Comedy Platinum out of Toronto - "Canada's Team" quest for the Cup

[DragonfromTO]

Nylander's not offensive? Because the guy sure as shit can't defend so what's he doing up there?

By my count Matthews has spent about 45% of his even strength time with Nylander. In comparison Marner has spent 86% of his with JVR and 80% with Bozak.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

By my count Matthews has spent about 45% of his even strength time with Nylander. In comparison Marner has spent 86% of his with JVR and 80% with Bozak.

Laine's only spent 61% of ES time with Schiefele and 55% with Ehlers and missed 8 games yet is still in the rookie lead.

I'm not discounting anything my sweet Auston has done but I'm finding it hard to argue against Laine's production. You can argue all 3 have made their line mates much better players with instant effect.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Hmm. I suppose they could be doing that. I'm playing with some numbers right now just for fun.

Boston, to me, seems like a poster boy for anti-stats guys. I watch that team play and they look like garbage to me. Get their shots from the outside; can't defend a lead; blow assignments. Tuukka Rask looks great, and has to for them to win. Yet their CF% is dynamite.

For what it's worth I'm pretty much completely off of the Corsi/Fenwick train. They were a good place to start but there is serious refinement needed. I don't find them useful anymore. Or maybe this season is just a complete anomaly.

You're not wrong about Boston's shots being from further away (25th in the league), but I suspect that any problem is at least partially offset because their shots against are from even further away (30th, yep the Bruins hold their opponents to longer shots than anyone in the league). I wouldn't blindly trust the shot distance data, but it's probably accurate enough to make a general point.

 

[DragonfromTO]

Laine's only spent 61% of ES time with Schiefele and 55% with Ehlers and missed 8 games yet is still in the rookie lead.

I'm not discounting anything my sweet Auston has done but I'm finding it hard to argue against Laine's production. You can argue all 3 have made their line mates much better players with instant effect.

Yep, Laine has had to slum with Bryan Little as well. It's a tough life for him. (Yes, I do like Laine and he is good).

Let's put it this way. Over the previous 3 seasons without him Laine's centres scored 0.67 (Schiefele) and 0.76 (Little) PPG. I suspect that Hyman and Brown wouldn't even be within space shuttle distance of that if they weren't playing with Matthews, don't you think?

 

[DragonfromTO]

You're not wrong about Boston's shots being from further away (25th in the league), but I suspect that any problem is at least partially offset because their shots against are from even further away (30th, yep the Bruins hold their opponents to longer shots than anyone in the league). I wouldn't blindly trust the shot distance data, but it's probably accurate enough to make a general point.

I reread this and realized that I probably made it confusing by calling the Bruins 30th in "shot distance against" rather than 1st. I blame Mirtle's tweet for putting me in that frame

 

[KennyBanyeah]

You're not wrong about Boston's shots being from further away (25th in the league), but I suspect that any problem is at least partially offset because their shots against are from even further away (30th, yep the Bruins hold their opponents to longer shots than anyone in the league). I wouldn't blindly trust the shot distance data, but it's probably accurate enough to make a general point.

I had a meeting cancelled this morning so I played with some hockey numbers. Just simple PDO vs points. I then applied those numbers to the Senators schedule. Here is the list of the teams with their point total, PDO and adjusted points. Adjusted points is simply pts/PDO.

Nothing really changes as far as where teams fall in the standings. I guess my point here is that PDO numbers look like a big deal, but are really very small deviations from the normal/random distribution (in most cases).

/Sorry to hijack the Leafs thread.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Yep, Laine has had to slum with Bryan Little as well. It's a tough life for him. (Yes, I do like Laine and he is good).

Let's put it this way. Over the previous 3 seasons without him Laine's centres scored 0.67 (Schiefele) and 0.76 (Little) PPG. I suspect that Hyman and Brown wouldn't even be within space shuttle distance of that if they weren't playing with Matthews, don't you think?

They might be if they were playing with Marner.

I'd also point out that Bryan Little is punching way above his weight class this season compared with his career norms. You don't think Laine has to do with that?

Also, I happen to think pretty highly of Connor Brown.

