Sunday, March 09, 2008
Northwest Passage
Oilers against the NW
March 13th: @ Avalanche
March 20th: vs.Canucks
March 22nd: vs. Avalanche
March 24th: vs. Wild
March 26th: @ Wild
March 28th: @ Avalanche
March 29th: @ Flames
April 1st: vs. Flames
April 3rd: @ Canucks
Flames against the NW
March 20th: vs. Avalanche
March 22nd: vs. Wild
March 24th: @ Avalanche
March 25th: vs. Canucks
March 29th: vs. Oilers
March 30th: @ Canucks
April 1st: @ Oilers
April 3rd: @ Wild
April 5th: @ Canucks
Current standings here.
The only team in the Northwest Division with a losing record in their past ten is the Wild. They are 3-5-2. Every other team has a winning record. Calgary is 6-2-2, Colorado is 7-2-1, Vancouver is 6-2-2, and Edmonton is 6-4.
The Oilers are, shockingly, the highest scoring team in the Northwest Division, with 191 Goals For. Problem is, they can't prevent the puck from going in their own net. They've allowed 211 Goals Against on the season, by far the most in the Northwest (and second most in the Conference). Makes you wonder why Kevin Lowe thought he had too many defencemen.
The Wild, Avalanche and Flames are all tied for first in the Northwest, with 80 points. Calgary holds the #3 seed in the Western Conference as of right now, and has a game in hand on both Colorado and Minnesota. The Flames play their last four games of the season on the road, including two at GM Place against the Canucks. Vancouver is still holding on to 8th place in the Western Conference. Will this be a year when four teams from the Northwest make the playoffs?
***Instant Update***
The Wild just earned a point against the Sharks, moving them into first in the Northwest and the #3 seed in the Conference. Colorado could take those spots with a win tonight against the Stars, and Calgary will have two in hand on both the Avs and the Wild. It's going to be like this the rest of the year. With the Oilers playing well, and having the chance to spoil someone's playoff hopes (no, they will not make the playoffs), it should be a fun few weeks.
March 13th: @ Avalanche
March 20th: vs.Canucks
March 22nd: vs. Avalanche
March 24th: vs. Wild
March 26th: @ Wild
March 28th: @ Avalanche
March 29th: @ Flames
April 1st: vs. Flames
April 3rd: @ Canucks
Flames against the NW
March 20th: vs. Avalanche
March 22nd: vs. Wild
March 24th: @ Avalanche
March 25th: vs. Canucks
March 29th: vs. Oilers
March 30th: @ Canucks
April 1st: @ Oilers
April 3rd: @ Wild
April 5th: @ Canucks
Current standings here.
The only team in the Northwest Division with a losing record in their past ten is the Wild. They are 3-5-2. Every other team has a winning record. Calgary is 6-2-2, Colorado is 7-2-1, Vancouver is 6-2-2, and Edmonton is 6-4.
The Oilers are, shockingly, the highest scoring team in the Northwest Division, with 191 Goals For. Problem is, they can't prevent the puck from going in their own net. They've allowed 211 Goals Against on the season, by far the most in the Northwest (and second most in the Conference). Makes you wonder why Kevin Lowe thought he had too many defencemen.
The Wild, Avalanche and Flames are all tied for first in the Northwest, with 80 points. Calgary holds the #3 seed in the Western Conference as of right now, and has a game in hand on both Colorado and Minnesota. The Flames play their last four games of the season on the road, including two at GM Place against the Canucks. Vancouver is still holding on to 8th place in the Western Conference. Will this be a year when four teams from the Northwest make the playoffs?
***Instant Update***
The Wild just earned a point against the Sharks, moving them into first in the Northwest and the #3 seed in the Conference. Colorado could take those spots with a win tonight against the Stars, and Calgary will have two in hand on both the Avs and the Wild. It's going to be like this the rest of the year. With the Oilers playing well, and having the chance to spoil someone's playoff hopes (no, they will not make the playoffs), it should be a fun few weeks.
# posted by andy grabia @ 5:00 pm 
Comments:
why do NW teams seem to take turns going into losing and winning streaks? (and why is calgary, which seems like the most complete team of any, not holding a large lead over the others?) it's like musical chairs, who will be the in the losing streak when the music stops playing.
(and why is calgary, which seems like the most complete team of any, not holding a large lead over the others?)
Flames fans will have a better perspective on this, but from watching them about 30 times this year, my own take is that they are terribly inconsistent. They look like Stanley Cup Champs one night, and absolute chumps the next. I think they have a particularly rough time against teams with an aggressive forecheck. The defence can't make the outlet pass, and it just ends up in their own end for another 30-40 seconds (or until a goal is scored). Plus, Kipper hasn't been superhuman this year. Again, I don't watch them every night, but that's what I've seen in the games I've watched. Guys like Matt and MG will know better.
