The Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway while other NHL teams have an interesting offseason to look forward to.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for NHL fans. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway. It’s fun to watch the best teams in hockey battle against each other. Every bounce matters, which depending on how it goes, is either great or awful.
The Western Conference is looking wide open after two of the favorites to make it out of the wild west have been eliminated. This is what’s so awesome about the playoffs. Upsets are great and teams can go on a hot run. On the other hand, it’s also what sucks about the postseason. Think about how the Minnesota Wild must feel. They had a heck of a season and ran into a smoking hot goalie in Jake Allen.
On the Eastern Conference side, the bracket so far looks like many thought it would. However, the New York Rangers pulled off an upset over the Montreal Canadiens. Although this was something quite a few people predicted. The Rangers are a fascinating case study. Their offense can score at will because of their speed. While their defense isn’t great, Henrik Lundqvist sure is.
So far, it appears the Ottawa Senators are the team everyone’s rooting for. They’re a wonderful feel good story. Bobby Ryan’s a playoff hero after the toughest regular season of his career. Clarke MacArthur was expected to never play again, but he’s giving them production in the playoffs. Erik Karlsson is skating like a mad man with two hairline fractures on his foot.
As beautifully as Craig Anderson has been in-goal this season for them, he’s an even more beautiful human being. It takes a strong man to put his family over his job, which he did by caring for his wife with cancer. The Senators earned my respect by letting him leave. It’s a heck of a story and hopefully it has a good ending.
The Washington Capitals are the Stanley Cup favorite, and rightfully so. Many are saying they took too long to eliminate the Toronto Maple Leafs, but that doesn’t do justice to either side. The Leafs are a very good NHL team, though it feels a bit weird saying it. Washington could have faltered when they were down 2-1 in the series. But they came storming back to win the series in six games. That’s the heart of a champion.
So far, the Buffalo Sabres have had a dramatic offseason. They have themselves to blame for it. While the Sabres were right to fire Dan Bylsma and Tim Murray, they did it right after a report came out that Jack Eichel wanted them gone. He denies it, of course. But firing both the next day makes Eichel look bad. You have to feel bad for him. Whether it’s fair or not, Eichel’s going to be labeled a coach killer. The Sabres are to blame for this whether it’s true or not.
Power rankings
Top 10 players left off the NHL 100 list.
1. Jarome Iginila – Iginla is one of the best offensive players of all-time. Scoring goals is extremely hard to do and only 14 players have scored more goals than him. The only ones to not play during the 1980’s, when everyone scored goals? Jaromir Jagr and Gordie Howe.
2. Joe Thornton – Scoring goals is sexy, but the guys who set them up often get overlooked. Very few players have been as great at passing as Thornton. His defense never stood out because his production was elite. Sidney Crosby suffers from the same problem. If nothing else, Thornton’s glorious beard warrants a spot on the list.
3. Zdeno Chara – As a huge fan of Duncan Keith, there’s no reason he should be on the list over Zdeno Chara. The giant should have more than one Norris Trophy, but there was this guy named Nicklas Lidstrom who stood out during some of the giant’s best years. Don’t get me wrong, Keith might be deserving to be on the list by the end of his career. But right now, Chara’s resume outweighs his.
4. Dale Hawerchuk – It’s embarrassing how underrated Hawerchuk is. He’s one of the most productive forwards of all-time. Hawerchuk would be remembered far more fondly if he wasn’t in Wayne Gretzky’s shadow during his best years.
5. Evgeni Malkin – With all due respect to Jonathan Toews, other than an extra Stanley Cup, what does he have over him? Nothing. Malkin has won two Art Ross Trophies while Toews has won zero. Malkin has one Hart Trophy and only Alex Ovechkin stopped him from winning a second. Toews has zero. Both have a Conn Smythe. So why Toews over Malkin?
6. Ed Belfour – Might be the most underrated goalie of all-time. It doesn’t matter his lone Stanley Cup came because of Brett Hull’s goal that should have been overturned. Belfour unfortunately spent most of his career in the shadows of Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek. Even being close to those guys warrants being on the top 100 list.
