At 4-3-2, the Canucks haven't exactly come storming out of the gates over the first month of the year. Of course, we always hear about how this team is a collective slow starter (especially since Luongo came aboard), and this season seems no different so far. I figured that in this post we can do three things. First, I'd like to present some perspective by seeing if we actually are a traditional slow starter. Second, I'd like to review just briefly the month that was. Finally, we look for hope heading into the American month of the turkey.
Slow starters? Here are the recent October starts:
2010/11: 4-3-2
2009/10: 7-7-0
2008/09: 6-5-0
2007/08: 4-5-0
2006/07: 7-4-2
A couple of things come up when you look at these numbers. First, for me, is that we really don't tend to rack up overtime/shootout losses in October, which I like. Next, is that we don't really tend to bust out over the first month of the year. I'd say that the start to the 06/07 season was by far our best first month in recent memory, but we've never come out barn burning like all us fans would like. Of course, you know that we have been doing well to get to the playoffs after these recent starts, so I don't think there is anything to worry about this time around.
How are we doing against our LSF rivals? Here are the LSF standings:
Jon's Hawks: 13 points
Andrew's Leafs: 11 points
Tommy's 'Nucks: 10 points
Brandon's Sabres: 7 points.
Who stands out as the best Canucks so far? Here are our three stars for the month:
1. Daniel Sedin: 9 goals, 5 assists, 3 PP goals.
2. Henrik Sedin: 0 goals, 11 assists, 19 shots on goal.
3. Christian Ehrhoff: 2 goals, 4 assists, and a team leading +4.
If we pretend Luongo and Schneider are the same goalie, we see some pretty good numbers:
2.40 GAA and a .921 SV%.
What do we have to look forward to heading into November? How about some big stories that are on tap:
1. The return of Alex Burrows- My main man AB is set to return to action on November 2 against the Oilers. The boost that Burr will give to this team is HUGE. Just wait for it.
2. The return of Hammer- Dan Hamhuis will be returning from injury in the next game against the Devils. Boy, does the blue line need the help.
3. The return of Rypien- Come on. We all love the guy and his fourth line abilities. Sure, he made a mistake in Minnesota, but I'm stoked for his return on Saturday against Detroit.
4. The return of the LSF Rivalry Week: That's right my friends, much like last season, we are headed toward another HUGE LSF rivalry week, and I couldn't be more excited. My Canucks really kicked butt last year during this rivalry battle, and I surely hope it continues this year as well. The battles start on 11/13 when the Canucks play Toronto, continues on 11/15 when the Canucks face Buffalo, and wraps up on 11/20 as the Canucks face off against Chicago. It doesn't get any better than that.
I'll just finish by saying that the Canucks opening month to the season (by the way, I can't believe it's already over) wasn't perfect, but was still good enough for me. With that being said, I'm confident that November is going to be significantly better, and I'm really looking forward to it.
Go Canucks Go!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
One night after beating the Miami Super-Heat, the Mighty Celtics have fallen. The Cleveland Cavs gave their fans playoff hopes with one simple 95-87 win over my Green Army, and they deserved it. Without LeBron, the Cavs looked strong, especially while holding the C's back as the game wound down.
Hickson led the way for C-Town, with 21 points and 6 boards, in a game where Cleveland stepped up when it mattered. The bad guys outscored the good guys 27-14 in the fourth quarter after the Celts built up a 5 point lead after three (we were up by 11 at one point in the third). There shouldn't be any excuse for the poor close out execution on the part of the Celtics, but it did kind of get topped off by a three that seemed to not get off before the shot clock should have expired by Anthony Parker. Held up even after the review, the ball that was scored on what Doc Rivers called "the longest second in NBA history," kept the Celtics at an arm's length and kept the Cavs in the driver's seat late. Cleveland fans were celebrating like they just won the title, but I'll give them the same advice that I give my own Celtic faithful today: It's just one game.
And in this one game, the Celts shot a mesely 3 for 12 from beyond the arc (25%), while shooting just 47% from the field overall. They also lost the offensive rebounding battle (-2) and coughed up 5 more turnovers than the victors. Rajon Rondo's assist total from the previous night was nearly cut in half, as he finished with 18 points and 9 helpers. Hm, maybe that's a hint at what went wrong here. When Rondo passed it went really well, when he scored more, not so much. Meanwhile, Ray Ray (12), Pierce (13), and Glen Davis (14) were the other double digit scorers, while KG finished with 15 boards. Clearly, one night after coming off of a double double, Ticket's 9 and 15 night was alright, but not dominant enough to carry us. Jermaine O'Neil, however, may have to take his fair share of the blame. How do you foul out in 12 minutes after only contributing 2 points, 2 boards, and (thanks for the) 3 turnovers? Awful stuff, man. Still, outside of all of this and even taking into consideration the loss in general, the biggest and most enduring sting for me comes on the BS three by Parker late. The one on the shot clock sat there for three seconds, and it may have been the turning point that held us back.
While it's still early, obviously, I'd like to take a quick look at the team stats of my 1-1 squad. Our PPG differential is amazingly even after two contests, 87.5 PPG both ways, which is 26th out of 28 teams on offense, but 3rd out of 28 teams on defense. Our SRS (a stat shared by the NHL and NFL, and a stat with a league average of zero) is +6.00, which is good enough for #2 in the league. PACE is a stat I find pretty cool too, which tries to estimate a team's possessions per 48 minutes. The Celtics PACE factor is 91.5, which is only good enough for 22nd in the association. Keep in mind that, thus far, we are holding opponents to a 40 FG%, 35 3PT%, are +4 in rebound differential, and +10 in assist differential. No "I" in "Team."
Speaking of an "I," I'd like to focus on my main man Glen Davis after these first two games. Big Baby seems to be the most underrated Celtic as we get off the ground floor, but as you'll see, he may be one of the top performers. Davis' PER is a team leading 19 (only Rondo and Pierce are also performing above the league average of 15). He's also leading the team in TS% (true shooting percentage, which takes into account 2s, 3s and FTs) with a .715 mark, eFG% (effective field goal percentage, which takes into account the differing values of 2s and 3s) at .722, TOV% (turnover percentage, which is an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays) at 0.0, ORtg (offensive rating, which is an estimate of points produced per 100 possessions) at 140 (+28 on #2 Paul Pierce!), OWS (offensive win shares) at 0.2, WS (win shares, taking into account offense and defense) at 0.3, and even WS/48 (win shares per 48 minutes played, where league average is 0.1) at 0.249. That may sound like a lot to take in, but it all boils down to the fact that Glen Davis has been a mega-stud so far this season, and I only expect him to get better. Now if only he can get the recognition he deserves.
So, my 1-1 Celtics, who now trail New York and New Jersey in the division by 0.5 games, get ready to square off with those aforementioned Knickerbockers on Friday at home. The Knicks opened their season with a 5 point win over Toronto, but hopefully the Bean Town crowd can encourage the Celts to stay unbeaten at home and get back to their winning ways. Also, in case you are keeping track at home, our hated rivals from Los Angeles lost their season opening game 88-98 to the Blazers, and sit 0.5 back of us to start the season in the LSF standings. I think Baron Davis (the fourth Davis brother?) showed his intelligence in his post-game quote, "I hate that we lost." Nice. Very Bull-Durham-esque. "I love winning. You know? It's, like, better than losing." Davis and his merry men look for their first win tomorrow against Golden State. Here's a hint: they won't get it.
The greatest rivalry in all of sports lives on!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Prior to the game, Roberto Luongo joked about how he was starting against the Avs in order to give Cory Schneider the night off. Not only was it a hilarious pre-game quote, but it also showed our former captain is taking this "rough" start in stride. Last night, his offense did just enough to help steal the show in British Columbia, as the 'Nucks beat Colorado in OT, 4-3.
I guess that Avs fans are making the excuse that Craig Anderson's pre-game injury led directly to the loss. It was crazy, because you see him warming up, and then he just collapses on the ice. It is reported as a knee injury, which is no good, but Budaj is a completely capable backup, as evidenced by last night.
It was a wide open game between the division rivals, and it started 4:28 in after David Jones got a semi-breakaway where his shot was initially saved and trickled past Luongo to get it started. Amazingly, Jeff "Tambers" Tambellini got involved to even the score less than 5 minutes later. Moved up to the top line, Tambs got a pass from "the Sedins," after they created a quick play after a turnover, and bashed a hard shot home.
The second period was pretty similar, with lots of scoring chances and an equal numbers of goals. The Avs opened up with a Winnik goal just under 5 in, but less than three minutes later we were back into it. Ryan Kesler, standing in front of the net, saw a rebound come right to his feet as an Avs defensiveman skated away unaware, and he blasted the puck into the open side of the net. It was an exciting one, slammed home with authority.
In the third, Peter Schaefer connected for not only his first goal of the year, but his first goal since 2008. It was on a pass from Christian Ehrhoff, who picked up his second assist. The Avs charged back hard at the end, not only getting the game tying goal with 1:33 left with the extra attacker on the ice (I thought that never worked!), but also ringing the puck off the post with 30 seconds left. Safe.
Now, I know we all think that OT means an automatic shootout these days, but not so this time around. It ended on a harmless faceoff in the Avs zone. Kesler lost the draw, but Mason Raymond poke checked the Avs defender, and the puck came loose and went into the net. It was a surprise ending on a seemingly harmless play, and we reaped the benefits. As Ma$e said after the game, "You take them any way you can get them."
This win all came without Hamhuis (now out for his fourth game), Ballard (now out for his fifth game), and Andrew Alberts going down to injury as well. The blue line is getting thin out there, Canuckleheads. Parent better step it up!
The "real" three stars featured Luongo (36 saves, 92.3% save percentage, and thus far underrated by me in this post), Milan Hejduk (2 assists), and Raymond (the "lucky" game winner according to ESPN). That, obviously, brings is to "The LSF Top Star Who Didn't Score A Point." I'm going to give that honor to Aaron Rome (a +1 on the night). I think that the role player defensivemen on this squad are severely underrated, as Roberto Luongo (and Cory Schneider to a lesser extent) gets all the love for keeping the puck out of the net, and Romey deserves a little love for his skills last night on defense.
