Ow, that really hurts! - an addendum

Further to the October update on CHIP numbers (HERE), I figured it wouldn’t be that difficult to produce some sort of basic analysis on where all these NHLers have been getting hurt. Er, obviously meaning what part of the body, not the location of the game in which the injury occurred (of course, the latter would merely confirm that the vast majority occurred in Philadelphia…)

The results (again covering games played through 31 October) are in the table below. I’ve just used the descriptions found in the player profiles on tsn.ca, so the figures will encompass all the inaccuracies and vagueness within them. It should give a broad indication, if nothing else, though.

I’m no doctor, so I’m not really sure what conclusions can be drawn from this, other than:

• Confirming the general evasiveness of NHL teams when it comes to detailed injury disclosure
  
• Suggesting groin strains are at least as contagious in NHL dressing rooms as H1N1 or outrageous facial hair

Ow, that really hurts!

Injury stats update – October 2009

[Looking for more up-to-date figures? For my latest update, try HERE.]

This is my first look for the 2009/10 regular season at which teams have been hit hardest by injuries by trying to place a value on the games missed by players due to injury/illness.

(My most recent piece on this, for the end of the 2008/09 regular season, can be viewed HERE.)

The concept again - multiply each game missed by a player by his 2009/10 cap charge, then take the aggregate of these figures for each team and divide by 82. This indicator of value lost to a team by injury/illness is called CHIP (Cap Hit of Injured Players).

The table below shows:

• Total CHIP for each team over the first month of the 2009/10 regular season (through games played on 31 October)
• The player who has contributed most to the team's CHIP figure
• The number of players with a CHIP contribution of over $250,000 (think of it as being equivalent to a $1m player missing 20 games or a $4m player missing five games)

Some familiar players feature (Hello, Messrs DiPietro, Modin and Gaborik!), but at this stage, the teams worst hit aren’t too similar to those that ended up at the top of the table last year.

Interesting to note, however, that the four healthiest teams from 2008/09 (Rangers, Coyotes, Kings and Ducks) are again towards the right end of the table so far in 2009/10. WIll this last, or will certain factors – Gaborik, agoraphobia, tripping over Ryan Smyth’s hair and a robust style of play, respectively – hinder these teams’ efforts to remain healthy all year?

The second list (as usual) is the top 30 individual CHIP contributions:


Markov is gone for a while, so expect him to lead this race for some time. Elias and Kessel (among others) are said to be on their way back. DiPietro? I reckon the Islanders might yet acquire three or four more goalies this year, just to make sure.

Notes/Disclaimers

• Figures include (and are arguably distorted by) some players on long-term IR, such as Mike Rathje (there’s a fair argument that Rathje shouldn’t be on here, since I can’t imagine he’ll either play again or that the Flyers are missing him). They do exclude a few minor-leaguers who seem to be on the NHL club’s IR
• There's probably a few inaccuracies and inconsistencies in there - I did the best I could with the information out there
  
• The cap figure doesn't really correlate very well to the "worth" of a player in some cases, e.g. where rookie bonuses are included this year, where players are seeing out an old (underpaid or rookie) contract or where players are horrendously overpaid
• Also, for any player who was acquired on re-entry waivers (e.g. Sean Avery, Randy Jones), the cap hit will only reflect that for their current team, i.e. 50% of the player’s full cap hit (shared between his current and old teams)
• I've once again stuck a full team-by-team listing of games missed and CHIP numbers by each player on the web HERE - knock yourself out...
• Injury/games info courtesy of tsn.ca
• Cap info courtesy of hockeybuzz.com and capgeek.com

NHL Premiere 2009 in Stockholm – Day Two

St. Louis Blues 5-3 Detroit Red Wings, 3 October 2009

Friday night’s season opener saw the Blues withstand some early dominance by the Wings to overturn a two-goal deficit in the second period with some opportunistic finishing, then hold on with some comfort in a more defensive third period. Game two on Saturday featured…well, pretty much the same thing in the end, strangely enough.

As before (see HERE), the following is merely a fairly unfocused stream of observations and highlights plus a fairly unfocused stream of amateur photographs. (I did manage to venture down to the glass – or near to it, at least – for warm-ups this time. I happened to be at the Wings’ end, hence the uneven spread of shots. No anti-Blues bias intended.)

• Expert planner that I am, meal time is once again spent in the Arena. A 77kr hot dog/drink combination providing far greater VFM than Friday’s caviar and pheasant.


• A second Håkan Andersson interview still doesn’t illuminate me any. Still seems like a decent bloke though.


