NYR Venn Diagram

Dissecting the Regular Season and Looking Forward to the Playoffs

Here are some charts I put together looking at some basic regular season stats now that it has come to an end. I will be posting more (hopefully doing a better job) as well. Because it's fun for me even if no one reads it.

Bruins Numbers vs League Numbers

Here are some more charts I made the other day...

Power Play Percentages

Shooting % Chart

Click for full size.

Building on thoughts from this previous post, I present you with this...silly ass graphic. Using info from ESPN, this illustrates (the best I could - others have done a better job making charts and accurately displaying these statistics) how the Bruins absurdly high shooting percentage for a few months (representative of scoring lots of goals and getting lots of wins, obviously) plummeted down and is just now starting to even out and stay on part with the league average. As I have posted about before, mostly referencing other people who have pointed this out, ultimately all teams and players with really high or low shooting percentages and other statistics like that (which I will be making more charts from next...I am attempting to figure out this PDO thing I talked about earlier), cannot realistically sustain numbers so far above or below the league average. Take from this what you will, but I see it as a good sign. 

Breaking Down the Bruins Breakdown

What seems like years have passed since the Bruins were a winning team. In that time, I - like most other fans, I'm sure - have evaluated every possible explanation for this nightmare. How did it go from being so perfect, to being almost irreparable?

Do the answers lie in the numbers on the stat sheets? The video replays? The players themselves? Or is it something we can't see - something wrong inside the locker room? A problem that can be traced back in time? Or something even deeper? Or maybe something far simpler and more obvious? If the answer is a little bit of everything, doesn't it seem more impossible to overcome? Searching for answers doesn't yield solutions. We can only sit and helplessly wait for the results.

When rendered helpless, I like to pretend I can put myself to good use. This is my feeble attempt to make sense of the situation and shed some light, as dim as it may be. I go into uncharted territories, personally, by exploring advanced statistics and the many different types, uses, and even practices in the NHL.

More Trivia Fun

This is from Don Weekes' All-Star Hockey Challenge (Greystone Books, 2000).

Firsts: part 1

• Jean Beliveau was the first hockey player on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
• Phil Esposito was the first NHLer to score 100 points.
• Gordie Howe was the first player to win the Hart Trophy 5 times.
• Jaromir Jagr was the first European player to lead the NHL in scoring.
• Jean Ratelle was the first player to score 100 points for 2 teams.
• Mike Gartner was the first NHLer to get 30 goals in 15 straight seasons.
• Kevin Stevens was the first player to get 100 points and 200 PIM in the same season.
• Borje Salming was the first European-trained player to play in 1,000 NHL games
• Craig Simpson was the first player to score 50 goals, split between 2 different teams in one season.
• Mike Bossy was the first rookie to score 50 goals in one season.

Select Lists from List Trivia book

"The Three Stars and Other Selections" by Jefferson Davis and Andrew Podnieks (ECW Press, 2000)

Five Players Born on February 29

1. Henri Richard, 1936
2. Kari Eloranta, 1956
3. Dan Daoust, 1960
4. Jim Dobson, 1960
5. Lyndon byers, 1964

Ten Records Wayne Gretzky Never Broke

1. Most Points in One Game - Darryl Sittler, 10
2. Most Seasons - Gordie Howe, 26
3. Most games - Gordie Howe, 1,767
4. Most Goals in One Game - Joe Malone, 7
5. Most Assists in One Period - Dale Hawerchuk, 5
6. Most Points in One Period - Bryan Trottier, 6
7. Most Regular Season OT Goals, Career - Steve Thomas, 11
8. Most 30+ Goal Seasons - Mike Gartner, 17
9. Longest Consecutive Goal-Scoring Streak - Harry Broadbent, 16
10. Any Time Record (i.e. fastest goal from start of game, period, etc.) 

Fighting in hockey term paper

I did a term paper this past term for my English Comp II class in which it had to be an argumentative paper, and I chose fighting in hockey. Some friends expressed interest in reading it, so here is the copy I passed in.