At 4-3-2, we're back over the .500 hump on the year, and that makes me proud as a fan, for now. We're now second in the division, -2 on Calgary, +1 on Colorado, +2 on Minnie, and +5 on Edmonton. Overall in the West, we are now points-wise even with #6 St. Louis, #7 Dallas, and #8 Columbus, and are 1 up on the aforementioned Avs and the formerly Mighty Ducks. The Canucks goal differential is now even, as we rank 12th in the league in goals for and 19th in the league for goals against. Our SRS and SOS are both -0.04, putting us just below league average in both areas, ranking 17th in the league. Our power play (+5.5%) and our penalty kill (+1.1%) are both above league average again, and that is, at least, pretty encouraging.
I think it's worth it to finally take a look at Roberto Luongo's actual start here in the 2010/2011 season. Is it as bad as the picture us fans have painted? I don't know, and that's why we are checking it out. Our three time All-Star is 2-3-2 so far this season with his 2.93 GAA and .907 SV%. If you look closer, you see that he hasn't lost at home and hasn't won on the road. The interesting thing for me is that in wins, Luongo's shots faced/game is 40.5, and in losses his shots faced/game is 26.6. I'm not exactly sure what that means, other than the fact that it suggests that homeboy likes to step it up when he gets hit with tons of shots. Pretty interesting to me. He may not be ranked highly right now among the NHL goaltending leaders, but this lack of healthy blue liners could lead to him taking more shots, and thus getting more wins.
Next up is a battle on Monday (yeah, we get that many days off) against the 2-6-1 New Jersey Devils. Despite signing Ilya Kovalchuk (who leads the team in goals, by the way), the team heavily supported by the character David Putty from Seinfeld just isn't having it in the early going this year. The Devs have lost two in a row and four out of their last five games, including getting bashed up by LSF favorite Buffalo, 6-1 last Saturday. While the Canucks will be getting their unbelievable rest over the next handful of days, New Jersey will have to battle San Jose, Anaheim, and LA all before meeting with us on All Saints Day.
They'll be tired, and we'll reap the benefits.
Go Canucks Go.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
LeBron James throwing the talcum powder up into the air in his self-indulgent pre-game ritual. Paul Pierce coming back from back spasms to keep the lead in Green hands. Ray Allen drilling threes effortlessly to hold Miami back. Could you ask for anything more? The Celtics 88-80 win over the Miami Super-Heat last night was a priceless way to start the season.
Was there anything better than hearing the chants of "Overrated" showering down from the Bean Town crowd? They did seem overrated based on their play last night. Dwayne Wade seemed rusty, Chris Bosch proved he is just a role player compared to their "Big Two," and LeBron showed that he still can't carry a team, even if the team is full of superstars. The King's excuse? "I'm not accustomed to having that many threats out on the court at the same time." Yeah, that was the problem, you guys had too many good players to be any good. Sure, that makes sense. Wade finished with 13 points on a pathetic 4/16 night, Bosch had just 8, and the Heat's "Big Three" combined to cough up 15 of Miami's 17 turnovers. Haven't you guys been practicing since that WWF-esque entrance in Miami after "The Decision?"
The Celtics were a team that showed they clearly have been practicing. A true team in every sense of the word. Rajon Rondo was epic with 17 assists in the game, two more than Miami had AS A TEAM. It was great to see him dish the ball to Shaq a couple of times, and pretty awesome to see Shaq slam it down. Ray Allen may have been the ultimate highlight reel, though, dropping 20 points and going 5/8 from beyond the arc. Despite the C's leading by as much as 19, the Heat came storming back as the game closed out, and we really needed those bombs from Allen to keep them at an arm's distance. Pierce finished with 19, including an awesome play where he sliced and diced the Miami defense from half court for an easily lay up. KG finished with the lone double-double, getting 10 and 10, and was awesome on a steal and toss out to an all-alone Nate Robinson in the second. Glen Davis added 13 from the bench.
Just to add some more statistical flavor, Paul Pierce leads the team in PER (player efficiency rating, a measure of per minute production with the league average being 15) at 22.4. Pierce, Big Baby, Marquis Daniels, and Ray Allen all finished the first game with above average PERs. Another stat I find interesting is the USG% (usage percentage, which is an estimate of the percentage of team plays that used a particular player on the floor). After the opening game, Nate Robinson actually leads this mark at 38.4%, with Shaq number two at 30.7%. KG is tops among the obvious choices at 27.1%. I'll finally share the NBA Win Shares with you. We all kind of know what win shares are, and in the NBA we have a stat called WS/48, which shows an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player per 48 minutes played. The league average is approximately 0.1. After that first test, the Celtics have Pierce (0.358), Glen Davis (0.309), Allen (0.219), Daniels (0.208), and Rondo (0.142) all contributin to the win in an above average manner. It's a nice combination of benchies and starters that led us to our first W. I'll try and keep an eye on these and other fun stats as the NBA season goes on.
The C's and the Heat were the only Eastern Conference teams to throw down on opening night, so you obviously realize that our 1-0 record has us on top of the conference. In the West last night, Portland beat Phoenix, and LA beat Houston. 2010 finals repeat? I hope so. Our hated rivals, the Clip Show, tip off their "season" against the aforementioned Jail Blazers this evening. Tonight, the C's continue their journey to an 82-0 season against LeBron's old squad from Cleveland. The Cavs are kind of like the ex-girlfriend of the NBA this season, and I wouldn't be shocked to find out that some of the players have penned emo songs about their experience after "The Decision." Will the likes of Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, Anderson Varejao, and JJ Hickson be able to stop my mighty Celtics, riding high off of the hugely important opening night win? Well, they might...but I doubt it.
Let's keep the NBA's ex-girlfriend feeling depressed by beating her down tonight in C-Town. Oh, and I hope you follow my analogy that the "she" is the Cavs, and "beating her down in C-Town" refers only to winning the game against said Cavs. I, in no way, am justifying domestic violence or violence of any kind. Now, let's bash her face in!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
It wasn't all just the Old Firm this weekend in my soccer world. It was just "mostly" Old Firm.
Celtic 1 - 3 Rangers
This was the game we had been waiting for all SPL season. And, while it held up it's end of the bargain in passion and intensity, it certainly didn't come through as far as results.
As so often happens in huge sporting events these days, the referee took center stage. Bodies were clashing, and yellows were being handed out right and left early in the match. Not enough yellows, however, as Rangers got away with a bookable offense when the game was even at nillers. Rangers middie Lee McCulloch, who was booked very early on, clashed with Samaras right outside the box, preventing his clear path in on goal. Celtic players and coaches screamed for a card, which would have put us one player up, but the rookie ref left it in his pocket. It wouldn't be his worst offense. Despite the no call, Gary Hooper put us through before half time with a game opening goal.
4 minutes into the second half, Celtic would score again, only this time it was into their own net. Attempting to clear it out, Glenn Loovens sank Celtic hearts with an own goal that brought the Protties level. After that, it was the Kenny Miller and referee show. In the 55th, Miller took advantage of a poor clearance attempt by keeper Fraser Forster, and pounced on the ball. From 16 yards out, Miller put it past the Celtic goalie to take the lead. 10 minutes later, he'd get a little help from the ref. He awarded a penalty after a challenge in the box that was replayed to show barely any contact. It was really a Celtic-killing call, as it put Rangers ahead by 2 and ended any dream of a comeback bid.
The call was so bad that the ref may be asked to step down by the SPL officials per some reports. After the game, Celtic skip Neil Lennon was irrate, but any way you slice it, we lost to Rangers and our undefeated run is over.
At 8-1-0 (24), we sit 3 points back of Rangers (obviously), and have an 8 point cushion on #3 Motherwell. We now try to regroup with back to back matches against St. Johnstone (Scottish Cup tomorrow, and SPL on Saturday), and hopefully two straight wins will do something to erase the memory of this first loss. St. Johns are 3-4-2 on the year, and seem to pose little threat, unless we are weakened in our resolve by our loss in the Old Firm.
Let's crush those Saintees and get back on track!
Newcastle 2 - 1 West Ham
Despite all the distractions surrounding the Magpies lately, what with Andy Carroll's assault charges and car torching, the assistant coach leaving, and rumors about Landon Donovan arriving, the Toon were somehow able to focus and get the road win against West Ham.
West Ham actually came out as the possession dominators early on in the game, with Newcastle barely escaping falling down in the single digits of elapsed time. 12 minutes in, however, all that Hammie pressure would pay off. West Ham's Mark Noble put a through ball perfectly into the onrushing offense, and Carlton Cole was left to tap it in from 5 yards out. It really, really looked like offsides, until they played the replay. 10 minutes later, though, the game would tilt in our favor. 10 minutes later, we'd have a goal connection from two new roommates. Joey Barton sent an impressive cross to the ultra-leaping Andy Carroll, and our #9 nodded the ball to the awaiting captian, who buried it. Nolan embraced Carroll after the goal, showing some love for the teammate he has allowed to move in with him because of Carroll being out on bail and needing a place to crash away from his worries. Tim Krül held strong until the break, keeping West Ham from striking back.
Newcastle took to dominating the second half, with Gutierrez and Shola Ameobi getting close to carrying the Toon to the lead. 20 clear from end time, though, it was Joey Baton assisting yet again. He sent another brilliant cross to the head of Andy Carroll, who was this time unmarked (I think he scared the Hammers defenders off with his frogman-like leaping abilities). Carroll bashed it home to make all things right after a week that went so wrong, and 'Castle were off with a big 2-1 win.
At 3-4-2, the Magpies vaulted up the EPL table to #9, with their 11 points and +1 goal differential. We trail #7 Sunderland and #8 Bolton by just a single point. Tomorrow we get a Carling Cup battle at home against Arsenal, and hopefully we can impress as we have in the Cup so far. Then, back to the EPL on the weekend, we have a Halloween game against the aformentioned losers from Sunderland, with a chance to bust ahead of them in the standings. Time to make the most of our opportunities.
That's right, there is no rest for the Toon Army when the Tyne-Wear derby is on the horizon. The only good Mackem is a defeated one.
