Pens lose 3-1 last night to the Flyers. Nice pass by Sidney Crosby to setup the lone Penguins goal, but Crosby's giveaway led to the first goal. For those counting at home, that's a 14 game point streak for #87. Unfortunately the powerplay was 0-7, failing to score means their bid at tying an NHL record fell short.
Tonight surely Marc-Andre Fleury will be in the net for a game in Manhattan against the Rangers and this is a great opportunity for him to start making things right. Colby Armstrong, a scratch for the last three games also should probably find himself back in the lineup.
Key hidden stat: Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist has a 1.22 GAA at home.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Is Alex O About Finished in DC?
Hat tip to the Fanhouse, for this interview given to a Russian newspaper and translated to English:
Many Caps bloggers opined over the summer when Crosby resigned that it wasn't for very long (even though Crosby was forgoeing one year of UFA) and that at $8.7 million, it was hardly a hometown discount. You probably won't be hearing too much of that again.
Ovechkin scenarios now:
#1: Finish out the season, become a RFA. Someone obviously offers a huge contract, Caps obviously match and retain rights. Ovechkin either sucks it up and becomes a little happier for playing for $10+ million a year, or whines and demands a trade.
#2: Becomes RFA. Let's it be known he'd rather be playing in Russia next year than come back to Washington and force a trade that route. If Aleksey Morozov can command $4 million (US), then I'd imagine some wealthy owner could and would make an enticing offer for Ovechkin if the Caps try to call his bluff.
#3: Commit himself fully to his team, sign a long term contract that forgoes 1 year of being unrestricted and tailor the terms of the contract to well under a million dollars of the current maximum.
#3 is how Crosby went. I have a feeling AO will be a lot closer to one of the top 2 scenarios. If you think there's frustrating times for the Penguins right now, a look to my hometown shows there's definitely trouble brewing...
"Do you plan on changing teams at the end of the season? Washington's game looks hopeless."This is very significant. Ovechkin's now openly questioning whether or not he'll be a Capital for much longer. With guys like Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza and, yes, Sidney Crosby already signing long-term deals with their clubs, a framework is in place."I don't know yet where I will be next season. I am not negotiating my new contract. I want to stay in Washington. But who knows what is going to happen?"
Many Caps bloggers opined over the summer when Crosby resigned that it wasn't for very long (even though Crosby was forgoeing one year of UFA) and that at $8.7 million, it was hardly a hometown discount. You probably won't be hearing too much of that again.
Ovechkin scenarios now:
#1: Finish out the season, become a RFA. Someone obviously offers a huge contract, Caps obviously match and retain rights. Ovechkin either sucks it up and becomes a little happier for playing for $10+ million a year, or whines and demands a trade.
#2: Becomes RFA. Let's it be known he'd rather be playing in Russia next year than come back to Washington and force a trade that route. If Aleksey Morozov can command $4 million (US), then I'd imagine some wealthy owner could and would make an enticing offer for Ovechkin if the Caps try to call his bluff.
#3: Commit himself fully to his team, sign a long term contract that forgoes 1 year of being unrestricted and tailor the terms of the contract to well under a million dollars of the current maximum.
#3 is how Crosby went. I have a feeling AO will be a lot closer to one of the top 2 scenarios. If you think there's frustrating times for the Penguins right now, a look to my hometown shows there's definitely trouble brewing...
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Ranking Franchises Locally
Interesting study reported by sportsbusinessjournal.com: how much support all the major franchises receive locally. Some noteables:
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (every network staking out Big Ben's hospital will do that)
2. New England Patriots
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Buffalo Sabres
5. Boston Red Sox
8. Detroit Red Wings
20. Pittsburgh Penguins
21. Ottawa Senators
28. Dallas Cowboys
29. New York Yankees
118. Washington Capitals
122. (dead last) Arizona Cardinals
---I'm not surprised at all the Steelers are number one. They should be. Any time the backup tackle takes a poop it's front page news.
--I am a little surprised that the Colts beat out the Sabres and the Red Sox. I guess not much else goes on in Indy, so that plays in their favor.
--Good to see the Penguins coming in 3rd for NHL teams. Well deserved and pretty accurate in my estimation.
--Dallas #28? The Yankees #29? Hmm.
