"It was the right thing to do" - Renney

It is not often you see a team pull their goalie when they are down by 3. This was the case Saturday night in the Flames/Oilers game. Honestly I wasn't surprised when Renney pulled Dubnyk, I had actually joked around saying it was about time for him to do it right before the decision was made. I had a good laugh and didn't think much of it until after the game when Renney said

“I bet you if you asked him right now how he felt about pulling the goalie, he’d say I think it was the right thing. . .because it was the right thing to do.

“We’re not going to quit behind the bench, either. We have to coach the game, we have to coach to win, period.” - Tom Renney, Head Coach Edmonton Oilers.

I then wondered if he had done this before this year, if it was the right thing to do, then he must have pulled his goalie being down by 3.

The Oilers have pulled their goalie 20 times this year. 10 times when down by 1, and 9 times while down by 2. Never has he done it when down by 3.

There has been 4 other opportunities for Renney to pull the goalie when down by 3 (Boston, Detroit, New York Islanders, Ottawa) and not once has he tried to win with the extra attacker.

I really wonder about Tom Renney, he really doesn't make much sence

NHL's Historical First Round Busts

Which team has had the best regular season and lost in the first round?

I never looked at if a team was favored to win the series and never put more emphasis on their seeding (Most disappointing if a #1 seed looses to a #8 rather than if the 8 looses to 1).

All I looked at is Points Percentage (Points divided by max possible points) in years in which they lost in the first round.

Obviously teams who have only played in a small number of playoffs are going to have a higher percentage of those teams who have played in more.

MIN 0.616

NAS 0.607

PHI 0.601

ATL 0.591

WAS 0.589

OTT 0.587

BOS 0.584

COL 0.582

BUF 0.574

FLO 0.571

NJD 0.567

DET 0.565

ANA 0.564

SJS 0.564

CLB 0.561

CAL 0.558

TBL 0.555

EDM 0.542

STL 0.539

NYI 0.535

LA 0.532

NYR 0.529

PIT 0.528

DAL 0.526

MON 0.516

CHI 0.514

PHO 0.509

TOR 0.498

CAR 0.496

VAN 0.477

Take away the Wild and the Trashers, and the top of this list makes a lot of sence.

Nashville has yet to win a first round yet always seem to be making the playoffs. The next 3 are Philly, Washington and Ottawa, again no real surprises there.

The bottom of the list is interesting too. These teams have had the least expectations to win in the first round and didnt.

Phoenix/Winnipeg, Toronto, Carolina and Vancouver.

The Best Historical Teams Who Don't Make the NHL Playoffs

I took a look at each teams Points Percentage (Number of Points divided by Number of Possible Points) when they have missed the playoffs. Who has had the best seasons while missing the playoffs?

Minnesota - .493

Calgary - .472

Buffalo - .466

Florida - .466

Montreal - .458

Nashville - .451

Anaheim - .466

Edmonton - .445

Carolina - .440

Columbus - .438

Philadelphia - .438

Toronto - .438

Atlanta - .434

St Louis - .430

Dallas - .421

Phoenix - .415

LA - .414

New York Rangers - .412

Vancouver - .407

Detroit - .402

Pittsburgh - .394

Boston - .392

New York Islanders - .391

Colorado - .386

Chicago - .379

Washington - .377

New Jersey - .344

Tampa Bay - .308

Ottawa - .303

San Jose - .299

Is Edmonton Helping Calgary?

I've noticed lately in a lot of the Flames games, the opposition has played the night before in Edmonton. I thought I would look more into it and decided to look at all the games where the opponent plays Edmonton first then travels to Calgary for their next game.

Here is what I found.

Edmonton has a record of 2-10-1 in these games. They are outscored by an average of 3.7-1.8, almost 2 goals, while shots are fairly close 30.6-29.0.

Calgary has a record of 9-2-2 in the next game for those teams. Flames outscore those opponents by 3.6-2.4. They out shoot the opposition by an average of 31.2-26.5.

After the 2 games the Oilers have won, the Flames also won in the next game.