Chivas 1 - 4 Chicago
Can we just be glad that the season is over? It was a game that virtually had zero Goat highlights, as the game itself highlights our sixth loss in our final seven matches. Despite Maldo-gol connecting on a header to get us our lone goal in the 58th from 7 yards out, it was mostly the Fire putting on the show and shutting our mouths. So much for Jonathan Bornstein's final game in Red and White. Have fun in Mexico, Bornie.
Chicago tallied goals from Brian McBride (in his final MLS game), Freddie Ljungberg, Calen Carr, and Bagglio Husidic (all pretty great names), and exploited the weakness of a Chivas team that has barely shown a drip of effort in recent memory. By the way, this is all WITH Zach Thorton is goal, not Kevin Guppy, which may show that this'll end up being ZTB's final game in a Chivas uniform as well.
So, if all were fair game, who on the squad that played against Chicago will be around after this team gets blown up?
Keepers: Braun, Nagamura, Espinoza, Zemanski, Padilla, and Trujillo.
Adios amigos: Maldonado, Flores, Borja, Jaziç, and Thorton.
Look, big changes have to be made if we want to improve on our last place 8-18-4 showing this season. Big changes. And I didn't even mention that Martín Vasquéz should be considered as one of those on the potential chopping block. How long are we going to accept his excuses? With all the transfers, I just wonder how he was never able to put it together. Keep an eye out.
So, we'll regroup around El Rebaño, and we'll be back next season with a run for the MLS Cup in 2011. Get ready, because we'll be strong, we'll be reloaded, and we'll be winners.
¡Arriba las Chivas...next year!
Enjoy the rest of your week, soccer heads.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
With 10 seconds remaining on the clock, the Rams found a way to lose. It takes a special kind of team to do that. Tampa Bay QB Josh Freeman led an end of game march, and connected with Cadillac Williams for a 1 yard TD pass to ice the game for the Bucs. We're just lucky that there weren't that many fans at the Ed Jones Dome to see it (a whopping 23,000 shy of a sellout, to be accurate).
While the Rams started out slow, trailing 0-3 after 15 minutes, they opened up the second quarter with a 17 point show. Following a field goal 5 second in, the Rams got TDs on drive ending passes to Amendola (5 yards) and Hoomanawanui (2 yards, and say that five times fast). That was it, though, as Sam Bradford showed his true rookie colors for probably the longest stretch we have seen in a game this season. He wasn't accurate, wasn't able to hit the audible receiver, and wasn't able to keep the offensive show rolling. That allowed TB to stick around, as they drilled 3 FGs before the end of the third, and then put together the game winning drive to wrap things up. Yeah, it sucked even worse than it sounds in type.
So, what went wrong? It was just a lack of finishing. I mean, the Rams went 50% on their 3rd down conversions, had just half the penalties of Tampa, and only allowed one sack compared to getting 3. This game simply reminded me of what I feared would happen with the game against San Diego the previous week. We got a lead, and then kind of just expected that the lead would hold up. We were lucky that it did against the Chargers, and against Tampa Bay we found out what happens when you don't go for the throat.
Of course, not everything was working as well as I make it sound. Bradford finished just 13/26 for 126. He did have 2 TDs and 0 INTs, but we're really only passing for 126 yards? Even Steven Jackson's 110 on 22 carries, which broke the Rams all-time rushing record over Eric Dickerson, couldn't compensate for the lack of passing offense. Steven Jackson was also the top receiver in the game, and he only nabbed 2 catches for 35 yards. Denario Alexander, hailed as a steal and big time star for the Rams last week, had just 1 grab for 6 yards. What a waste! Speaking of not finishing things, the defense shares in the blame of this late collapse. Allowing 2 out of 2 fourth down conversions, the defense just couldn't finish the job, and they are the strongest part of our team! Laurinitis led the squad with 8 tackles, while Hall, Long, and Ah You (nice name) each had sacks. Despite that, the defense (especially the secondary) looked really, really vulnerable out there, especially late.
We're under .500 again! At 3-4, we now look back and remember what was when we pretended we were good at 3-3. Lucky for us, we play in just an awful division, and we're only 1.5 games off the lead. Seattle leads at 4-2, Arizona sits second at 3-3, then us, and finally the 9'ers at a thrilling 1-6 (didn't ESPN pick them to win the division?).
Isaac Bruce is going to have his number retired before this Sunday's game against Carolina, and I thought it would be fun to kind of do a "see where he ranks" journey through his career. In his 14 years with both Rams organizations (we choose to forget the 2 years in the Bay), Brucey amassed 14,109 receiving yards and 84 receiving TDs. He finished his Rams career averaging over 15 yards/reception, with his best season seeing 1,471 yards in 2000 (even though he led the league in 1996 with 1,338). His AV (approximate value, as covered in many previous Rams posts) for his career in Horns is 128, with his single best season getting him an AV of 17. He was sent to 4 Pro Bowls and ranks second all-time in receiving yards. He ranks 9th in receiving TDs and even 25th in TDs overall. His VBD, which is a stat showing value over a baseline player is an astounding 499. Truly he is one of the greats, and I'd say quite underrated when people are making a list of the greatest WRs of all time. Congraulations on the acknowledgment, Brucey.
The actual game on Sunday is the main attraction, and will feature our boys going head to head with Jimmy Clausen (on the bench) and the 1-5 Carolina Panthers. Carolina's lone win of the season came last Sunday against the sad 49'ers, 23-20. Outside of that, the Panthers (clearly still trying to "figure out who they are with the loss of Delhomme") lost to the Giants by 13, the Bucs by 13, the Bengals by 13, and the Bears by 17. If I was a bookie of some kind, I'd have to say the line should be Rams by 13.5, right? I'm not really scared of Carolina, and fully anticipate heading into our bye week with an even 4-4 record. However, if we again fail to pour it on with the score in our favor, I will not be surprised to watch us fail in the second half yet again. Remember, keep pushing for points until it's all over! It really simple stuff.
Let's pacify the Panthers!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Let's be honest. Manny Malhotra is kind of an ugly dude. His play, however, was nothing but pretty on Friday night, as the Canucks busted the Wild 5-1 for some sweet revenge. If only a Wild player would have grabbed one of our fans, we could be completely even. Cory Schneider continued to fan the flames of controversy in V-Town, by nearly shutting out the Wild, and impressing us again as our backup goalie.
The scoring started off slowly, as the Orca tallied just a single goal in each of the first two periods before exploding in the final frame. Eleven minutes in, Raffi Torres and Jannik Hansen combined for some Sedin-like stuff. Hansen ended up with the puck behind the net, and as two Wild defenders collapsed on him, he chipped it out to a wide open Torres in front of the net, who buried it for his 100th career goal. 4 minutes into the second, after the Wild failed to convert on the 5 on 3, the Canucks amazing ability to keep the puck in the offensive zone for a lengthy period of time, allowed Andrew Alberts to blast a slapper that would be put in the back of the net on the rebound by Ryan Kesler. All the while, Cory Schneider was slowly putting together a great game between the pipes at the other end, stopping 18 of 18.
In the third period, the 'Nucks saw Manny Malhotra kind of take over. 11 minutes in, Alex Edler slapped a pass to Manny, and he put it in the net. 5 and a half minutes later, The Great Dane Jannik Hansen jumped on a loose puck and started a rush. He slammed on the breaks as he crossed the blueline and feathered an impressive pass across the ice to a rusing Malhotra. Manny managed to kick the puck to his stick and tickle the twine. Despite the Wild scoring with 2:35 left on a shot that was initially stopped by a Schneider blocker before it slid past the line, the Canucks would put the icing on the cake 15 seconds later. Schneider fed a puck around the boards to Daniel, who quickly sent it to Henrik, and H-Bomb found a wide open Jeff Tambellini all alone on the breakaway. He dunked the breakaway goal home, and we beat the Wild up 5-1.
Malhotra, Hansen, and Schneider made up the All-Vannie top 3 stars as picked by the "real" media, but I think Christian Ehrhoff deserves the "Top Star Without A Point" award. Not only did the German blue liner finish second in time on ice, but he was on the ice for every Canuck goal, helping him finish a +5. Not a bad day at the office.
At 3-3-2, the Canucks are thankfully back to .500 puck. In the division, we are behind Calgary (-2), even with Colorado, ahead of Minnie (+1), and way up on Edmonton (+4). In the Western Conference, our 8 points are tied with the Blues and the aforementioned 'Lanche for the final playoff spot. The Sharks, Wild, and Ducks are all just 1 point back, and the undefeated Preds (5-0-3, 13) lead the whole darn thing. Thanks to Hockey-Reference, we see our Simple Rating System is now JUST below average at -0.09 (18th in the NHL) and our Strength of Schedule JUST above average at 0.03 (14th). For those keeping track, our goal differential, despite the four goal win, is still -1. Our power play is still going well, +5% on the league average, while our penalty kill still sits below the league average (although, by less than 1%).
Since M&M scored two goals in the game, I thought it'd be fun to explore his statistics a little bit, as he appears to have given us a little more than we even hoped for on that third line. Malhotra already has 5 points in just 8 games, which is pretty huge for a third liner. He has 1.76 GC this season, and averaged +0.25/game in the +/- rating. His "Adjusted Stats" look pretty amazing, with Hockey-Reference projecting 24 goals and 35 assists this season. That would be a career year for Manny, as his best season was a TOTAL of 35 points and his top goal scoring mark was last year with 14 in San Jose. All of that, and I haven't even talked about his amazing faceoff proficiency. Who would have known back on July 1 that this signing would have been this important?
It really took a lot for me not to highlight the difference in starts between Luongo and Schneider, trust me.
Tomorrow night is the last game of the month, as our beloved 'Nucks go head to head with our division rivals from Colorado. At 4-4-0, the Avs are deadlocked with the Canucks from a point aspect, but they have lost their last two games (4-6 to LA and 2-4 to SJ), and don't have much momentum. Meanwhile, the Vannies have all kinds of momentum and they showed on Friday that they're ready to step things up a couple of notches to close out the first month of the season. Craig Anderson is vulnerable, and he must be exploited. Of course, the Avs are thinking the same thing about Luongo.
Finally, I'd like to sound my approval trumpet for the Canucks publicly declaring their desire to re-sign our German +/- leader, Christian Ehrhoff. He's looked good with Edler, as he showed against the Wild, and I think he'll keep it up.