---There are a lot of great Capitals blogs out there, but unfortunately that's about all the support they receive. As a resident of this area, I can tell you they generate about as much local excitement in the media as the minor league soccer team in Richmond (where I used to live) did.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (every network staking out Big Ben's hospital will do that)
2. New England Patriots
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Buffalo Sabres
5. Boston Red Sox
8. Detroit Red Wings
20. Pittsburgh Penguins
21. Ottawa Senators
28. Dallas Cowboys
29. New York Yankees
118. Washington Capitals
122. (dead last) Arizona Cardinals
---I'm not surprised at all the Steelers are number one. They should be. Any time the backup tackle takes a poop it's front page news.
--I am a little surprised that the Colts beat out the Sabres and the Red Sox. I guess not much else goes on in Indy, so that plays in their favor.
--Good to see the Penguins coming in 3rd for NHL teams. Well deserved and pretty accurate in my estimation.
--Dallas #28? The Yankees #29? Hmm.
---There are a lot of great Capitals blogs out there, but unfortunately that's about all the support they receive. As a resident of this area, I can tell you they generate about as much local excitement in the media as the minor league soccer team in Richmond (where I used to live) did.
Told Ya So......
Don't say you weren't warned....
By the way, halfway through the Steelers season, James Harrison is more than halfway (6.5 sacks) to his preseason prognostication that he would get "atleast" 12 sacks.
By the way, halfway through the Steelers season, James Harrison is more than halfway (6.5 sacks) to his preseason prognostication that he would get "atleast" 12 sacks.
Going into the Flyers game tonight...
Things are still up and down and frustrating.
The Penguins come into tonight's matchup 7-6-1, good for 15 points in 14 games. Which is not that good.
They're tied for 3rd in the Atlantic (with a game in hand) with the New York Rangers.
Overall in the East, the Penguins are in a 4-way tie for 6th place. But the team in last place (fimiliar to see Washington) is only four points back, so things are much more clustered in the middle-to-lower part of the conference then up top, where Ottawa (26 points) and Carolina (21 points) are starting to break away from the pack.
Stats that will make a Penguins fan smile:
-The Penguins are -6 when considering their 5 on 5 play (24 GF and 30 GA).
-Jordan Staal has 1 goal and 1 assist through 14 games. And is only averaging 0:46 powerplay ice time per game.
-Mark Recchi is averaging 17 minutes of icetime and has 1 goal to show for it.
-Marc-Andre Fleury has been inconsistent.
-Ryan Whitney has 19 giveaways and 2 takeaways and hasn't shined like he did last year.
-Sergei Gonchar is 8th in the league with 22 "missed shots".
Up and down and up some more. Hopefully the boys can continue to right the ship. The Flyers are much different from the team that got beaten 8 times by the Penguins last year. Should be an intense and interesting game.
The Penguins come into tonight's matchup 7-6-1, good for 15 points in 14 games. Which is not that good.
They're tied for 3rd in the Atlantic (with a game in hand) with the New York Rangers.
Overall in the East, the Penguins are in a 4-way tie for 6th place. But the team in last place (fimiliar to see Washington) is only four points back, so things are much more clustered in the middle-to-lower part of the conference then up top, where Ottawa (26 points) and Carolina (21 points) are starting to break away from the pack.
Stats that will make a Penguins fan smile:
- -The Penguins are currently on a 13 game streak of scoring atleast one powerplay goal. As mentioned here, they can tie the NHL record of 14 games (held by the 1989 Penguins) tonight.
- -As you'd expect with a powerplay clicking like that, it ranks well. 3rd in the NHL at the moment at a rate of 24.3%.
-Quietly the penalty-kill is 8th best in the NHL, success rate of 86.4%
-Crosby has a 13 game point streak, and is 2nd in the league in scoring. Malkin is tied for 8th in the league in scoring.
-Guys like Brooks Orpik (35 hits, 27 blocked shots), Mark Eaton (10 hits, 39 blocked shots) and Robert Scuderi (27 blocked shots) have been stellar at their roles of low profile but highly effective defensive defensemen.
-Crosby has won 53.9% of his faceoffs, up considerably from last season.
Stats that have been making Penguins fans' blood pressure go up:
-The Penguins are -6 when considering their 5 on 5 play (24 GF and 30 GA).-Jordan Staal has 1 goal and 1 assist through 14 games. And is only averaging 0:46 powerplay ice time per game.
-Mark Recchi is averaging 17 minutes of icetime and has 1 goal to show for it.
-Marc-Andre Fleury has been inconsistent.
-Ryan Whitney has 19 giveaways and 2 takeaways and hasn't shined like he did last year.
-Sergei Gonchar is 8th in the league with 22 "missed shots".
