They missed the memo
Yes, it's wonderful and grand this higher-scoring NHL. Players are flying, small guys are dominating the scoring race and the boggy bloggers are blogging with bloggish glee.
But wait a minute — Tom Benjamin's cranky (again). And so are the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Despite the fact goal scoring is up 41 per cent from 2003-04 — Eric Weinrich's number, not mine — the plucky bunch from Ohio are averaging just 1.83 goals per game. (Philadelphia forward Simon Gagne is averaging 1.4 goals per game, but who's counting?)
Of course, considering the injured Rick Nash had 23 per cent of the team's goals last time around, this perhaps isn't a surprise.
Here's hoping you don't have any Blue Jackets in your pool. (Or are conversing with any of the fine fellows at Yahoo's Columbus forum, where Todd Bertuzzi is being compared to Osama Bin Laden.)
by James Mirtle @ 3:07 AM
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4 Comments:
Scoring from Saturday through Monday was at just 4.89 goals per game which is below the 2003-04 level and in 18 games there were 4 teams shutout and 8 more teams held to just 1 goal. That isn't many games to go by but if it continues one has to wonder if teams are figuring out how to play defensively under the new rules.
Interesting stat about the goal scoring Saturday through Monday. It would be good to know if teams are taking less penalties than the first week - perhaps that's the explanation rather than teams figuring out how to play defensively.
If my adding is correct, over those 18 games teams were 32 for 233 on the PP with each game having just under 13 power plays per game or just under 6.5 per team. That might be a little lower than the start of the year but I am pretty sure it is still much higher than 2003-04.
Yes, it's true that the U.S. Special Forces had Bertuzzi cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora, but the Bush administration let him slip away by redirecting units to the pending Iraq war.
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