Get well soon, Bally and Hammer, and let's go get us some Avalanche.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
This one hurt pretty bad. The game against Navy was set up to be Coach Kelly's big win over the first 8 games of the season. It was a chance to show that he can prepare for a team and make in-game adjustments as needed better than Charlie Weis was able to do. It was supposed to be the game where Coach Kelly got this team back on the right track. Instead, a group of Navy Seniors who have learned a thing or two about beating the Irish, came out and blasted ND 35-17 with ease. There were no half time adjustments, Dayne Crist went through stretches where he just looked high school-ish, and the Irish lost in pathetic fashion.
Our boys never really stood a chance. The Irish defense was really unable to stop Ricky Dobbs, again, and the offense felt it was better to turn the ball over than put it in the end zone. After Alex Teich opened the game with a 31 yard TD pass, the Irish could only answer with a field goal after a stalled out drive. Navy came back early in the second, as Dobbs broke a short run capped off with a dive for the goal line. The Irish finally put something together on a TJ Jones TD pass, but a pick late set up another Navy TD, and we were down 10-21 at the half.
I assured my Dad over the phone that Coach Kelly was proving to be the kind of guy who could fire up a team at the break and turn things around. Boy, did I lead my Dad astray on that one. Things only got worse, as Crist got picked again, staring at the intended receiver seemingly forever before throwing the ball to the Navy defender stepping up into the play. Dobbs would run for 2 more TDs in the third, though fullback Alex Teich seemed to be the most unstoppable. Cierre Wood rushed for a meaningless TD with 6 minutes to go in the game, but in the end, this one will go down as a game where we got straight owned by the Midshipmen.
Not only was Brian Kelly unable to stop the bleeding of the recent Irish losing "streak" to Navy, but this was the most lopsided loss to the Academy since 1963, and they put up more yards offensively than any Navy team playing ND in the rivalry's history. We can easily make the excuse that we were without Theo Riddick, Kyle Rudolph, and Michael Floyd, but I think Coach Kelly summed it up best. Regarding Navy stopping a Crist QB sneak on fourth and goal from the 1 yard line on the opening possession, Coach said, "We outman them by 70 pounds on average up front. If you can't get a foot on the one-half yard line, you get what you deserve." Strong words, but really the truth. We finished with a weak 6 for 12 3rd down mark, while allowing Navy's 9 for 13. We were -2 in turnover differential, we were the only penalized team (although just 1 for 15), and we lost the possession battle by almost 12 minutes. 12 minutes! The defense was tired out there, and against a good triple option team, that spells disaster.
Crist finished 19/31 for 178 with a TD and two picks. His main receiver was Kamara, who caught 6 for 56, to help remind us that he's still on the team. Jones had 53 on 5 with his TD, and Eifert caught for 42 yards. On the ground, Armando Allen was strong with 11 rushes for 66 yards, while Cierre Wood got just 17 on his 8 carries. Defensively, Te'o led the way with a season high 13 tackles. But, the more telling stat for the defense would be that Ricky Dobbs and Alex Teich combined for 300 yards on the ground. Unacceptable.
I was curious, however, as to how we stopped Dobbs this season, compared to the previous two tilts with Navy. Did we do better than I would think against the talented QB slated to become the President someday (as CBS Sports points out every time Navy plays)?
2008: 13 rushes for 27 yards, 8 pass attempts for 54 yards.
2009: 31 rushes for 102 yards, 3 pass attempts for 56 yards.
2010: 20 rushes for 90 yards, 2 pass attempts for 71 yards.
Clearly, this season was our worst for stopping that triple option pass to the lumbering white guy downfield, and honestly we weren't any good at stopping Dobbs on the ground comparatively either. His 4.5 yards/rush average were easily his best over the last 3 seasons against the Irish. So much for all of that preparation, eh boys?
So, Notre Dame has fallen to 4-4, and my preseason predictions of a 9-3 season have come to an end. At least it took 8 out of 12 games to hit that reality, rather than 4 or 5. Hopefully, though, this loss to Navy won't send this team into complete disaray, as it did last year. Next week, the Irish will try and rebound in another "easy win" game against Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane have gotten off to a 4-3 start this season, but their wins are against Bowling Green, Central Arkansas, Memphis, and Tulane. Meanwhile, they've been beaten by ECU, Oklahoma State, and SMU. The Oklahoma State win was 65-28 over Tulsa. In my January season preview post, I called this game against Tulsa an "easy, easy Notre Dame win." After that Navy loss, I may not be as confident, but I'm still thinking this game will be our bounce back heading into that much needed bye.
Onward to victory.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
I love my "5 Reasons" posts, and I always have. I hope that long time readers enjoy it as well, because we're lumbering into "My 5 Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Navy."
1. We've already played a better version of Ricky Dobbs this year: When we matched up against Michigan earlier this season, we faced the seemingly unstoppable Denard Robinson. And, if you remember, we would have won that game if Dayne Crist wouldn't have gotten banged up on that QB sneak for a TD early on. It's true. So, heading into our yearly clash with Navy doesn't seem to carry the same concern. We can stop their triple option...as long as we cover the big white tight end down field.
2. This is a season defining game for Brian Kelly: I said it back in January, and I'll say it again. This game is a chance for Brian Kelly to stop the bleeding started by Charlie Weis in 2007. After beating Navy every year for 43 years, Charlie Weis found them unbeatable. Navy broke the streak with the memorable OT win in '07 and then came back and shocked us last year again. These were HUGE losses for Charlie, in the eyes of Notre Dame fans, and Brian Kelly knows what's at stake. If Brian Kelly can win this game, his first season at ND will be considered at the very least a mild success.
3. The big "Mo": The Fighting Irish are riding a three game winning streak coming into this game, and that says a lot about how this team will be feeling come Saturday morning. While the "blowout" win against Western Michigan was expected, the wins over Boston College (finally) and Pitt serve as big rallying cries. We could have lost those games, and people wouldn't have lost their minds. Now that we won those games, people like me are losing their minds in a good way (BCS?). I don't think enough love is given to momentum, even if Lee Corso references it in every NCAA Football video game since 2002. Add to that the fact that following this Navy game we have Tulsa (4-3) and then a bye week, and you have no concern of the players looking past Navy and getting caught by surprise.
4. Cierre Wood offers balance: While Armando is still the man, if healthy, Wood provided the Irish with significant balance in the win against Western Michigan. His 11 carries for 94 yards helped to allow Dayne Crist to attempt less passes than the previous four games. This is a key to Irish victory. Look at the numbers! The least amount of attempts Crist has thrown this year was against Michigan (25). He was injured for a large part of that game, but extremely effective when he was in. The second least was against Purdue (26), which we won. The third least was against Western Michigan (28) last week, and I think you're starting to see get the point. When Crist feels less relied on, he does better. In contrast, he threw his most attempts against Michigan State and Standford (and BC, in all honesty), and we all know how those two games ended.
5. Tell me, who have they beaten?: The majority of the articles in the "real" media covering this game talk about how Navy has been this amazingly improving team over the last couple of years. Okay, but who have the bested? This season you have Georgia Southern (by just 6 points!), Louisiana Tech, Air Force (by just 8 points!), and a 2-5 Wake Forest team (by just 1 point!). Not too impressed. Last season, the list includes, Louisiana Tech, Western Kentucky, Air Force, Rice, SMU, Wake, us, Delaware, and Army. Not exactly a who's who of amazing teams from 2009. So, please remember to look beyond the record and see who a team has actually beaten before accepting the media's assertions that their 8 wins actually means something.
Don't get me wrong, this is an absurdly pro-Notre Dame post, and I in no way think that the Midshipmen are going to be a pushover this week. You all know that I think tomorrow morning's Irish win will be a season defining one (at least until we beat USC), which means I think it'll be an intense clash. However, I am clearly confident that the Irish have what it takes to pick up this win and improve to 5-3.
Don't you?
Onward to victory!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Alright, I know that the preseason means nothing, but I have to admit the Celtics 7-1 tune up for the regular season has me excited. I, at least, am excited that we'll be better than the Clippers, who finished their preseason 1-7 (they're like the Bizarro Celtics). So, heading into the season opening test with the Miami Mega-Heat, with the help of my C's blog of choice "CelticsBlog," we will examine each player's 8 game warm up.
Rondo: Rajon had a quiet preseason after making all the headlines for stepping down from the US team ahead of the overhyped WBC. Over the last three games, he averaged just over 10 points and just under 9 assists per game. I still think he's underrated, and he's one of the saving graces for me among the "top tier" players on this team (if you read the blog, you know I've been a bigger fan of the "B" team since the C's "got good").
Pierce and Allen: We can lump these two studs together because you know exactly what you are going to get. Ray Ray, pictured above sipping a smooth iced mocha from Dunkin' Donuts, is still a three machine, and Paul Pierce is still "the truth."
Garnett: Talk about a guy who had come back! KG has kind of been a shell of his former self the last couple of year for us. He's always banged up, and when he isn't, he's playing super safe so he doesn't get banged up again. This preseason, that wasn't the case. He looked like he was ready to throw caution to the wind, and that's a huge bonus for C's fans.
S. O'Neil: One of the big surprises of camp. Sure, Shaq is Shaq, and we all know he isn't going to be a day in day out player, but he averaged 9 and 5 over the preseason, and I'd say that we'll take that. He's looking pretty good for a 38 year old bench player.
J. O'Neil: Injuries took Jermaine out of the preseason for half of the games, but he had 8 blocks in the four games he played in, and showed some defensive stuff. His offense needs a lot of work, but as a late game defensive sub, I'm happy.
Davis: My favorite Celtic was hot this preseason, averaging 12 points and 4.5 boards, and he even averaged nearly 6 free throws per game, showing he's driving hard to the basket. Davis is my boy, and hopefully he's a main attraction this year.
West: It's nice to have another C back from the Walker/Pierce glory days. Unfortunately, he's been suspended for 10 games, and won't be able to play until November 17. Of course, you know he was suspened because when he was pulled over for speeding on his 3-wheel motorcycle last year he was in possession of two loaded handguns, a loaded shotgun, and an 8.5 inch Bowie knife (under pressure). Um, yeah, nothing but positive things to say about Delonte from this guy.
