Thursday, 16 April 2015

NHL: The Magic Number

Hockey is a game of numbers, in the NHL the numbers mean everything. The most famous number is 99, 'the Great One' Wayne Gretzky adorned these double digits through 21 NHL seasons, before retiring in 1999. His 1487 regular season games, 894 goals and 1963 assists totalling a remarkable 2857 points remains the benchmark for every player to ever grace the ice. There are so many incredible numbers in the NHL, but what is the magic number?

1917 marked the inaugural season of the NHL, in the 98 years that have followed the number of teams have chopped and changed. From 1917-1935, long before the 'Original 6' franchises, 9 additional teams (5 franchises) would compete in the league alongside New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins.

1967 would mark the expansion of the NHL and the introduction of 6 new franchises: California Seals and Minnesota North Stars (who, through a series of relocations and a merger would both eventually become the Dallas Stars), Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St Louis Blues. 1967 would also mark the final year that the Toronto Maple Leafs would win the Stanley Cup. A shame for a fan base that the Hockey News ranked as number 1 in a 2014 poll. It would also mark the first season that the NHL would see a man by the name of William Scott 'Scotty' Bowman - we'll get to him later.

From 1970-1992 the league would grow from 12 to 22 franchises merging with the WHA for the beginning of the 1979 season. 51 year old Gordie Howe would adorn his famous number 9 jersey in the NHL for the final time that season, while an 18 year old Wayne Gretzky would embark on his first season. Both would play 80 games, Howe scored 15 goals finishing his career with 801, Gretzky would score 51 goals - well on his way to surpassing Howe and all that stood before him.

From 1992 through to the present day the team count would rise from 22 to the 30 that we all know now. This era is perhaps most marred by the 2004-05 lockout season that lead to the NHL missing an entire season for the first time in 88 years - even World War 2 didn't halt the league. All in, the lockout would last 10 months and 6 days. At this point a new set of numbers would be introduced to NHL fandom, namely the Salary Cap. Linked to league revenue, the cap was designed to protect teams from losing money (a reported $273million lost in 2002-03 season) and also to prevent players being overpaid. Remember that, the Cap was to prevent salaries getting out of hand - the compliance buyouts allowed after the partial lockout in 2012-13 (in which the 82 game season was reduced to 48) may say otherwise! Numbers like cap-hit and annual average (AAV) became so important. The idea that teams hire 'capologists' to balance the books and to be a General Manager you are better to be a lawyer or an accountant than ex-player or a scout. Ilya Kovalchuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Marian Hossa (among others) signed long term deals in order for the team to factor in a lower cap hit to allow them to remain competitive. Sidney Crosby born 7th August 1987 (8/7/87 in American date nomenclature) wears the 87 jersey with pride, guess what his cap hit is..... that's right $8.7million.

In recent years, the study of the game have ramped up. The introduction of analytics to game have revolutionized the way that the game is looked at. The numbers are being crunched to break down the performance of teams and individuals alike. The Corsi numbers are a measure of shots for and against a team while a player is on the ice, it is used as a guide for puck possession. A player with a high Corsi number will indicate that his team is possession more often than not when he is on the ice. The use of such data allows scouts, general managers and coaches to better use their roster. Numbers rule in the NHL, but some coaches will say that you can't measure heart, desire and stick-to-itiveness (whatever that is).

The thing is: goals and games; shots and salaries mean nothing, there is only 1 thing that matters in the NHL that is the Stanley Cup. First awarded in 1893, the Stanley Cup was originally rewarded to the winner of challenge matches. The annual award of the cup did not start until 1915, with multiple challenges occurring the 22 years that preceded this. Indeed in 1908, the cup was awarded on 5 occasions - each time the Montreal Wanderers were victorious. In the NHL era, the Montreal Canadiens lead the way having won the cup on 23 occasions - having also won in 1916, in the National Hockey Association - their 24 cups are far and away the most won. With 24 finals appearances and 11 cup wins the Detroit Red Wings rank second, although the Toronto Maple Leafs have won 13 in 21 final appearances. The Leafs have 1 season if they do not wish to match the 49 years that the Chicago Blackhawks went between cup wins (1961-2010). With 17 wins, Jean Beliveau has won the most cups individually - 10 as a player and 7 as an executive with the Montreal Canadiens. From 1973 to 1979, the Canadiens would win 5 cups, their coach was Scotty Bowman. Bowman would win a further 2 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a further four with the Red Wings and two with the Blackhawks - totalling 13 cups over 40 years.