I wanted to fix it up quite a bit before sharing it because it was basically passed in last minute and I'm not very proud of it. I did a lot more research and hard work on it than the final draft here would lead you to believe, but I simply ran out of time and had to pass it in about 5 mins before the drop box closed for the semester. I'm not sure when I will actually get around to the revisions, so I am sharing what I sent to my teacher.

To my surprise, I got a 97%, which was just enough to catapult me into passing the class. When I went into this assignment, I was not actually anti-fighting, but I wanted to write about hockey and it seemed easier to take the anti-fighting stance for the sake of argument. I learned a lot of fascinating information and most of it, I did not even get the opportunity to discuss here. I definitely plan on returning to this sometime soon and rewriting it so that I am properly proud of it and that it reflects all the hard work that I put into it. For now though, here is the original copy.

Note: a big part of this grade was properly APA formatting the paper, so I assume I did that correctly given the high grade that I got. It really cock-blocked me from concentrating on other parts of the paper though.

Embedded below.

"Review of Literature Found in my Basement" Volume 1: "Hockey Now!", Part 1: Masked Marvels

Hockey Now! by Mike Leonetti with photography by Dan Hamilton. 1999, Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books Ltd.

1. Masked Marvels! - Top goalies
2. Rearguards! - Defensemen who are on the ice in all key situations
3. Blueline Attack! - Defenders who can lead the offense
4. Power Forwards! - Players willing to use their size and strength to get the puck
5. Play Makers! - softest hands in hockey
6. Snipers! - pure goal scorers
7. Hit Men! - players who change the course of a game with a crunching checkk
8. Young Guns! - new players with star potential

Can you guess the players that lead the league in each category 13 years ago?

The first chapter, Masked Marvels, looks at the 11 best goaltenders as of 1999 and is reviewed below.

More from Brian Burke

A few weeks ago I posted a Burke video where he talks about "rats" in the NHL and I was pretty emphatic about disagreeing with him. Now, I am pretty emphatic about agreeing with him, in this short clip where he talks about gay hockey players.

I hope the days of tolerance in hockey aren't too far away. I am intrigued by this subject, actually, after I read this article in 2005.

As a microcosm of larger society in which gay rights are still a hotly contested topic, the NHL, some say, shouldn't be far behind in the growing acceptance of the gay population. However, sports are always different when it comes to stuff like this - especially sports, in fact. The idea of "manliness" and "toughness" that define sports like hockey and all those who participate in it come in direct conflict with stereotypes about gay people, who are considered "feminine" and "weak", which translate into things that do not or cannot exist in the NHL. While this close-minded approach persists, the ego of professional athletes who assume that any gay player on their own team would instantly mean they are trying to check their teammates out and be attracted to them is another ridiculous assumption that gets in the way of equality and openness. The whole idea of "family" also makes it difficult, because traditional relationships of male/female, whether it be dating or marriage, is a big part of team functions. And sometimes, player views on gay teammates may be unconscious reactions that are a result of being raised in an intolerant culture, no matter how hard they try to be accepting. 

Lots of changes need to take place in hockey - on the ice (new Shanabanning, for example) and off the ice. As far as gay players coming out of the closet, my own personal insatiable curiosity and nosiness makes me want to know the specifics, but if a player can come out to his teammates without wanting it to reach the general public, that's fine, too. 

20 Trends That Shaped Modern Hockey: Bobby Orr's Defensive Revolution

(the term "modern" is used loosely as this book was published in 1987.)

Read this excerpt from an old NHL publication (Hockey: 20 Years; the NHL since 1967 by Dan Diamond and Lou Stubbs, an official publication of the NHL. 1987: Doubleday Canada Limited, Toronto, Ontario; Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York. pp. 30-31 below). We take for granted all the wonderful things Bobby Orr did for the game of hockey and, as a Bruins fan, I especially take it for granted.  Anyway, this is a pretty simple article but I think you will enjoy it. Although the publication date indicates that it is not modern in terms of chronology, Orr's excellence is timeless, and that is plainly but nicely talked about here.

