A shorter list today as really there just was not quite as much “strangeness” going on. Time to cue up David Bowie again (Space Oddity) first……
A little morning Bowie……
So another week….and more odd things occurring. Time to get this one started before the turkeys invade…oh wait that is next week.
Statistical Oddities
- For one, this has often been joked about….HOWEVER! Rod Brind’amour is stampeding down the +/- charts in the wrong direction. He is a -16 already and that is in just 19 games! Look there have been worse +/-‘s in the 70’s and 80’s I know…and yes this can be an overrated stat. But at some point, you really have to wonder if Brindy is over the hill a bit. He was a -32 thru 60 games last year before rebounding a bit late.
- Despite missing the last several games…Alex Ovechkin still leads the league in shots on goal. He is currently averaging 6.14 shots per game on goal. Truthfully we have not seen a pace like this since the Jagr and Lemieux days. But what is odd is the following….Nik Antropov who has 16 assists and no goals with only 17 shots on goal. The Atlanta forward averaged nearly 3 shots a game on net last year (225 in 81 games). He is on a pace for 82 shots on net this year.
- A total of 17 goalies (who have made at least 5 appearances) have a GAA of under 2.50. Considering the last time this happened this late in the season was the 2002-03 season….people immediately point to less scoring but look at the bottom of the list where guys like Mason and Hiller reside. The shots are just up but the goalies for the most part are getting better too.
- How far has Boston fallen? Remember when it seemed Boston could generate PP chances and timely PP goals? That has fallen by the wayside. Boston only has 70 chances on the man advantage this year and has only converted 9 times. Marc Savard leads the team with 2 PPG’s….a very bad sign. He had 5 this time last year and at least 4 others had 2 PPG’s or more by this time.
- Lastly on this shortened edition….the Rangers have blown 4 and 5 goal leads over the last year. The last team to do that was get this….NO ONE! I was surprised by this as anyone else but I mean when it goes spectacularly bad…I guess you have to think the New York Rangers.
Next week we will have a special Turkey Week of five oddities on the week where the turkey gets eaten aplenty. Until then, see you and remember the tin can!!!!
