Takes and trash talk from both ALL sides of the NHL's most obscure PATHETIC* rivalry

* Thanks, Kevin Lowe!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Un-friggin-believable

My baloney has a first name. It’s W-W-W-O-O-W-W-W-W-O-W-W-O-W-W-W-L-W-L-O-W-W-O-W-W-W-W-W-L-W-W-W-W-W.

Ridiculous. Here’s some unnecessary gloating; maybe you can wow people at dinner parties with these tidbits:

The last 15 games (12-1-2), Teemu Selanne has 15 goals plus 12 assists (+16), and has 10 multi-point efforts. McDonald, Pronger, Kunitz, and Thornton are also point-a-game over that stretch.

9 of the last 12 wins were one-goal wins, ignoring 3 empty-net goals. The only blowouts were San Jose, Nashville, and Washington, who collectively got beaten 15-1.

J.S. Giguere won his 9th straight start, and his 21 wins (4 more than 2nd-best Brodeur) matches the season total of last year’s St. Louis Blues. 05/06 Blues: 57 points; 06/07 Ducks: 56 points and counting. The Blues actually pro-rate to an even worse total this year (49 points), and along with the Flyers (53 points), are not even projected to catch the Ducks’ current points total.

I know that scheduling still has been in favor of the Ducks thus far, but last year, no team was able to at any point have a 10-point conference lead or an 8-point league lead until April. The Ducks have more wins (25) than any team has losses—regulation or overtime (23). Anaheim also has more goals-scored (121) than any team has goals-allowed (118).

Big caveat to the Ducks' record, however: in regards to the next-top-four teams in the west (SJS, DAL, NSH, DET), Anaheim has only faced these teams once apiece, all at the Honda Center. 20 of Anaheim's 48 remaining games will be against this formidible foursome (8 at home, 12 on the road).

Still, the Ducks have now played 8 games against then-division leaders (10/18 DET, 10/20 MIN, 10/27 @MIN, 11/12 MIN, 11/24 NJD, 11/28 @EDM, 12/6 NSH, 12/13 @ATL), and are 7-0-1, outscoring opponents 24-11. Against playoff-hopeful teams in the west (SJS, DAL, DET, NSH, and the Northwest Division), the Ducks are 10-1-3, outscoring opponents 47-22 and sporting a 94% PK (4 for 66).

The Ducks do not lead the league in regulation wins, however. The Sharks have that edge, 22-21, thanks largely in part to SJ’s non-participation in overtime. Since winning their season opener in OT, the Sharks have played 31 straight decided-in-regulation games.

San Jose currently also holds a 0.0002 lead over the Ducks in power-play percentage.

This SJ baloney ain’t bad either: W-W-W-L-W-W-W-L-W-L-L-W-W-L-W-W-W-W-L-W-W-L-W-W-W-W-W-L-L-W-W-W (plus a game tonight hosting the Kings).

See ya Saturday, Sharks.

7 comments:

VeryProudofYa said...

and also hte best road record ever through 15 away from home.

It sure has been fantastic to watch, as a long-time fan of the "entirely miss or scratch to get in" era when it comes to the playoffs.

Dirk Hoag said...

And to stoke that praise ever higher, check out my recent team-by-team defensive analysis. Basically, Anaheim is getting the most effective goaltending in the league, stopping far more shots than you'd expect given the quantity and quality of shots against...

http://forechecker.blogspot.com/2006/12/in-defense-of-defense.html

VeryProudofYa said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Earl Sleek said...

Forechecker,

That and your offense post were really cool; I still have a printout of that sheet.

J.S. has been all-world, and it goes a little unsaid, or at least it is followed by "but look who's playing in front of him". The Ducks do give up chances, sometimes glorious ones. The getting-caught-gamble is part of the Anaheim game, and on some plays it's really the hope that SNieds or CProngs can recover in time.

Fortunately enough, J.S. has bailed the boys out very well this year. Sure, there's certainly times he doesn't see much rubber, but it might be five minutes of nothing followed by a breakaway or something.

Definitely worth the $3.99 M.

BTW: Anyone know anything about the health of a Mr. Bryzgalov?

Sean Zandberg said...

Hey, I don't mean to gloat, Sleek, but I told ya so! I can remember you being so concerned about how the Ducks would do before the season started. Now you iz a believer!
BTW, I hear Vishnevski is in the Atlanta doghouse...

Earl Sleek said...

Hey, I don't mean to gloat, Sleek, but I told ya so!

Anyone who predicted 3 regulation losses in the first 34 games please step forward and claim your prize.

Last year, other than Detroit, the fewest regulation losses any team got in any 34-game segment was 6.

The Red Wings were off the charts, though. They had a 38-game stretch with only 3 regulation losses, going 30-3-5 between games 44 and 81, outscoring opponents (per game) 3.71-2.26. 20 of the 38 games were against teams that would make the '06 playoffs.

Anonymous said...

(I've said it before, and I'm here to say it again:) You are a numbers guru. I bow down.

That is all.