Iron Crotch

My crappy team (Virginia Tech) beat Ohio State at the horseshoe this year. I feel confident that the weakness of the Big-10 (Big-14?) will shine through again should OSU be pitted against one of Oregon, Florida State, or Alabama.

Given the available options at defense, I agree that we might want to try a forward at point on the power play. We're just not getting any creativity out of anyone other than Ennis. The lack of a competent power play is weighing this team down like an anchor.

Terry should be incensed about this. The league can't make any money with empty arenas.

I really don't like the work of Gorges and Myers on the first power play unit. To me Gorges is a better Weber... a tough defense-first d-man who has no business being on a first unit NHL power play. Myers has a bit more offensive game than Gorges, but still shouldn't be quarterbacking a first power play unit IMHO. He can skate. He can shoot. But, he certainly isn't known for his vision and creative passing. IMHO, I'd rather see Zadorov & Risto out there with first unit.

It's an embarrassment to the league for games to be played in any arena that's regularly that empty. That team needs to be moved.

Preseason seems reasonable. Regular season, no way. Things like camera angles for replay (feed to Toronto for reviews) will get in the way.

There are Panthers fans? :) I'll have to watch tonight's game on delay since I'll be at the Black Hawks - Predators game. A weekend game against the Hawks means about 1/3 of Bridgestone Arena will be wearing red.

I don't like shots for as an offensive stat since it can arbitrarily rewards guys who skate down the wing and loft wrist shots into the goalie's chest (the Sabres have a few guys like that). For defensive GVT, I can live with shots against being included since it isn't a big component and should loosely account for things like blocked shots. And, shots for is by one person (that player) whereas shots against is by all opponents (multiple players). The whole GVT stat is pretty convoluted. But, I like the attempt to value every player in the league, regardless of position. And, it appears to have a little bit of face validity.

Thought I'd throw it out there since this one is based on goals for/against, which is what matters (as opposed to shots). GTD takes into account both defensive and offensive contribution and basically says "were I to replace this forward (defenseman) with the 13th forward (7th defenseman) how would it affect the team?" I though it was relevant for the "trade CoHo" discussion. He is always at the bottom of the league for this particular stat. ;) Not sure what is wrong with CoHo. But, 2 points in 26 games for a $4million+ "scorer" is about as bad as it gets. If Darcy likes him so much, he can have him!

Some "advanced" stats for your perusing pleasure...GVT: http://www.hockeypro...rsus-threshold/

I like this idea a whole lot, Wookie.

Tampa has a ton of skill, but they're not the toughest team. I don't think they want to be in a war with a team like Buffalo. We have quite a few guys (most in recent memory?) who can hold their own when the game gets ugly.

Well Phoenix has Darcy Regier now, so his stink is all over that franchise.

I know exactly what Weber is. Tough as nails, but by far our worst passing defenseman. And, he is prone to mistakes as we saw tonight. I truly believe he wouldn't crack the top-6 on a good team. He does a petty good job on the penalty kill though, I'll give him that. ;) (Weber was a -3 tonight and his partner Strachan was a -4) On that note, we only have one guy who looks like he can be a top-end puck moving defenseman by my (rather high) standards and that is Risto.

Marty Brodeur with the 4-3 loss tonight for the Blues. His first ever NHL game not in a Devils uniform.

He is a lousy defensmen. Toughness is great. But, toughness and the ability to effectively play the position is a whole lot better.

Good on Risto. Stamkos is a douche.

...AND ANOTHER BRAWL!

That hit by Hedman should have gotten him thrown out of the game. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Chicken ###### hit on Girgs. Glad to see Zadorov and Girgs fight. The future of this team is bright!

Strachan can fight? And, F Stamkos. Stamkos deserves to be in the box. He is too good to take a hit when he is standing in front of the net?

Vote for Zemgus! https://allstarvote.nhl.com/

That power play looked like butt.

Gionta is pretty useless. I guess he brings leadership... but not much else. IMHO, Mitchell and Flynn carry that line.

Oh, ######. That's pretty much all she wrote. No energy whatsoever this period.