Flames have 3 shutouts of the 13 games so far. The average goals for by the opponents against Edmonton is 4.0.

Friday is the last of these type of games. Oilers won vs Columbus, Thursday 4-2.

What will the outcome of the Flames/BlueJackets game be Friday?

All Star Update - NHL Game One Stats

I never would have thought looking into this stat would result in such accurate results. There are still roughly 30 games for teams left, so anything can still happen.

Taking the last 4 years results I found out a percentage of making the playoffs against similar teams based on only the first game of the year.

Teams were divided in 8 categories. Either you were a playoff team or not from the previous year and either you won or lost the first game of this year against a playoff team or a non playoff team.

Take for example Vancouver and Philadelphia . The Canucks had made the playoffs last year. Opening night they lost to the LA Kings also a playoff team from 2010. Philly, also made the playoffs and won their first game against the Penguins who made the playoffs. Each Vancouver and Philly would be in different categories. Over the last 4 years each category had a percentage of teams who made the playoffs in the current year. If you would like to see more in detail, look back in the blog for all the results.

So lets look at the current standings to see how accurate the stats are.

1. Playoff teams who won vs a playoff team. 61% of these teams in last 4 years has made the playoffs. Currently 60% of these teams are in the playoffs

Colorado *

Phoenix*

Los Angeles

Buffalo

Philadelphia *

2. Playoff teams who lost vs a playoff team. 47% made the playoffs. Right now 80% of teams are in playoff position. Can drop it to 60% if you move Chicago in 9th as they are currently tied for 7th.

Chicago*

Ottawa

Pittsburgh*

Boston *

Vancouver*

3. Playoff teams who won vs a non playoff team. 88%. Over the 4 years, there was only 1 instance where a team in this category missed the playoffs. Columbus Blue Jackets were that team last year. Currently 2 of these 3 are in the playoffs and the third San Jose is tied with Chicago for 7th.

Detroit*

San Jose

Nashville*

4. Playoff team who lost vs a non playoff team. 77%. Currently at 66% which is as close as you can get with 3 teams.

Montreal *

New Jersey

Washington*

5. Non Playoff team who won vs a playoff team. 51%. If either 2 or 3 of these teams make the playoff this category will be a success. Currently there are 3.

St. Louis

New York Rangers *

Atlanta*

Dallas*

Toronto

6. Non Playoff team who lost vs a playoff team. 29%. The lowest percentage of teams who went on and made the playoffs. Success here would be either none or 1 to make the playoffs and right now there is one.

Anaheim*

Columbus

7. Non Playoff team who won vs a non playoff team. 42%. Sitting at 33% right now. Looking pretty good here.

Tampa Bay*

Carolina

Edmonton

8. Non Playoff team who lost vs a non playoff team. 33%. Currently zero teams are in the playoffs. It is close though for Minnesota and Calgary as they are 1 and 2 points out respectively.

Calgary

Florida

New York Islanders

Minnesota

To think a 82 game season could be predicted after game 1 would be ridiculous, but these results are within a point here and there of being as close as 100% as you can get.

NHL Guardian Project - On A Budget

The NHL Guardian Project so far has been a dud. Revealing the Guarding isn't must see and most of the time I forget that everyday they have been introducing a new one. The NHL probably paid Stan Lee big bucks for this and really the NHL wouldn't be any different if they decided to invest in something else. Instead of having new characters created, they could have just used past and present cartoon or comic characters to symbolize each team.

Here are my submissions for the NHL Guardian Project - On A Budget.

First Anaheim Ducks

Too easy, so had to look a little harder. Plus they are no longer the Mighty Ducks.

