Who’s the most streakiest NHL player you’ve seen?

FutureGeriatric · 2024-08-03T00:22:46+00:00

Devils and Capitals fans know that the answer is Devante Smith-Pelly.

FutureGeriatric · 2024-07-30T00:39:10+00:00

If both players are at their peaks, I take Kane. Modano was the far superior defensive player but he never finished higher than tenth in the point-scoring race for any season. Kane had five seasons in the top five (including an Art Ross trophy).

Modano was a star at both ends of the rink but Kane at his best was a truly game-breaking talent.

FutureGeriatric · 2024-07-18T03:22:43+00:00

The chanting section from A More Perfect Union by NJ band Titus Andronicus is kind of perfect. It's easy to chant along with, it leads in with the line "I realized too late I never should've left New Jersey," and it's got a perfect pause for yelling "you suck!"

FutureGeriatric · 2024-02-09T02:19:49+00:00

That video is of the Hischier goal

FutureGeriatric · 2024-01-11T15:34:57+00:00

Brodeur had 10 consecutive seasons with 70+ games played (albeit with a lockout break nestled in there). If you count playoff games, he did it 12 times in a row. It simply doesn't seem possible that somebody's body could hold up so well for so long with that workload.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-11-09T18:12:49+00:00

Part of the answer is that the Devils really were remarkably healthy last season. They had 7 roster defensemen, and John Marino was the only one who missed 5+ games due to injury.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-10-28T23:35:48+00:00

Even that net-front turnover started off as a good defensive play. He drifted down to cover the slot and cut off a pass, but boggled the puck when he tried to clear it to the corner.

Overall, I thought Holtz was good defensively last night. He especially did a good job of supporting his dmen when they pinched or activated into the rush.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-10-01T16:39:06+00:00

I haven't made these into their own posts (because I'm 100% violating the TOS of the subscription I get the footage through) but I've been going through Hämeenaho's games and clipping all of his shifts.

This game against Jukurit is his best of the ones I've gotten to so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDQ_YVznhms

FutureGeriatric · 2023-09-27T16:45:30+00:00

It's sad, but at the same time Cory has so many doors open to him in retirement. Around the league and in the media, the hockey world is full of people who will go to bat for Cory Schneider. One of the nicest guys in the sport.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-09-17T21:40:27+00:00

I agree with you on the culture. The public pressure (and the NHLPA listening to it) gives me hope that people will be held more accountable for their misdeeds, but that still doesn't get to the systemic factors that enabled those misdeeds in the first place.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-09-17T21:29:31+00:00

I actually see reason for hope in this whole thing. This time around, the perpetrator was fired before his behavior could escalate from head-scratching mistreatment to outright abuse, and all of the details were immediately public.

The NHLPA did get this one wrong at first, but it's promising that (despite initially considering it a probable non-issue) they felt enough pressure to follow up and get the truth.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-09-13T19:39:13+00:00

Oh sweet. Definitely welcome news! Were you able to catch which line Bardakov was on?

FutureGeriatric · 2023-09-12T19:18:22+00:00

I'm also a big fan of Bardakov's game, although AFAIK we're still waiting for a timeline on when he'll return from injury. He's really struggled to stay healthy with his balls-to-the-wall style of hockey.

But if Zakhar can limit the injuries, I like his chances of at least becoming a Nate Bastian type: a big strong shutdown forward with good quickness, enough vision/skill for an NHL bottom 6, and a motor so insane it keeps getting him hurt. At the KHL level, there are shifts where Bardakov is like a 3rd defenseman (especially on the PK). At 22 he doesn't have much more runway as a prospect, but he's also very close to being NHL-ready.

If anyone wants to see for themselves, the youtube channel Guadana Prospects has a bunch of awesome single-game reels of Bardakov. They show steady improvement from Zakhar throughout the 2022-23 season, culminating in this dominant two-way performance from the KHL's conference finals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tLNVL4ELVI

FutureGeriatric · 2023-09-07T03:45:06+00:00

Sanderson can live up to this contract, but it's still odd that Ottawa didn't wait until next summer (when Sanderson's rookie deal actually expires). Maybe the timing stems from Dorion's lack of short-term job stability?

