2013-14 NHL Season: "We Are North American Scum"

[Funky Bunky]

2003 - Eric Stall

WHO?

[habsfan1]

Carolina GM Jim Rutherford expected to step down after season, and it's about time.

Likely to be replaced by Ron Francis.

Will Ron Francis bring back their lost identity? If not, this news is insignificant to me.

[The_Admiral]

The Hurricanes' roster is always like what everyone was afraid salary-cap hockey would look like: all the money tied up in top-line players and a goalie, then a bunch of dog crap to fill out the rest of the lineup. Everyone else seemed to figure it out, including, ironically enough, the Hurricanes themselves, who actually won a championship with what might be the worst roster of any championship team in the modern era. But this is what happens when you're allergic to drafting and development. I don't have the patience to comb over twenty Jim Rutherford drafts, but of the last few, holy guacamole, what a bunch of duds.

EDIT: http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/CAR/draft.html

Other than Saint Eric, what few players of consequence they've drafted in the last ten years wound up being traded for other assets: Andrew Ladd for Tuomo Ruutu (in turn traded for Loktionov, a sequence reminiscent of "Smart" by Shel Silverstein), Jack Johnson for Tim Gleason, Brandon Sutter for Jordan Staal. I'll give him credit for Jamie McBain for Andrej Sekera, but mostly because I seem to operate under this pesky misconception that Jamie McBain is Chad LaRose, and Chad LaRose really sucked.

Justin Faulk and Jeff Skinner are damn good players, but other then them... dunno

When did we decide Justin Faulk is "damn good"? What has he accomplished? If he's so great, how come he's such a turnstile defensively? Seems like another guy who gets a lot of love just for being an American/Minnesotan. Basically just a newer model of Nick Leddy.

Oh, and by the way, the hamsters at nhl.com must have fallen out of their wheels again, because I can't get a box score for any game going right now. I pay $160 for this? Blow me.

[TorinK92]

I'm not in the least bit surprised at the Panthers comeback. Can someone tell the Senators that the game continues after 30 minutes?

[zpqmaowl]

Since the line brawl, the Flames are 5th in the West at 14-9-1. Vancouver is 14th with a 9-14-1 record.

[infrared41]

3-2 Jackets with 1:02 left. Good God is this nerve wracking. EDIT: Ryan Johansen with the empty netter and that's that. Back to the top of the Wild Card heap. By my count, that's now 4 teams with 80 points in the East.

If only the Jackets hadn't hacked it up against Carolina and the Islanders last week.

[crashcarson15]

What an immensely huge win for the Jackets tonight.

Eat :censored:, Detroit.

[infrared41]

What an immensely huge win for the Jackets tonight.

Eat , Detroit.

Indeed. Now they need to find a way to beat the Penguins Friday night.

[Sport]

What an immensely huge win for the Jackets tonight.

Eat , Detroit.

Indeed. Now they need to find a way to beat the Penguins Friday night.

That regulation win just kept them in the race. Huge game by McBackup. He was solid. Way to get the 0 for the last 36 on the power play monkey off their backs by scoring on their first two power plays tonight. Way to dig deep and get a big goal in the third (which I would've lost a $100 bet on that one. I did not expect the warroom to count that one). Need to turn this into a winning streak.

7-1-1 in the last 9 against Detroit and they take the season series with Detroit for the second straight year. Eat Detroit, indeed.

and the Penguins haven't helped the Blue Jackets at all lately by losing to the teams we need them to beat so maybe we can continue the trend and get two points against a banged up Pittsburgh team.

[Kramerica Industries]

Blue Jackets - 37-29-6 --> 37-35, 80 points

Red Wings - 33-25-14 --. 33-39, 80 points

this points system sucks.

[infrared41]

Blue Jackets - 37-29-6 --> 37-35, 80 points

Red Wings - 33-25-14 --. 33-39, 80 points

this points system sucks.

Pretty much.

[BigBubba]

Blue Jackets - 37-29-6 --> 37-35, 80 points

Red Wings - 33-25-14 --. 33-39, 80 points

this points system sucks.