Up and down and up some more. Hopefully the boys can continue to right the ship. The Flyers are much different from the team that got beaten 8 times by the Penguins last year. Should be an intense and interesting game.
Scratching Colby
Sorry for the lack of updates, the enemy of every blogger "real life" has been kicking up. I will try to do this as best as I can.
Colby Armstrong has been a healthy scratch in the past two games. Rookie Tyler Kennedy has pretty much stepped in his stead and been playing with the energy, speed and desire you'd have hoped Armstrong should be bringing to the table. Georges Laraque's groin seems to be good enough for him to play now, and he's been actually a decent hockey player, and not just the reigning NHL Heavyweight Champion.
Rumors of a trade are swirling, reports say the Penguins have been following Dallas around, and the whispers of Montreal still liking Army have never quieted.
Point 1: Pittsburgh plays Dallas in about 3 weeks time, so it's not really that groundbreaking to me that they'd have scouts take a trip simply to gather data about how an unfimiliar opponent is playing at the moment.
Point 2: There have been 0 trades in the NHL this season. That is for a reason. In this new salary cap era, the league's transactions have shifted towards the NFL, another league where free agency ages are low. There is more emphasis on the draft, more emphasis on free agency, less interest in trading players during the season.
This trend will probably change near the trading deadline, as the buyers and sellers become a little more obvious, but the the wheels of change are rolling. Scouting and developing are becoming more important than ever in the NHL, while trades are clearly becoming less frequent.
Point 3: Rumors state the Penguins usual trade bait (Erik Chistensen, Armstrong) are being offered up for a goalie. Marty Turco has even been mentioned. That's ridiculous on many levels: A)Dallas is a competitive team, why would they trade their #1, B)The Penguins would have to offer up a lot more than usual and C)Turco has a no trade clause.
Rumors to Montreal often state the Penguins are interested in goalies Jaroslav Halak or Huet, neither of whom are exactly established NHL goalies themselves.
In conclusion, I don't see the Penguins on the verge of trading Armstrong in the near future; it's just that other players in the lineup are doing well---Kennedy, BGL and even Jarrko Ruutu when he can stay out of the penalty box. Plus none of the oft-mentioned teams really have mutual reason or bait to make something happen.
Colby Armstrong has been a healthy scratch in the past two games. Rookie Tyler Kennedy has pretty much stepped in his stead and been playing with the energy, speed and desire you'd have hoped Armstrong should be bringing to the table. Georges Laraque's groin seems to be good enough for him to play now, and he's been actually a decent hockey player, and not just the reigning NHL Heavyweight Champion.
Rumors of a trade are swirling, reports say the Penguins have been following Dallas around, and the whispers of Montreal still liking Army have never quieted.
Point 1: Pittsburgh plays Dallas in about 3 weeks time, so it's not really that groundbreaking to me that they'd have scouts take a trip simply to gather data about how an unfimiliar opponent is playing at the moment.
Point 2: There have been 0 trades in the NHL this season. That is for a reason. In this new salary cap era, the league's transactions have shifted towards the NFL, another league where free agency ages are low. There is more emphasis on the draft, more emphasis on free agency, less interest in trading players during the season.
This trend will probably change near the trading deadline, as the buyers and sellers become a little more obvious, but the the wheels of change are rolling. Scouting and developing are becoming more important than ever in the NHL, while trades are clearly becoming less frequent.
Point 3: Rumors state the Penguins usual trade bait (Erik Chistensen, Armstrong) are being offered up for a goalie. Marty Turco has even been mentioned. That's ridiculous on many levels: A)Dallas is a competitive team, why would they trade their #1, B)The Penguins would have to offer up a lot more than usual and C)Turco has a no trade clause.
Rumors to Montreal often state the Penguins are interested in goalies Jaroslav Halak or Huet, neither of whom are exactly established NHL goalies themselves.
In conclusion, I don't see the Penguins on the verge of trading Armstrong in the near future; it's just that other players in the lineup are doing well---Kennedy, BGL and even Jarrko Ruutu when he can stay out of the penalty box. Plus none of the oft-mentioned teams really have mutual reason or bait to make something happen.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Encouraging Stat of the Day
The 2007-08 Pittsburgh Penguins have scored a powerplay goal in all 12 of their games. The NHL record for conscecutive powerplay goals scored is 14 games, set by the 1988-89 Penguins (led by Lemieux, Paul Coffey, Rob Brown and Dan Quinn)
Game 12 is tonight on the Island, consider this the preview. A team in white from Pittsburgh against a team in blue/orange who will be "coached" by a 94 year old man.
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