If the Stanley Cup is the Holy Grail and reigns supreme, then what is the NHL's magic number? 30 teams start the season with 82 games ahead of them. Of the 30 teams 16 teams will embark on a playoff run. 8 of 16 teams from the East and 8 of 14 in the West will vie for Lord Stanley's Cup. At the beginning of the playoffs all 16 teams look eagerly at the prospect of 4 best of 7 series. A slog that will only end when a team reaches 4 wins. After the 1st round the victorious team's reward is that they get to do it all again. All in, a team will need to win 16 times through 4 rounds in order to reach the euphoria of lifting the greatest trophy in sports. So, 30 times battle to be one of 16 to chase the cup through the playoffs. First to 16 wins will taste glory? What is the NHL's magic number? It's 16.
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, 14 April 2015

GB against Estonia: Post-match

With the late drama of yesterday's victory over Croatia still sinking in, Team GB were once again in action in Eindhoven. Today's opposition were the lowest ranked Estonia - fresh from a 7:3 defeat at the hands of ex-Panther, Jim Paek's South Korea. Estonia were keen to eliminate the memories of this loss and Team GB were hoping to build on the impressive victory over the loaded Croatian team.

The first period started in a frenetic manner with both teams looking to assert their authority. The Estonians would have the better of the opening minutes going on the powerplay twice in quick succession. Robert Dowd called for a weak hooking call and Matt Haywood being called for interference, for what at first glance looked like a clean hit. The transition from EIHL play to IIHF refs is not something that GB have coped with so far. Team GB would see some powerplay time, moving the puck around the zone well but - in what is seeming a flaw in powerplay system - Estonia's Robert Rooba got a breakaway. The defense tried admirably to disrupt the huge body of Rooba, the referee would rule that this disruption was unfair and a penalty shot was awarded. Rooba would pull an excellent move, however, Ben Bowns stood tall and kept the game even.

Shortly after this, Team GB opened the scoring through Davey Phillips. A quick transition from end to end resulted in a deserved lead. The ageless Jonathan Weaver playing the cross-ice pass for Phillips to rocket passed the netminder from the right-hand side. The opening four goals from GB all going to defensmen, but this was not through a lack of trying from the forward corps. The line of Robert Dowd, Matthew Myers and Robert Farmer putting immense pressure on the net of Roman Shumukhin. The first period ended with a too many men call against GB, which thankfully did not yield a goal from the man advantage for Estonia. While Team GB played a physical game that the Estonians cowered from, goalscorer Davey Phillips was lucky not to get called on a check to the head on Roman Andrejev.

The second period would continue with Team GB playing heavy on the forecheck. The energy line of Prince, Garside and Boxill were effective as they piled chances on Roman Shumukhin's net in the early moments of the period. This pressure would continue as Pete Russell's men looked for an insurance marker. The Andrei Makrov breakaway served as a reminder of the danger of the Estonian top line, although despite the high energy Team GB couldn't make their territory count. In the final 10 minutes of the period a Ben O'Connor turnover lead to Robert Rooba finishing through a screen from the high slot as the Estonian top line were rewarded with a goal for their efforts.

With a 20 minute game and all to play for, Team GB redoubled their efforts to get the three points that they deserved. The top line of Robert Dowd, Matthew Myers and Robert Farmer were involved in almost every good chance in the final stanza, as the excellent Jonathan Weaver and Ben O'Connor continued to be influential on the blue line. At 54:10 the top line's effort would pay off with Robert Farmer shovelling home the rebound from Weaver's shot. The goal came on a delayed penalty and GB with the sixth attacker took full advantage. The desire that Pete Russell has talked about shone through as the players dug deep to take advantage of the extra skater. The final minutes would play out with Estonia desperately looking for an equaliser in the same manner that GB did in the game before against Croatia. Alas, there were no late heroics from the men from the Baltics. Team GB played an aggressive high fore-check forcing the Estonians in to their zone. Indeed, they may have added another if icing had not been called late on as Jonathan Boxill raced all alone in to the zone chasing the loose puck. Not perhaps the goal-fest that some expected but a vital and well deserved 3 points.



Posted by at No comments:

Friday, 27 March 2015

Flyers Year in Review: October

Patrick Modiano won the Nobel Prize for Literature in October 2014, and as you continue to read this article you will realise the selection committee probably made the correct decision. October would prove to be a mixed bag of results, with both some incredible wins and agonizingly close losses. In total, the Flyers would play nine games in this month - including a rare three game weekend.