Robinson: Donkey played in all eight preseason games and shot 39% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc. Still, I like his ability to find a groove with this second unit and keep the C's in games late in the third and early in the fourth.
Daniels: Another big surprise this preseason, Marquis shot over 57% from the field and 80% from three point land over the eight game tuneup. More importantly, he's just looked a lot better. I'm impressed, and I'm hoping for more.
Erden: The capable Turk showed flashes of being a very good player this preseason. Homeboy had 6 points and 4.5 boards per game in the eight games, while shooting 62% from the field. Some things may need to happen for Semih to get playing time, but it sure is nice to know he's there.
Bradley: Avery played just 16 minutes, and has been shut down due to continued ankle problems. Tough.
Wafer: After a slow start, Von averaged 10 points on 5.3 attempts per game over the final three preseason contests, and went 7 for 7 from tree-ville over that span. It'll be interesting to see how much time he'll actually get, but with a name like Von Wafer, how can you not want to keep him around?
Harangody: Luuuuuuuuuke! My Notre Dame boy had a 16 and 12 double-double (animal style) against the Knicks in one preseason game, but failed to make the impact we all saw in the summer league. I hope he can get some floor time this season, because I really think (after watching him for all that time with the Irish) that he'll be a "good" NBA player.
So, it all comes down to this Tuesday. My Celtics versus ESPN's Heat. We couldn't really ask for a better season opener, in my opinion. And, I'd have to say it's kind of a must win. Now I'm not going to be concerned AT ALL if we lose, but beating the Heat on opening night would turn the NBA on it's head. It's got to happen.
Enjoy the season, fellas.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
It's such a weird world. Most of the time (and I would say all of the time, if not for today), the majority of Canucks fans are pessimistic and I'm optimistic. Today, however, the exact opposite is true.
Never, after a string of losses (especially a string that includes a loss to the Blackhawks) have 7th Canucks around both nations been so happy. We're not already that team, are we? Are we so bad that a "nice loss" gets the masses happy? That doesn't sound like us. However, one night after a thrashing by the Wild that was even worse than the thrashing Rypien handed out to that douchey Wild fanboy, we lost in a shootout to the Blackhawks, despite our goalie having probably his best game of the year. The expected result of Orca Nation would usually be reaching for our collective suicide axe. However, almost unbelievably to me, Canucks fans are rejoicing over this most recent loss. Comments like, "It's nice to see Luongo back on his A-game," and "Well, that was a much better game," are all over the various Vannie blogs. Those are usually my comments when the members of Orca Nation are securing the noose. Instead, the majority of Canuck fans are stoked after the loss, and I'm slowly kicking the chair out from under me. What's going on?
In all honesty, this WAS a much better game than the previous night in Minnesota. It was a close battle, with amazing stops by each goalie. Despite how defensive of a game it was, it was the Canucks allowing the worst of goals as the first period expired. I hate that! With 37 seconds to go, Viktor Stalberg took a pass from Jake Dowell, and wristed the puck over the shoulder of Luongo. After that, it was basically the Canucks stuffing the Blackhawks preferred open, offensive style. Meanwhile, the Hawks generally kept the 'Nucks to taking long and tough angled shots, rather than getting in close. One exception was the sweet garbage goal that the Vannies potted just one minute into the final frame. There was a scramble, Turco thought he had the puck sealed against the post, but it actually slide across the crease enough for Daniel Sedin to bash it home. We were tied, and headed to overtime, which as we all know usually leads us to the dreaded shootout in today's NHL. The main highlight in OT was Hossa's crazy breakaway chance. Bobby Lu was equal to the task, however, saving the point with an amazing stop. That was highlight real stuff, to be sure. In the shootout, the Hawks scored three and the 'Nucks scored two, and that was that. I will point out that two of the Hawks shootout "goals" were very lucky, initially stopped by Luongo, both dribbled slowly through. Meanwhile, Michael Samuelsson didn't even get close in the third round, sending a shot well wide and off the boards. It was weak, especially after Sedin and Kesler's impressive moves.
Now, I don't want to sit here and make excuses, but we were hardly playing with our best defense here, right? We all know Mr. Glass (aka Sami Salo) is out forever, but we also missed Ballard (still "concussing") and Hamhuis (foot problem), and that makes a huge difference (especially in a game where you are limited to slappers from the blue line for offensive chances). I will say that Edler and Ehrhoff looked great, and Parent was much better on defense than I ever would have dreamed.
By the way, feck Turco for his "poke check" attempt on Glass' near breakaway that was really just a trip. Stay in your net, Turco, it was cheap on your part and dangerous for our forward.
Sorry, I get really fired up in LSF battles. Congratulations, Jon Davis, you deserve it. At 2-3-2, the Canucks are now -2 of Colorado (4-2-0), even with Calgary (3-2-0), +1 on Minnie (2-2-1), and +2 on Edmonton (2-2-0) in the division. Within the West, we are in a tie with #7 Calgary, #8 Columbus, and #9 St. Louis, each of whom have the same 6 points we have. The Canucks SRS (I've covered what that is enough by now, right?) is now a lowly -0.54 (21st in the league) and their SOS (okay, for the last time, it stands for "strength of schedule") is an above average 0.18 (12th), and I think the Hawks helped that second mark. While our penalty kill has now dropped 2% below the league average, our power play is still rolling well (over 8% above league average).
Can I take a little time to point out that we may be looking at a chance to have Daniel Sedin take a run at the Art Ross and Hart Memorial trophies that his brother won last year? He's quietly blowing up early on this season, and hopefully as the season goes on and the Canucks get better, he'll continue to do well and he'll get the National exposure he deserves. In case you haven't noticed, Daniel has 7 goals and 3 assists in 7 game so far this year with 3 goals coming on the power play. His shot percentage is even as high as 35%, which is amazing for a shooter on a team's top line. His GC/Game is a really impressive 0.61. As far as how he matches up with the greats in the league, Daniel is ranked 1st in goals for the entire NHL, 2nd in GC, 2nd in points, 1st in power play goals, 6th in shooting percentage and points per game, and 1st in Hockey-Reference.com's Adjusted Goals statistic. Could we actually see a 117 point season? I'm salivating. In case you are wondering, Wayne Gretzky (of course) holds the single season point record of...wait for it...215. Wow.
The Canucks now look to Friday for a rematch against the Wild. Let's just hope they aren't rallying around this whole "fan attack thing." I'm just glad the game is at home.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
It's getting hard out here for us loyal fans of El Rebaño.
Coming into last night's game in Santa Clara, CA, Chivas USA had a very impressive 4-0-2 record against the "new" San Jose Earthquakes. If you've been paying attention to this year's MLS season, you know that simply foreshadows an end to the good times. In the penultimate game of a seriously disappointing season, Chivas USA walked off the pitch in Nor Cal blanked 0-3, and saw their chances of climbing out of the Western Conference cellar nearly vaporize.
Chivas did listen to my advice from a previous post, and started Kevin Guppy in goal to see what he could do. The answer was, not a whole lot. Nine minutes into the match, SJ's Cornell Glen banged a shot off the crossbar, putting the Goats on notice. While neither team did much of anything in the rest of the first half, Glen would again be the center of attention for dubious reasons in the 40th. Cornell pulled up with a hammy injury, and this forced the Quakes to play one of the many starters they were trying to rest in the match. Chris Wondolowski was that regular starter who came in as a sub, and his entrance into the match would completely change things.
In the 55th minute, Wondo was dragged down in the box. With the ball on the spot, he easily converted to get San Jose off and running. Just four minutes later, he simply put a ball on goal from 13 yards out, and discovered that Guppy's weak side was the bottom right. His shot tickled the twine to double the lead. Chivas had no fight. In the 72nd, the SJ star would secure his second hat trick of the season, drilling a cross from Ryan Johnson (going from the Canucks to the MLS is pretty impressive) past Guppy. The deal was sealed. The Goats had nothing to throw at the Quakes, and walked off the pitch, humbled for the 17th time this season.
Granted, it wasn't a star studed lineup for either team, being that it was a midweek game, but Chivas clearly had more "regulars" on the pitch than San Jose.
G: Guppy- Even though he got roughed up, I was happy to see him finally get his shot. The life of the MLS Pool Player sucks.
D: Trujillo, Cuesta (Bornstein 62), Umaña (Zizzo 66), and Jaziç- Tough to see both Yamith and Umaña From Heaven go down to injury, but overall, our defense was downright bad. We're probably going to have to stop calling Trujillo "The Trujth."
M: Lahoud, Nagamura, Saragosa (Padilla 46), and Flores- Zemanski was again held out, and this midfield had no bite whatsoever. I'm surprised that The Deacon, Naga, and El Gringo couldn't get it going in the second half. They're just waiting for the season to end as much as us fans, I guess.
F: Braun and Espinoza- Are we so weak with Gordon suspended that we have to move arguably our best midfielder up front? That experiment failed. I guess we never should have loaned out Chuk Wagon and Galindo, eh?
It'll be interesting to see how this team is changed in the offseason, but you'd have to imagine that big changes are on the horizon. At 8-17-4 (28 points, -11 GD), Chivas continue to sit 2 points back of Houston, all alone in the basement of the Western Conferece. That, of course, means that Chivas must beat Chicago (8-12-9, 33 points, -4 GD) and Houston must lose their final game for the Goats to pull up to 7th place to end the year. Chicago, is known as "The Fire," "La Maquina Roja," "Men in Red," and "CF97," and their supporters are known as "Section 8" in reference to the military code for a mentally unfit soldier. It's been a hard road for Chicago this year as well, and both teams will be looking for a little rallying point heading into the offseason.
Hopefully the Goats can extinguish the Fire, because we need this win a whole lot more.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Well, that's one way to make National headlines. The Canucks are being talked about on every sports talk radio show around the US and Canada today, and it's for all the wrong reasons. Hockey is taking a small piece of the center stage in this football dominated country of ours today, and it's for all the wrong reasons. Rick Rypien is going to become a household name for at least one day, and it's for all the wrong reasons. The Canucks pathetic 2-6 loss to the Wild last night was completely overshadowed by the bigger story, and that isn't necessarily a good thing for us.
