Monday, November 26, 2012

It's Never Too Early to Think About... The Draft

With the National Hockey League in lockout/lockdown mode and the league and its players association having been joined by a mediator to help push the process along, it is just about time to bid hope for a 2012-2013 – or rather a “2013” – NHL season goodbye and start focusing on the NHL draft to be held…well, whenever.  And that brings us to the rules that will govern the lottery to determine the number of ping pong balls each team will received in the lottery to come.  Sort of the NHL’s version of Powerball… “Puckyball,” if you will.

Let us recall the rules that governed the last lottery back in 2005, the “Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes:”

1.  All 30 NHL teams start with three ping pong balls.

2.  For every playoff appearance in the previous three seasons, a team loses one ball.  Teams left with three balls:

Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Atlanta Thrashers
Florida Panthers

3.  Teams with a number one overall draft pick in any of the previous four years lose one ball.  Since Atlanta and Florida had number one draft picks in that window (Atlanta picked Ilya Kovalchuk in 2001, and Florida had the number one overall pick in 2003 but traded it to Pittsburgh), they dropped out, leaving four teams with three balls:

Buffalo Sabres
Columbus Blue Jackets
New York Rangers
Pittsburgh Penguins

Of course, every thoughtful hockey fan knows that the league and Buffalo had a deal for the Sabres to host the first Winter Classic in exchange for their balls being “lost” before they went into the tumbler for selection.  And please, who takes Columbus being in that group seriously?

So, miracles of miracles, the two teams with the only legitimate chance of getting the rights to speak the words “Sidney Crosby” at the top of the 2005 draft were the league’s biggest market and its favorite pet of a team.  It was a win-win for the league!

It begs the question, what machinations will be involved to rig the Puckyball rules to get to the result the league wants this time?  Well, our special ops forces at Peerless Central managed to obtain the secret documents that set forth the rules that will govern the 2013 draft lottery…

Step 1… All 30 teams start with three ping pong balls
Step 2… Teams lose a ping pong ball for each playoff appearance in the last three years to a maximum of two balls lost (to ensure that every team still has one ball).

Remaining teams with three balls…

Carolina
NY Islanders
Toronto
Winnipeg
Calgary
Dallas
Minnesota
Columbus
Edmonton

Step 3… Teams lose a ping pong ball for each top overall pick in the last four years to a maximum of two, but in no case shall any team be left with no ping pong balls.

Remaining teams with three balls…

Carolina
Toronto
Winnipeg
Calgary
Dallas
Minnesota
Columbus

Step 4… Each team having been selected to host a draft in any year since the “schedule interruption” of 2004-2005 will lose a ping pong ball.

Remaining teams with three balls…

Carolina
Toronto
Winnipeg
Calgary
Dallas

Step 5… Each team having hosted an NHL all-star game in any year since the “schedule interruption” of 2004-2005 will lose a ping pong ball (and just because you moved, don’t think you get a pass… Winniplanta).

Remaining teams with three balls…

Toronto
Calgary

Step 6… Each team whose arena was renamed since the “schedule interruption” of 2004-2005 will lose a ping pong ball.

Remaining teams with three balls…

Toronto

Step 7… Teams having replaced their coach at least once last season will lose a ping pong ball for every time the coach was replaced.

Remaining teams with three ping pong balls…

None

(oops...)

Step 8… Each team having opened a new arena in any of the past three seasons will have all ping pong balls lost restored for their contributions to the game.

Teams with three ping pong balls:



And there you have it.  The Pittsburgh Penguins will be the team with the best chance of landing a Nathan MacKinnon or a Seth Jones in next June’s NHL entry draft, should the 2012-2013 season be cancelled.  You will find no more deserving team in the 412 area code.  Well, no more deserving NHL hockey team in the 412 area code... maybe.

For the rest of you, there is the chance of drafting the next Alex Bourret or Sasha Pokulok.  Good luck.