7. Henrik Lundqvist – King Henrik should have more than one Vezina Trophy. Also, he’s one of the best big game performers of all-time. Very few, if any, goalies can claim they’ve had a decade as great as Lundqvist’s from 2005-06 to 2014-15.
8. Marian Hossa – One of the most consistent wings of all-time. It’s sad Hossa has never won a Selke Trophy because he’s one of the best defensive wings out there.
9. Erik Karlsson – Two Norris Trophies alone warrants being on the list. Also, he’s the best offensive defenseman since at least Paul Coffey.
10. Patrice Bergeron – Bob Gainey’s on the list. Bergeron has as many Selke Trophies as him while also being more productive on offense. He should be on the list over Gainey, who didn’t score despite playing in an era when scoring wasn’t too difficult.
Quote of the Week
"“Until you’ve been through the playoffs with players, you don’t really know the level of a player you have. You learn a lot about your team. I’m really proud of our guys. I think, from where we were and the expectations coming in… Our young guys are good. To build a program like they have, where you’re a contender every single year, you’ve got to keep going. Today is disappointing, anyway you look at it. I had to give myself a good talking to. They tell me I’m one of the worst after losing out in the playoffs at these press conferences. I had to give myself a little tightening before I came in here, but the reality is it’s a great year for our team.”"
– Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock describes his feelings after their elimination
Babcock is the best in the world at what he does. It’s amazing he has only won one Jack Adams Trophy, the same number Patrick Roy and Bob Hartley won. This is proof the NHL award voters struggle to determine how great a coach is. Babcock earned his reputation this season, taking the Toronto Maple Leafs from last place to the playoffs. Of course, he got some help from Auston Matthews. But the Leafs had a ton of young players and Babcock couldn’t have done a better job managing them.
For the first time in a while, the future in Toronto is very promising. But after this season, nobody’s going to be taking the Leafs lightly. That’s fine because Babcock thrives under pressure. Toronto reminds a lot of people of, ironically, the Capitals (namely the 2007-08 incarnation). They have a lot of exciting young players and they have a brilliant head coach. If Toronto can shore up their defense, the Leafs could be serious Stanley Cup contenders as soon as next season. Cheers to a team who this writer constantly found himself watching because he fell in love with them.
Random stat
It’s rare for a defenseman to lead his team in points. Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson are the only two to do so this season. The latter has led the Ottawa Senators in points in four consecutive seasons. Karlsson is an excellent company because the last blue liner to do so is Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin, who did it from the 1973-74 season through the 1976-77 season.
Remarkably, Bobby Orr only led the Bruins in points twice. And those were the two seasons he led the NHL in points. In a five season span, Orr either led the Bruins in points or finished second to Tony Esposito.
What we learned
1. The Vancouver Canucks are finally rebuilding.
For the past few seasons, the Canucks have been wandering in the wilderness, not fully committing to being either contending or rebuilding. It has been a very painful process, but it seems Vancouver has finally realized the cold truth. They need to rebuild and team president Trevor Linden has confirmed they will go through a rebuild.
Granted, the Canucks should have been doing this for the past few years. But this is a huge step in the right direction. Vancouver hasn’t been the same since losing to the Boston Bruins in the 2010-11 Stanley Cup Final. Much like the Edmonton Oilers fell apart after the 2005-06 finals, the Canucks have been lost ever since their tragic loss. Now that they’re rebuilding, it’s time for them to talk to the Sedin twins and see if they want a trade. Keep in mind since both have no movement clauses, the twins are under no obligation to accept a trade. But it would be best for both parties if they did. However, one can understand if they don’t want a trade.
2. Canadiens are stuck in the past.
Fans of old school hockey might not be happy to admit this, but the NHL is changing. Gone are the days of fighting and physical hockey. These days, to have sustained success, you need to be able to score. The Montreal Canadiens still haven’t grasped this.
Entering the NHL trade deadline, the Habs needed some scorers. But they didn’t trade for Patrick Eaves, Martin Hanzal, Radim Vrbata or any number of scoring forwards who would have helped them. In fact, general manager Marc Bergevin settled for grit guys Steve Ott and Dwight King. Sure, Nikita Nesterov, Jordie Benn and Brandon Davidson were decent blue line additions. But they didn’t address their scoring problem. And now the Canadiens are paying for it. Bergevin has a lot to answer for and he’ll hope to make some changes this offseason. These changes must be better than last offseason’s because their clock is ticking.