I haven't seen a ton of Flames games but I think that while the top end talent is far better then their Finals' year, their bottom end is really really brutal and their D is not as good.
Agreed though - last year I figured they were a lock to get in and a true contender.
And this year I lean towards that too. Weird team to figure out.
Unlike the Oilers. This 80s redux is starting to get silly.
10 and 5 since Horc went down. I guarantee that nobody saw that coming and whoever says they did is a liar.
A liar I says!
the oilers are not the highest scoring team in the NW...they are tied for fourth in the division, but vancouver has a game in hand....
Agreed on the bottom six being a liability for Calgary, BD. Lombardi has 10 goals, Boyd has 6, at the expense of not knowing his way around his own end, and the next highest scorer is Yelle with 3 goals. I noticed that Primeau and Nilson have played about 60 games between them, and have 4G/4A combined. Those two guys likely get what amounts to 3rd line minutes, and they have as many points as Zach Stortini. Not good, I'd suggest.
The other thing holding Calgary back is horrible special teams play. Last year they were around break-even in total special teams goals. This year, they're something like -15. Their home power play is 29th, at 13.7%. They have enough skill guys where that shouldn't happen, and they run about 20% on the road, so maybe they're over-elaborate in Cowtown.
Andy also makes a good point about their D moving the puck. In 03/04, they had Leopold/Regher, Ference/Warrener and Lydman/Gauthier as the 3 pairs. One puck mover and one down low grinder on each set, and that was in the "old" NHL. The only guy on the current team who is a reliable passer is Phaneuf. Tough to clear your own end and have transition offence with that handicap.
BTW, the Oilers have the lowest GPG in the division by NHL standards. The GF has 14 SO goals tacked on.
the oilers are not the highest scoring team in the NW...they are tied for fourth in the division, but vancouver has a game in hand....
Weird. There is a big discrepancy between the Yahoo! page and the NHL page. But ESPN shows the same number as Yahoo!. So too does Sportsnet and TSN.
BTW, the Oilers have the lowest GPG in the division by NHL standards. The GF has 14 SO goals tacked on.
Ah, is that what the other sites are counting? Interesting.
Your take is fairly accurate Grabia. The Flames are inconsistent because when the big boys aren't dominating, the team pretty much sucks. The bottom of the roster can't really score and can't really prevent goals. Even the "2nd line" is populated by two players who don't even have as many points combined as Kristian Huselius does alone.
Also, the team is fairly slow, particularly on the back-end, thus the trouble with aggressive forecheck. Add in a mediocre Kiprusoff and worse than average special teams...and you have the '07-'08 Flames.
Why aren't the Flames holding a big lead over the rest of the division? One word: November.
If we had played as well in November as we had during the rest of the season (say 8-5-1 instead of 4-10), we'd be sitting with 89 points right now. That would put us with a solid lead in the divisional race and pretty clear sailing towards 2nd in the conference.
what you all say about calgary is interesting when you think also of the streakiness of teams in the NW: is there something about the twin strategies of neutral-zone trapping and then dump-and-chase-forecheck that makes it hard to be consistent? i think about calgary as having one of the most complete players in iginla, who can really carry the team, but maybe breaking through a trap plus the rigours of forechecking and hitting is just too much for any player's body and mind to take for a whole season. and so when the main players are worn down, playing injured and can't carry the team then the team starts to tank for a while. compared to say 80s hockey, where top offensive talents didn't get hit too much, thanks to enforcers, and weren't expected to hit.
(no, they will not make the playoffs)
What!
And Grabby, you're looking at sources that include shootout winning goals in the goals for column.
I have no idea why they do, but the NHL's started putting those in their standings. I find it's always best to look at goals for per game, anyway, and I think ESPN's numbers for that are without the shootout winners.
Goes to show how other-worldly Edmonton's shootout success has been when including the ersatz "goals" moves them from last to first in the division in goals for.
All the other teams have 3-6 such "goals", Edmonton 14. And of course, each one of them translates directly into one standings point.
You have to control for the fact that the oilers will give up a single to pretty much every team they play against.
You have to control for the fact that the oilers will give up a single to pretty much every team they play against.
I prefer to think of it as them letting every team get at least to 1st base.
OK Oilers, how about doing a pal down the highway a solid and winning a few games down the stretch in regulation for a change. Heck, win all of them if you like.
Your pal,
Peter
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why do NW teams seem to take turns going into losing and winning streaks? (and why is calgary, which seems like the most complete team of any, not holding a large lead over the others?) it's like musical chairs, who will be the in the losing streak when the music stops playing.
(and why is calgary, which seems like the most complete team of any, not holding a large lead over the others?)
