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Since +/- is the NHL's worst stat, I thought it would make sense to appropriate it and make it useful as we review the best and worst of the past week in the NHL.

PLUS: To the Coyotes for their recent run of good play/good results. After a three game losing streak in which they did not play bad at all, the Coyotes have won 4 out of 6 and played well in their two losses, getting a point in one of them.

PLUS: To The Results of last night's Sharks/Coyotes game, if not the process. The Coyotes did not deserve to win that game and so Devon Dubnyk also gets a PLUS. He is 5-0-1 with a .926% and should probably be the starting goalie at this point.

MINUS: Anyone who says "just stop," because that's the lazy way to be condescending. The only acceptable way to be condescending is to demonstrate how you are way smarter than the person who is annoying you. Otherwise, it's just a lazy way to try to win an argument.

Don't they teach this stuff in school?

Minus, also to anyone who writes "sigh," takes a picture of their food or any millionaires who contact you on Twitter to ask why you joked in your hockey blog that they should be fired.

PLUS: To Phil Kessel. He is near the top of the NHL scoring leaders every year and in this past week he refused to talk to a reporter and refused to salute the fans after a win. Good for him. Saluting the fans is phony, insincere and annoying.

MINUS: To the Leafs for losing their balls and going back to it last night in an even less sincere than usual salute.

MINUS: To Cox, Feschuk, Kypreos, Button, Cherry, Simmons,Brooks, and whoever else completely blowing this stupid Leafs saluting thing out of proportion and going on ad nauseam about leadership and culture and blaha blah blah - leadership is the most overrated, over-talked about concept in sports. The reason: it can't be measured so you can't be wrong about it.

Things going well? Great leadesrship. Things going badly? Leadership is lacking. Not saying leadership is completely meaningless, because it isn't, it just isn't the first ingredient listed on the packaging. Talent and luck dictate who wins at sports - you just can't debate those things as easily.

MINUS: Labeling every scandal, no matter how minor with the suffix "gate." Damn it do I ever hate that.

PLUS: To this song by Wire, the indisputably greatest 30 second song ever written. Take that, "Her Majesty."



PLUS: To Jakub Voracek. This guy leads the NHL in points and absolutely no one is talking about him. It's all Tarasenko (who's nickname is so horribly awful I am not even going to bother minusing it) and ridiculous talk about off ice garbage, but this kid is legitimately awesome.

Here's a sweet wrap-around he does, which, in my opinion, is the least appreciated kind of goal.



MINUS: To the lack of trades in the NHL. The League needs to understand that trades excite fans in a way that nothing else does. They NEED to get rules in place that make trading easier. I know they are concerned about the integrity of their salary cap, but there has to be something that can be done.

Eliminating points for OT losses would go a long way in doing this b/c so many teams stay in fake contention as things currently are.

PLUS:To the Blue Jays, who signed Russel Martin this week and to the Raptors, the team with the NBA's best record. Suck it, Lebron. Triple PLUS, actually to watching Lebron James and the Cavs struggle. The guy only misses the title of Worlds Biggest Dbag thanks to Kid Rock and Ted Cruz, and the word schadfreude was invented for guys like him.

PLUS:To executive orders. One hundred times plus.

MINUS:To coconut water. I paid four dollars for a bottle of that crap because I love coconuts, I love water and I thought mixing them would be amazing. Instead, what I got was a beverage that was sub-cat urine.

PLUS:To the New York Islanders. If I told you once, I told you a hundred times: Garth Snow is one of the best GMs in hockey. No one is talking about Ryan Strome or the Islanders, both of whom are doing great and are fun to watch. Yeah the East is weaker, so they play worse teams more often, but they do have more wins than any team in the West.

MINUS: To everyone who, whenever there is a game like last night where the Sharks thoroughly dominated the Coyotes and lost the game, come out and say 'see, advanced stats aren't the gospel.'

This just gets so tired. Advanced stats are not meant to predict the future. They are meant to usurp your confirmation bias and demonstrate who actually was effective. Yes, results won't always follow what "should" have happened, and furthermore, anomalies will occur.

For instance, if the Flames do not improve their possession game, they are unlikely to sustain their current level of play. This doesn't mean it's impossible. And if it does happen, it doesn't mean that possession fails to matter.

The team with the most shot attempts won't always win. Sometimes there are a ton of other factors that play into a single game. However, over time, the things that can overcome a lack of possessing the puck just don't occur often enough to matter.


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The Coyotes play tonight in Anaheim. The 'Yotes won their last meeting vs. the Ducks which seemed to kick off a bit of a slump for Charlie Conacher, Coach Bombay and the boys.

I know it's not going to happen, but I'd love to see Devon Dubnyk get the start tonight and play both ends of a back-to-back. He's been dynamite this year.

The Coyotes sit four points back with two games in hand of a wild-card. This season has taken a definite turn for the better recently.

Thanks for reading.

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