St. Louis Blues 2010 Regular Season Thread

[TheoSqua]

Also, check out the Blues top 3 in points:

T.J. Oshie: 9
David Perron: 6
Patrik Berglund: 5
David Backes: 5
McDonald: 5
Colaiacovo: 5


If Oshie/Perron/Berglund blossom into strong offensive players and lead this team in points we're gonna be really really good.

[TheoSqua]

Also, in the vein of being totally overoptimistic about the teams current performance. Here's the Western Conferences Points Per Game so far:

1. St. Louis - 1.50 (on pace for 123)
2. Nashville - 1.44 (118)
3. Los Angelos - 1.40 (114)
4. Detroit - 1.37 (112)
5. Columbus - 1.33 (109)
6. Calgary - 1.20 (98)
7. Chicago - 1.18 (97)
8. San Hose - 1.12 (92)
9. Vancouver - 1.11 (91)
10. Dallas - 1.11 (91)
11. Minnesota - 1.11 (91)
12. Colorado - 1.10 (90)
13. Phoenix - 1.00 (82)
14. Anaheim - 0.90 (73)
15. Edmonton - 0.75 (61)


Obviously the Blues will regress a bit, but this shows how strong this start has really been. Them being 5th in the standings is really a bit misleading. (As is Detroit being in 7th and last place in our division)

[thrill]

We haven't gotten any flukey points either. It's been well deserved victories and hard fought performances to get into overtime to salvage points. Played some good teams too.

[TimeForGuinness]

We haven't gotten any flukey points either. It's been well deserved victories and hard fought performances to get into overtime to salvage points. Played some good teams too.

++

I made the comment to a buddy that we don't seem to giving up too many soft goals this year (but I realize I'm basing this on only a handful of games). But over the last two years, it seemed to be a common occurrence.

[BigDCardlvr]

Android users, navigate to this page on your phone's browser, make sure third-party applications are enabled on your phone's settings, download the file in the link and run it.

It's NHL Game Center (w/live streaming games) for free.

http://www.thenow1.com/software/nhlliveclear.apk

Know if there's a similar option available for the iPhone?

Yes, I'd be interested in something like this for Iphone as well.

[TheoSqua]

Android users, navigate to this page on your phone's browser, make sure third-party applications are enabled on your phone's settings, download the file in the link and run it.

It's NHL Game Center (w/live streaming games) for free.

http://www.thenow1.com/software/nhlliveclear.apk

Know if there's a similar option available for the iPhone?

Yes, I'd be interested in something like this for Iphone as well.

I'm sure it's in the iPhone market, but i bet it costs money. iPhone's market is closed, so you can't go to a URL and download an application for the iphone. Android's market is much more open and you can install third-party applications like this.

[TheoSqua]

Blues get the game of the week and a little bit of espn attention:

http://espn.go.com/nhl/gameoftheweek

[longhornbaseball]

The defense has been a lot better thus far. They are only allowing 25.2 shots per game compared with 30.2 last year. If we hold SV% constant at last year's level of .912 (by Mason and Conklin) we see that the shot difference accounts for 0.44 less goals per game against. Over 82 games that is a 36 goal difference or about 12 points in the standings.

The goalies have a .936 SV% this year compared with .912 last year. Using this year's shot total of 25.2 per game, the goalies have allowed 0.60 less goals per game than last year or 50 goals over the whole year. That is 17 points in the standings.

Halak's SV% will regress to his normal level of .915-.925, but its possible the difference in shots allowed is real. I don't know what leads to shots allowed, but its possible blocked shots, giveaways, and takeaways may have some effect. Here is how those stats compare with our per game rates last year.

Code: Select all

Stat      09-10   10-11
-----------------------
BlkSht    12.9    13.1
GvAwy     6.7     5.2
TkAwy     6.7     6.7

So our blocked shots are up (good), giveaways are down (good), and takeaways are the same. If we only allowed 25.2 shots per game this year, I think we are a 108 point team. They certainly look like they're that good, thus far.

[TheoSqua]

I think a lot of it is the way this team manages puck possession now. It's a lot harder to make shots when the Blues have the puck in your zone half the game.

I can't believe that no stat site or the NHL doesn't track zone possession. TOI is tracked, it shouldn't be too much harder to split that between defensive/neutral/offensive zone. But if I had to guess, this year the Blues are spending a lot more time in the opponents side of the rink than last year. There's been several occasions where the Blues seem like they have a power play on 5v5 when they keep the puck in the offensive zone for 2 minutes.

[BigDCardlvr]

The defense has been a lot better thus far. They are only allowing 25.2 shots per game compared with 30.2 last year. If we hold SV% constant at last year's level of .912 (by Mason and Conklin) we see that the shot difference accounts for 0.44 less goals per game against. Over 82 games that is a 36 goal difference or about 12 points in the standings.

The goalies have a .936 SV% this year compared with .912 last year. Using this year's shot total of 25.2 per game, the goalies have allowed 0.60 less goals per game than last year or 50 goals over the whole year. That is 17 points in the standings.

Halak's SV% will regress to his normal level of .915-.925, but its possible the difference in shots allowed is real. I don't know what leads to shots allowed, but its possible blocked shots, giveaways, and takeaways may have some effect. Here is how those stats compare with our per game rates last year.

Code: Select all

Stat      09-10   10-11
-----------------------
BlkSht    12.9    13.1
GvAwy     6.7     5.2
TkAwy     6.7     6.7

So our blocked shots are up (good), giveaways are down (good), and takeaways are the same. If we only allowed 25.2 shots per game this year, I think we are a 108 point team. They certainly look like they're that good, thus far.

The only problem is the division. The central looks like a real beast this year and it wouldn't surprise me if all 5 teams made the playoffs.