I see the Bruins play Buffalo a lot. Which Reminds me of how the only time I have ever seen them win in the playoffs was against Buffalo

In regards to the tickets I got yesterday, I was thinking about how much Buffalo Sabres I will see this year. I saw them last month at the game with Lucic running over Miller. It was a great game for the Bruins cause they won and scored 6 goals, I had pretty great seats, and had a lot of fun. 

I also have seen Buffalo definitely in the past cause it was the playoffs...2009-2010 season, when they played Buffalo in the first round and Philly in the 2nd. The Sabres game was the 3rd game of the series and it was a close series, and a close game (Buffalo scored first but Bruins won 2-1)...the single most memorable moment from perhaps any games ever was when Mark Recchi made a fucking awesome play to set up Bergeron for the go-ahead (and what would be the game-winning) goal by charging behind the net to fight for the puck, knocking the fuck over the Sabres d-man, and passing straight to Bergy. 

Random side note: Although I've grown too tolerant of them in recent years, my hatred of the Sabres was at it's highest after knocking the Bruins out of the playoffs in 1999. I hated Hasek from then on. And I loved Dallas and Brett Hull so much when they beat the Sabres in the finals, winning the CUp in OT, on a very obvious illegal goal. heh.

2007 NHL All-Star Game Interviews

Watch these two videos from the 2007 NHL All-Star Game. They are hilarious. Especially since they are so old, look at how teeny they all are! So many great quotes and jokes. Chara eating babies, cul-de-Sakic, Luongo's job being taken over by one really fat guy, asking Ovechkin about US politics and he has no idea what is going on...so much greatness in these two clips.

15 Reasons the Bruins Would Make the Best Team to Follow on HBO 24/7

HBO's 24/7 Road to the Winter Classic is definitely great for hockey, and despite the fact that so far it has exclusively featured teams that I hate, it is still very interesting to watch. This year seems to be lacking in true entertainment value outside of Ilya Bryzgalov being hilarious or Tortorella being pretty awesome. Even watching Lundqvist rock out with John McEnroe wasn't that entertaining to me. Perhaps it's just the director this year, or there just isn't that much good material, but mostly I think it's just the forced and manufactured "rivalry" between the two teams plus the lack of real personality or character on either team. I am almost positive that this is pure bias in what I'm about to say, but I think that the Bruins would be hands down the best team in the NHL to watch on 24/7. I think many agree with me without me having to lay out the reasons, but just in case, here are the first 15 things I could think of:

Did Shanahan Make the Right Call Suspending Lucic for 1 Game?

I have to say I was surprised when I heard that Lucic got suspended. I didn't think much of the hit when it happened because I, as usual, tend to just agree with what the NESN analysists say, and they all seemed to agree that the hit was borderline, but not suspension-worthy. If this was any other player, the hit probably wouldn't be suspension-worthy either. As Shanahan says in the video, Lucic's frequent penalties, past suspension (2009) and fines (last year), and overall style of play that has built up quite a reputation among the league played a big factor in determining whether or not to suspend Lucic. The fact that he narrowly escaped suspension just a few weeks ago for the hit on Miller probably played a pretty big role, too.

TD Garden Experiences

My first Bruins game was April 13, 1997 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. I was only 10, so I don't remember a lot of details, but I do remember the seats were somewhere in the loge section, and the game was the last regular season game of the season (and the last game of the season for the Bruins, who missed the playoffs). It was also Mario Lemieux's last regular season game, as he was set to retire after the postseason that year (although he would later come out of retirement). The Bruins won 7-3. At the time, the TD Garden was called the Fleet Center, and it was in only it's second year of operation.

I went with my mom and dad. My dad had given the tickets to me and my mom for Christmas. He had attached an envelope to a stuffed animal penguin, and I didn't notice it at first. I thought the gift was just the penguin stuffed animal, which I loved anyway. I was shocked and ecstatic to see the tickets.