 The month began with a Challenge Cup double header against the Edinburgh Capitals. The first encounter resulted in a 5-1 victory at Fife Ice Arena:

This is a great opening win in the series between the long-time rivals. This would be a perfect example of what is a quintessential meeting of the two teams in Kirkcaldy. Flyers had a swagger and carefree nature to their game, and the Capitals showed that self-destruct nature that they possess. The second period of the game shows this in abundance conceding 3 goals in the space of three minutes. This is something the Flyers are adept at taking advantage of at home, Hiadlovsky looks like a world beater one moment and then loses his focus when he concedes. Josh Scoon picked up another goal in the absence of Matt Reber, clearly taking advantage of the extra ice-time he has been afforded. A number of fans will argue that someone like Stephen Gunn or Allan Anderson deserved more ice time but the fact is that during this spell Scoon put numbers on the board. Incidentally, please leave your comments below if you wish to weigh in on this.
This game was also the first time Fife fans got a look at Riley Emmerson, his unique frame and skating style certainly made him stick out. Although, he certainly wasn't the player I had expected him to be, or rather his phantom ten match ban at the start of the season created an image that he didn't live up to. One player who came with a reputation and lived up it was Josh Grimaldi - we'll get to him in more detail later in the series. Ned Lukacevic chirping him was a great example of getting someone to bite and he really coaxed Grimaldi in to the game misconduct - this would have been perfect if Ned hadn't talked himself in to a 10 minute misconduct and then another 10 on his next shift. Ned has coaxed players in to throwing punches at him before, most notably Jonathan Phillips in March last season:

The video doesn't show it, but it did happened - honest. Finally, I said in the Flyers Year in Review: September that I'm not a fan of fighting but being a sponsor of Kyle Haines' stick if someone breaks it - they need to answer for that.
The following night in Murrayfield the game would be a completely different animal, with the Flyers grinding out a 2-1 shootout win and this would afford the Flyers the first shootout win. Bobby Chaumont converted his 6th shootout goal which tied Tim Hartung with most goals in the shootout. Since joining the Elite League, the Flyers and Capitals have met 8 times. Edinburgh won the first 4 encounters but have not yielded a victory since October 2012.

The following week, the Flyers would first head to Braehead on the Friday and one of the few 3 game weekends. In order to cope with the extra workload, the Flyers were lucky to welcome back wounded pair Kyle Horne and Matt Reber. The game in Glasgow finished with a narrow 4-3 defeat:

A really close game, that for a while looked to have given Jamie Milam his first goal as a Flyer, although the goal was rightly given to Danny Stewart. The Flyers have played 3 of their 34 matches against the Clan in October losing all 3. In the process the Flyers have scored 10 and conceded 15. The last two meetings have acted both league and cup games (20/10/2012 and 10/10/2014). I know that these games are due to scheduling issues and given Braehead's attendances this year they don't necessarily need another game, but I often feel too much ride on these games. Especially when you consider the weekend that this game fell on, in essence the Flyers are playing for 8 points in the space of three days.
This was the second meeting of the season between the two Gardiner rivals, and although there was zero points gained the result was largely positive. Given the dominant win in September and the close game here, there was a wave of optimism throughout the Fife Ice Arena. As the weekend would continue this wave would continue to gather pace.
Saturday's match was a trip down to Nottingham and an incredible shootout victory:

Not for the first time, the Flyers allowed goals through failure to clear the zone, although there was nothing they could do about the powerplay goal. The three goals the Flyers scored in the regulation showed great perseverance and the two penalty shots showed the class that this roster possesses. In scoring the decisive goal in the shootout, Ned Lukacevic would embark on a remarkable run of success in the shootout. While Bobby Chaumont became the Flyers the all-time top scorer in the shootout - a title he briefly held in 2013 before Tim Hartung got on a bit of roll:

The addition of Ned Lukacevic a week later would make the the Flyers a formidable force in the shootout.
Anyway, back to October 2014 Fife would close off their weekend with a home game against the opposition from the previous night, the Nottingham Panthers:

The Flyers lost narrowly, as they just ran out of steam after the 125 minutes of hockey the previous nights. The opening goal from Matt Reber was exceptional, the weighted pass from Lukacevic was perfect and shows the real chemistry that the two players possess. The equalising goal from the Panthers was another example of failing to clear the zone, and the credit for the winning goal must go to Matt Nickerson who proved to be an excellent screen in front on Kevin Regan. You hear the calls from the fans insulting Greg Jacina but he scored on that play - goals are more important than fights.

