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Plus/Minus:Thoughts on the Week in the NHL - Coyotes, Islanders,ESPN,Hedman

October 19, 2014, 2:04 PM ET [18 Comments]
James Tanner
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Rough night to be a Coyotes fan on Saturday. The Coyotes were brutal and (read in Forrest Gump Voice) that's all I have to say about that.

Since plus/minus is a terrible stat that means nothing, I thought I would appropriate it and make it slightly more useful as we review the week in the NHL.

MINUS:To Mike Smith. He has played three games, faced 90 shots and allowed 16 goals. The Coyotes are 2-2 and in the three games Smith has played, they have allowed 6 goals against the Jets, 4 goals against the Oilers (in a win they were lucky to get) and now 6 goals against the Blues.

When exactly is it appropriate to panic? The Coyotes are supposed to be a defensive team and they have been anything but so far this year. Smith has a history of being a good goalie, but at this point it might be best to ride Dubnyk for a few games and give the guy a breather. Last night he let out huge rebounds, didn't appear set on at least 2 of the goals and just generally played poorly.

It's not like the rest of the team played great in front of him, but Smith gave them no chance.

MINUS: The Coyotes have allowed 4+ goals in 3 of four games. Again, it's early, but they are fast becoming a team with no identity. If you can' t prevent goals, and you can't score them, somethings got to give.

The fact that Brandon Gormley is in the AHL means the Coyotes do have a position of strength from which to deal. The Yakupov rumours from earlier in the week were interesting and whether it's Yakupov or someone else, the Coyotes ought to see what kind of forward Michalek,Domi and a first rounder would net them. Although, if this keeps up you might not want to move that 2015 #1.


PLUS:To the Islanders. They might have lost last night to potentially the best team in the NHL, the Penguins, but they started the season 4-0 and that is awesome. They have been so bad and so maligned for so long that it's nice to see them get some success. They are clearly going to contend after adding the underrated Halek and the defensive pair of Leddy and Boychuck in the off-season to what was already a pretty decent roster.

If you have NHL Centre-Ice and have the time, I highly recommend taking in a game of the Islanders this week as they are fast becoming one the NHL's more entertaining teams to watch.


PLUS: To the Toronto/Detroit game last night. Although 0-0 games are generally the worst, this one was pretty exciting as Bernier and Gustuvson both played amazing. Making it more exciting is that I played a Pro.Line (a terrible provincial run lottery that lets you bet on NHL games with abhorrent odds) and my first two picks came through. I only needed the Leafs to win to get a sweet 70 bones, but alas, they lost with 9 seconds left in O.T. A MINUS to that, but still, probably the single best NHL game I've watched this season.

PLUS: To those new guys on SNL Weekend Update and to the defense on my hockey pool team: Karlsson, Subban, Pietrangelo and Suter. I don't even care if I win or not, but I like that combo, a lot. Also a PLUS to my competitor Ken who just basically told me to go do something physically impossible when I told him the only player on his team I'd trade Suter for off his roster was Patrick Kane. This total fat-cat - who pays movers to help him move instead of just doing it himself - is not breaking up my dream defense for anything less and he doesn't like it.

MINUS: To the ESPN fantasy system and a PLUS to the far superior Yahoo. Who made up those ESPN rankings? Who designed their app? The losery twins from that Facebook movie? There's no doubt ESPN considers Seniors Lawn Bowling a more important sport than hockey anyways, so minus to them all-around.

MINUS X 100 Oh, Martin Hanzal you tease. A skill and size combo to make any scout drool, Hanzal just can't catch a break. Outside of Lupul in Toronto, it's hard to think of a more hard-luck player than Hanzal. He left the game last night and did not return. Yup, you guessed it - "lower body injury." Minus to whoever came up with that stupid terminology and to anyone who uses it. A look at the replay showed that Hanzal twisted his left leg awkwardly and then fell on it. Unless you are a moron, that is a knee injury, at worst, a left leg injury. Why be so vague? I get that the NHL doesn't want to disclose too much info for competitive reasons, but reporters don't have to go along with it.

As for Hanzal, let's hope it looked worse than it is, because it looked pretty bad and his history of injuries does not bode well here. The Coyotes need him, but on the PLUS side, Sam Gagner might get some actual NHL quality wingers if Hanzal has to miss anytime.

MINUS: To Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman's injury. He is going to miss "at least" four games because a puck went off his wrist in last night's game against Vancouver. I hate to see a guy on the verge of becoming one of, if not the very best NHL defenseman go down after such a hot start. Tampa is one of the best teams to watch and this just sucks. Here's hoping he's not down too long.

MINUS: To Rogers for their extremely stupid idea about watching hockey on the go. Look, I just don't understand why anyone would want this. I like to watch hockey in my living room on a TV. I have no desire whatsoever to watch a game on my phone. I would watch it on a bus I guess, but when am I going to be on a bus while there's a game on? Why would I take the bus anyways?

Worse, is the commercial advertising it. In it, a family who loves the Canucks shows how they can watch the games where ever they are. The youngest son watches a game at the library. This is offensive on so many levels: who wrote this? Who thought it through? For one, barring the odd Saturday afternoon game, when exactly would a hockey game be on during library hours? Who would extend their time at the library by watching a game instead of just getting the damn research done? Finally, why wouldn't the family just spend $20 instead of $200 and get a PVR, tape the game and watch it - when they're done at the library - on their big screen TV?

Then the daughter goes to some cafe and watches it on her tiny little phone. Why would we encourage kids to isolate themselves in social situations? This is a huge societial problem and Mark Messier should know better than to contribute to it. I mean, isn't he some kind of great leader?

Finally the Mom and Dad watch the game on their tablet while at a dimly lit and (one can only assume) expensive restaurant. Again, the options a normal person would use are to either tape the game at home on the PVR or go to a sports bar. I have possibly the coolest wife in the world, I am an insane person, I say crazy things, I watch too much hockey and she hardly ever brings this up, but if I tried to watch a game on my phone while on a "date night," she would stab me with a fork and leave my ass for the waiter. This commercial just insults the viewers intelligence and tries to sell a problem no one in their right mind could possibly want or need.

Anyways, enjoy your Sunday.

Thanks for reading.
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