Everything Else

Clowns To The Left Of Me – Jets Spotlight: Blake Wheeler

By 1262

People forget that Blake Wheeler is yet another prime example of excellent GMing by Peter Chiarelli in Boston. But y’know, Rich Peverly was a faithful soldier and all that. But that’s not why you called.

You have to feel a little for Wheeler. If he stuck in Boston, or played in New York or Chicago or Toronto or Montreal, people would realize he might be the premier power forward in the league. Not only is he stuck in Winnipeg where he’ll never be fully appreciated or get to play in the games he deserves, he’s going to freeze his ass off. While this Jets team looks a little more promising than previous editions, no one’s going to be mentioning them as possible West representatives in June.

To fully appreciate Wheeler, one should probably take a look at his WOWYs for just this season (teammates stats when on the ice with him and without).

Everything Else

High On The Hog: Mashinter Shocks The World

By 1704

The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, had another rough week on the offensive side of the puck. After a goal deficiency cost them all four games of their road trip, Rockford did ride a Brandon Mashinter hat trick to two points on Saturday night.

You read right, folks. A Brandon Mashinter hat trick.

Everything Else

Captain Marvel Ain’t So Marvelous Right Now

By 1430

All in all, things are pretty positive for the Hawks right now. Best record in the West, best goalie in the West (Price still carries the overall belt, you’d have to say), and a bunch of guys scoring. Under the surface, the analytical numbers aren’t exactly positive but are somewhat trending up and the hope being that as a young lineup gets more and more accustomed to the NHL game that should trend up even more. At least that’s the hope.

Except, six weeks into the season the cornerstone of the forwards really isn’t playing all that well.

Everything Else

Story Is The Same One Told Many Times: Habs at Hawks Preview/Foursquare Competition

By 1497


arcadefire2013vs. Hawk Wrestler

RECORDS: Canadiens 13-1-1  Hawks 10-3-2

PUCK DROP: A great 6pm start

TV: WGN, Sportsnet up ‘dere

STUCK AT SCHWARTZ’S: Habs Eyes On The Prize

Projected Lineups

canadiens-lineup-card

blackhawks-lineup-card

SCORE-ADJUSTED CF%: Canadiens – 50.4% (10th)  Hawks – 49.9% (13th)

POWER PLAY: Canadiens – 21.7% (8th)  Hawks – 19.7% (12th)

PENALTY KILL: Canadiens – 80.6% (18th)  Hawks – Almost suck!

TRENDS: In a previous life, Radulov had 11 points in 16 career games against the Hawks… Danault has three goals and four points in his last four games

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The Canadiens get out to an incredibly hot start, with passable but nothing more underlying numbers and Carey Price once again proving he’s head and shoulders the best goalie in the world. Their fans and media are getting awfully yappy at those who laughed at their moron coach and GM over the summer, and they’re already planning the parade. Does this sound familiar?

You bet your ass it does.

Everything Else

Poodle Bites! C’mon Frenchie!: Habs Q&A With Laura The Active Stick

By 1344

Sadly the Canadiens only visit once a season, so we don’t get to talk to our good friend Laura The Active Stick as much as we’d like (@TheActiveStick). But hey, she’s been out drinking with me and lived to tell the tale. More than Fifth Feather and his wrist can say. Let’s see what she has to tell us about the Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge.

Here we go again. The Habs are on top of the East to start, their underlying numbers are just north of ok, and everyone’s losing their mud. Other than Price staying healthy, why is this team different from last year’s?

I’m cautiously optimistic. The Canadiens are giving up a lot of shots and struggling with getting out of their own zone. The good news is that I think it’s a strategy issue more than a personnel issue. They need to work on that. The other good news is that Carey Price is their goaltender. Nobody wins a Stanley Cup by themselves, but if one player can, it’s Carey Price. 

Everything Else

Sound of the Funky Drummer: Capitals 3, Blackhawks 2 (OT)

By 1274

Box Score

HockeyStats.ca

Natural Stat Trick

You know things are breaking the Blackhawks way when they’re able to successfully recreate the winning shot from the 1984 NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship on ice. In the final ten minutes of the third period, the Capitals played about as good of team defense as one team could hope for while protecting a lead. The Blackhawks were having difficulty A) establishing possession in the offensive zone B) completing a pass and C) generating any type of shot towards Braden Holtby.

Everything Else

Beat Is For Sonny Bono: Capitals at Hawks Preview/Archeological Dig

By 1270

Capital vs. Hawk Wrestler

RECORDS: Caps 8-3-1  Hawks 10-3-1

PUCK DROP: 7:30pm

TV: CSN

MISSIVES FROM THOSE ABOUT TO BURN: Japers Rink, Russian Machine Never Breaks

PROJECTED LINEUPS

capitals-lineup-card

blackhawks-lineup-card

EVEN-STRENGTH CF%: Caps – 54.5% (2nd)  Hawks – 50.2% (10th)

POWER PLAY: Caps – 13.2% (24th)  Hawks – 18.6% (13th)

PENALTY KILL: Caps – 81.8% (15th)  Hawks – Gettin’ there!

TRENDS: Backstrom has eight points in eight career games against the Hawks…Burakovsky’s 59.7 CF% (adjusted) is 10th best among all forwards

With the Hawks winning games but not exactly playing well, we said this week would be something of a marker, whoever meaningful that is in November. Tonight will be the first time in a long while they’ll see a good team that is also currently playing well, as the Blues right now couldn’t score at a rave with a five pound bag of exstasy and all the pacifires in the world. The Caps have no such problems.

Everything Else

Caps Adonna: Capitals Q&A With Becca H

By 1376

Becca H is all things at Japersrink.com. You can follow her on Twitter @BeccaH_JR.

Overall a really solid start for the Caps. The underlying numbers are encouraging as well. Anything to complain about or right according to plan?

Amazingly, shockingly, the biggest issue for the Caps is their power play. You know, that same power play that has been operating at close to 25% for the last three seasons, the one that boasts guys like Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov? That’s the one. At the moment they’re operating at a 13.2% clip (just five goals on 38 tries), which is simply not good enough. And it’s not just the start of this season where it’s been an issue – the power play dried up late last season (with an isolated explosion of productivity in their first-round series against Philly). That’s somewhat troubling, and leads us to question whether the rest of the league has finally figured them out.

That said, 12 games in they’re still generating shots and chances with the extra man, and it is only 12 games in – that 13.2% isn’t the worst mark in the League tells you how early it is. There’s time for it to fix itself, and as long as they’re doing well at five on five – and killing penalties at the rate they are – they’ll probably be fine. Probably.

Hopefully.

Everything Else

Get Yourself A Cooler, Lay Yourself Low: Hawks 2 – Blues 1 (OT)

By 1467

Box Score

Natural Stat Trick

Hockey Stats

Most of the season, and certainly during this now seven-game winning-streak, the Hawks have relied on their top six and Corey Crawford to bring home a win. On the surface, that’s what happened in West East St. Louis tonight. They got a goal from Hossa and Pantera. Crow was basically impenetrable. Two points. Dig a little deeper and you’ll see that the Hawks’ top six pretty much got buried on the possession charts. But when Crow is in this kind of form, he basically equalizes everything.