Category: NHL (Page 15 of 44)

      2009 NHL Preview: Anaheim Ducks

      September 24, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down and hit the calendar.) Here is the OGA preview for the Anaheim Ducks…

      Last Season versus the Playoff Qualifying Curve (PQC): Called at Tee Time – out of the Playoffs – at Game 60 /18 February 2009 but finished at 4.55 with the Western Conference No. 8 seed as one of only six teams to qualify for the Playoffs every year since the Lockout. They played below their average post-Lockout PQC all season, but stand as one of only three teams incorrectly called either IN or OUT of the Playoffs by OGA – a Shot Off The Post – during the 2008/9 season. Their play from Game 41 through 70 was sub-standard, winning only an average of 4.5 games in every 10. It was the Game 71 to 82 stretch that saved their bacon and brought them to within one goal of defeating Detroit.

      Post-Lockout average PQC and what to expect this season: Anaheim has a 5.01 PQC average over the last four, post-Lockout seasons. They stand as one of the top three teams in terms of winning play and have won one Stanley Cup Championship since the Stoppage. How do we gauge them against the PQC and know they have charted a proper course toward the playoffs again this season? In their first 10 games, they hover around five wins, sometimes beginning with a dismal start like last season’s 0-4 step off. If they finish the first 10 games with five or less wins, you still will likely not be able to tell until after the Olympics just how the season will turn out for them. But if they have a very strong start, you may see them replicate something more like the 2006/7 season that forces OGA to call them Chasing Stanley – IN the Playoffs – before November rolls around.

      So how does this team look heading into the 2009/10 season?

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site…

      NHL

      The 10 Dumbest Things in Sports

      September 17, 2009 /

      I love sports, but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect. Here are ten things that drive me crazy on a regular basis, in order of increasing stupidity:

      10. The scoring system in tennis
      Love? 15? 30? 40? Deuce? Actually, I kind of like “deuce.” But why not just go to four, win by two. It’s the exact same thing and a lot easier to follow when you’ve already thrown back a couple of Bloody Marys.

      9. The overkill of NASCAR
      Does it really take 500 laps to figure out which car and driver are the fastest? Here’s an idea: Make every race 50 to 100 laps and limit the number of pit stops. Every decision will be magnified and second-guessed and strategy will become an even bigger part of the sport.

      8. Offsides (in soccer and hockey)
      Anytime that you have defenders trying to encourage offsides calls by pulling up as they run/skate back to protect their goal, it’s not a good thing. There’s no offsides in basketball and it works just fine. When Randy Moss outruns a cornerback, play doesn’t stop because he has a clear path to the endzone. Why not reward anticipation and speed, and make soccer and hockey that much more exciting by creating a flurry of one-on-one situations between the striker/forward and the goalie?

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      Auto Racing, College Basketball, College Football, Humor, March Madness, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Soccer, Super Bowl, Tennis

      Goaltender Roberto Luongo signs a 12-year contract

      September 5, 2009 /

      Luongo

      Vancouver Canuck fans need not worry any longer about team captain Roberto Luongo signing with another team. The All-Star goaltender has willingly agreed to a 12-year contract extension worth $64 million.

      Luongo’s new contract comes with an annual salary cap hit of just $5.33-million, which is down from the $6.75-million average of his current four-year, $27-million deal that expires at the end of the upcoming season.

      Luongo’s deal includes a no-trade clause, keeping the 30-year-old Canucks captain in Vancouver until the 2021-22 season.

      Luongo was 33-13-7 last season, when he became the first NHL goalie in 60 years to be selected a team captain. He finished second in the league with nine shutouts and fifth in both goals-against average (2.35) and save percentage (.920).

      Considering the contract includes a no-trade clause, I think it’s plain dumb to sign a guy for this amount of time. Luongo is already 30 years-old and went through a grueling groin injury last season. I assumed this contract became the longest in NHL history, but I was wrong. In 2006, Rick DiPietro inked a 15-year, $67.5 million deal with the New York Islanders, surpassing former teammate Alexei Yashin’s contract of 10 years.

      Ridiculous.

      NHL

      Blackhawks’ Kane arrested for robbery

      August 10, 2009 /

      Blackhawks’ winger Patrick Kane was arrested with his cousin in Buffalo over the weekend on charges of assault and robbery after giving a cab driver $15 for a $13.80 cab ride and then allegedly punching him in the face and head when he didn’t have change.

      Per TSN.ca:

      Buffalo police said the 20-year-old Kane and his 21-year-old cousin, James Kane, had apparently caught a cab from the city’s downtown nightclub district at about 4 a.m. ET. The cab driver suffered cuts to his face and his glasses were damaged, police spokesman Michael DeGeorge said.

      Both men were charged with felony robbery and misdemeanour counts of theft of services and criminal mischief. Patrick Kane, who earned US$875,000 last season, pleaded not guilty in local court Sunday, WIVB-TV reported. It was not immediately clear when James Kane will appear in court.
      The driver said he was punched and hit by both men because he did not have 20 cents in change to give them, according to the police report.

      Average playing salary in the NHL: $3.725 million.
      Cab ride in Buffalo: $13.80.
      Putting your hockey career at risk by punching a cab driver in the head and face over not having the correct change: Priceless.

      What a pathetic act by a professional athlete and an embarrassment to the Blackhawks organization. I’m sure EA Sports will be happy to hear about this, seeing as how Kane was supposed to grace the cover of NHL 10 this year.

      NHL

      Delaware wants to legalize single-game betting…

      July 29, 2009 /

      …and, of course, the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and NCAA are fighting it.

      Delaware politicians are ready to battle their new multi-headed opponent on the issue of legalized sports gambling, but it appears a compromise could be made with the sports leagues if the state promises to stick with a parlay betting system.

      The NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and NCAA filed a joint lawsuit last week in an attempt to prevent Delaware’s motion to legally open sports betting within the state.

      Delaware is one of four states that are exempt from aspects of this law. The state’s previous foray into sports betting was a disaster in the 1970s because of poor line setting.

      The leagues argue that when wagering is allowed, every blown call, missed shot, etc. is seen as something more nefarious. The problem with this argument is that single-game wagering is already legal in Nevada (and happens illegally all over the country and online), so keeping Delaware from allowing this kind of wagering isn’t going to do much to help the perception that the games could be fixed.

      Besides, doesn’t NBA commissioner David Stern remember Tim Donaghy? He can’t even keep his officials from gambling, yet he wants to police the entire country.

      Like alcohol or smoking, wagering on games is a vice. Some people have it under control and see it purely as entertainment, while others have a problem. Whether or not Delaware makes it legal will have very little bearing; people are already wagering on games, they’re just doing it illegally.

      MLB, NBA, News, NFL, NHL

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