The long weekend coming to an end and three points to show for it against very strong opposition was an undoubted success. Todd's post match comments summed up the weekend, the effort of the players was huge. Once again though, Todd talked about the team clicking and settling in, bear in mind that only 3 members of the roster had not played together last season. The issue with allowing breakaways will continue to haunt the club in the coming weeks, although Kevin Regan will stand tall for most of them With the exception of the two games over this weekend, the Flyers and the Panthers have only met once in October - a 5-3 defeat at the Fife Ice Arena in 2012.

The following Friday, Fife would play their third of four meetings with the Coventry Blaze. Despite Blaze conceding 91 goals away from home in two meetings the Flyers only managed a solitary marker. This time the game would go to overtime, and guess who scored the winner? That guy again, Rory Rawlyk. Rawlyk in his 18 months in the UK was a true thorn in the side of the Flyers. At the time of him scoring he had two goals, both against Fife:

You'll notice that the Flyers had some different attire, this was all in aid of Cancer Research UK raising an incredible amount of money:


The root cause of this awesome amount is the jersey auction, the star attraction at the auction was naturally that of Matt Nickerson's:




The following night, the Flyers would made the short journey north over the Tay to face the Dundee Stars. Although, this is the third time the clubs had met, it was the first league game of the year:

An early contender for goal of the season from Danny Stewart as he ghosts through 4 Dundee players and slots passed Marc Cheverie to make it 2-1. Stars then score two impressive powerplay goals through Rob Ricci to gain the lead in the third period. Just after the Flyers make it 3-3, Tommy Muir is assessed 2+10 for checking to the head. The subsequent penalty kill would once again produce a goal of the season contender. Captain Kyle Haines blocks a shot in his own end and then skates the full length of the ice to score to make it 4-3. Although Haines admits the shot was a mis-hit it was a remarkable effort.
Muir's hit would incur further action from the Department of Player Safety (DoPS). A further example of the Flyers inability to clear the zone. Muir extends his elbow and catches Chris Blight in a reckless manner and is deserving of his punishment:

Muir would miss three games through suspension.

The following weekend, the Stars (minus the injured Blight) would face off against the Flyers (minus Muir) in Kirkcaldy. For the second time this season, the Flyers would lay down a marker to their Gardiner Conference opposition. A second shutout of the season for Kevin Regan, produced a 5-0 win and would breed confidence for the upcoming games:

The Flyers open the scoring through the resilience of Danny Stewart and then in an incredible sequence that lasts 30 seconds - where no Dundee player touches the puck - Ned Lukacevic makes it two. Both goals come on the powerplay after an awful hit by Brad Plumpton on Josh Sccon. Further goals from Chaumont and Lukacevic showed the impeccable ability to score on the counter attack.
Once again, the Flyers would feel the wrath of DoPS, this time Jordan Fulton's foolish cross-check earns him a 2 match ban:

There really is no argument here, the loss of Fulton would prove costly.
Post match, Todd praised the team for getting the win and reserved special praise for man of the match Euan Forsyth who stepped up in the absence of Thomas Muir:

The Flyers and the Stars have met on 4 occasions in October, Fife winning three of these contests at a score differential of 11-6.

The final game of the month saw the Flyers travel to Humberside to play the Hull Stingrays for the first time this season. Those of you who read my article in the Flyers Matchnight Programme will know that I am obsessed with the record between the Flyers and Stingrays. Prior to this game, the Flyers had played each other 16 times in the Gardiner Conference (since 2012/13 season), of these game both Hull and Fife won 8 games (7 at home, 1 away from home). With that in mind, guess what happened this time? Yep, a home win for Hull in a closely fought contest:

This was the fourth meeting between the two sides in October, Hull winning on every occasion.

The NHL season opened to much fanfare in October, and if the EIHL players think they have a tough schedule they should consider their counterparts across the Atlantic. Using the Flyers as an example, they will play 60 games (league and cup) between 6th September 2014 and 22nd March 2015, a total of 198 days meaning a game every 3.3 days. An NHL team will play 82 games between 8th October 2014 and 11th April 2015, a total of 186  days meaning that in addition to logging an average of 41,390 airmiles (2013-14 season) they also have to play a game on average every 2.26 days.
Thankfully the longest journey the Flyers have to cope with is the 440 miles to Cardiff!

