Dear J-
I need a couple of points clarified: (1) if a player is sent off for a penalty and the opposing team scores on the ensuing power play, does the penalized player receive a -1, or is the +/- statistic only valid for even-strength scoring; (2) should Kitchener win the OHL championship, will there be a fourth team selected for the Memorial Cup? Kitchener already have a berth as the host team, so would the OHL runner-up be selected? (Wikipedia shall provide; (1) appears to be yes, (2) no matter who wins the actual series, Kitchener will serve as the host and Belleville will play the games slotted for the OHL champion)
In other news, Spokane will contest for the Ed Chynoweth Cup and the WHL Championship. On the surface, it would seem a classic mismatch with Lethbridge, as the Chiefs are the last team in any CHL member league to arrive at their league’s championship after a hard-won 4-3 series with the Tri-City Americans; of the seven games, five went to overtime, three of those to double overtime, which might have been exactly what you would expect for two teams that know each other and finished just one point apart in the regular season. Meanwhile, Lethbridge have swept Swift Current to make it into the WHL finals and have had a week to rest and prepare. It’ll be interesting.
Any sympathy I had for Foppa (so talented! so fragile!) pretty much evaporated last night with the high stick to Samuelsson. It’s interesting, if you read the AP writeup it’s almost as if poor innocent Foppa was skating along and then all of a sudden this goonish Red Wing rams his face into the stick, loses a tooth, and starts to bleed just to make sure poor Foppa goes off for a four-minute major double-minor. Whether the injury was oversold or not, there are, you know, human feelings for your fellow player, I would think, and for someone with ankles made of glass, you might have expected a modicum of sympathy.
Odd that all these third-round matches are turning into routs, especially given how tightly some of the first round played out. They talk about goalies stealing games; it’s clear that in this second round, Fleury (hearing that name I can’t help but think of Theo) has been keeping his team alive — er, thriving, that is. That’s why I believe the Chiefs have a good shot at the WHL’s berth into the Memorial Cup; with a gaudy 0.945 save percentage and 1.41 GAA, Tokarski‘s clearly been the best goalie of the WHL playoffs this year.
Mike
Dear J- 
1 May 2008 at 10:18 am |
Plus/minuses, as I understand it, are only accrued/deducted when the player in question is physically on the ice for the scoring event. Plus/minuses are only tallied at even strength, except that a player (again, on the ice at the time) will receive credit for a goal for scored by his team when they are killing a penalty (i.e. you get the + if you and your mates are fortunate enough to pot one while a man down); similarly, players on the power play who permit a goal against to be scored are charged with a “-“. In all cases, though, the player’s skates need to be touching the ice at the time the goal was scored, leading to all kinds of hilarity on those rare occasions when a defenceman lobs one from centre ice, heads for the bench on a change, and the opposing goaltender whiffs on it, the puck goes in and some lucky fellow collects a “+” even though the guy who scored the goal (the defenceman) doesn’t get such credit.
As for the Memorial Cup situation, I think you are correct that if the host city is also the champion of its league, the runner up of THAT league gets invited. I think this actually happened in 1997 when Hull was hosting the tournament and beat the Chicoutimi Saugeneens in the QMJHL final. I thought it also happened more recently with an OHL team, but I am having trouble locating any reference to that online, so I might be mistaken.
I have to confess that I haven’t seen a single minute of the Wings/Avs series; I’ve been directing my energies at putting the hex on the Habs and the Rangers, both of which series seem to be working out just fine, except that I wish the Canadiens could lose that series somehow without the Flyers winning. I have decided to root against the Habs (not FOR the Flyers) because I just couldn’t stand it around work if those ole-ole-ole-ole chanting, police-car burning, poutine-eating sumbitches should ever happen to win the Cup. I don’t know any Flyer fans, so at least I don’t have to directly put up with any of them.
Goaltending is always the key in the playoffs; as I think I’ve mentioned before, it’s known in my fantasy league as the “Essensa principle”.
2 May 2008 at 7:30 pm |
[…] Mike: What’s going on with the comments on your blog, dude? A couple of days ago, you posted some questions about hockey; being the resident Canadian know-it-all and puck freak, I of course immediately mashed keys on my […]
3 May 2008 at 9:26 am |
Ehm, not that I advocate that sort of thing, but deadspin.com introduced me to the semi-NSFW gallery of Flyers fans that, while perhaps raw ability at statistical explanations would be lacking, are probably easier on the eyes than, say, me. I’ve had to stop reading deadspin at work.
You’re right that it’s happened before, and recently, too — 2005 for the OHL (London Knights — Dale Hunter’s team — were the host and OHL champs) and 2007 for the QMJHL (Moncton Wildcats were the host, but chose to compete as the QMJHL champs, which didn’t work out so well, as Patrick Roy’s Québec Remparts went on to win the Cup).
I was kinda hoping that Foppa would have gotten a – during his four-minute high stick, but that’s one thought that might console him on the golf course this year, I suppose. Yes, I am a poor sport — but only when it comes down to the Avalanche. I did meet a Chicoutimi-based Canadiens fan over the phone recently (there’s a neutron-absorber material that’s now manufactured only in Chicoutimi); oddly enough, he did not rave at me when I thought Theodore was still part of his team.