"PLUS/MINUS is the NHL's best stat, and the only one I use" - Craig Button*
MINUS: The Trade Deadline was a complete dud. I don't think the NHL realizes that the off-ice stuff like trades is as much a part of their entertainment package as it is.
The NHL is a story, not unilke a TV Show, specifically the one type of TV show that never ends: the soap opera. The games are the best parts, but we fans are also mad about trades, signings, gossip, suspensions, whatever. I would wager that only a small part of each fans hockey time is for watching games. I mean, if you're reading this, it kind of proves I'm right.
The NHL should recognize this and make moves to improve it's trading conditions. Loosen the rules about trading salary. RE-organize the point system.
If teams aren't artificially kept in the playoff race, they'll make more trades. If teams can have a little cap freedom, they'll make more trades.
I'm sure there's other factors, but the NHL isn't paying me to think for them. They need to recognize this problem and correct it because more trades equal more fun.
I don't think there has been a single in-season trade of significance all season long.
Some guys did the same thing in my hockey pool when the last-place guy sent Holtby to the first place guy in a trade so lopsided I'm still taking shots at it in my blog a month later.
At least in the NHL you get rewarded for finishing last. But the Blues aren't out of it. They're in the Playoffs. Or at least close enough to probably get there. If I was a Blues fan, I would have rioted.
The logic is non-sense. The Caps traded assets to acquire a rental player. The Blues could have viewed their own player as a rental and got him for free.
The logic of 'we better trade him before we lose him for nothing' is why the ex-players who are GMs should have at least one college educated adviser to explain things like logical fallacies to them.
PLUS: The Lord of the Rings. I haven't watched these for ten years and they were magnificent. I'm still a little confused about why Sam still calls Frodo "Mr. Frodo" even after he (Sam) saved the world. I would not be that humble if I saved the world and then rode home on a frigging magical eagle.
It's also confusing that, after all that time, as soon as they get home Sam abandons Frodo for the only girl hobbit there is.
Another confusing thing is, why does Gandalf fight physically and not use more magic during the battle of Gondor?
PLUS: I can't turn on the radio, or the TV or pick up a newspaper without some main-steam media guy knocking bloggers. Which makes sense, because over the last five years the amount of non-game NHL media coverage I consume has gone from 90% MSM 10% blog, to being complete reversed.
The fact that people who get paid 100x more are so protectionist against people who essentially work for free is hilarious, and very telling. The fact is, J-School doesn't teach you anything about hockey and being an ex-player doesn't teach you anything about how to think, so most bloggers have a huge advantage.
These guys really need to be more open minded to stats - that's the main reason I listen to/read/watch less and less of them. At this point when a guy on TV makes a stats-reference, it comes off as your mom making a joke about the 'interweb.'
Think about it: the actual NHL is more open minded about stats than the media that covers the NHL. I rest my case.
The Leafs are snake-bitten when it comes to post-second period play. 14 combined OT/Shootout losses. A look at the numbers suggests they should have way more points.
A look at the NHL's overall post-two period lead holding shows either the Leafs are one of the worst teams of all time, or an anomaly.
But there are still 20 games left, and they're a good bet to make it, mostly because that bad luck should balance out.
The other night, they blew a lead when a puck went of Marchenko's face/head and then eventually went into the net. The next day, everyone in the media jumped on the 'can't hold a lead' bandwagon. But no one mentioned how unlucky it is when a puck hits a guys face and goes into the net. That's a whole new meaning to........you know what? I'll stop myself.
PLUS: Baseball season is about to start.
MINUS: + 16 C. in February. It ruined my ice rink. I tried my best to keep it going, but it got too hot and the grass showed up. Now that it's cold again, I was going to revive it, but the five day forecast tells me that'd be a waste of time.
So even though I live in a place noted for it's cold climate and snow, I was able to get a 40 day window to build an ice rink. That's it.
MINUS: From Steve Simmons this morning:
The stats people continue to drool over Jake Gardiner. It’s because no statistic can track reading the play, a defenceman’s most important skill, which remains his greatest weakness and an overall weakness for the Leafs
What's so frustrating about this is that the stats do track what he says they don't. He just doesn't understand how to think about it properly.
There may not be a 'play reading' stat. It's true. Just like how there isn't one for heart, intellect, or leadership. But, you can track exactly what happens when a player is on the ice and then compare it to what happens when he's off the ice. If things like leadership and play reading matter, which they probably do, then they will show up in the overall numbers.
The numbers tell us that even though we are conditioned to notice and talk about whenever Gardiner makes a mistake, that looked at within the total scope of his play, they don't matter because of how effective he is in total. This is called confirmation bias. And this isn't my opinion. This is exactly what is happening.
What if we gave it to Oscar Klefbom instead?
Editors Note: This is a joke. I spent years promoting Erik Karlsson as the best defenseman in the NHL. I got daily messages saying how stupid I was for not understanding that Doughty had a better all-round game. Suddenly a Canadian player is the best offensive dman and we can give him the award now? This was my little play on that and I thought the tone made it clear. But I realize now that I just have an inflated idea of what people are going to remember about what I've written, and that most people won't read that and understand that it was sarcastic.
PLUS: This is the best thing that happened in the NHL this year. Nikita Kucherov is the best.
Josh Ho-Sang wore #66. Stop the presses!!
People are seriously idiots. If I was an NHL player, I'd change my number to 66 immediately out of protest for this ridiculous controversy.
MINUS: The movie Nocturnal Animals.n This is why I only watch movies with Bruce Willis in them. What a pretentious piece of crap.
MINUS: No Leafs on a Saturday? WTF is that, NHL? Last night I drank zero beers. Didn't yell at the TV and spent quality time with the fam......uh, thanks?
PLUS: The skit last night on SNL called TBD possibly the most poignant, biting, necessary political satire I've ever seen.