The Pain Game 2013 - per-game breakdown (East)

Having already looked at the Western Conference, below is a graphical breakdown of man-games lost to injury/illness (MGL) and the corresponding cap-hit of each injured player (CHIP) across the entire 2013 (ir)regular season for each team in the Eastern Conference as was, along with the team's rolling/cumulative Fenwick 5v5 close.

See the link above for a marginally more comprehensive explanation.

Data sourced from extraskater.com and tsn.ca.

[Click to enlarge charts]

Boston Bruins (season aggregates - MGL: 101, CHIP: $4,252k)

Basically healthy over the first half (excluding the Savardian baseline), before a handful of injuries over the second. The dip in possession numbers over Games 36-41 does neatly coincide with Patrice Bergeron's absence.

Buffalo Sabres (MGL: 132, CHIP: $5,176k)

Game 28's OT loss to the Senators clearly the high point of the season.

Carolina Hurricanes (MGL: 167, CHIP: $6,897k) 

A generally decent possession team, enough blue ink on the right-hand side of the chart to paint "Cam Ward is our only NHL goalie" in 10-foot high letters on the side of their building.

Florida Panthers (MGL: 325, CHIP: $10,136k) 

More of a struggle over the last 10 games or so, when presumably a better quality group of overpaid third liners was out compared to the group of overpaid third liners that was out over the previous 20 games.

Montreal Canadiens (MGL: 132, CHIP: $2,654k) 

Another team pretty much healthy over most of the first half of the season, although heroically overcoming the devastating absence of Tomas Kaberle in Game 4.

New Jersey Devils (MGL: 91, CHIP: $3,641k) 

The enormous rising levels of red ink will surely begin to subside over the next season.

New York Islanders (MGL: 85, CHIP: $1,059k) 

Freakishly, the blue bars are also a near-perfect representation of the cost of the DiPietro buyout over the next 48 years.

New York Rangers (MGL: 140, CHIP: $3,708k) 

Who was injured when?  None of your damn business.  Next question.

Ottawa Senators (MGL: 229, CHIP: $10,055k) 

Very injury-hit all season, but the middle stretch particularly notable - the heaviest patch of injuries, declining possession numbers, #1 goalie out, but still relatively successful.

Philadelphia Flyers (MGL: 312, CHIP: $10,239k) 

All injury numbers subject to Pronger-inflation, but a noticeable second-half swoon/towel-throwing, in particular everyone associated with the team struggling to cope without Zac Rinaldo over the last 12 games.

Pittsburgh Penguins (MGL: 79, CHIP: $5,399k) 

Whereas the absence of possession sink-hole Sidney Crosby over the Penguins' last 12 games had no noticeable effect whatsoever.

Tampa Bay Lightning (MGL: 152, CHIP: $5,468k) 

I might have actually used the team save percentage for the red line here, on closer inspection...

Toronto Maple Leafs (MGL: 92, CHIP: $2,763k) 

A lot of gritty play causing some injuries over the first half, then a lot of gritty play to protect their teammates, play through injury and/or a significant reduction in helmet heat over the second half.

Washington Capitals (MGL: 153, CHIP: $5,173k) 

Who knows how much more successful the Capitals could have been had Tom Poti not been healthy for half the season?

Winnipeg Jets (MGL: 180, CHIP: $4,177k) 

The likelihood of injuries presumably increased by the many extra miles logged due to the Jets' brutal travel schedule in the Southeast Division and the need to walk around Dustin Byfuglien to get out of the dressing room.

The Pain Game 2013 - per-game breakdown (West)

Having seen one or two examples of trends in team performance being illustrated by charts of possession-proxy metrics at a game-by-game level (examples below), I figured I could attempt to show injury statistics in a similar way, restrospectively at least - it remains to be seen whether tracking the numbers on such a frequent basis for the upcoming season is a viable prospect or a Hugh Jessiman.

NHL Numbers: Western Conference Rolling Team Corsi

NHL Numbers: Half-Season Team Fenwick Close

Extra Skater: Team Stats (LA Kings)

So, what follows is a breakdown of man-games lost to injury/illness (MGL) and the corresponding cap-hit of each injured player (CHIP) across the entire 2013 (ir)regular season for what was once known as the Western Conference.  Hopefully self-evident, but if not, the figure inside the x-axis is the MGL for each game (i.e. number of players missing), the blue bar is CHIP for the game ($k against the right-hand axis).

I've also added the rolling/cumulative Fenwick 5v5 close (red line against the left-hand axis), if only for a broad indication of team performance trends.  Definitely not wise to place too much emphasis on the comparison between injury absences and performances, especially at an individual game level - clearly, many other factors come into play - but it adds a bit of context.  For the avoidance of doubt, absences not due to injury/illness (e.g. healthy scratches, suspensions) are not captured here and who is or isn't included in the numbers is subject to the psuedo-abitrary rulings I normally apply throughout the year.

Data sourced from extraskater.com and tsn.ca.

[Click to enlarge charts]

Anaheim Ducks (season aggregates - MGL: 70, CHIP: $1,660k)

Not much going on here, for what was a largely healthy Ducks team.

Calgary Flames (MGL: 136, CHIP: $3,383k)

The CHIP spike for Games 8-20 mostly due to Miikka Kiprusoff's absence, which obviously shouldn't feed through to possession numbers anyway.  Nice to see that the tanking/awfulness from the midpoint flourished regardless of the degree of health.

Chicago Blackhawks (MGL: 98, CHIP: $3,852k)

As you would expect, the domination of the Hawks only really got going once Dan Carcillo became available to be healthy scratched from Game 17 on.

Colorado Avalanche (MGL: 154, CHIP: $5,467k)

Well, the first few games were enjoyable...

Columbus Blue Jackets (MGL: 137, CHIP: $4,166k) 

As you would expect, the return to relative health of the Jackets only really got going once Marian Gaborik joined the roster from Game 37 on.

Dallas Stars (MGL: 93, CHIP: $2,611k) 

See Calgary's second half, only without the injuries.

Detroit Red Wings (MGL: 247, CHIP: $6,966k) 

A possibly misleading uptick over the last dozen games, unless you really think Kyle Quincey's return to the line-up was that important.

Edmonton Oilers (MGL: 217, CHIP: $5,689k) 

The absence of the vital attributes supplied by Ryan Jones, Ben Eager and Theo Peckham missing over the early stretch simply torpedoed the Oilers' season.

Los Angeles Kings (MGL: 103, CHIP: $3,900) 

Good team.  Willie Mitchell and Matt Greene injured.  Fin.

Minnesota Wild (MGL: 91, CHIP: $2,804k) 

Another generally healthy team until the late absences of former goalscorers Dany Heatley, Mike Rupp and Zenon Konopka.

Nashville Predators (MGL: 130, CHIP: $3,651k) 

Another team for which it's difficult to make the case that injuries were a major contributing factor to being out of playoff contention.

Phoenix Coyotes (MGL: 115, CHIP: $3,323k) 

Lines and bars that stubbornly refuse to move north, however much everybody expects them to.

San Jose Sharks (MGL: 96, CHIP: $2,626k) 

The last of the relatively healthy Pacific Division teams - looks like they did benefit from this over the last 15-16 games.

St. Louis Blues (MGL: 122, CHIP: $3,873k) 

Clearly a much healthier first half than second, but also some serious mean-reversion going on with the possession numbers.

Vancouver Canucks (MGL: 160, CHIP: $6,500k) 

Ryan Kesler played Games 13-19 and 39-48, FYI.