This is the second in the series of Flyers Year in Review, you can still read the first in the series Flyers Year in Review: September clicking here

Read the final Flyers Weekend Update of the season here.

Please leave your comments below on your memories of the Flyers in October.

Follow us twitter: @murdochhockey
Posted by at No comments:

Flyers Weekend Update 27/3/2014

So here we are, it's quite possibly the final time this season that I will have the chance to do one of these. Thought I would jump at the chance. At the end of a season that produced 5-1-0-2 record in the Challenge Cup and finished with a 22-27-0-3 record in the league, the Flyers find themselves in the final playoff place. Who are the opposition this weekend? Only the newly crowned league champions who are vying for a playoff win to match what they earned  last season.

In the 4 games between both sides this season, the Steelers have come out on top on every occasion. The season opener was a tense affair, with the Flyers coming close in a 6-5 shootout loss. The game was notable for Josh Scoon's excellent solo effort to open the scoring:

The following night, the steelers showed their strength running out 8-1 winners in what stands as the biggest defeat of the season:

Mind you the Flyers weren't the only team to fall at the hands of Matthieu Roy and co, look what they did to the excellent Cardiff Devils in what was a title showdown:


The Flyers will hope that their luck at the Motorpoint takes more the form of their  visit in the 2013/14 season:

Rather than the final visit this season, which was a 6-1 loss. In two visits to the Steel City the Flyers have been outscored at a rate of 14-2:
First though the Flyers need to perform in Kirkcaldy against opposition that have proven difficult to play against:

The Flyers will only be effective with all players pushing for the win so need to avoid any moments of madness like this:

Todd Dutiaume was in defiant mood in the weeks Fife Free Press:


The Flyers have revelled in the past as the underdog. In fact some of the close results going the wrong way are perhaps the end-product of no longer being the underdog. There has certainly been a change in expectations this season, with potentially just 120 minutes left in the season the siege mentality of previous years may need to make a return. If we need an example of what this mentality can produce, we only need to look at the game in early 2012/13 season where a Kris Hogg hattrick inspired the Flyers to victory:

Allan Crowe of the Fife Free Press has chronicled the history of the Flyers and the Steelers in an excellent  read:


They are a team that have winning at their heart and will be a formidable opposition for the Flyers this weekend. Just remember what we did in the playoffs last year! The Steelers are not the only team with winning at their heart!

The Flyers had their annual award ceremony at the Bay Hotel. Congratulations to all the award winners:





An interesting stat was revealed today as the season came to a close:


The Flyers have always been effective on the penalty kill, but the addition of Jamie Milam and Chris Auger has added a great dimension to the powerplay. Special teams are something that requires a lot of attention and coaching, I think congratulations are in order for both Todd Dutiaume and Danny Stewart.

Further congratulaions to Flyers fan, Paul Walker, who suited up in a Carolina Hurricanes Alumni match:


This is very cool.

I know I'm obsessed with this but I posed this question on Twitter the other day:


Since the conference system was introduced, is there a more even match up?

And finally...

Ned Lukacevic and Niko Suoraniemi visited St Johnstone Football Club and a familiar face in the form of Ross Cunnigham (former Community Officer for the club):





Both players are excited and happy to be the underdogs, playoff hockey can throw the form book out of the window. The guys have the Playoff Weekend in their sights and want a huge crowd this Saturday! These are exactly the sort of things that has been missing from the club's PR since his departure. It is great that we have managed to get one done before the end of the season.

EDIT: Chris Auger has echoed the confidence that Ned and Niko have shown, the manner of their defeat against Braehead has reinvigorated the team and they are ready for the challenges that the playoffs can bring:

For live updates on Saturday follow: @hockey_laura, @matthewelder_ffp and @fifefreepressed

For live updates on Sunday follow: @hockey_laura

For live updates on what's happening at Nandos follow: @capsbanterarmy

Check out Flyers Year in Review: September, the first in series of a look at the Flyers season. The next in the series Flyers Year in Review: October will be published later today. Read Laura Duff (@hockey_laura) and Andrew Frames' (@aframe88) reviews of the season next week at Murdoch's Hockey Blog.

Follow us on Twitter: @murdochhockey
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)