• Culture vulture that I am (ahem), I should note that pre-game entertainment came courtesy of Swedish 80s rock throwbacks Bullet, an example of whose work can be found HERE. (Friday saw the not dissimilar Backyard Babies take the stage.) The crowd again are left mystified and disappointed by the absence of native Eurodance leviathan, Basshunter.


• An brief appearance by Mats Sundin in one corner of the rink, for a TV interview, starts a mild commotion in the crowd. A subsequent Darren Pang sighting in the same place does not.


• The newly-decisive Sundin later carries out the ceremonial puck drop, receiving a huge standing ovation from the crowd, who are clearly expressing relief that the next three months will be free of “Where will Mats play?” speculation.


• Battle of the backups tonight, as Ty Conklin and Jimmy Howard start.


• The Wings almost overwhelm the Blues in the first few minutes, taking a 2-0 lead and having another negated by a high-stick call. Conklin is quickly getting reacquainted with Tomas Holmström’s (and Dan Cleary’s) rear end.


• A much more physical game than Friday’s – Backes, Tkachuk and Stuart prominent playing the body.


• A big PP goal late in the first by Tkachuk keeps the Blues in the game.


• The game turns on two quick goals in the second period for the Blues – both clear scoring chances, but as the cliché goes, both efforts Howard “would like to have back”.


• A rare cheer for a Blues player when Patrik Berglund’s goal is announced.


• Again, the Blues aren’t put under huge pressure in the third period, this time adding an insurance goal (again on the PP – the Wings’ PK still looks a weakness).


• As one final chance passes, Johan Franzén demolishes his stick against Conklin’s goal. The typical impassive Swede.

NHL Premiere 2009 in Stockholm – Day One

Detroit Red Wings 3 – 4 St. Louis Blues, 2 October 2009

I’m both incapable and too lazy to (a) do some sort of informative travelogue thing illustrating the delights of Stockholm, or (b) provide an insightful write-up of the game itself, so…

The following is merely a fairly unfocused stream of observations and highlights from my attendance at Friday night’s game at Globen Arena in Stockholm, plus a fairly unfocused stream of amateur photographs. (Yes, I wasn’t sat that close. I will see if I can get closer to warmups for game two.)

• It was probably a mistake to take my chances by waiting to eat once I was inside the Arena. A ropey burger, a huge vat of crisps (potato chips, for the hard of English-speaking out there) and a Coke is standard Arena fare. Not really worth 153kr though – I might rethink my strategy on Saturday…


• The 100kr programme is nice enough, but I’m a few decades away from being able to understand most of it. Who could argue against it saying Roman Polák “är stark som en oxe” though?


• Similarly, I’m not sure I followed much of the pre-game interview with Red Wings über-Euroscout Håkan Andersson, but he seemed like a decent bloke.


• Interviews throughout the evening were conducted by a coach-turned-TV host (apparently) Niklas Wikegård, who couldn’t resist poking fun at the American announcer’s pronunciation of his name (Why-ker-guard rather than Vee-ker-gord).


• There’s some sort of huge luxury box/restaurant area on my left in the Arena, with a curtain that can be pulled across to cover it. Not in use tonight, but sure to be used when New Jersey and Columbus play here next year.


• Hearts in mouths for Blues fans as injury-on-skates Carlo Colaiacovo performs a slow-motion stumble into a team-mate and down to the ice during warmups. He turns out to be OK though.


• Very pro-Wing crowd (a lot more Wings jerseys in evidence around the city before the game too). Lidström and Zetterberg win the popularity contest by a long way.


• On the Wings’ first goal, referee Bill McCreary sets a perfect pick (maybe throwing in a slight hold too) on the ox-like Polák, allowing Kris Draper to burst to the net untouched.


• The Wings’ second goal is a short-handed breakaway for Kirk Maltby, nicely finished. These kids Draper and Maltby have some good speed. They could stick in this league.


• Ville Leino should score some goals this year if his wrist shot is that good.


• Chris Mason keeps the Blues in the game in the first period then completely robs Johan Franzén in the third to preserve the lead.


• Markus Näslund is among the celebrities shown in the crowd at one point – he strangely looks bored out of his mind, chewing gum. An expression no doubt honed while playing on the Rangers’ powerplay last year.

Burning Questions - Western Conference

Following from my recent Eastern Conference run-down (HERE), yet more smouldering queries, this time (shockingly) covering the Western Conference:

Anaheim Ducks

Which writer will first produce an article featuring the Ducks and Bob Murray without using the phrase "retooling on the fly"?