The penguin stuffed animal that came with the tickets to my first Bruins game

I was a Penguins fan back then for some reason. I have a Penguins jersey that I'm not sure of where it came from, but I do remember having a strong love for Lemieux and Jagr. Every year since then, I have attended the Bruins regular season home closer.

Bergeron and the Selke

The Bruins winning the Cup brought a lot of attention to Bergeron and his irreplaceable role on the Bruins. One of his duties that he has been a master of in his entire career in the NHL is he defensive responsibility, which shine through even brighter under the defensive system the Bruins play. Bergeron's perfection of this system is one of the big reasons that the system is so successful and effective.

He and Chara are the core of the Bruins heart, and I see Bergeron as even closer to the heart because he was here longer, and I fondly remember his rookie season. Before his serious concussion, Bergeron was very offensively prolific. As he matured and his game grew more solid all-around, he no longer put up the impressive points of his first few seasons with the Bruins, and that was mainly because of how significant he is defensively. Being utilized in every important situation as he is has allowed other young scorers who may not be as dedicated to their defensive duties to move into the role of the goal-scorers.

Even so, Bergeron can still put up impressive numbers, but none of that is quite as obvious as, say, a 40-goal scoring Selke winner like Ryan Kesler.  No matter what Bergeron's stats are in the scoring column, he is head and shoulders above just about everyone else in the league when it comes to being relentlessly reliable in all three zones. Bergeron is clearly an elite two-way center, so how is it possible that, in his 8th pro season, he hasn't even been nominated once for the Selke? He shouldn't just be in one of the 3 finalists - he should be the hands-down winner.

The Shootout Solution to Ties, Needs a Solution

This was written shortly after the infuriating shootout loss to Detroit that broke the Bruins winning streak...

After losing the entire 2004-2005 NHL season to a lockout, the league returned for the 2005-2006 season with dozens of new rules looking to enhance the game. Heated debate over one such rule, the shootout, has gone back and forth every year without any new solution being reached.

As it stands, games tied at the end of 60 minutes of regulation play 4-on-4 sudden-death overtime for five additional minutes. If the game remained tied at this point, pre-lockout NHL rules would render the game a tie, give each team a point, and move on. The dissatisfaction with tie games led to the decision to bring in the shootout to regular season games. If a game remains tied after five extra minutes, the winner is decided in a 3-round (or more, if necessary) shootout. The shootout, however, brings many of its own problems, mainly that it leaves a game of team play and hard work for 65 minutes to end in the circumstances of what is essentially a skills competition. 

Illegal Hits and Head Injuries: Pushing for Suspension through Severity of Injury

I wrote this a few weeks ago, and given the discussion that just took place about McQuaid's dirty hit on Foligno and Foligno's immediate return to the bench inspired me to post this (although it was not written or read very thoroughly). Before I get to that, I want to express my thoughts on McQuaid's hit. It was dirty, but I don't believe there was malicious intent at all. I agree with what Bill Jaffe said with that it's reactionary, but it's a bad reaction so the punishment is correct. If McQuaid is suspended, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm glad Foligno is okay, and I think that what Jack Edwards said about why Foligno appeared extremely hurt but was fine a few minutes later is a compelling enough argument. I believe that Folgino wasn't truly trying to overreact to maximize the punishment, although, as I get into below, there is always that subconscious drive in all our actions. The original essay is under the read more below.

Negative Perceptions of the "Big Bad Bruins" in Today's Game

The Bruins have always been a physical team - it is at the very core of the Bruins organization that blue-collar work ethic and tough, physical attitude were the strength of the team and all the successful Bruins teams in the past have lived up to those traits. Over the past season and into this season, I have heard fans and critics in some cases accusing the Bruins of taking their physicality to another level and using intimidating and bullying tactics in a way that is negative to the game and dangerous to opponents. I simply don't think that is true at all.