50.8% (16th) 56.8 (21st) 83.0% (T-11)
Anaheim Ducks, 2014-15 51.4% (T-13th) 51.7% (T-11th) 51.8 (9th) 80.9% (T-18th)
Montreal Canadiens, 2014-15 48.4% (23rd) 48.2% (23rd) 59.4 (26th) 84.4% (6th)
New York Rangers, 2014-15 49.9% (19th) 50.3% (17th) 587.7 (T-24th) 83.5% (8th)
KEY: SAT% = shot attempt percentage at even strength; SAT%, last 25 = shot atttempt percentage, last 25 games of the regular season; SATA/60 = shot attempts against per 60 minutes (League rank in paranthesis)
Even the fifth team that won, the 2011 Bruins, eventually was great at puck possession. They were steadily improving in the second half of the season, and from March 15 until the end of the season (14 games for Boston) the Bruins were fifth in shot attempt percentage (SAT%) and 10th in shot attempts against per 60 minutes.
What does this mean for the Ducks, Canadiens and Rangers? There is more time left in this season, and the Rangers and Ducks have been improving in puck possession (but not as much in shot suppression) of late. Last season Montreal added players at the NHL Trade Deadline and improved in these categories, and a bigger dose of Jeff Petry (and lesser doses of a few guys) would help.
Another thing working in their favor is some of the teams that have been great in these areas are slipping. The Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings were the two best at shot suppression early in the season but they're falling back. If the Kings do not make the playoffs, that's a good thing for these teams, particularly the Ducks, who would probably see them in the first or second round.
There is also the possibility this becomes known as a weird season. The three best teams in the NHL since Feb. 1 that could make the playoffs in score-adjusted SAT% are the Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets.
Is anyone going to pick the Penguins or Jets to win the Cup? What about the Kings, if they even make it?
It's certainly possible for the Ducks, Canadiens or Rangers to win the Stanley Cup, and plenty of pundits will pick one of them to do so. It appears they will need to reverse the recent course of NHL history in order to pull it off.
DISCLAIMER: While the Super 16 is NHL.com's weekly power rankings, it focuses more on the "power" than the "rankings" when determining the order. It's not always going to look like the League standings and likely will take more of a long view than a short one. If two teams are close the tiebreaker almost always is this: If the two teams started a seven-game series right now, who would prevail? Stop by to see where your favorite team ranks, but stay for the information. All rankings, records and statistics are through the games played Wednesday night.
1. Tampa Bay Lightning
Ondrej Palat has 120 points in 162 NHL games. He was a seventh-round pick (No. 208) in the 2011 NHL Draft. No seventh-round pick in the 2006-2010 drafts has as many career points as Palat. Patric Hornqvist, the last pick of the 2005 draft, has 261.
2. St. Louis Blues
No other Russian player besides Alex Ovechkin has scored 40 goals in the NHL since 2009-10, when Ilya Kovalchuk had 41 and Alexander Semin had 40. Vladimir Tarasenko needs five in the Blues' final eight games to get there.
3. Los Angeles Kings
Since 2007-08, no team that finished higher than fourth in score-adjusted shot attempt percentage (SAT%), according to www.war-on-ice.com failed to make the playoffs. Those teams are 21-for-21, but the streak is in jeopardy if the 2012 and 2014 champions do not make it.
4. Chicago Blackhawks
Here is the Blackhawks' ranking in goals per game since they first made the Stanley Cup Playoffs with this core of players in 2009: Fourth, third, fourth, tied for fifth, second, second. This season Chicago is 14th. The Blackhawks remain a strong goal prevention team, but they could use a few more goals too, obviously.
5. New York Rangers
Earlier in the season, the No. 3 center spot in the Rangers lineup was a big question mark. Is it possible Kevin Hayes is the best No. 3 center in the Eastern Conference right now? He has four goals and a team-leading 11 points in the past 15 games. During that time his points per 60 minutes is better than any East center except for Pavel Datsyuk, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Take away power-play time (because Hayes doesn't see a whole lot of it) and he's second to Malkin.
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
In a span of time that includes Pittsburgh's past 25 games, the Penguins are second in the NHL to the Kings in score-adjusted SAT%. They are sixth in scoring chance percentage at even strength, according to War on Ice. They are not scoring enough, but they also have the fourth-worst shooting percentage in the NHL in that span. If they control the puck, suppress shots and continue to have a strong penalty kill (third in the League this season), this is a Stanley Cup contender and one of the best bets to survive the tight Eastern Conference, even if it certainly doesn't seem like the Penguins are being perceived that way in a lot of places.