Calgary Flames

Will controversy ensue if/when Darryl Sutter's wife beats out Curtis McElhinney for the backup goalie position?

Chicago Blackhawks

If the Hawks reach the Stanley Cup Final, are they allowed to trade Marian Hossa to their opponents before it starts?

Colorado Avalanche

How many months will pass until Greg Sherman and Joe Sacco can get into Pepsi Center without having to convince the security staff that they really do work there?

Columbus Blue Jackets

Is it some strange Canadian thing that makes all announcers say Monsieur Vermette's first name as "Ann-twon" rather than "Onn-twan"?

Dallas Stars

How long until Sean Avery isn't the sole reason for every game the team loses?

Detroit Red Wings

Has Ken Holland already scouted the foetuses that will be the future team-mates of Zetterberg and Franzén when they hit the final year of their new deals?

Edmonton Oilers

Will the Renney/Quinn good cop/bad cop routine eventually lead their players to break down and confess that none of them want to play in Edmonton either?

Los Angeles Kings

Can Quick and Brown lead the Kings out of their dire era?

Minnesota Wild

Will Don Cherry realise before either retires than Owen Nolan isn't called "Olin Nolan"?

Nashville Predators

Is Alexander Radulov determined to stay in Ufa until he becomes an UFA?

Phoenix Coyotes

Can Jim Balsillie fill the chasm felt by so many Canadian fans by bringing a third non-playoff team to Ontario?

San Jose Sharks

Did Doug Wilson put an appropriate degree of fear into his players by suggesting that Dany Heatley would "give the whole team a lift"?

St. Louis Blues

With a T.J., a B.J. and a D.J. on the depth chart, is a trade for Umberger in the works, or will the Blues entice Axelsson or Stock back to the NHL?

Vancouver Canucks

Will an irreparable hole be torn in the space-time continuum if the Sedins ever have career scoring totals more than two points apart at any time?

Burning Questions - Eastern Conference

So, it seems like the done thing is for your average NHL writer/columnist to do some sort of "Burning Questions for the 30 NHL Teams" feature (example HERE).

These things rarely ask the questions that I would be asking, were I to be to sitting at home posing rhetorical NHL questions to myself. So, here goes for the Eastern Conference (the West will follow if I feel like it):

Atlanta Thrashers

When will somebody notice that Don Waddell still has a job?

Boston Bruins

Will the Bruins miss Zdeno Chara while he recovers from injuries sustained when hitting his head on the scoreboard during an off-season tour of the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium?

Buffalo Sabres

Is this the year Tim Connolly reaches the landmark of 20 career NHL games?

Carolina Hurricanes

Will Jim Rutherford ever move on?

Florida Panthers

Will somebody actually paying to attend a Panthers game be the first sign of a turnaround in the global economy?

Montreal Canadiens

Will the annual team bonding trip to Disney World be ruined when half the players are not allowed to go on the rides?

New Jersey Devils

Will Newark's infrastructure cope with the impending stampede of hockey fans desperate to catch a glimpse of the second coming of Lemaire's Devils?

New York Islanders

Is Marty Biron the backup goalie or the backup GM?

New York Rangers

What will snap first: Avery's leash, Gaborik's groin or Tortorella's patience?

Ottawa Senators

Have they cleared enough cap space to take Wade Redden back yet?

Philadelphia Flyers

As both a cheap, stop-gap goalie and a violent nut-job, is Ray Emery the ultimate Flyer?

Pittsburgh Penguins

Has Sid still living in Mario's house yet crossed the line that separates "slightly creepy" from "moderately disturbing"?

Tampa Bay Lightning

Can the signing of 23 new defensemen possibly come close to replacing the mammoth contribution of Marek Malik?

Toronto Maple Leafs

Will Brian Burke and Ron Wilson ever manage to overcome their chronic shyness in front of the media?

Washington Capitals

What will be greater in number: Alex Ovechkin goals or Semyon Varlamov name changes?

A-to-Z of the NHL off-season

Arbitration

Formal process whereby NHL GMs (agents) tear down (inflate) the performances of a player in front of an independent adjudicator, in order to determine whether said player will be horrendously overpaid or merely generously overpaid for the coming season. Noted humanitarian Mike Milbury famously reduced then-Islanders goalie Tommy Salo to tears at his arbitration hearing - an emotion also induced for many thousands of Islander fans in subsequent years.

