It's always nice when there's a really good hockey match up and versus is playing some deer hunting show. Does anyone actually get satisfaction watching hunting shows? I mean, I can't imagine hunters think it's that exciting and non hunters even less so.
If it was Ted Nugent with a Special Ops M4 and some wild boars, I might watch for the laugh factor.
I think mostly those hunting shows are aimed to sell gear to guys who are going out in the woods for peace and quiet away from their families. Fair enough. But why not put on hockey for a Saturday afternoon and bring the family together for the holidays... with Dany "All-Star" Heatley?!?!
Couturier was hit in the head earlier today from a shot by Timmonen and is now in the hospital.
Man, if he ends up with a concussion (which seems highly likely), that's some bad luck for Philly. First Pronger, then Schenn, then Giroux, and now Couturier?
Anyone else picture Sutter and Lombardi running towards each other in a field of flowers with some nice music playing in the background?
__________________ "Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent." '13 Shark CI Tracker: 48 gms, 19-23-6 (SJ-Opponent-National/Market feed)19 SJ feeds in HD Sorry, I am not taking signature requests at this time.
Rant deflated by sting of reality! Did not scroll NHL scores page down to see completed games... but then I noticed Philly/Boston wasn't on NBC or Versus... instead, fans of those two networks were treated to "Swimming - Duel in the Pool: United States vs. Europe" and "Texas Bass Classic."
Duel in the Freakin' Pool!?!? As I mentioned before...
Drew Doughty on the imminent arrival of Darryl Sutter:
"I don't really know much about him, I heard he's a bit of a yeller and whatever. I think that's a good thing. We need someone that's going to push us to get the best of us every night. I think he's going to be a great fit for our team and I'm really excited for him to come along whenever he gets here."
The Kings kinda dealt a few hard-working heavy-hitter guys away since March so get ready to get hittin, Doughty. And I don't think "yeller" is the best descriptive term... try "silent rager."
(I don't know if this is the right place to put it, so it can be moved, but here goes)
I was really bored so I took a moment to look up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stats, since everyone is raving about how good he is. I've only seen the kid play a few times, but besides some nice stick-work, I haven't been impressed, and now I know why.
In 32 games he has played this season, RNH has 33 points in 32 games. Sounds impressive, eh? But if you look closer, the numbers say different.
In 16 home games, RNH has an astounding 8 goals, 16 assists, and is a +9.
In 16 home games, RNH has a mediocre 5 goals, 4 assists, and is a -8.
In other words, he thrives when home matchups allow him to play against weak opponents, but when the opposition can put their best players against him, he falters.
I looked closer. Turns out the RNH faces not only some of the lowest quality of competition on his team, but some of the lowest quality of competition in the entire league for scoring forwards (i.e. minus the goons and the non-shutdown bottom-sixers). Not only that, but he starts an astounding 68.2% of his shifts in the offensive zone (as a reference, the highest percentage on the Sharks is Logan Couture with 56.8%). He plays zero time on the PK, and gets almost 4 minutes a game on the PP.
Basically, be faces butter-soft competition, can't play against top-notch NHLers, gets prime minutes in great situations, and is not "tearing up this league".
(I don't know if this is the right place to put it, so it can be moved, but here goes)
I was really bored so I took a moment to look up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins stats, since everyone is raving about how good he is. I've only seen the kid play a few times, but besides some nice stick-work, I haven't been impressed, and now I know why.
In 32 games he has played this season, RNH has 33 points in 32 games. Sounds impressive, eh? But if you look closer, the numbers say different.
In 16 home games, RNH has an astounding 8 goals, 16 assists, and is a +9.
In 16 home games, RNH has a mediocre 5 goals, 4 assists, and is a -8.
In other words, he thrives when home matchups allow him to play against weak opponents, but when the opposition can put their best players against him, he falters.
I looked closer. Turns out the RNH faces not only some of the lowest quality of competition on his team, but some of the lowest quality of competition in the entire league for scoring forwards (i.e. minus the goons and the non-shutdown bottom-sixers). Not only that, but he starts an astounding 68.2% of his shifts in the offensive zone (as a reference, the highest percentage on the Sharks is Logan Couture with 56.8%). He plays zero time on the PK, and gets almost 4 minutes a game on the PP.
Basically, be faces butter-soft competition, can't play against top-notch NHLers, gets prime minutes in great situations, and is not "tearing up this league".
Sorry, just a bit of a rant.
