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: Whether it was the Barroway deal, the play of Max Domi at the WJHC, the four straight Eklund rumour blogs featuring them, the intense debates on here over keith Yandle or beating Philly on Monday to end the month long non-Oilers non-shootout losing streak, it felt like a week in which the Coyotes truly mattered in the NHL. Sure they are not going anywhere this year but with OEL, Stone, Murphy and Gormley on the back-end, not to mention Yandle (at least for now) they are always a good team to watch.
Last night's 6-3 win over the Blue Jackets was no exception. A good, if meaningless, game which saw another multi-point night from the unfairly maligned Gagner and a four point performance from Martin Hanzal. Had Gagner, Hanzal, and more pointedly, Smith, played so well earlier in the season, the team might not have been eliminated from the Playoffs before Christmas.
PLUS: Tobias Reider. Probably, if you don't watch the Coyotes regularly, you don't know much about this kid. He's 21, plays the wing, is a former Oiler draft pick and he's super-talented. The coach isn't giving him much power-play time, if any, but he's made the most of his third line minutes and has cemented himself as one of the players the Coyotes will build around going forward. Sure, his two points last night were his first points in over a month, and sure, his 9 points in 28 games don't jump off the page, but he's talented, fun to watch and I think he's going to be very good.
EVEN: I probably shouldn't complain, because they were like a month long, but the holidays are over after today. I now more closely resemble Jabba the Hut than is likely recommended by the American Medical Association, but I can't really complain since all this watching hockey and movies, eating like crap and playing video games has been really damn fun. At the same time, I do look forward to re-learning what day of the week it is at any given time and I like my job.
MINUS: After half a season, I have to say the new Hockey Night in Canada is a failure. George Stroumboulopoulos is no Ron McLean. As a host of his talk show, I like him but I do not care for him talking hockey. The set is ludicrous, the personnel is terrible, there aren't any woman on the show and they don't give enough time to what is the best thing about their whole broadcast: Donald S. Cherry.
Going into next season, Rogers would be advised to hire someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to putting together a hockey broadcast. The open sets, the guys standing around, walking back and forth - it's all really bad. They also need to bring Ron McLean back out from the cold. This guy is a total pro and the best in the biz. Having George Strombo try to replace him would be like if I was tasked to ghost-write for Phillip Roth.
Elliott Friedman is an excellent hockey writer and source, but he's no good on TV, Cox is brutal beyond description and the only guy they should keep going forward is the excellent Nick Kypreos. Considering something like 90% of the broadcasts are now on Rogers, it is looking to be a real shame since TSN is far superior.
PLUS: By daughter just delivered me a homemade book called eeeeeee by A.Tanner. It stars a very literal dinosaur - a Torontasaur - named Boo Boo But who "smells like a but" and "boos everyone." I know it's early in the year, but this will be hard to top when we get around to the best of 2015.
MINUS:Once again last night on Coaches Corner there is Don Cherry showing a preventable injury followed up by past clips of him telling how to prevent the injury. It's ridiculous: Don is constantly pointing out ways to make the game safer and no one is listening.
Ironically criticized as a "dinosaur" for his old-school outlook (he's 80, what exactly do you want?) Cherry is at the forefront of progressiveness when it comes to player safety and someone should do something about it because he's right: Kevlar socks and neck guards should be mandatory.
Skates are sharp, hockey is an insanely dangerous game and when there are obvious precautions that can be taken, it's stupid that they aren't.
PLUS:Season four of Homeland. This is - for my money - the best show on TV and I don't even think it's close. The intensity of the season, the things the show makes you think about, the acting, Saul - everything is first rate. While the season finale was a let-down in that I don't particularly care about Carrie's personal life, it forces you to reflect on what it must be like to come back from a war and try to resume a regular life.
While the "real" finale was episode 11, and the actual finale was more of an epilogue, and at first I found this a bit of a let-down, I really have to credit the writers for subverting the expectations of what a season finale can be, in that it was not "action packed" and the bad-guys basically won.
I rate season four of homeland a full 100% on whatever scale you use to rate stuff. I think Lostis probably my favorite show of all-time, but Homelandmight be the best.
PLUS: The Boston Bruins anthem signer. His name is Rene Rancourt and he is magnificent. You really have to at least watch this from the 1:45 mark on.
MINUS:Turtlenecks and bow-ties. What is wrong with people? The best part of Wolf of Wall Street is when a guy gets fired for wearing a bow-tie. Good times.
PLUS:Rick Nash and his 24 goals. I seem to remember when he was supposedly done last year, but a lot of people looked at his advanced stats, said he was playing great but getting unlucky, and they were called idiots. Math wins again. Who would have thought? But also, Rick Nash is unreal and the Rangers are killing it. The Canadiens are propped up by a goalie, the Lightening seem overrated thus far, the Penguins are good, not great and the East is wide open. The Rangers might just be less of a fluke then people thought.
PLUS:The Barroway deal going through, finally. As the Coyotes writer here at Hockeybuzz, I am just sick beyond telling of writing about ownership, instability, budgets, finances, out-clauses - anything ownership related. It is my sincere hope that the NHL approving this deal is the last we ever hear about the Coyotes and who owns them. I love to write about the Coyotes, but only as it relates to actual hockey. I don't care for Yuppies, Fat-Cats or writing about business. So hopefully, this is the end of that.
MINUS:The fact that HNIC had to preface their Phil Kessel criticism by trying to soften the blow-back by mentioning how crazy people go when you criticize their team or favorite player.
Look, people are going to be nuts no matter what, "Fan" is short for "fanatic" and no one who watches hockey has to be in any way objective. Fans are fans and the media is the media. But you can't be scared to tell the truth just because it's unpopular. Who cares if fans tweet about how stupid you are? Why should it even be mentioned at all? I think twitter and comment sections are nice and all, but the job of an analyst is to say what he thinks and not hedge his bets against what people will say. I thought that was weak - Kessel deserves criticism - they had video evidence for fu....for crying out loud. There is no reason to soften the blow just because most of your viewers probably don't want to hear it - especially since the intermissions really are just for the hardcore anyways.
PLUS: JaromirJagr. Jaromir Jagr getting a hat-trick. Jaromir Jagr talking. Jarromir Jagr playing until he's 73 and passes Gretzky as career points leader. The guys who follow him around with mullets and a bunch of different Jagr jerseys. Everything about Jagr is awesome.
Here's a video of his top ten best plays. Enjoy.
Thanks for reading, Happy New Years