Brian Burke

A one-man attempt to liven up the dead period that is the Maple Leafs since 1967...er, I mean the dead period that is the NHL off-season. His bold attempts to (a) draft John Tavares, (b) draft Brayden Schenn, (c) sign Colton Orr to a contract worth less than $4m and (d) pass a microphone without comment, over the last couple of months all ended in glorious but entertaining failure. For that, bored and restless NHL fans of all allegiances are thankful.

Cricket

English summer game (with parallels to baseball with much lower steroid use and even more incompetent administration). Absolutely no connection to the NHL other than it being the main focus of my sporting attention in the absence of hockey and football, plus the regular appearances of Washington Capitals defenseman Milan Jurčina as an umpire at village games in Gloucestershire.

Draft

I could write almost 3,000 words about the NHL Entry Draft. Oh wait, I did...(HERE)

Exit interview

I don't know if NHL teams carry these out when players/coaches/GMs leave or not, but some of the conversations could be interesting:

• "What are your primary reasons for leaving?"
  Scott Gomez: "Mostly the $51.5m."

• "Were there any company policies or procedures that made your work more difficult?"
  Tony Granato: "I'd say a pretty poor roster, my best players being injured and you openly trying to hire my replacement before firing me for the second time."

• "What did you find most frustrating about your job"
  Brent Sutter: "I missed my family. Specifically, my brother Darryl."
  

Free Agent Frenzy

The natural counterpart to Trade Deadline Trauma. Both feature hastily conceived player transactions, ranging from the inspired (rarely) to the disastrous (more plentiful - hello, Glen Sather), allied to hours upon hours of TV coverage of men in suits playing with their Blackberries. Whereas TDT starts as an often soporific affair, gradually warming up to the deadline climax and the near instant gratification of seeing the players in action within days, FAF starts with a bang ("No, Mr Ohlund, we are not permitted to present you with this complicated legal document prior to noon EST. I'm sure you can read, consider and sign it within 15 minutes, though.") and fades away over a day or two until the point where the signing of Andrew Alberts becomes the biggest news of the week.

Golf

Revealed to be the favourite off-season pursuit of NHLers in a recent survey, with 99.78% of players saying they were keen golfers (Sean Avery being the lone exception - he would apparently love to play, but wearing the clothing would be "an unthinkable humiliation"). Members of the Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes are said to be particularly good exponents of the sport, due to both their teams' locations and the extra two months' practice available to them each year. The recent exploits of Tom Watson at the Open Championship are also credited with the publicised desire of Chris Chelios to now play in the NHL well into his eighties.

Heatley saga

Dany likes Bryan. Bryan likes Dany. They agree to be together for a long time. Bryan employs Cory. Dany doesn't like Cory, so Dany wants to leave Bryan. Dany tells everyone he wants to leave Bryan before he tells Bryan. Bryan no longer likes Dany. Bryan sets up Dany with his friend Steve who's very keen on Dany. Dany flirts with Steve, but at the last minute, Dany gets cold feet and stays with Bryan while still wanting to leave Bryan. Dany and Bryan's boss Eugene isn't happy that he still has to pay Dany while he's around. Some of Bryan's other friends (including Glen, who's interested in everybody) are kind of interested in Dany, but Bryan and Eugene don't want to give Dany up so easily. Dany, Bryan and Eugene stay unhappy. For now.

Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament

If you're going to watch an U-18 international hockey tournament held in August in the towns of Hodonín and Piešťany, most hockey observers reckon it should be this one. So named following the death in 2001 of any hope of Europeans being taken seriously as candidates for NHL head coaching positions.

Judge Redfield T. Baum

Owner of a spectacularly good name, Judge RTB is one of the key players in this summer's headline event: Who should own the Coyotes and where should they play? (Otherwise known as Bettman vs The Entire Nation of Canada or The Rules vs Balsillie's Bottomless Pit of Cash/Ego.) Solely responsible for the 548% increase in applications to study bankruptcy law at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

KHL

Sergei Zubov? да! Jaromir Jágr? да! Jiří Hudler? да! Alexander Radulov? да! Friendly cooperation with Gary Bettman and the NHL? нет!

Late night habits

No, not a reference to the nocturnal activities of players in their time off (see the next entry for that), but the phenomenon of European NHL fans regularly staying up past 2am even when they have no reason to, just because they've screwed their body clocks up so much over the rest of the year.

