We are now a full month into the season and yes the stats only get more complex and well more weird…let’s face it! A number or numbers in itself may seem harmless but when you combine them with names and facts, they can get downright dangerous. Ten more strange stats this week that will leave you scratching your head or maybe looking for a medical dictionary.
Our 10 “Space Oddities” For The Week…….
- The number is 110. This is the current amount of NHL regulars that are out of lineups with some sort of injury. It is not a misprint…I repeat! That is almost 4 players per team or almost 1/6 of a regular 23 man roster. Yes there have been worse starts to the year injury wise but with guys like Ovechkin, Malkin, Luongo, Sedin, and Staal down….the star power has definitely taken a big hit early on. It does make you wonder if the “Injury Ninja” really does exist.
- Brendan Witt nearly had a hat trick last night. This coming from a guy who has never scored more than 8 goals since his WHL days in Seattle. The defenseman has 25 total goals in 862 career games or one goal for every 34.5 games or so. His career high in the NHL is 3 goals. So Witt scoring twice and just missing on the hat trick late in the third period is just downright insane. Throw in that he got a game winner for only the 7th time in his career and this one is just downright loony.
- 5855. A number that on the surface means nothing. Now put that number to a fact and you have something. On a night where the NHL officially took control of the Coyotes…Phoenix had an announced crowd of 5855. Understandably it was a nice Monday night but at the same time it still amazes me that people will not go and see what is a pretty damn good product out there. Shame on Phoenix…get out there and support the team.
- Andrew Raycroft leads the league in Goals Against Average? Yes it is not a misprint. Technically because he has appeared in 5 games…he qualifies. The 1.66 GAA will not last but if you rubbed your eyes expecting it to go away….it will not. Therefore this just cements it. Signs of the NHL apocalypse are coming to fruition. Next thing you know Paul Martin will get 50 points…..HA! That is only when pigs fly.
- Then there is the Bryzgalov. When he wins, he is stupendous. When he loses, he looks like an AHL goalie. There is often no in between with this goalie. Ilya Bryzgalov has 8 wins already and his GAA in those games is a teeny 1.21 with a .955 save percentage. But in those 3 losses, he has a 3.61 GAA and only an .816 save percentage. Its like eating Frosted Mini-Wheats honest.
- A joy of joys here on this column. As of this moment…every NHL team is above a 10% success rate on the Power Play. We would like to thank Penalty Killers for being a little more generous of late. Though its amazing what one good week will do for a Power Play. Just ask Toronto. They are now 2nd in the league on the man advantage at a 28% clip. No, it is not a misprint.
- The San Jose Sharks lead faceoff winning % by a rather wide margin. Now a nearly 4% margin does not sound like a lot (57.7% for SJ and 53.9% for NYI) but with how many faceoffs there are in an average game…that adds up and quick. It does not hurt to have guys like Thornton and Marleau converting at around 60% either…now does it?
- On the flip side…the Colorado Avalanche are the worst in the league at faceoffs at 45.3% and yet they have 10 wins. The reason could be Craig Anderson and some great forward play but that is just me. Usually how you do on faceoffs and win/loss % have some correlation but in this case an inverse relationship exists. The Carolina Hurricanes on the other hand….ouch!
- How bad is Vesa Toskala? Horrendous! Or just use this….5.13. That is his GAA this year so far. Not even guys like Osgood, Howard, or Mason are off to that bad of a start in 2009-10. Maybe its the injuries or the fact that Toronto just wears on your soul but Toskala looks like he is 40 (he is 32) out there and without a life preserver of any kind.
- Finally the mother of all numbers today….1. Hello Vincent Lecavalier. You have 46 shots on net and only 1 has hit the back of the twine. I know you are dreamy to the girls and all that good stuff but you are killing every fantasy owners’ dream. Not to mention your -8 but the ONE is the more glaring number here….and just ODD. Maybe that demotion to the third line just was not enough.
Next week we will have ten more of the stranger stats around the NHL. Until then, aloha and be wary of those stat guys…I hear they are not all quite right in the head.