3. Bruce Boudreau is a criminally underrated coach.
Maybe it’s the Washington Capitals fan in me, but it’s baffling how people consistently underrate Bruce Boudreau as a head coach. He’s one of the winningest coaches in NHL history during the regular season. While Boudreau hasn’t won any Stanley Cups, you can’t simply dismiss his teams being extremely good over a six month sample size.
He should have been a Jack Adams Trophy finalist and one could argue he should have won. Did Boudreau’s team exceed expectations? Yes, even after a terrible finish to the regular season (which had more to do with Devan Dubnyk than the coach). For the second straight season, Boudreau made a bold adjustment which helped his team significantly. At the end of the day, isn’t that what the best coaches do? They make their team better. Boudreau did so more than Todd McLellan and John Tortorella.
4. Ilya Kovalchuk planning a return?
After bolting for the KHL and pretty much screwing over the New Jersey Devils, Ilya Kovalchuk is considering a return to the NHL. It would be a great thing for the league and for Kovy if he returns. Should Kovalchuk return, even though his contract has been nullified, the Devils still own his rights. However, they could trade his rights to a team interested in negotiating with him.
One thing everyone is overlooking as a major factor in all of this is the Olympics. Russian players have a lot of pride regarding playing for their country. Every year, NHL players from Russia go to join their team at the World Championships. American players do this as well, but not nearly as often as their European counterparts. Currently, the NHL is not going to the Olympics in 2018. However, ESPN recently downsized their hockey department, which might put the World Cup of Hockey at risk. Maybe something can be worked out so players can go to the Olympics. This is something Kovalchuk is going to have to consider.
History Time
California has turned into a very solid hockey market. The state supports three NHL teams and all of them are fairly well off. Each has gone to at least one Stanley Cup Final since the 2004-05 lockout. The Los Angeles Kings have won two Stanley Cups during that time while the Anaheim Ducks have won one. Minnesota claims to be “the state of hockey”, but an argument could be had for California, who has fallen madly in love with the game.
But before the Ducks and Sharks joined the league in the early 1990’s, there was another team from the Golden State – the California Golden Seals. Initially known as the Oakland Seals from 1967 to 1970, they became the California Golden Seals until 1976. During this time, while they didn’t accomplish much, they played a minor role in helping the Montreal Canadiens draft Guy Lafleur. The Habs, knowing the Golden Seals would be bad, traded for their first round pick in 1971. While they were bad, they weren’t quite bad enough. The Los Angeles Kings were close to them in the standings. Montreal traded Ralph Backstrom to the City of Angels to save their plan. And it worked. This might be the most unique way a team has ever ensured a first overall pick.
Final Skate
Analytics are a great tool for analyzing hockey. The eye test is still very relevant. However, the human brain isn’t meant to remember every little thing. As humans, we can barely remember what we had for breakfast yesterday. So why trust our brains to remember things? Analytics, namely Corsi and Fenwick, help us by providing the information. Possession numbers have proven to be very predictive of success.
This isn’t to say Corsi is everything. Even its strongest proponents will happily admit it. Ironically, a majority of the people who make the claim that Corsi is everything are its critics. The results of the postseason have caused a bit of an outrage.
Let’s go over each of the losses. The Boston Bruins lost Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug right before the postseason. It’s not hard to figure out why they lost to the Senators. Their loss had very little to do with Corsi, it had to do with losing good players. Montreal couldn’t buy a goal against the New York Rangers. They didn’t generate enough quality chances.
Next: Best hockey player from each state
The San Jose Sharks are the most telling. What sounds worse – the eight best team lost to the 18th best team or they lost to a team with just over a one percent difference? Teams have caught up to Corsi and are valuing it. There used to be a fairly big differential between the top 10 teams and everyone else. Now it’s gone. What does this say? Teams clearly value Corsi, or are at least closing the gap. Shot attempt numbers aren’t the answer, but they’re a huge part of the equation. Combined with the variables in hockey, they form the answer to evaluating players. Overlooking them is an unwise decision.