Another team also had a Superhero from the past. <<< CORRECTION, NOT FROM THE PAST

Philadelphia Flyers

Credit goes to S. Kreider

My Guardian for the Flyers

Kearney Zzyzwicz - Simpsons

Atlanta Trashers - Woody Woodpecker

Minnesota Wild - Animal

Washington Captials - Bill Becomes a Law

Vancouver Canucks - The kid from Free Willy

Toronto Maple Leafs - Bert the Raccoon

St Louis Blues - A Smurf

San Jose Sharks - The Fonz

New York Rangers - Ranger Smith - Yogi Bear

Nashville Predators - Yellow Ranger - Power Rangers

Pittsburgh Penguins - The Penguin- Batman

Tampa Bay Lightning - Pikachu- Pokemon

Phoenix Coyotes - Wild E Coyote - Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show

Montreal Canadiens - Pepe Le Pew

Florida Panthers - Pink Panther

Ottawa Senators - Dudley Do Right - Rocky and Bullwinkle Show

Edmonton Oilers - Olive Oyl - Popeye

New Jersey Devils - Taz

New York Islanders - Kanye West Southpark - Fishsticks

Carolina Hurricanes - Big Bad Wolf

Chicago Blackhawks - Henery Hawk

Detroit Red Wings - Ursula - Little Mermaid

Dallas Stars - Patrick - Spongebob Squarepants

Colorado Avalanche - Yeti - Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

Boston Bruins - Smokey the Bear

LA Kings - Babar

Buffalo Sabres - Leonardo - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Calgary Flames - Wheeler - Captain Planet

Columbus Blue Jackets - Drew Carey

Darryl Sutter and the Calgary Flames

2003-2004

Free Agents Signed : Krzysztof Oliwa Josh Green Jesse Wallin Matt Davidson

Players Lost: Scott Nichol Mike Mottau

Chris Drury - July 3, 2003: Traded to Buffalo by Calgary with Steve Begin for Steve Reinprecht and Rhett Warrener

Bob Boughner - July 16, 2003: Traded to Carolina by Calgary for New Jersey's 4th round choice (previously acquired, Calgary selected Kristopher Hogg) in 2004 Entry Draft and Carolina's 5th round choice (Kevin Lalande) in 2005 Entry Draft

Mikka Kiprusoff - November 16, 2003: Traded to Calgary by San Jose for Calgary's 2nd round choice (Marc-Edouard Vlasic) in 2005 Entry Draft

Lynn Loyns - January 9, 2004: Traded to Calgary by San Jose for Calgary's 5th round choice (later traded to Florida - Florida selected Bret Nasby) in 2004 Entry Draft

Ville Nieminen - February 24, 2004: Traded to Calgary by Chicago for Jason Morgan and Calgary's 6th round choice (Joseph Fallon) in 2005 Entry Draft

Chris Simon - March 6, 2004: Traded to Calgary by NY Rangers with NY Rangers' 7th round choice (Matt Schneider) in 2004 Entry Draft for Jamie McLennan, Blair Betts and Greg Moore,

Marcus Nilson - March 8, 2004: Traded to Calgary by Florida for Calgary's 2nd round choice (David Booth) in 2004 Entry Draft

2004-2005 - Lockout

Free Agents Signed: F Jason Wiemer F Byron Ritchie

Players Lost : F Craig Conroy D Toni Lydman F Krzysztof Oliwa G Roman Turek

Daymond Langkow - August 26, 2004: Traded to Calgary by Phoenix for Denis Gauthier and Oleg Saprykin

2005-2006

Signed Free Agents: F Tony Amonte D Roman Hamrlik D Bryan Marchment F Darren McCarty

Player lost

F Dean McAmmond F Martin Gelinas F Ville Nieminen

Chris Clark - August 4, 2005: Traded to Washington by Calgary with Calgary's 7th round choice (Andrew Glass) in 2007 Entry Draft for Washington's 7th round choice (Devin Didiomete) in 2006 Entry Draft and Washington's 6th round choice (later traded to Colorado - Colorado selected Jens Hellgren) in 2007 Entry Draft,

Philippe Sauve - August 9, 2005: Traded to Calgary by Colorado for future considerations,

Toni Lydman - August 25, 2005: Traded to Buffalo by Calgary for Buffalo's 3rd round choice (John Armstrong) in 2006 Entry Draft,

Kristian Huselius - December 2, 2005: Traded to Calgary by Florida for Steve Montador and Dustin Johner