 

[BGDave]

By my count Matthews has spent about 45% of his even strength time with Nylander.

Really? That is surprising. I thought he had Brown and Hyman attached on a string when he goes over the boards. I will have to keep an eye out for that.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Really? That is surprising. I thought he had Brown and Hyman attached on a string when he goes over the boards. I will have to keep an eye out for that.

Earlier in the year it was Nylander instead of Brown.

Then Babs got mad at Nylander and shoved him onto the fourth line.

 

[DragonfromTO]

They might be if they were playing with Marner.

I'd also point out that Bryan Little is punching way above his weight class this season compared with his career norms. You don't think Laine has to do with that?

Also, I happen to think pretty highly of Connor Brown.

Neither sample is a large one, but Little's even strength GF% and CF% are actually both better this year without Laine.

I like Connor Brown too, and I think there's a decent chance he'll develop into a "top 6" player. But I don't think that he's there yet in his first season.

 

[dash]

Mitch Marner in some pretty good company...

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I miss the pre-all star break Leafs

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Calling all degenerates: Leafs are entering the third period with a 2 goal lead. Act accordingly.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

So long, Blundell.

Wake Up Toronto: Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup with Brady & Price Coming Soon to Sportsnet 590 The FAN | Sportsnet Media Centre

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I may dislike writers and other media members but I would never wish them unemployment or bad fortune.

I sincerely hope Steve Simmons is on welfare in a year or two.

 

[dash]

I may dislike writers and other media members but I would never wish them unemployment or bad fortune.

I sincerely hope Steve Simmons is on welfare in a year or two.

I feel sorry for Steve Simmons BBB because it's pretty clear he has some kind of mental deficiency.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I feel sorry for Steve Simmons BBB because it's pretty clear he has some kind of mental deficiency.

I mean, I can only imagine what prompted him to make up a story about Phil Kessel buying a daily hot dog but to put two (perfectly fine, if not my favourite) writers down for no reason whatsoever doesn't lead me to believe he's mentally deficient, it leads me to believe he has a small dick and an even smaller sense of how difficult life is in his business.

The most perfect shit ever would be both the Sun and TSN letting him go in the near future.

 

[BGDave]

I mean, I can only imagine what prompted him to make up a story about Phil Kessel buying a daily hot dog but to put two (perfectly fine, if not my favourite) writers down for no reason whatsoever doesn't lead me to believe he's mentally deficient, it leads me to believe he has a small dick and an even smaller sense of how difficult life is in his business.

The most perfect shit ever would be both the Sun and TSN letting him go in the near future.

For some unknown reason, I saw the end of Smokey and the Bandit III a couple of weeks ago. At one point, Sheriff Buford T. Justice calls some guy a "tick-turd". I asked my Georgia-raised wife if that was a real word and she looked at me like I was, well, from Canada. Or Mars. She then assured me it was a derogatory term.

So for the past two weeks, everyone who offends/annoys/bugs me is officially a "tick-turd". And if they can hear me, I shorten it to "tick".

Simmons, you are a tick-turd.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Happy anniversary!

One year ago today the Leafs changed their future

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Wasn't sure whether to put this in the Van People or Toronto thread but...

Mel Lastman’s open letter to the people of Vancouver - 680 NEWS

Back in 1999, I was also in touch with leaders in P.E.I, who let me know if the weather got real tough, I could always call them for help. So I called them.
P.E.I. volunteered to send 100 trucks and 100 drivers to remove our snow. When I asked what the volunteers wanted to do in Toronto, every single one of them said they wanted to go to a hockey game. So I called Harold Ballard, who owned the Maple Leafs at the time, and asked him to get me the tickets. He said, “Are you crazy? How am I going to get 100 tickets?” The game was only two days away. I told him no one will even be able to show up at his Leafs game if we don’t get help clearing the snow. He called me back an hour later and said I got you 100 seats for free. The P.E.I. guys loved it. They even mentioned at the game how there were guys from P.E.I. who made the game possible.

Just when I was convinced Rob Ford was the biggest shitshow of a mayor Toronto's ever had, I find out Mega Mel was having conversations with an asshole Leaf owner who had been dead for 9 years.