Follow @james_tanner123 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: The unusual start to the NHL season. Crosby, no points in five games. How much would you have won if you made that bet? What about the Jackets, Ducks, Kings and Coyotes? Lots of crazy stuff is happening and the NHL is better for it.
You could say a lot of things, but you can't say it hasn't been a fun opening two weeks.
PLUS: The Montreal Canadiens. I was wrong to call them a team that was just Carey Price. Markov manages to be ancient and still good, PK is a joy to watch , Max P is killing it and it seems Galchenyuk is breaking out. I haven't seen a full game besides when they played the Leafs, but I've got centre ice and so I've seen quite a few random minutes and they seem to be fully deserving of the hottest start in franchise history.
6-0 is an impressive record, but it's even more impressive to start the season. I didn't think Price could match or keep up with what he did last year, but maybe he just needs to be pretty good and not amazing for the Habs to be a good team.
PLUS: Kadri would end up being the better NHLer. Kadri is breaking out just like I predicted (yeah yeah broken clock, twice a day, I get it). He currently leads the NHL in shots, despite playing in one less game than his closest competitor and almost three minutes less per game.
I haven't missed a Leafs game yet and he's been their best player by far. He has one goal and three points but that is a function of weak offensive linemates and a ridiculous 3% shooting percentage. Look for him among the league leaders in points later this year.
PLUS: Nick Backstrom returning from injury to post a three point night. No one in the NHL does more and gets less credit - the guy is a total Pierre McGuire Monster and he deserves more love.
PLUS: Even though the Coyotes had a part of the game where they were outshot 10-1, they still played decently last night against the Bruins. The possession game was even (Bruins took more shots, but they blocked a lot of the Coyotes attempts) and Mike Smith was back in spectacular form.
Much like the game on Thursday against the Wild, the Coyotes showed lots of heart by coming back from a two goal deficit. Unfortunately they were done in by their penchant for taking too many penalties, as three Boston goals were on the PP (and another short-handed).
Honestly, if you are the Coyotes and you play the Bruins and you outscore them 2-1 at 5v5 then you should be pretty happy. Still, the team allows too many shots and takes too many bad penalties.
MINUS: Grossmann continues to get upwards of 20 mins/night, which helps explain why the Coyotes allow so many shots.
Also, the line of Domi-Vermette-Boedker was very, very bad. They were outshot by over ten attemps and had a Corsi of less than 25% on the night. Clearly, there are some good signs with this team, but Vermette at 2C is going to kill them over the long run. They desperately need a centre.
They also need to partner their two best defensemen: Murphy and OEL. Murphy played 22 minutes last night, unfortunately, most of that was with Grossmann and they got killed.
I also give a minus to Tippett for reverting back to the Michalek/OEL pairing of the last several seasons. It might be a helpful pairing, but it doesn't help the team grow longterm and is the #1 reason I advised against bringing back Michalek.
PLUS: The Leftovers is the best show on TV. And much like another ambitious interesting show (True Detective) that requires some work on the part of the viewer to follow it properly, people complain that it is "pretentious" and "overwrought."
When did ambition become such a bad thing? For my money, it's the best show on TV, but the reaction from people pretty much explains why two out of every three movies have to have a superhero or Ashton Kutcher.
MINUS: People who look at the score and say a team played great defense, even when they allow almost 40 shots. Not cool. Or accurate.
PLUS: Prince has made up with his old record company and now you can actually get Prince records besides just Purple Rain on CD for a reasonable price.
In the history of music or activities in general, no one has ever gone a hot streak like Prince did. From 1979 to 1992 the guy was peerless and flawless. The release of the back catalog is the musical equivalent of the only topic Prince sings about.
Look at that album cover! Just how confident/insane do you have to be in yourself to think that is a good idea? That's not to even mention that if you open up the disc, the picture on the back of the booklet is a naked Prince riding a Pegasus.
This is the part where II'd hit you with a sweet Prince jam, but I don't think the guy has a single track appropriate for this format. Instead I give you this:
I don't really care about nerdy stuff like it being the day from the movie, but I am absolutely psyched to see the movie on the big screen for the first time ever.
That's it. Thanks for reading.