Steve Reinprecht - February 2, 2006: Traded to Phoenix by Calgary with Philippe Sauve for Brian Boucher and Mike Leclerc,

Cale Hulse - March 14, 2000: Traded to Nashville by Calgary with Calgary's 3rd round choice (Denis Platonov) in 2001 Entry Draft for Sergei Krivokrasov,

Jamie Lundmark - March 9, 2006: Traded to Calgary by Phoenix for Calgary's 4th round choice (later traded to NY Islanders - NY Islanders selected Doug Rogers) in 2006 Entry Draft

Jason Wiemer - March 9, 2006: Traded to New Jersey by Calgary for New Jersey's 4th round choice (Hugo Carpentier) in 2006 Entry Draft,

2006-2007

Signed Free Agents - D Andrei Zyuzin F Jeff Friesen G Jamie McLennan D Brad Ference F Eric Godard

Players Lost - F Shean Donovan F Chris Simon F Craig MacDonald G Brian Boucher

Alex Tanguay - June 24, 2006: Traded to Calgary by Colorado for Jordan Leopold, Calgary's 2nd round choice (Codey Burki) in 2006 Entry Draft and Calgary's 2nd round choice (Trevor Cann) in 2007 Entry Draft

Craig Conroy - January 29, 2007: Traded to Calgary by Los Angeles for Jamie Lundmark, Calgary's 4th round choice (Dwight King) in 2007 Entry Draft and Calgary's 2nd round choice (later traded back to Calgary - Calgary selected Mitch Wahl) in 2008 Entry Draft

Brad Stuart - February 10, 2007: Traded to Calgary by Boston with Wayne Primeau and Washington's 4th round choice (previously acquired, Calgary selected T.J. Brodie) in 2008 Entry Draft for Andrew Ference and Chuck Kobasew,

David Hale - February 27, 2007: Traded to Calgary by New Jersey with New Jersey's 5th round choice (later traded to Buffalo - Buffalo selected Jean-Simon Allard) in 2007 Entry Draft for Calgary's 3rd round choice (Nick Palmieri) in 2007 Entry Draft

2007-2008

Free Agent Signings - Cory Sarich Owen Nolan Anders Eriksson Grant Stevenson Mark Smith Curtis Joseph

Players Lost - Roman Hamrlik Byron Ritchie Brad Stuart Brad Ference Jamie McLennan

Andrei Zyuzin - June 22, 2007: Traded to Chicago by Calgary with Steve Marr for Adrian Aucoin and Chicago's 7th round choice (C. J. Severyn) in 2007 Entry Draft

Mikael Backlund - June 22, 2007: 18th Overall pick to St Louis (Ian Cole) for 24th Pick (Backlund) and a Third Round pick in 2007 (John Negrin)

Jim Vandemeer - February 20, 2008: Traded to Calgary by Philadelphia for Calgary's 3rd round choice (Adam Morrison) in 2009 Entry Draft

2008-2009

Free Agents Signed - Curtis Glencross Todd Bertuzzi Jamie Lundmark Andre Roy Lawrence Nycholat

Players Lost - Eric Godard Curtis Joseph Kristian Huselius Owen Nolan David Hale

Michael Cammalleri - June 20, 2008: Traded to Calgary by Los Angeles with Calgary's 2nd round choice (previously acquired, Calgary selected Mitch Wahl) in 2008 Entry Draft for Calgary's 1st round choice (later traded to Anaheim - Anaheim selected Jake Gardiner) in 2008 Entry Draft and Calgary's 2nd round choice (later traded to Carolina - Carolina selected Brian Dumoulin) in 2009 Entry Draft

Alex Tanguay - June 20, 2008: Traded to Montreal by Calgary with Calgary's 5th round choice (Maxim Trunev) in 2008 Entry Draft for Montreal's 1st round choice (Greg Nemisz) in 2008 Entry Draft and Montreal's 2nd round choice (later traded to Colorado - Colorado selected Stefan Elliott) in 2009 Entry Draft