Before I get into the incident, I'd like to first point out something that makes me kind of upset. It's the fact that the National media talks about what happened just based on hearing about the story. The tools on sports talk radio didn't actually watch the game. They have never even heard of Rick Rypien, which they felt compelled to point out. So, the fact that I hear comments like, "This guy is a goon who was fighting all night and he was completely out of control," or "This guy should never play another NHL game," makes me completely crazy. It's sad to me that an incident like this is the only thing that gets the beautiful sport of hockey to be near top bill on SportsCenter or to be talked about on a typical dumbass sports talk show like The Loose Cannons.
Let's look at what happened like rational people, alright? The Canucks opened the scoring right away, with Daniel Sedin scoring a goal less than a minute in thanks to a beautiful pass from H-Bomb. Up 1-0, most of us were feeling good. At about the 6 minute mark, things kind of fell apart. The Wild started a scoring bash against us. Luongo looked less than sharp. With the game slipping away, as often happens in hockey, Rick Rypien and Brad Staubitz dropped the gloves in the at 10:52 of the first. There was nothing dirty about it. It was just a good ol' hockey fight where both players are trying to do whatever it takes to get their team pumped up. Both players went off for five minutes. As the Wild carried their scoring along into the second half, things got a little chippy. Down 1-5, the Canucks weren't really feeling great. Staubitz received a puck up along the bench, and quickly passed it away. Just after his pass, Rypien came streaking in and checked him. Okay, so maybe the hit was a little late, but it wasn't going to draw a penalty. Staubitz took exception, which was probably expected, turned around, and both players decided to drop the gloves for a second scrap between the well-known brawlers. This is the point where things took an unusual turn. Rather than letting the players settle their issues, the two linesmen jumped into the middle of the fight and worked on pulling the players apart. They were pretty physical in trying to get them apart, actually. One ref skated away with Ryp, who attempted to kind of skate back toward Staubitz to jaw a little back and forth, again, as players often do. The ref had Rypien by the collar, and took exception to his skating around, and yanked him by the neck to make sure Ryp knew the ref meant business. This really doesn't happen in the NHL. Rypien was almost yanked down to the ice by the ref.
Now, at this point, I want the reader to understand that I'm not trying to make an excuse for Rypien's behavior that occurred after this. I'm only trying to provide a little perspective on the incident, which is something that the "real" media is not giving us...because they didn't watch the game. I am definitely a Canucks apologist, but I am in no way an apologist for what happened next. I will, however, possibly submit to you that Rypien's emotions were probably running very high because of the way he was handled by the refs. In my opinion, if Ryp and Staubitz were simply allowed to fight until the refs could have easily and safely broke it up, rather than getting physical with the players, nothing would have happened. I really believe that.
As Rypien was being sent to the dressing room for his game misconduct, which I guess was for instigating the fight, a fan was standing up right along the railing clapping and shouting at Rypien. Ryp responded by reaching up with both hands and grabbing the fan, and pushing him back before he walked off (as pictured above). The fan was ejected, which I think shows that he did/said more than the media is telling us, or than the camera showed. There is word that he was yelling at Canucks players on the bench throughout the game. Again, I'm not trying to justify what Rypien did, just trying to give perspective. After Ryp was out of the picture, Kevin Bieksa took his stick and bashed it on the glass right in front of the fan, to show his displeasure as well.
So, Rypien has been "indefinitely suspended" until he can have a hearing with the NHL on Friday. "Indefinitely suspended" is also something the media is blowing out of proportion. They only indefinitely suspended him because they wanted him out until they could schedule the hearing. Who knows what the result will be, but I just hope that the Canucks will stand by Rypien's side and keep him with the team after he has served his time. Yes, he did something wrong. Let's let him take the punishment, and move on. Let's not kill a guy because his emotions got the best of him. It happens to all of us, and we're just lucky that our emotional outbursts and poor decisions aren't being broadcasted on a Center Ice Free Preview as well as going viral thanks to You Tube.
Quickly to the actual game, one has to wonder what the heck is wrong with Roberto Luongo. Remember how I said in the preview that Lu had given up 5 goals in each of his last two games in Minnie? This was way worse. He allowed 6 goals on 18 shots. That's insane! I know he's a slow starter, but come on. How many would my roller hockey team's goalie have let in on 18 shots? He got a shutout last week, so before you answer, consider that. Schneider stopped all 6 shots he faced after Lu was yanked, but something seems off. Word is out that Luongo WILL start in today's game against Chicago, and I think that's a good idea. Remind him that he's our guy NO MATTER WHAT, and don't forget that he was 6-1 with a 2.01 GAA and .929 SV% in bounce back games last year (stat thanks to 'Nucks Misconduct).
Tonight is huge. The Canucks have to show that they can completely turn things around after an epically horrible night like last night. The Chicago Blackhawks have quickly become one of our most hated rivals, a LSF rivalry that burns deep inside the heart of two of your LSF bloggers. If you think things get chippy when we play the Wild, just wait. But, I think it's fair to point out that these two teams have made a lot of changes since they last met. 7 Canucks players who were on the team when we last played Chicago in the playoffs are gone, and that number is 9 for the Blackhawks. However, even with Eager, Byfuglien, Sopel, Ladd, Burish, Bernier, O'Brien, Demitra, and Johnson all gone, these two teams still hate each other.
We still have Ryan Kesler on our team and they still have Keith and Seabrook on theirs, and as long as that is the case, this rivalry will remain out of control. Just imagine if Alex Burrows wasn't off with an injury.
Bring it on, Jon.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
It was a busy weekend for my soccer squads, and there is no point wasting time with chit chat. Let's get to it.
Newcastle 2 - 2 Wigan
With the assistant coach leaving, and star striker Andy Carroll under arrest and standing trial for assault, the 2-2 draw may be somewhat far from the minds of the loyal Toon Army this week. But, the way it happened, with a stoppage time goal to cancel out a former Magpie's chance at glory at the SJP with his new team, keeps it at the forefront of my memory.
The game started, as most Newcastle home games do, with a chorus of boos from the fans. Initially, the boos were directed at owner Mike Ashley, who announced that he is going to sell the naming rights to St. James Park. The secular world is always trying to find a way to take the Catholic out of everything. Secondly, the boos were directed at the return of former Magpie Charles N'Zogbia, who Newcastle fans may remember as "Charles Insomnia." After the way 'Castle played in the first 45, however, the grumbles from the fans were directed squarely at the Boys in Bars. Our attack was weak, with Carroll and Løvie not having much ferocity, and despite Danny Guthrie's return, our defense was wide open. N'Zogbia got back at the fans the best way a player can, by scoring two goals within the span of a minute against the home team (22nd and 23rd). The first ball was a bit of luck, where a cross bounced off José Enrique and came right to N'Zogbia's foot to bash past Krül, but the second goal showed some talent. That time, Charles got bullet cross that he settled with his chest, and was able to perfectly turn and blast it home. Like I said, it wasn't a very good first half.
The second would see improvement, though, which is always nice to see as a fan. In the 60th minute, my boy Shola Ameobi continued to make his case to start, as he reenergized the club as a sub. Ameobia, 18 minutes in, connected a header on a Gutierrez cross that started the Magpie scoring. The fans finally had something to cheer about, and we weren't done. 4 minutes beyond the 90 minute mark, Gutierrez would send in another cross that the beloved curley haired fool Coloccini would head home to tie things up REALLY late. The crowd went nuts, we avoided another upset, and we escaped a home game with a point.
The play late certainly calls into question the starting of Carroll and Løvernkrands. Hasn't Shola shown enoug to play a full 90? Wasn't it clear that Carroll's head wasn't in the game? Also, the subbing of Nile Ranger into the game in the 88th may have been a little late. He's an impressive young lad, and I want to see more of him. I think Krül is doing his best to fill in at the goalie spot, but we're surprisingly missing Forster, in my opinion, and maybe should have gone harder after trying to bring back Given. Also, let's give out much praise to Jonas Gutierrez in the midfield. His crosses were on point, and he deserves the game ball.
At 2-4-2 (8 points, 0 GD), Newcastle are now ranked 16th in the EPL (18-20 is the relegation zone). However, we are a win away from possibly vaulting back up to the top 10. This weekend features a clash with last place West Ham (1-4-3, 6 points, -9 GD), and we simply cannot lose this match. West Ham, known as "The Hammers," "The Irons," and "The Academy," have supporters who sing the song "I'm forever blowing bubbles" at the start of every game. Um, that's pretty lame. Notable West Ham supporters include Queen Elizabeth II and President Barack Obama. Less lame, indeed, but still lame. Again, in my opinion, this is a must win.
Celtic 2 - 1 Dundee
We made it to the Old Firm Derby match with an undefeated record! A late strike by my main man Gary "88" Hooper sealed the win over the Crocs to improve Cetic's SPL start to 8-0-0 heading into this weekend's HUGE match with the Protties from Rangers.
13 minutes into the game, Hooper, a Loughton, England native, converted a cross from right in the goalie's face to start the scoring. Dundee pushed back, as the Celtic defense looked somewhat weak. Samaras even had to make two "saves" to help Forster out when the going got tough. In the 38th, the Crocs would draw level. A steal at midfield led to Dundee pushing in, and a shot that deflected off of Loovens tickled the twine to get the game even heading into the break.
The second half saw the Bhoys pushing hard, and I was impressed that they did so with style in the absence of the injured Scottie Brown. It looked as though Gary Hooper had earned a penalty kick in the 69th when Dundee's defender dove at Hooper's feet. The ref pointed at the spot, but cancelled the call after consulting with his assistant. Robery! All would be made right in the closing minutes, though, as Hooper collected and smashed home a cross from super sub Paddy McCourt that Dundee's defense failed to clear. It was exciting, it was dramatic, and it was everything that makes Celtic soccer amazing.
The lineup was set up to be exciting, as the Celts ran with three strikers in the match. Samaras, Stokes, and H88per were all up front, and it was only made more forward heavy with the sub of my boy McCourt for Maloney late. Du-Ri and Efrain Juarez were notable non-subs, and easily could have been given some time, but clearly Coach Lennon knows what he's doing.