You don't like those Oilers kids do you
You have to remember the RNH is 18! Even if he's getting mostly offensive zone starts and seeing easier competition, the fact is, he's still top 15 in NHL scoring...as an 18 year old, to me, that's kinda tearing up the league. I've been watching the Oilers a lot lately and he's been pretty impressive (I think Hall is going to be a superstar!!).
If you look at the adv. stats of the Sedin's, you'll see pretty close to the same thing you see w/ RNH...but I think eventually RNH will start seeing a lot more hard minutes.
You have to remember the RNH is 18! Even if he's getting mostly offensive zone starts and seeing easier competition, the fact is, he's still top 15 in NHL scoring...as an 18 year old, to me, that's kinda tearing up the league. I've been watching the Oilers a lot lately and he's been pretty impressive (I think Hall is going to be a superstar!!).
If you look at the adv. stats of the Sedin's, you'll see pretty close to the same thing you see w/ RNH...but I think eventually RNH will start seeing a lot more hard minutes.
I get that he's talented; watching even one game of him makes that obvious. I just don't think he's going to be the next Crosby or Gretzky like EDM fans say. That's also why I've never been a huge fan of the Sedins or Ovechkin, simply because they don't face hard competition. That's why, despite my dislike for him, I think a guy like Toews is far more impressive. I don't care that RNH is 18; that just means that the league hasn't had time to adjust to him. Also, I'm not saying that RNH won't put up great numbers, only that his talent level is not what his numbers show, the same numbers that are used to fuel the hype-train.
Also, as an aside, I love Hall. I just think that the Hall-hype has finally come down to earth and RNH's is getting out of control. My irrational hatred for Eberle has nothing to do with him being a good player or being a butt-hurt American fan. It's irrational.
And as an EXTREME aside, I also have an extreme irrational hatred for Jeff Carter. I rarely watch him play, he's never done anything to the Sharks, and he seems like a nice enough guy, I just hate him for no reason at all.
I would go into a fit of rage if I was a King fan reading that. In fact it's kinda pissing me off right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Spacemania
Well if there's one coach that was on the market to slap him for that attitude... hes commin to his locker room right about now.
I don't think we'll be having an easy Kings team to cope with come season's end.
This is something that he tweeted last week. I highly doubt JJ's character should be questioned. Maybe point those fingers at the dough boy with the holdout.
Quote:
America's Game purest form of honor, pride and commitment to our country. Proud to be America, blessed to be part of Team USA #bestfansever
You have to remember the RNH is 18! Even if he's getting mostly offensive zone starts and seeing easier competition, the fact is, he's still top 15 in NHL scoring...as an 18 year old, to me, that's kinda tearing up the league. I've been watching the Oilers a lot lately and he's been pretty impressive (I think Hall is going to be a superstar!!).
If you look at the adv. stats of the Sedin's, you'll see pretty close to the same thing you see w/ RNH...but I think eventually RNH will start seeing a lot more hard minutes.
Difference is the Sedins produce a crapton of offense by possessing the puck at an elite level...RNH is producing a crapton of offense due to a lot of luck. His on-ice shooting percentage at even strength is above 11% (only 6 players in the entire NHL sustained that high of an on-ice shooting percentage last season). His on-ice shooting percentage on the PP is nearly 20%, no one in the NHL who averaged 2 minutes of PP time a night sustained that last season. The big issue is that despite the ridiculously soft minutes and overwhelming percentage of offensive zone starts, the Oilers are somehow getting outshot when RNH is on the ice. Of course he's going to improve and of course he's extremely talented but his high point total so far this season is largely a mirage. Once those insane shooting percentages regress to the mean, there isn't going to be a whole lot left.
As much as it would appear otherwise, defense isn't the most pressing issue in Edmonton. According to http://www.coppernblue.com/2011/12/1...-even-strength the Oilers are producing scoring chances at an identical rate to last season, but are doing a much better job of suppressing chances against. The offensive deficiencies can mostly be traced to the kid line failing to create scoring opportunities at a decent clip despite the sheltered ice time. They've finished a lot of the chances they've gotten so far, but I think chalking that up to a good amount of puck luck makes more sense than drawing the conclusion that RNH and co. are legitimately some of the best finishers the league has seen post-lockout. Again, RNH will probably improve as he gains experience but he isn't nearly as good as his point total would lead you to believe. A kid like Gabriel Landeskog is having a much more impressive season (an absolute puck possession demon despite being given the toughest defensive assignment on the Avs) despite suffering from some absurdly low percentages so far.
