Since +/- is the NHL's worst stat, I thought it would make sense to appropriate it and make it useful as we review the best and worst of the past week in the NHL.
PLUS: James Reimer - a great goalie with bad injury luck stuck for years on a crap team - is getting a shot at the Playoffs before the Leafs re-sign him in the offseason.
It was a nice move to give him this chance - smart too, depending on how much stock you put in Playoff experience. And I wouldn't bet against him stealing Jones' job, since he did, for much of this year, lead the NHL in most goalie stats and is, likely, the better goalie.
James Reimer is a class-act in an era of douchy overpaid star athletes. He's the anti-Lebron. He's one of my favorite players and, I think, the most underrated goalie in the NHL. If Nashville wasn't so loyal to a definitively bad goalie, they would have paid something for Reimer and been a Cup favorite. As it is, they have the worst goalie of any contender.
MINUS: The fact that your average NHL broadcast spends zero amount of time analyzing players properly with advanced statistics. The intermissions on TSN, CBC, Sportsnet and just about any out-of-market game I come across are horrible.
Whether you like a guys on the panel or not is subjective. But considering we're at the point where all NHL teams pretty much have a team of statisticians (or at least a single guy) to advise the GM, it's pathetic how far broadcasting is from some of the quality writing out there.
I'm talking Steve Burtch, Dominic Galamini, Travis Yost etc. (In case you think I mean me, I don't. ish).
The reason I care is because this stuff doesn't really gain any real traction until it's codified by the TV - which is as sad a commentary I can make on our society without invoking Donald Trump and his army of morons.
My opinion: The whole thing boils down to a sort of protectionism. I mean, if I can give better analysis using a spreadsheet than a guy who used to be in the NHL then the whole model is obviously broken.
The more I read about and learn about statistical analysis, the more irrelevant it is to listen to some ex-jock talk about character, leadership and plus/minus.
For Treebeard's sake, let's at least take TV analysis at least into 2008 and start talking about shot-attempts.
PLUS: The Leafs rebuild. William Nylander scored his first NHL goal last night. Kasperi Kapanen has looked great. The Leafs have never done a full tear-it-down-and-rebuild-with-young-players in the 34 years I've been alive. I've wanted them to do it so many times, but whether it was trading away the picks that would become Scott Niedermeyer or Robert Luongo, or Tyler Seguin, all they've ever done is piss me off and disappoint me and make me question my loyalty to such a stupid organization.
This time it feels different and it's kind of awesome how much fun it is to watch a last place team.
PLUS: Speaking of last place teams, the Coyotes ended a season-ruining seven game losing streak by beating the Panthers last night. Alex Tanguay had himself a hell of a debut, Antoine Vermette played like it was 2010 and Louis Domingue made up for some recebt poor play.(expected and acceptable, since he's a rookie goalie on a bad team).
I wish I had the confidence in the Coyotes management team I do in the Leafs', but I really like what they're putting together as well.
MINUS: I do have to temper what I like about the rebuild of the Coyotes with the fact that they just wasted the second straight year of Ekman-Larsson's prime. His 49 points and even-possession rating on a last place team are absolutely fantastic.
He should get some Norris Trophy consideration in a year when it's entirely possible the three best defenseman in the NHL (Karlsson, OEL, Brodie) all miss the Playoffs.
MINUS: the Trade Deadline. What a dud. Every years it disappoints. I guess it's not the non-event as much as my expectations. Still, this year was the worst one I remember.
MINUS: Much like T.V broadcasts, team Canada seems pretty anachronistic. Like, they'll most likely win gold and be venerated as geniuses, but to name such a regressive team and then have Doug Armstrong go on T.V and talk of plus/minus of all things is ridiculous.
T.J Brodie? P.K Subban? Jake Muzzin? Give me a break.
I mean, I get that Keith and Weber have served the country well for years and so get to make it even in their decline, but we're seriously going to sit here and suggest Vlasic should be on the team? Personally, of the four defenseman named, I would only have named Doughty.
Brodie, Muzzin, Subban, Letang all should be on Team Canada. But it's inexcusable to not have named Brodie and Subban, at least. Pathetic even. The very fact that people are suggesting Pietrangelo and Seabrook just goes to show you how much reputation factors into these things - those guys are no longer team Canada material. The idea that Seabrook - who really isn't all that much better than a guy like Phanuef - is even in this conversation is just bonkers.
As for the forwards, considering that Crosby, Bergeron, Getzlaf, Toews and Stamkos/Tavares give you an incredible amount of options down the middle, how in the hell does anyone justify taking Jeff Carter and leaving off Taylor Hall and Corey Perry? That's a horrible decision. Especially when you already have so many guys out of position.
You could easily lose Carter and Tavares and add in Perry and Hall - that's a better team with more guys in their right positions.
PLUS: In Steve Simmon's column today, I read the death of scouting. Here's the quote:
There was consensus among them on P.A. Parenteau. None were big fans. “I don’t like him,” said one of the scouts. “He scores because he’s playing on the Leafs. They’ve got to put somebody on the power play. He’s not going to play top-six minutes or power play on a good team and he’s not a bottom-six guy.
What year do these guys think it is? Seriously, If this is a consensus among scouts, they should all be replaced by analytics guys. What a joke!
#1. The reason P.A Paranteau was not traded was because Lou Lamoriello set his price and no one would meet it. Likely because of a recent neck injury. Unlike many people, Lamoriello wasn't calling anyone back at 2:59 to cave. (For the sake of accuracy, let's say this is my assumption).
#2. There is hard data that tells us the idea that Paranteau's scoring is because he's getting ice time he wouldn't get on a better team is ridiculous.
First of all, he has just nine PP points. 2/3rds of his points come at 5v5.
Second, he is a 53% CF player and has a positive relative Corsi. He has done this playing top line minutes on a horrible team and there is absolute proof that if you succeed in one spot in the lineup, you'll succeed in another.
#3. The idea that you can't play him "in the bottom six" is just stupid. You should play your 12 most talented forwards. The idea that you need a certain type of grinder on your bottom lines is idiotic, outdated and dumb. A player who scores and drives possession will always make your team harder to play against than a supposed grinder.
PLUS: Team Canada could dress three teams - at least - that would likely be the three favorites to win all three World Cup medals. But the best thing is that their best player is going to suit of for the gimmick team.
That's Connor McDavid, and I'll be cheering for his team to embarrass everyone and win the Gold.
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