Now 8-0-0 (24 points, +14 GD), Celtic trails first place Rangers by a +1 goal differential mark in the SPL. This weekend is the clash we have all been waiting for since the start of the campaign. This weekend is the knock down, dragout battle between the only two undefeated SPL teams. And it just so happens that the two teams hate each other. The rivalry has been so well chronicalled on the LSF. Catholics vs Protestants. Ireland vs Northern Ireland. Celtic Nationalists vs those loyal to the crown. There is so much more going on that just a soccer match between these two teams this weekend, and I just might drag my Catholic butt out of bed at 4:30 AM to cheer my Bhoys on.
"Bród Ceilteach! Amháin fíor eaglais!"
Chivas 1 - 2 Seattle
What other way can I say that Chivas is flat out awful this season? One thing that the Goats have been able to celebrate is that Seattle had never scored a goal off of us in MLS play. Four regular season clashes, and we managed to hold them out of the net. That, obviously, didn't happen this time.
9 minutes in, our beloved streak against the Rave Green was over. Steve Zakuani got the ball at the top of the box, went through two defenders, danced around a third, and managed to get wide of a rushing Zach Thorton, to easily bury the shot into the net. It was a pretty embarrassing goal to give up, really, as our defense just looked awful. About 16 minutes later, Zakuani would pain Chivas again. He sent a through ball across the goal to the waiting foot of Osvaldo Alonso, who easily tapped it home. Again, El Rebaño's defense it just kind of standing around letting everything develop, without having any say. Pathetic!
The second half would basically just be a hodge podge of minor chances, with Seattle sitting back and waiting for the final whistle. Just before the whistle, two minutes into stoppage time, El Gringo would give Goat fans a small something to cheer about. A cross from our surprisingly gifted middie, Rodolfo Espinoza, came right to the head of Padilla. Padilla nudged the ball home to cancel out the clean sheet, despite the loss already being secured. A minor consolation for another bad effort.
Sal Zizzo was the lone Chivas sub, as he came in for Maldonado at the forward slot in the 75th. Chivas started the unlikely pairing of Maldo-gol and Padilla as the two strikers, with Braun on the bench and Gordon suspended. Braunie was probably resting so he could go tonight against San Jose. I'm also not quite sure why Jorge Flores keeps getting starts over Ben Zemanski. I get it's a good story, but Zemanski has earned the right to play out the season. And, what the heck happened to our defense? It used to be our strength! Is this really how Bornstein wants to go out?
At 8-16-4 (28 points, -8 GD), we have dropped right back into the cellar where we belong. #7 Houston are now 2 points clear of us, but with a game in hand, hopes should be at least moderate that Chivas can finish out of the cellar. Thank God there is no relegation in American soccer! Tonight we get a midweek clash against #6 San Jose (12-9-7), and it could be a huge chance to try and end this season on a high note. The MLS' version of the "new" Cleveland Brows, San Jose are known as "The Boys In Blue." They are a team with an anthem by Bay Area rapper E-40 and an affiliation with the EPL's Hot Spurs of Tottenham, and they shouldn't be trusted, as they are supported by my wife's soccer loving family members. Bring it! With Braun rested, Chivas should look to push the ball up to him as much as possible and keep San Jose on the defensive for the full 90.
Let's steal one!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Only true baseball fans start talking about their team's offseason plans and next season plans while the playoffs are still rolling along. That's where we find ourselves today. Most of our Angels offseason posts tend to focus on offseason articles from various "real" media members. Today, I'll reflect on Mark Saxon (he's back from the dead!), who recently wrote an article of three things he thinks about the Angels offseason. We'll explore each one quickly.
1. The Angels will have to go big to get Carl Crawford.
How long have we been talking about Carl Crawford around here? It feels like the old Miguel Tejada talks, or more recently the Paul Konerko rumors. Is Carl Crawford actually going to come to the Angels? Is he even right for us? Saxon correctly points out that the Angels would have to go far beyond any payroll they've ever had to add Carl to the mix. Would it be worth it? It's hard to argue with his stats, indeed. At 28 years of age, C-squared hit .307 in 2010 with 19 homers, 90 RBI, and 47 stolen bases. His WAR was 4.8, a standout mark. He's good. You can't argue that he good.
The question I have is, "Are we really that far away from being a good team?" Would we really need to make a move like this to get this team back to the top of the AL West. In a word, no. I really don't think so. The Halos missed Kendry Morales for the majority of the season, and we all realized that he's the lifeblood of this team. We got poor production from a lot of players in the same year. Can that really happen again? I don't think so. People may say I'm an idiot, but I'm confident with an outfield of Rivera, Bourjos, and Hunter for next year. You know what Torii brings, JR has way more talent than he showed just last year (as he's showed in years previous), and Bourjos has a chance to be something special in his first full season next year.
Sure, Crawford would be amazing to add to this team, but do you really think Arte is going to pull that trigger and (more importantly) write that check? I guess we'll see, but I don't see it happening.
2. Hideki Matsui probably isn't coming back.
Shocker. Way to go out on a limb here. Godzilla hit .274 (tied for his lowest season BA in his career) and had 84 RBI (the lowest, by far, in any full season in his career). I'll admit, it was okay having him around, but there is no way the Japanese slugger will be back next year. I think it goes without saying.
3. Scott Kazmir may be released in the offseason.
Boy, this is a tempting one for me to bite on. A 9-15 record with a 5.94 ERA doesn't even begin to help non-Angel fans understand just how bad Kazberries was this season. He never seemed to be able to get beyond the 5th inning, even if he was having that rare "good" game, and just looked like a pitcher who had lost all confidence in himself (remember that game where the Angels left him in to give up like 13 earned runs? Yeah, that killed it). I've suggested multiple times that Kazmir will shift to being a long reliever until his contract runs out, but Saxon seems to suggest that he may be cut because the Angels are "running out of patience with him."
However, Saxon points out that the Halos would stand to eat the remaining $15 million left on his contract. This is the key point. Two things here: First is that the Angels do not want Kaz to become another Kevin Appier or Gary Matthews, and I don't think they are interested in paying someone not to play. Secondly, much like Brandon Wood, I'm not convinced that the Halos are ready to give up on Scott just yet. If you listened to Scioscia after all of Kaz's starts, he's always quick to point out that he likes his stuff even though it wasn't any good. He always talks about how Butcher is working on some stuff with him, and he's sure he'll bounce back. Well, he never did. But, I think the Angels still think he will. He'll most likely start in the rotation, and if he doesn't have it, he'll end up in the pen by June.
What do you think?
Let's get this postseason over with and let the offseason begin!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
First off, as a mental health therapist, I obviously know that the actual diagnosis is called "Dissociative Identity Disorder," but that didn't really sound as cool in the title. One week after getting flat out embarrassed and forgotten on the National stage after a huge loss to Detroit, the Rams came out and upset the Chargers 20-17 to shock the world. Not only did we get the win, but it was a Nationally televised win (by which I mean that I actually got the feed on regular ol' CBS out here in Southern California). It was an amazingly strong first half that had to carry us through, but the defense held tough to stop the San Diego comeback late, as the Rammies surprisingly cruised to victory at home.
This game has a ton of story lines. Sam Bradford looked impressive as all heck out there, most impressive on two incomplete passes, in my opinion. Twice in the shotgun, the Rams center air mailed the snap well over Bradford's head, but Sam was able to collect the loose ball, and throw it away despite pressure and being on the run. He looked poised out there. The Rams also had another rookie stud making waves, as Danario Alexander (brought in off the practice squad after nobody wanted the Mizzu grad due to four knee surgeries) made his debut. Alexander laid fully out for a 38 yard TD catch from Bradford that was a thing of beauty. Steven Jackson, quickly approaching Eric Dickerson's all time Rams rushing record, had huge carries on the final drive to keep the ball out of the Chargers' hands and keep the win in ours. Danny Amendola was awesome on kick and punt returns, taking one kick 42 yards before he got brought down. Nice to see him slicing and dicing his way up the field on special teams. Defensively, the Rams came up huge, sacking Rivers 7 times. It was the most sacks we've pulled off in a game since 2003, and it shows how the different blitz plays the Rams roll with really works. At least it caught the Bolts offguard.
All in all, it was Alexander's catch, a strong 7 yard diving run by Steven Jackson, and two field goals that did the trick to get us the points and put the Chargers away. Going 7 of 17 on third downs was a huge help, and even outgaining San Diego's top ranked offense by 13 yards was pretty amazing. While the penalties evened out, the Rams clearly won the turnover battle (1-0), sack battle (7-3), and possession battle (+7 minutes).
Equally impressive to all that team stuff was Sam Bradford's ability to take a hit and pop right back up. The rookie QB even had his helmet ripped off on one play, a helmet to helmet hit that went uncalled (although, there was a makeup call on the very next play), and he still popped up and carried on. Not as soft as everyone thought, eh? He finished 18/31 for 189 yards with 1 TD and ZERO INTs. With Clayton gone, newbie Danario Alexander was the main target, getting 4 balls for 72 yards. Mardy Gilyard, who injured his hammie in the game, had a huge 21 yard snag that clearly showed his potential. Jackson finished with 109 yards on the ground on 29 carries, and was the only Ram to rush the ball, outside of Bradford who accidentally got 8 on 6 "carries." Meanwhile, on defense, team captain Oshiomogho Atogwe nabbed the pick in the end zone to save 6 points, Grant, Hall, and Long each had 2 sacks, and Fletch-Daddy led the way with 8 tackles. What a difference a week makes!
At 3-3, the Rams are doing more than enough to make all of us fans happy. Trailing 3-2 Seattle and Arizona and leading the 1-5 49'ers, the Rams are impressing the heck out of me this season, and clearly still have an opportunity to win this weak division if they can keep this .500ish play up. Despite getting blown out by Detroit last week, their point differential is only -1.7/game (-10 overall). While their SRS (Simple Rating System, similar to the NHL's, where 0 is average and the number is calculated on strength of schedule and point differential) is -4.7, their defensive SRS is 1.8. It's nice because it feels like the defense is doing well, but it's so much better to have that eyeball test validated with statistics.