Flames fans will have a better perspective on this, but from watching them about 30 times this year, my own take is that they are terribly inconsistent. They look like Stanley Cup Champs one night, and absolute chumps the next. I think they have a particularly rough time against teams with an aggressive forecheck. The defence can't make the outlet pass, and it just ends up in their own end for another 30-40 seconds (or until a goal is scored). Plus, Kipper hasn't been superhuman this year. Again, I don't watch them every night, but that's what I've seen in the games I've watched. Guys like Matt and MG will know better.
I haven't seen a ton of Flames games but I think that while the top end talent is far better then their Finals' year, their bottom end is really really brutal and their D is not as good.
Agreed though - last year I figured they were a lock to get in and a true contender.
And this year I lean towards that too. Weird team to figure out.
Unlike the Oilers. This 80s redux is starting to get silly.
10 and 5 since Horc went down. I guarantee that nobody saw that coming and whoever says they did is a liar.
A liar I says!
the oilers are not the highest scoring team in the NW...they are tied for fourth in the division, but vancouver has a game in hand....
# posted by 
: March 09, 2008 8:13 pm
: March 09, 2008 8:13 pm Agreed on the bottom six being a liability for Calgary, BD. Lombardi has 10 goals, Boyd has 6, at the expense of not knowing his way around his own end, and the next highest scorer is Yelle with 3 goals. I noticed that Primeau and Nilson have played about 60 games between them, and have 4G/4A combined. Those two guys likely get what amounts to 3rd line minutes, and they have as many points as Zach Stortini. Not good, I'd suggest.
The other thing holding Calgary back is horrible special teams play. Last year they were around break-even in total special teams goals. This year, they're something like -15. Their home power play is 29th, at 13.7%. They have enough skill guys where that shouldn't happen, and they run about 20% on the road, so maybe they're over-elaborate in Cowtown.
Andy also makes a good point about their D moving the puck. In 03/04, they had Leopold/Regher, Ference/Warrener and Lydman/Gauthier as the 3 pairs. One puck mover and one down low grinder on each set, and that was in the "old" NHL. The only guy on the current team who is a reliable passer is Phaneuf. Tough to clear your own end and have transition offence with that handicap.
BTW, the Oilers have the lowest GPG in the division by NHL standards. The GF has 14 SO goals tacked on.
the oilers are not the highest scoring team in the NW...they are tied for fourth in the division, but vancouver has a game in hand....
Weird. There is a big discrepancy between the Yahoo! page and the NHL page. But ESPN shows the same number as Yahoo!. So too does Sportsnet and TSN.
BTW, the Oilers have the lowest GPG in the division by NHL standards. The GF has 14 SO goals tacked on.
Ah, is that what the other sites are counting? Interesting.
Your take is fairly accurate Grabia. The Flames are inconsistent because when the big boys aren't dominating, the team pretty much sucks. The bottom of the roster can't really score and can't really prevent goals. Even the "2nd line" is populated by two players who don't even have as many points combined as Kristian Huselius does alone.
Also, the team is fairly slow, particularly on the back-end, thus the trouble with aggressive forecheck. Add in a mediocre Kiprusoff and worse than average special teams...and you have the '07-'08 Flames.
Why aren't the Flames holding a big lead over the rest of the division? One word: November.
If we had played as well in November as we had during the rest of the season (say 8-5-1 instead of 4-10), we'd be sitting with 89 points right now. That would put us with a solid lead in the divisional race and pretty clear sailing towards 2nd in the conference.
what you all say about calgary is interesting when you think also of the streakiness of teams in the NW: is there something about the twin strategies of neutral-zone trapping and then dump-and-chase-forecheck that makes it hard to be consistent? i think about calgary as having one of the most complete players in iginla, who can really carry the team, but maybe breaking through a trap plus the rigours of forechecking and hitting is just too much for any player's body and mind to take for a whole season. and so when the main players are worn down, playing injured and can't carry the team then the team starts to tank for a while. compared to say 80s hockey, where top offensive talents didn't get hit too much, thanks to enforcers, and weren't expected to hit.
(no, they will not make the playoffs)
What!
And Grabby, you're looking at sources that include shootout winning goals in the goals for column.
I have no idea why they do, but the NHL's started putting those in their standings. I find it's always best to look at goals for per game, anyway, and I think ESPN's numbers for that are without the shootout winners.
Goes to show how other-worldly Edmonton's shootout success has been when including the ersatz "goals" moves them from last to first in the division in goals for.
All the other teams have 3-6 such "goals", Edmonton 14. And of course, each one of them translates directly into one standings point.
You have to control for the fact that the oilers will give up a single to pretty much every team they play against.
You have to control for the fact that the oilers will give up a single to pretty much every team they play against.
I prefer to think of it as them letting every team get at least to 1st base.
OK Oilers, how about doing a pal down the highway a solid and winning a few games down the stretch in regulation for a change. Heck, win all of them if you like.
Your pal,
Peter
# posted by : March 10, 2008 3:58 pm
: March 10, 2008 3:58 pm Post a Comment
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