Mischief and misdemeanours

Although reports concerning the off-season pursuits of NHLers generally appear to contain far fewer references to dead bodies, dog fights, strippers, firearms and egomaniacal self-publicising (or any combination thereof) than those of their NFL and NBA brethren, the relative freedom afforded to players while outside the clutches of a tightly-knit group of team-mates and a disciplined coaching staff does lead to the odd minor scrape with justice on occasion. The under-age Staal brothers and a "lively" bachelor party, Peter Worrell kicking a police car window (18 months before dreaming up his ingenious plan of telling the cops he was the slightly whiter and slightly shorter Andreas Lilja when arrested) and now the multi-millionaire Patrick Kane allegedly going postal on a cab driver over 20 cents - all part of the rich tapestry of NHL off-season life...

Neck and neck

The off-season has surely been one of the favourite points of the entire year for fans (both of them) in Long Island, Phoenix, Atlanta and Florida in recent years - when else can they say that their teams have in a tie for a playoff place for three straight months?

Offer sheet

Legitimate team-construction tool permitted by the CBA or nefarious tactic under-used by colluding group of GMs unwilling to upset or risk ridicule by Brian Burke?

Press conference

While falling some way short of the fanaticism/idiocy of some European football fans when faced with the unveiling of a new player (see HERE), the appearance of that newly-signed injury-riddled winger or traded-for violent goofball defenseman in your team's jersey for the first time brings only hope and joy to the NHL fan. Even if the player and/or GM normally treat the media with undisguised misery and contempt during the season, it's usually all smiles at the off-season press conference - good humour that can dissipate extremely quickly on all sides as the player is exposed to be an overpaid, disinterested bum two or three weeks into the new season.

Qualifying offer sheet

Standard piece of documentation (check page 302 of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement for a thrilling look at what it should look like) necessary to ensure clubs preserve their rights to compensation in respect of their restricted free agent players. Apparently can get held up in the mail in the Chicago area - should always be marked "Private and Confidential". Dale Tallon came to regret offering the chance for Denis Savard to stay on as a "special ambassador" in the post room after canning him as coach.

Rookie camp

Annual team ritual where first-year NHL players are compelled to attend team meal and/or board charter flight while wearing the most flamboyant women's clothing to be found. An idea thought to have originated around the time of Sean Avery's first pre-season scrimmage with the Red Wings.

Stanley Cup tour

Of course, the concept of spending a day with the Cup is pretty good and a well-deserved reward, and many players do worthy things when it's their turn. But I'm short on fascination with what Pascal Dupuis or Mike Zigomanis might have done unless they can top Kris Draper's daughter defecating in the thing. Come on guys, the bar was raised! Of course, if Sidney Crosby is anywhere near the Cup, I want to read every last detail of the entire day, however mundane or saccharine. What do you mean he got two days?

TSN.ca

If you keep revisiting enough times (four, five times a day...) throughout late July and early August, you too will be among the first to learn about exactly which undrafted college free-agent forwards the Senators have signed to minor league contracts. Anything less frequent than that - you call yourself a fan?

Unlikely comebacks

No off-season seems to go by any more without reading about a veteran player trying to make an unlikely/miraculous return to a once All-Star calibre career after an absence of several years, often in the face of a mountain of scepticism and scrutiny. Claude Lemieux, Theo Fleury, Wade Redden...who will be next?

Vegas

The transplant of the NHL awards show to Sin City was a brave, attention-seeking move. I, for one, can't think of another place where attracting contemporary superstar artists like Chaka Khan and finding out Jeremy Roenick's eloquence doesn't automatically translate to the ability to read an autocue could've been possible.

Workouts
Seemingly gone are the days when NHLers returned home to paint the barn or help out on the farm to prepare for the grind of the new season. Instead, players just have enough time to take a quick vacation and play some golf (or to combine the two) before commencing gruelling off-season workouts, often via attendance at a boot camp/Californian retreat run by a sadist, ex-military infomercial star with some distant connection to Chris Chelios. Optional for Kyle Wellwood.

Xenophobia
While certainly a year-round activity for some of its more enlightened practitioners, extra cheer is always brought to the anti-Euro crew in the summer months by any non-Canadian returning home ("back where they belong") to play for whatever reason.

Yawning
Common reflex among NHL fans during the period between June and October. Largely maintained as a local phenomenon in the state of New Jersey between October and June as well.

Zherdev
(It was this or Zamboni...) A reasonably amusing interview with the newly-free Ukrainian enigma (from prior to his recent arbitration hearing) can be found HERE. "I didn't hear any specific reprimands in his address" is probably a fair summary of Torts' placid coaching style and a view shared by scores of players in Tampa Bay and New York, right?