Everyone around the NFL media, not just Ram Nation, seems to like to talk about how Sam Bradford is progressing from week to week. I'm just wondering how true that is. I mean, when you watch the games, it seems like he is, but does it come out that way in the statistics? We'll compare completion percentage, yards/attempt, QB rating, and TD/INT ratio to examine his development over his first six games.
1. 58.2%, 4.60, 53.1, and 1/3 (Loss)
2. 56%, 6.68, 86.6, and 2/1 (Loss)
3. 62.2%, 6.35, 78.1, and 1/1 (Win)
4. 56.1%, 7.05, 84.3, and 2/1 (Win)
5. 51.1%, 4.78, 46.1, and 0/2 (Loss)
6. 58.1%, 6.39, 87.8, and 1/0 (Win)
While it's clearly not a steady line up from that season opening loss to Arizona, we can look at the numbers such that we see a probable progression. I think it's fair to remove the loss to Detroit as an outlier, meaning that everyone can have a horrible game that isn't like the usual game you'd expect, and I don't think that should count against them when determining their progress necessarily. After removing that loss, if we just look at completion percentage, we see:
58.2%, 56%, 62.2%, 56.1%, and 58.1%.
While it goes up and down, it is at the very least, a sign that he's staying fairly consistent. When we look at his QB Rating after removing the Detroit loss, we see:
53.1, 86.1, 78.1, 84.3, and 87.8.
I think this stat more clearly shows his progress, as his first start sees his lowest rating and his most recent start his highest, with middle range values in between. His yards/attempt, which I like a lot more than yards per reception, shows a somewhat similar pattern. So, is Bradford really progressing? I leave that up to you.
Next weekend, the Rams throw down against the 3-2 Tampa Bay Bucs. The road game for STL currently sees the Bucs as 2.5 point favorites, but I'm not really quite sure why. Sure, Tampa Bay are a 3-2 team, but is it an impressive 3-2? They've beaten Cleveland, Carolina, and the Bengals, three teams with a combined record of 3-13 this season. When they've played good teams, like Pitt and New Orleans, they've gotten blown out. Sorry, but the three wins the Bucs have picked up are clearly overrated. The team stats help to clear this up a little, as the Bucs have a SRS of -7.8 and a Strength of Schedule of -1.6 (with 0 being average for both). Besdies, why should I be scared of Josh Freeman?
Buck the Fuccaneers.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
It was a way down and way up weekend for our beloved Canucks. It really hurt having to lose to the Kings...again, but bashing the 'Canes sure did help me feel better last night. I'm just wondering if all the 7th Canucks up in B.C. are going to start calling on Schneider to start over Luongo after last night. Yes, we are that crazy.
Canucks 1 - 4 Kings
God, please let me forget how miserable this game was. This was the main game over the weekend that I wanted to win. Actually, I didn't just want the Canucks to win this game, I wanted the Canucks to crush the Kings in this game. Thanks to lucky bounces that went the way of the bad guys, my desires just wouldn't come to fruition.
The Kings first goal came on a puck that deflected of Jack Johnson's skate and stick, and into the net. The Kings second goal came on a puck that deflected off of Bieksa's skate and through the 5 hole of Luongo. Lu slowly fell back onto his back in disgust after that one. We would go into the third period down those 2 goals to none, despite outshooting the Queens 18-10. Finally, Daniel Sedin scored a goal that gave us hope, just 6:53 into the final frame. H-Bomb streaked down the ice and fed a perfect pass to Daniel, who banged it home past Quick. I burst into excitement, throwing my pillow into the air. Sadly, my excitement quickly died inside of me, as Dustin Brown scored two goals to finish it off (one minute after Daniel's and five minutes after that). Really, really tough.
The 'Nucks outshot the Kings 26-19, but again couldn't finish it off. We also won the faceoff battle, as well as the giveaway/takeaway battle, and broke away fairly even in the penalty box (although, Kes' big misconduct call at the end doesn't make it look that way), but it still wasn't meant to be. I hate to bring it up, but newbie Raffi Torres was a hugely disappointing -3 in the match, and a lineup shuffle would clearly ensue after that mark. Bobby Lu made just 15 stops on 19 shots, despite two of the Kings goals being total luck.
I understand that it's still REALLY early, and we need to stay way clear of that panic button, but the 'Nucks' play to start things off is a little worrying (or, at least, maddening). To cheer me up, I'll present my "Top Star Who Didn't Score A Point." Rightfully so, the Canucks didn't have a single player rank up in the "real" three stars, so we'll take things into our own hands. Christian Ehrhoff earns the nod after this game. Not only was he the only player to actually be a +anything in the +/- category, but he was also the lone blueliner to have a solid game, in my opinion.
Should I be that guy, and say to Kings fans, "At least we won when it mattered?"
Canucks 5 - 1 Hurricanes
Talk about winning when it mattered! Cory Schneider got the call in between the pipes, although the Vancouver broadcasters want to make sure that everyone knows that Roberto Luongo is still THE goalie around here (um, thanks for the breaking news). Schneider was awesome, though, stopping 31/32 Carolina attempts, and it sure helped that the offense decided to explode (in a good way). Alain Vigneault did what he does best, shuffling the lines like crazy. Mason was moved up with the Twins, Samuelsson was moved down to line three, and it all worked to perfection. Finally, something to be nerded up for!
Despite all the loving love for our lovely forwards, it was the A-Bomb (Andrew Alberts) starting the goal scoring feast. He came way up into the slot to bash home a puck after a huge rebound on his very own backhand effort. The Canucks second goal, a power play netter about four minutes later, was fun. Samuelsson skated around the zone with the puck before coming out high to take a wrist shot. The rebound came to Tambellini, who kind of pulled a blind backhand pass through the slot. The puck missed it's target, but came right to an unmarked Raymond, who bashed it home for his first of the year. The second period started off with another Vannie goal, and it all worked out thanks to a turnover. Mason Raymond, everywhere he needed to be, stole a puck in the offensive zone, fed Tanner Glass, and Glass sent a perfect cross crease pass to Samuelsson (who was fresh out of the sin bin), who buried it past Cam Ward for the 3-0 lead. The 'Canes finally broke up the Schneider shutout bid in the closing moments of the second, as a long pass to an open O'Sullivan turned into a slap shot goal that cut the 'Nucks lead. In the third, though, we'd seal the deal. Down low behind the net, just 6:25 in, Daniel Sedin expertly controlled a puck and sent it to the waiting stick of Ma$e, who scored his second of the night. Then, with 6 minutes left, Kesler put the icing on the cake with a power play goal that made him look like a blue liner. Christian Ehrhoff passed it to Kes, and the Livonia native sent a straight slapper into the back of the net to make it 5-1. Yeah, we big timed 'em.
Completely the oppossite of the Kings game, as ALL three stars were Vannies (MayRay, Sammy, and Schneider), and it was a fun game to watch. By the way, has anyone else notice that this Center Ice Free Preview is the longest in memory. Over 2 weeks! So stoked. It may sound hard to pick the "Top Star Who Didn't Score A Point" after a game where it seems like everyone scored a point, but I'm going to go with Kevin Bieksa. For all the crap he gets from Orca Nation, he was the reason that Canucks were able to create that goal for Samuelsson by getting involed in the play up front (and he was a team high +2), and we need all the defensive help we can get with Ballard gone to that concussion from the LA loss (busting a 250 consecutive game streak by the way, showing that even the healthiest go down in BC). Huge props to Schneider as well.
So, with 6% of the season in the books, the Canucks are an even 2-2-1 to start the year. Our 5 points are good enough for second in the division, -1 on Colorado, +1 on Edmonton/Calgary, and +2 on Minnie. Overall, we're sitting in the 8 spot in the West, although points-wise we're tied with #7 St. Louis and #9 Ana-Slime. I thought it'd be fun to do a little LSF standings, and unless you've been paying attention, you may be a little surprised.
1. Andrew's Leafs: 4-0-0 (8)
2. Jon's Hawks: 3-2-1 (7)
3. Tommy's 'Nucks: 2-2-1 (5)
4. Brandon's Sabres: 1-4-1 (3)
It's a tight race, with tons of time to go, but how about those Maple Leafs?
The Canucks have crept ahead of the average NHL team in terms of the Simple Rating System and their Strength of Schedule according to Hockey-Reference.com. They currently have a SRS and a SOS of 0.36 (with 0 being average), and that's probably helped out by the Kings recent success. Our SOS is ranked 9th in the league, while we're 13th in SRS. As far as goal differential, we're 14th out of the 30 teams in both goals scored (12) and goals against (12). On special teams, we're just under +10% on the power play above average, and just under +5% on the penalty kill above average.
While he just kind of came to join the party with his two goals and one assist last night, would you believe that Mason Raymond has arguably been our best overall player this year? In fact, you may be surprised that we only have 3 players this year who are a +, and you may be equally surprised to hear that those three are Ma$e (+2), Aaron Rome (+1), and Kevin Bieksa (+1). Yeah, that's no joke. Would you have picked those three? Me neither! Ma$e, the Cochrane, Alberta native, is now sitting on 2 goals and an assist to add to his +2, with 18 shots thrown at the net in his 84 minutes of ice time. His GC/G (goals created per game) so far this season is 0.25 (tied for his career high from last year), and his adjusted stats show that he's looking at a chance to pull down 59 points this year (based on hockey-reference.com's prognosticative stats that try to average out all seasons over the history of hockey to provide cross-era comparisons), which would be +3 points on his career year from last season. Keep an eye on #21, he's having an underrated start.
The Center Ice Free Preview continues tomorrow, as the Orca look to snag their first road win of the year in Minnesota. Will the power of the offensive line shuffling continue to push us forward? Maybe just facing the struggling Wild will be enough to help. Despite taking 4 of 6 from the Wild last year, the Canucks lost both of the games in Minnie, and we'll need to really take this road game seriously. Luongo has lost HIS last two outings in Minnesota as well, giving up a huge 5 goals in each start. A winning streak sure would be nice. And we all know how nice another win would be, especially heading into Wednesday's HUGE LSF battle against the most hated Chicago Blackhawks. Man, I can't wait for that.
Alright, let's domesticate the Wild.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
