Talk about Capitals hockey & more! > Washington Capitals & Other Hockey Discussion
GDT#32 Sabres @ Capitals 7:00p.m. Sat Dec 15, 2018 NBCSWA, MSG-B
Maacoshark:
--- Quote from: PUCKNRUSH on Tuesday December 18, 2018, 12:18:20 AM Eastern ---I’m in the long suffering process, as a hockey old schooler, of weighing out the pros and cons of continuing to stay a fan of hockey.
Obviously, for now, I’ve decided it’s still worth watching. I’ve been wrestling with the dilemma of comparing the “good old hockey”, to the newer, softer style, less pure and less fundamentally sound, hockey! [size=78%]I both want to see, and miss, the physical, grittier, hockey![/size]
[size=78%]For the last 3 or 4 years, many in the newer, generally younger crowd, have advised me that I should just accept the changes, because the NHL will never go back to the way it was.[/size]
I’ve basically dumped the NFL already, as I’ve gradually come to the decision, FOR MYSELF, over the past 5 years, that the frustration of watching it, outweighs the enjoyment I used to get out of its competition!
I’m not afraid to do this with the NHL either, personally, although if I did, it would be the letting go of my last major sport!
I say all this because I’ve realized that EVERY SINGLE NHL TEAM, is guilty, OFTEN, of not playing the type of game, that I like to see!! Outcomes of the general NHL game schedule are as fickle as ever, on a DAILY BASIS.
NO TEAM, that I watch now, plays that smash-mouth, in your face, “Broad Street Bullies”, type of hockey that I love to watch!! Hell, we don’t even get little snippets of it anymore!
I admit to having to let go of some of my “purist passion”, already, in order to accept the game as it is presented today! Do I like having to do it !! FUCKIN HELL NO!!! But I can’t keep on setting myself up for having a cloud of “bitterness”, randomly floating in my brain, throughout the NHL season! UNTIL, the time comes when I have my NFL realization moment, with the NHL!!
Not there yet!
Rush
--- End quote ---
I am having a hard time adapting to the new game. I'm fine with trying to bring more skill to the game. There are more small speedy guys. Defencemen are mostly puck movers now.
The thing I am having a problem with is the physical part being taken out if the game to protect the smaller players. Everyone is going on that small skilled are the new thing. The only reason most of these small players are successful is because the league is changing the rules to ensure.
I am having a very hard time with the Tom Wilson thing. It isnt right what the league has done to him. They have made him out to be the villain of the NHL. We all know that some of his hits are borderline in today's game but he is far from a dirty player. Yet the league calls him a predator.
Tom Wilson plays the game the way it is meant to be played. He is a 200 foot player that is physical and can fight if needed. He works hard on every shift. Unfortunately the league is trying to get rid of those kind of players. They want the small skilled players skating with their heads down with their fancy stick handling and toedrags. If players were taught how to play proper defense those plays wouldnt happen as often as they do. The game against the Sabres when Eichel undressed Orlov is a perfect example. That wasnt a great play by Eichel. It was poor defense by Orlov. Orlov had position on him but didnt play the man. Got caught watching the puck. Sorry Orlov but that was a very easy defensive play. About as routine as it should get. I would have been fine with that play if Orlov took that man but got beat because of strength but that play was unacceptable. That's the way guys play defense now they chase the puck. I despise when people use the term he has a good stick in the defensive zone. Because he strips the odd puck from someone or gets lucky and picks off a pass. This is how players like Erik Karlsson get mistaken for good defensive players. And I know people rip on our Carlson for his defense at times but the way the game has changed he might actually be our best defensive dman now. I can't think of anyone else on the team that is better.
Mickstix:
Puck, since turning 50, my motto has been "don't sweat the small stuff".. And anything having to do with sports is "the small stuff".. :uh-huh: :P The NFL will probably be flag football in our lifetime (at least at the skills positions) but what are ya gonna do? Stop watching? I've rooted for the sorry ass Redskins since birth.. If I can stomach through the Dan Snyder era, I can stomach some sissy ass rules.. Is what it is my brotha! ;)
DC_1908:
--- Quote from: BlackIce on Monday December 17, 2018, 08:35:22 PM Eastern ---
Regardless of the hyperbole defense, you still haven't addressed what I really meant in my original post, which I can't know for sure, but I think is valid speculation: That Ovie has some pressure off him this year, he is playing like it, and the results so far have turned out very well.
