Rangers now tops in the league, though I personally would prefer to go into the playoffs as a 2 seed with Boston lurking at 8.
That's been the silver lining of this Predators slump. I really think LA ends up sneaking in at 7 or 8. Winning the division would be great, but so would playing anybody but the Kings in the first round
I feel for you guys, as dropping to 2 sets up a date with Chicago or Saint Louis. Best case has to be LA passing Vancouver and/or Calgary
Lavy gets the most out of his teams in the playoffs, so thats a plus. What kills me right now is, for the better part of this slump, everything is going wrong. Now, the bright side is that means it isn't sustainable. I mean, hell, there is no way that we can continue to hit goalies who are playing significantly above their ability. That said, at some point someone has to start going to the front of the net consistently. It's unlucky that our rebounds keep finding their way right to opposing sticks, but that is certainly an area where you can make your own damn luck.
It's simply all the bounces that have gone their way since the season started are now going the opposite way. They're not quite as good as their pre slump record would have one believe, and not nearly as bad as they've looked lately.
12 games, no regulation losses. I think the lack of offensive prowess from any one player is hurting the league. The leader is on pace for 84 points. The last time someone led the league with that many points in a non-strike shortened year was 1961 ( Bobby Hull. He still played 12 fewer games with league schedule being set at 70 games). That might be the lowest ppg ever. But total non sequitu, but with regards to ridiculous stats: The league leader in shutouts averages ~7/yr in 82 gms. Not bad. The record for shutouts in a season is 22 by George Hainsworth. His record? 22-7-15. Any game he allowed a goal he lost. Think about that (He only allowed 0.92 gpg that season). I challenge somebody to find a more ridiculous stat in any sport (22 shutouts in 44 games). The only sport stat that could even come close to even licking the dew of that stat's balls is the fact that Glenn Hall (a goalie) played 502 straight games. Cal Ripken scratched his nuts for 98.67% of the time he was on the field. His "Iron Man" title is shit. He also had 14 shutouts the prior year, and 13 the year before that. You take those three seaons alone and he's 27th all time in shut outs. Top 5 all time (GP - Shut out - Shut out %): Martin Brodeur 1266 - 125 - 0.099; Terry Sawchuk 971 - 103 - 0.106; George Hainsworth 465 - 94 - 0.202(A shutout every 5 starts); Glenn Hall 906 - 84 - 0.093; Jacques Plante 837 - 82 - 0.098;
I'd say the lack of a superb individual season has to do with the Frazer McLaren and George Parros types falling out of style, to where bottom 6 players are generally more capable end to end than in the past so ice time is more spread through the roster
Andrew Ladd is a true captain. I love Winnipegs size on their top 6. If Carey Price doesn't win Hart and Vezina it's due to francophobe voting.
Yep, it's tough to argue against him when he's leading the league in by impressively sizable margins in GAA and SV% while still being 4th in minutes. I hope he can get a few more shutouts and take the goalie triple crown. The difference between him and second place in SV% is the same as the difference between 2nd and 15th.
Fiala is up, so arguably the two best offensive prospects the Preds have could very well be in the lineup tonight. Of course, that makes 33% of the normal forward corps that is out right now
Also looks like Poile is stalking Jimmy Vesey in hopes of using him this year when Harvard's season ends.
Wilson is back, that's big. Vesey would be a really good addition I think. Someone said it could be like Krieder a couple years back. If he came in and did that I would be thrilled. We have shit for center depth, but lots of promising wingers
I don't see Vesey being the game changer Kreider was with the size and speed, but he's got plenty of talent and comparably fresh legs
I agree with pretty much all of this. From what I've read he has gotten bigger and is in the ballpark of Krieder there, but he doesn't have that skating ability. On the topic of Preds prospects, did you see Fiala last night? Kid is good. Only played like 26 games on North American ice and looked like a difference maker. Now, eventually teams will get scouting reports on him, but the talent is there for sure.
I didn't watch enough to really see him, I meant to but for whatever reason I kept watching the Rangers get bludgeoned by LA.
Rangers chased Hammond, nice to absolutely blast a team that's zoned in like Ottawa is. Looking like Hank will be in net vs Boston Friday, can't say enough about Talbot's wwork after being thrown to the forefront. If he was a bit younger I think he'd secure a #1 pick over the summer.