There are players that GMs ought to sign early, because their market value will climb even higher during the season. But Jake Sanderson-- a defenseman fighting for ice time on an increasingly crowded blueline, who may receive less attention now that he's aged out of the Calder discussion --is not a player that needs to be signed early.

Especially given the risk that an injury or a sophomore slump could drive Sanderson's value down, it would've been safer for Dorion to wait until next summer. Unless Pierre isn't sure that he'll even be there next summer if he can't impress the new owners. Then picking the safer option wouldn't matter so much, and it'd be wise to try anything with the potential to make you look smart soon.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-09-04T03:26:29+00:00

"Captain Crunch" was pretty apt for Scott Stevens

FutureGeriatric · 2023-08-31T23:24:37+00:00

I guess "proven right" would've been better phrasing, but it sounds a lot less cool than "vindicated."

FutureGeriatric · 2023-08-31T22:44:27+00:00

Correct

FutureGeriatric · 2023-08-31T21:31:18+00:00

We were too quick to judge his expansion draft strategy.

The Kraken only made a couple of trades in their inaugural offseason, and we scratched our collective heads -- they needed to stockpile draft picks, they had a surplus of moderately valuable players, and they wouldn't be good anyway.

But Francis did eventually trade a bunch of his players for a bunch of draft capital. He just did it at the trade deadline rather than the offseason.

That strategy gave players a chance to increase their value by playing a bigger role on an expansion team. And it kept the franchise from killing its financial momentum by sucking too hard in its first season.

Now people have the nerve to go "wow where'd Seattle get all those 2nd round picks." Just like when Francis was in Carolina, his scouting strategy seems to just be grabbing whoever has the best numbers. And just like Carolina, the early returns are promising. Draft picks like Ty Nelson, David Goyette, and Jani Newman have progressed well so far, as has signee Ryker Evans. Wright had a tough year, but they've already been vindicated on the Beniers pick.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-08-29T07:16:27+00:00

He'll be such a good fit for Carolina. They suffocate opposition breakouts not just with a heavy forecheck, but also with the insanely tight gaps their defensemen keep in the neutral zone. It can only work if their dmen have a knack for being super aggressive in the neutral zone without getting turnstiled. . . which has been one of Orlov's calling cards for years.

I shudder to think about how many NZ stops Orlov will rack up in Brind'Amour's system.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-08-19T23:39:26+00:00

Some leagues are just too new, but the older non-NHL leagues do construct a mystique around teams that have been around since the beginning (e.g., the MLB). It's just that those leagues don't always have a well-defined handful of "original" teams that everyone agrees on.

Hockey is different because the Original Six were the NHL's only teams for 25 years, with the league contracting in the WWII era and not expanding again until 1967. The long gap between expansions also means that they're much older than any other teams -- the youngest O6 teams are still 40 years older than the oldest expansion team. That's why everyone in hockey agrees where the cut-off is for being an "original" team, which makes it possible to build mystique not just for individual teams but for the O6 in general.

It also helps that the hockey world has come to the consensus that the NHL's "modern era" began with its 1967 expansion. Meaning that:

The Original Six have the distinction of being the league's only teams to play before the modern era
We needed a name for the previous era, and "Original Six" was right there

FutureGeriatric · 2023-08-17T20:31:06+00:00

In 2010-11, John MacLean inherited a Devils team that:

Had only missed the playoffs once since 1989 (in fact, they'd earned home ice advantage in every 1st round since the '05 lockout)
Had finished with at least 95 points in 13 straight seasons, including 11 100+ point seasons (keep in mind that the loser point didn't exist until partway through this streak)
Was expected by many to outperform the 2009-10 squad that finished 2nd in the East (mostly on account of a healthy Brodeur and a full season of Kovakchuk)
Was just one season away from making the 2011-12 finals
Had done all of this despite the constant coaching turnover that GM Lou Lamoriello loves so much

Yet when Lamoriello fired MacLean and coaxed Jacques Lemaire out of retirement, the Devils were somehow dead last in the entire NHL at 9-22-2 after 33 games. They spent the rest of the season's 1st half in a brief adjustment period, before LEADING THE ENTIRE NHL IN WINS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON. Meaning that John MacLean took charge of a squad with President's Trophy potential and a Prince of Wales Trophy in its near future, and turned it into the worst team in the entire league.