And I don't buy your Reirden/pond hockey theory. At least, it's not borne out by the partial-year stats we have thus far.
Last year the Caps scored 3.16 goals/game in the regular season, and gave up 2.91 goals/game (259/239). Now this year they are scoring 3.72 per game thus far, and giving up 3.09 (119/99). Yep, they are scoring more, and giving up more. But the funny thing is, the ENTIRE difference between their goals allowed per game last year and their goals allowed per game this year is in the extra goals they've yielded on the PK, which is the one time when the team is focused on trying to defend. (PK % is about 75 this year vs. slightly over 80 last year, which accounts for about a 6+ goal difference given the number of PK situations they've had so far this season.) So if the team is focused on playing "pond hockey," it hasn't affected their GA thus far. However, for whatever reasons, their offensive game has picked up significantly from last year.
Now I wanted to check the league as a whole, because I was under the impression that scoring was up significantly, which I suspected was due to the increasing removal of physicality and letting the skilled guys do their thing, + the reduction in size of some of the goalie equipment. Scoring is up a bit, but not all that much: 3.08 goals per team per game this year as opposed to 2.98 per team per game last year, which surprised me.
Bottom line is this -- IF we were to assume that the Caps were more "pond hockeyish" this year than last (which, having attended some games, I don't really see), it is showing up ONLY on the offensive side of the scoresheet. Which means that so far, if Reirden has pushed more wide-open hockey, it's been to the team's net benefit, and it seems to have been to this teams net benefit more than it has been to the league as a whole.
Now, will things need to change if the Caps make the playoffs? I'd think so. But the objective of the regular season is to do as well as you can in the regular season, because you can't win playoff games in the regular season. And I have no criticism of Reirden for the hockey he has this team playing thus far.
--- End quote ---
So the increase in the average goals for and against is following the same trend as the rest of the league, so that you don’t see evidence that that stat-increases are the result a system being designed to increase stats? The use of averages supports you’re point as it levels out the peaks and drops making it appear that each game is 3-2. 3-2 does not appear to indicate the high scoring pond hockey.
But, they have scored five or more goals (all types), in 34% of their games, and have allowed 5 or more in 22%. So with these seven games over 5, Holtbys two SO have their GAA “down” to 3.09.
You still don’t buy that this is the result of Reirdons Monumental (pun intended) pond-hockey/videgame stat padding system?
DC_1908:
--- Quote from: 4 Caps on Monday December 17, 2018, 09:34:55 PM Eastern ---Who cares what kind of hockey they are playing, they have won 12 out of their last 14 games. I hope doing whatever their doing continues if it results in wins. They proved last year that they can make adjustments in the playoffs when neccessary and no reason to think they can’t or won’t this year.
--- End quote ---
Actually, there is every reason to think they can not or will not adjust this year, and the over confidence that "they did it once, they can do it again", is one of the biggest reasons everyone should be noting
BlackIce:
--- Quote from: DC_1908 on Tuesday December 18, 2018, 01:16:03 PM Eastern ---So the increase in the average goals for and against is following the same trend as the rest of the league, so that you don’t see evidence that that stat-increases are the result a system being designed to increase stats? The use of averages supports you’re point as it levels out the peaks and drops making it appear that each game is 3-2. 3-2 does not appear to indicate the high scoring pond hockey.
But, they have scored five or more goals (all types), in 34% of their games, and have allowed 5 or more in 22%. So with these seven games over 5, Holtbys two SO have their GAA “down” to 3.09.
You still don’t buy that this is the result of Reirdons Monumental (pun intended) pond-hockey/videgame stat padding system?
--- End quote ---
If it's happening throughout the league, it isn't Reirdon's system, it's the league's doing. The league wanted a more wide-open game, and they've got it. It's difficult to execute the "good old fashioned" type of game when the league has legislated out many of its tactics.
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