The standings should not be this fluid this late in the year.

[sportstar1212]

Blue Jackets - 37-29-6 --> 37-35, 80 points

Red Wings - 33-25-14 --. 33-39, 80 points

this points system sucks.

Pretty much.

I wish they would go with the IIHF system of 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for an OT/SO dub, and 1 for an OT/SO loss. It's not fair for a team that easily won to be given the same reward as a team that won by the skin of their teeth.

[Sport]

It's really not fair that the Blue Jackets were playing to tie the Wings in points despite having 3 more wins going into that game. The team with 3 more wins at the start of the game needed to beat the team with 3 fewer wins to tie them in the standings. When you write it out like that it sounds really stupid. You play to win the game, unless it's the NHL and you're the Red Wings and you play to win or lose in overtime.

This is the only sport in the world where that makes sense. My nightmare scenario is finishing one point behind Detroit and missing the playoffs despite them having fewer wins. I could stomach missing last year to Minnesota because they technically had more legit victories, but if the Red Wings bettman-point their way to the playoffs I will be mad all offseason.

[DaRadniz29]

Sharks beat Oilers 5-2. The Big Pavelski with the Hat Trick. That's Pavelski's third hat trick this season, so does that make it a Season Hat Trick?

[Still MIGHTY]

For those in the Columbus/Detroit debate, let's not forget that the CBJs also have 32 ROWs to Detroit's 28.

BTW, just for reference, if we did the three point system, Columbus would be 31W-29L-6OTW-6OTL = 111 pts, and Detroit would be 22W-25L-9OTW-14OTL = 98 pts. A 13-point difference or a little over 4 regulation wins a.k.a. as the current standings actually read. Why aren't we doing this yet? (I mean, besides point inflation. Obviously comparing records over history would be quite the bitch. Or the complaint of another standings column.)

[zpqmaowl]

[Kramerica Industries]

For those in the Columbus/Detroit debate, let's not forget that the CBJs also have 32 ROWs to Detroit's 28.

BTW, just for reference, if we did the three point system, Columbus would be 31W-29L-6OTW-6OTL = 111 pts, and Detroit would be 22W-25L-9OTW-14OTL = 98 pts. A 13-point difference or a little over 4 regulation wins a.k.a. as the current standings actually read. Why aren't we doing this yet? (I mean, besides point inflation. Obviously comparing records over history would be quite the bitch. Or the complaint of another standings column.)

I'd argue that adding the shootout that created infinity more three-point games and, thus, point inflation of its own degree should render that argument null to an extent. At the beginning of each game when the networks show each head coaches' record with their team, and you see something like "43-32-12 (.573)" when, between L's and OTL's that win percentage is more like .494, you know something is seriously screwed up.

[Sport]

For those in the Columbus/Detroit debate, let's not forget that the CBJs also have 32 ROWs to Detroit's 28.

BTW, just for reference, if we did the three point system, Columbus would be 31W-29L-6OTW-6OTL = 111 pts, and Detroit would be 22W-25L-9OTW-14OTL = 98 pts. A 13-point difference or a little over 4 regulation wins a.k.a. as the current standings actually read. Why aren't we doing this yet? (I mean, besides point inflation. Obviously comparing records over history would be quite the bitch. Or the complaint of another standings column.)

Even if my team wasn't leading in that scenario I would still be in favor of using that system. Comparing records would suck, but there's been other times where a change led to a whole new era ("Wildcard Era", "Salary Cap Era", "Steroid Era") We'd just call it the "Three Point Era". Every game should be worth the same amount.

I know why the NHL does it the way they do it. If we used a three point system the playoff race would basically be over. Instead they create artificial parity and bad teams can look at their first two columns, pat themselves on the back for being over "500" and continue to sell tickets to fans because "we're still in the playoff race".

[-kj]

I got bored last night, and put together alternate standings.

(Disclaimer: These were done by copying the ESPN standings page and adding some extra formulas to my spreadsheet. It's not updated in real time. It doesn't cover games that finished last night after I got done with it. It probably won't be updated very often. Don't come back to this in a week and complain that it's not updated.)