Kyle Greentree - June 30, 2008: Traded to Calgary by Philadelphia for Tim Ramholt

Rene Bourque - July 1, 2008: Traded to Calgary by Chicago for Calgary's 2nd round choice (later traded to Toronto - Toronto selected Brad Ross) in 2010 Entry Draft

Jordan Leopold - March 4, 2009: Traded to Calgary by Colorado for Ryan Wilson, Lawrence Nycholat and Montreal's 2nd round choice (previously acquired, Colorado selected Stefan Elliott) in 2009 Entry Draft

Olli Jokinen - March 4, 2009: Traded to Calgary by Phoenix with Phoenix's 3rd round choice (later traded to Florida - Florida selected Josh Birkholz) in 2009 Entry Draft for Matthew Lombardi, Brandon Prust and Calgary's 1st round choice (Brandon Gormley) in 2010 Entry Draft

2009-2010

Free Agents Signed - Fredrik Sjostrom Garth Murray Riley Armstrong Staffan Kronwall Jason Jaffray Brian McGrattan Nigel Dawes

Players Lost - Mike Cammalleri Adrian Aucoin Warren Peters Todd Bertuzzi Andre Roy Rhett Warrener Jamie Lundmark

Tim Erixon - June 26, 2009 Traded to Calgary (23rd Overall Pick) with 3rd Round Choice (Nicolas Deslauriers) for 20th Overall Pick Jacob Josefson New Jersey Devils

Jay Bouwmeester - June 27, 2009: Traded to Calgary by Florida for Jordan Leopold and Phoenix's 3rd round choice (previously acquired, Florida selected Josh Birkholz) in 2009 Entry Draft, June 27, 2009.

Ryan Howse - June 27, 2009: (74th Overall Pick) Traded to Calgary for Draft Pick 84 (3rd Round) Nicolas Deslauriers (Acquired in previous trade) and Fourth Round Pick (Garrett Wilson)

Brandon Prust - June 27, 2009: Traded to Calgary by Phoenix for Jim Vandermeer

Ketih Seabrook - July 17, 2009 : Traded to Calgary by Washington for Future Considerations

Anton Stralman - July 27, 2009: Traded to Calgary by Toronto with Colin Stuart and Toronto's 7th round choice in 2012 Entry Draft for Wayne Primeau and Calgary's 2nd round choice in 2011 Entry Draft,

Anton Stralman -September 29, 2009: Traded to Columbus by Calgary for Columbus' 3rd round choice (Max Reinhart) in 2010 Entry Draft

Kyle Greentree - October 7, 2009: Traded to Chicago by Calgary for Aaron Johnson

Dion Phaneuf - January 31, 2010: Traded to Toronto by Calgary with Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie for Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White

Olli Jokinen - February 2, 2010: Traded to NY Rangers by Calgary with Brandon Prust for Christopher Higgins and Ales Kotalik

Vesa Toskala - March 3, 2010: Traded to Calgary by Anaheim for Curtis McElhinney

Dustin Boyd - March 3, 2010: Traded to Nashville by Calgary for Nashville's 4th round choice (Bill Arnold) in 2010 Entry Draft,

Steve Staios - March 3, 2010: Traded to Calgary by Edmonton for Aaron Johnson and Calgary's 3rd round choice in 2011 Entry Draft

2010-2011

Free Agent Signings: Alex Tanguay Olli Jokinen Raitis Ivanans Tim Jackman Ryan Stone Stefan Meyer Brendan Morrison Brendan Mikkelson

Players Lost: Eric Nystrom Nigel Dawes Christopher Higgins David Van der Gulik Brett Palin Jamal Mayers

Hendrik Karlsson - June 26, 2010 Traded to Calgary for 6th Round Draft Pick in 2010 (Konrad Abeltshauser)

Jason Jaffray - June 30, 2010: Traded to Anaheim by Calgary with future considerations for Logan MacMillan and future considerations

Ian White - November 17, 2010: Traded to Carolina with Brett Sutter for Anton Babchuck and Tom Kostopoulos