NHL Offseason Omnibus 2014

[Death From Above]

Twelve more years.

 

Sportsnet gets immense amounts of furious wood over guys that cannot decide if they are journalists or editatorialists. And an extra bonus if you get the impression they couldn't even define the difference between the two. Arash Madani is really no better than Cox on the football end of things, though at least he's around less (and he only makes things up, as opposed to making things up then fighting over it). The whole network is getting overrun with guys that think Andy Rooney was the most important figure on 60 Minutes.

 

Cox is just absolutely dreadful. He will just flat out lie and make things up to draw attention, then bitch and moan endlessly about being called out by people that don't have his "credentials" as a journalist. And his role is only growing, which is not encouraging. Most of their other people I don't even mind that much out of context but the combination of the whole could be painful.

[Freudian_Slap]

Yeah that gang at Sportsnet save for Romanuk (who I agree with Caley although there's something charming about a hockey announcer also discussing the merits of theater in NYC London And Toronto) is just dreadful, I used to watch Bob McKown or however it is spelled's radio show and whenever Cox was on he was putrid. I don't understand Sports nets boner over him. It's gonna be a long decade and a fifth 

[Death From Above]

I legit think McCown only has him on his show to belittle Cox about how dumb he is and call him out on his lies and somehow Rogers execs missed the joke.

[Charlie M.]

I think the only "sportsnet" content I consume is Tim & Sid and that's just something they brought over in the merger.

[ChesterCopperpot]

Well - they moved over before that.

 

Also, Rogers have Brunt - and he's pretty much the best sports writer in Canada

[odessasteps]

Tim and Sid is like the worst kind of morning zoo at 1 in the afternoon.

Silly sound effects and voices.

Beatimg same subjects into ground for 3 hours

stupid catchphrases

I try not to listen to PTS if Cox or some of the other cohosts are on.

[ChesterCopperpot]

it's better than non-working twitter links and other links exposing my computer to viruses

[ChesterCopperpot]

 

Jake Gardiner gets a 5 year $20.25 million extension with the Leafs

 

[Charlie M.]

We always wonder how Scott Keith is still a thing and now we know, it's people like Wysh.

[Newb82]

Subban signs 8 year deal with Montreal.

[Death From Above]

I don't really understand how getting there took the path it did, but the result wound up where a lot of people figured it was going so... I guess they took the scenic route? Well, it's done now.

[odessasteps]

From what friedman said on the radio friday, this is first time a deal has been made once the arbitration hearing had begun.

[evilwaldo]

I have a feeling that Subban's agent let Montreal know that if they won the hearing they would lose in the end as he would advise his client to walk to free agency.

 

Montreal was in a no-win situation.

[odessasteps]

Edmonton hired noted hockey stat guy Tyler Dellow.

[Dewar]

I don't think Subban was worth what he was asking for, but he was worth WAAAAY more than Montreal was offering.

[Charlie M.]

Edmonton hired noted hockey stat guy Tyler Dellow.

 

Smart move.  He's one of the few I've seen who can actually apply the concepts of fancy stats to actual hockey situations.

[Death From Above]

He's a smart guy.

 

A complete dick, but a smart guy.

 

I don't like him personally, but at the same time MacTavish is clearly taking this team in a very different direction than the years of Oilers family nepotism that led us absolutely nowhere but to ruin, so this is another step I have a hard time not seeing as positive despite the fact they just hired a guy that deleted about 30K worth of argumentative tweets.

 

What a strange world.

[evilwaldo]

With the cap at $69 million this year and $75 next year (Canadian TV money kicking in) it is not so bad.  Subban's deal may look like a lot but he is coming off a Norris Trophy and would have multiple suitors in free agency.  

 

I hear Flyers fans whine about the deal but when you ask if they would pay that in free agency for him the answer is a resounding yes.

[Death From Above]

You know who won the long term contract sweepstakes? The LA Kings: http://www.capgeek.com/player/1010

 

Doughty's deal is hardly cheap but you're still getting like $2 million a year they can spend on a depth player every season.

[evilwaldo]

More importantly look at the NTC/NMC's all over the place.  Dean Lombardi has done a great job of building that team.  Funny thing, after he left San Jose he was the Flyers West Coast advance scout for two years before taking the Kings job.

 

Ironic that he was in the Flyers organization but he did train Hextall in LA so that is a plus.

[caley]

He's a smart guy.

 

A complete dick, but a smart guy.

 

I don't like him personally, but at the same time MacTavish is clearly taking this team in a very different direction than the years of Oilers family nepotism that led us absolutely nowhere but to ruin, so this is another step I have a hard time not seeing as positive despite the fact they just hired a guy that deleted about 30K worth of argumentative tweets.

 

What a strange world.

The optimist in me says good on the Oilers for hiring an analytics guy who seems to know (and trumpet) what he's talking about and a new way to look at things is never a bad idea.  The pessimist in me wonders if they merely hired him to shut him up (It's been rumored they've been in negotiations for a little while and the only Oiler article Dellow wrote this summer was an overwhelmingly positive piece praising the signing of Benoit Pouliot).

 

Rumor is the Flyers are close to sigining Michael Del Zotto because Kimmo Timonen's career might be over.  Timonen was diagnosed with blood clots in his legs and lungs and they don't know when (And if, but they're not saying 'if'...yet) he'll be able to play again.

[Death From Above]

Del Zotto is still young so I don't see any reason to look down on that if they go there. It's weird how many people seem willing to just chuck him away at 24 or 25.

[Charlie M.]

There's certainly an element of "shutting people up" that's going on with fancy stats.  Every GM knows that he has to throw out the word analytics now and at least pretend like they're using them.  Whether they can actually find stuff that gives them a competitive advantage or not is another story.

 

Benoit Pouliot's going to be an interesting test case because I suspect there's some non-hockey reason that he's bounced around so much. 

[evilwaldo]

Advanced stats are good but like all data it is in the analysis.  

 

You can make the stats say whatever you like.  The Flyers last year were horrible at even strength and great on special teams.  That does not mean you go out and get penalized just to avoid even strength.  You target the problem areas and correct them to improve your even strength weakness while maintaining the special teams strength.

 

One of the great things about watching the Kings play is their forecheck.  They can plug guys in on every line and when the forecheck rolls they are unstoppable.  It is a thing of beauty to watch them shut teams down for ten minute stretches.  

 

I really admire what Lombardi has done out there.

[caley]

I saw one quote the other day, and it might have even come from a baseball guy, but his basic position was that (And I'm really abridging here) "You can't say 'We don't pay attention to advanced statistics' or be willfully ignorant of them because, even if you don't think they have any value, you still have to value them to see how other teams are maybe valuing their players.  Even if you don't agree with the stat, you still need to be aware of how it works." 

 

BTW, with two teams hiring analytics bloggers (The Devils also hired one, though that case is a little different) and with teams like the Bruins coming right out and saying that they read Advanced Stats blogs, I wonder how many blogs are going to spring up over night with badly-done, homemade graphs and stats by guys dreaming of being the Maple Leafs Head of Analytics.