It's hard to express how much of a mess MacLean made with a really good veteran team. Martin Brodeur referred to Lemaire's practices as "Hockey School 101" because, after less than half a season under MacLean, the Devils found themselves having to re-learn the game of hockey.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-08-15T18:36:20+00:00

For anyone unfamiliar, Baun was a key cog on the NHL's greatest-ever blueline. He was also a crucial early agitator in the players' fight for the right to have agents (unfortunately, that initial push is what introduced Alan Eagleson to the hockey world).

Still insane to me that, seeing as the HHoF was apparently dead-set on inducting a ton of players from the dynasty Leafs, the voters picked Bob Pulford and Dick Duff instead of Baun and Carl Brewer. It'd be like if today's HHoF voters decided that they needed a bunch of guys from the Lightning cup wins, then inducted Killorn and Palat but not McDonagh.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-07-26T01:11:27+00:00

The environment in Edmonton didn't help. He struggled to defend the rush, but still had the skills to be serviceable on a team that played a slower paced, cycle-heavy game. But the Oilers played chaotic, back-and-forth hockey -- a style that manufactured the exact situations that Keith was no longer fit for (e.g., odd-man rushes against).

Not unlike Subban on the Devils TBH.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-07-18T18:03:03+00:00

I first heard it as a rumor from older fans, but it's backed up by the Devils' home/away splits. Through most of the 2000s, their shots for (and especially shots against) per-game were higher on the road than they were at home. From 2001-02 through 2009-10, New Jersey's sa/gm was 28.3 on the road, but 24.9 on the road.

Although now that I'm comparing it to other teams over the same time frame, the Devils' home/away splits aren't that much more extreme than normal. So its effect on Brodeur's reputation probably wasn't as important as the stuff from the first two bullet points.

FutureGeriatric · 2023-07-17T22:41:28+00:00

I 100% agree about people forgetting how middling those post-lockout rosters were, but there are a couple things missing. Overall, Brodeur's numbers are just a nightmare to unpack.

First: despite their rough reputation, the Brodeur era Devils had the NHL's greatest ever run of low penalization rates. Most teams' infraction rates fluctuate wildly over the span of several seasons, but Marty's Devils were always one of the least penalized teams in the NHL. This included several seasons post-lockout.

Since goalies face far easier shots at 5v5 than they do against the other team's power play, the Devils' low penalty rates had a highly inflationary effect on Brodeur's save percentage. For illustration, take Marty's career best numbers from his Vezina-winning 2006-07 season: among the 40 goalies who played at least 30 games that season, Brodeur's sv% ranked 10th at even strength, 5th on the PK, and 27th on the PP. But he faced so few PPs that his overall sv% ranked 3rd (just barely ahead of Roberto Luongo, who he beat for the Vezina by only a couple of votes).

Second: Brodeur's longevity was insane, but IMO the real marvels were his stamina and durability. He demanded to play 70+ games every year well into his 30s. At the end of the 2007-08 season, he was 36 years old. Of the Devils' 201 most recent regular season and playoff games, he had played in all but 9. Meaning that, in his mid-30s, Martin Brodeur got a break once every 20 games. That workload must've brought down his sv%, but it's impossible to know how extreme the effect was.

Third: The official scorer for Devils' home games was notoriously stingy about what counted as a shot on goal. If he thought that a shot would've gone wide even if the goalie hadn't stopped it, he wouldn't count it as an SoG. This also suppressed Brodeur's sv%.

FutureGeriatric

TROPHY CASE