A Turkey Week Trifecta of Games... The Caps Go 1-2-0

A fantasy season comes with a fantasy Turkey Week and a fantasy hiatus from game summaries.  We just wish the fantasy turkey, stuffing, cranberries, pumpkin pie, and all the trimmings only required a fantasy unbuttoning of the slacks after dinner.  But we’re stuffed, and the Caps had a full plate of Turkey Week games as well.

Game 19…  Capitals 3 – Jets 2

A team in the midst of a long road trip – this would be the third game of a six-game roadie for the Jets, their longest of the season – does not want to fall behind early.  That’s just what the Jets did, though, when Nicklas Backstrom put back a rebound of an Alex Ovechkin shot just 77 seconds into the game.  That could have been the start of something big for the home team, but the Caps frittered away the momentum early in the second period when they took minor penalties 22 seconds apart to give the Jets a 5-on-3 advantage.

Winnipeg made good on both ends of the power play, Evander Kane striking off a scramble in front at 4:19 and Dustin Byfuglien giving the Jets the lead 14 seconds later on a rocket from the point through Caps goalie Braden Holtby.

The Caps settled down after that, Holtby being steadfast in goal for the rest of the middle frame and into the third period.  Unfortunately for the Caps, Ondrej Pavelec was up to the task of keeping the Caps off the scoreboard after the early Backstrom goal.  There was not much he could do, though, when Joey Crabb knotted the contest at two-apiece with less than five minutes left.  Crabb was left all alone at the right post to backhand the puck into an open net after Pavelec blocked away a close-in chance by Matt Hendricks. 

The Caps took the lead just over two minutes later when Brooks Laich scored from almost the same place from which Crabb scored, this one being the product of a slick cross-ice pass from the edge of the right wing circle by Mike Ribeiro.  Holtby did the rest, turning away a good chance by Blake Wheeler in the last half minute to preserve the 3-2 come-from-behind win.

Game 20… Stars 2 – Capitals 1

The Caps took to the road on the day after Thanksgiving, visiting Dallas to take on the Stars.  The Caps won their earlier meeting on November 4th in Washington, defeating the Stars by a 3-2 score.

Washington got off to a fast start once more, Alex Ovechkin scoring off a one-man rush just 33 seconds into the game.  Ovechkin picked up a loose puck along the left wing wall in the Caps’ end and skated out with Trevor Daley back.  Ovechkin pushed Daley back with speed and before Eric Nystrom could get back to close off a detour through the middle, Ovechkin snapped a wrist shot past Daley and over goalie Kari Lehtonen’s glove.

Dallas would strike back and strike back quickly.  Michael Ryder notched his fifth of the season and first since scoring against the Caps on November 4th at the 1:01 mark when he collected a rebound of a Stephane Robidas shot and curled it past goalie Braden Holtby’s glove as Holtby dove to try to cover the puck.  Former Capital and Capital nemesis Jaromir Jagr got his fourth of the year just 50 seconds later when he stepped out from the right wing wall and rifled a wrist shot into the top corner over Holtby’s glove.

That would end the scoring for the first period and, in fact, for the game.  The game settled into a lethargic affair that featured few shots, fewer scoring opportunities, and no flow.  Dallas was happy to play that kind of game, and it left the Caps on the short end of a 2-1 decision, ending the Caps short two-game winning streak.

Game 21… Blues 2 – Capitals 1

Different city, same result.  The Caps scored early once more.  Joel Ward won a fight for a loose puck in the corner to St. Louis Blues goalie Jaroslav Halak.  Ward threw the puck to the front of the net where Brooks Laich was waiting.  The puck never arrived, though.  Halak tried to blade the puck away from Laich but managed only to have it hit the heel of his stick and deflect through his legs into the back of the net.  The goal at 45 seconds was the second straight game in which the Caps scored in the first minute.

With the way goaltender Braden Holtby was playing, it seemed as if the Ward goal would hold up.  Holtby stopped the first 20 shots he faced from the home team and was steering rebounds safely out of harm’s way.  The 21st shot, however, tied the game.  Matt Hendricks went off for roughing at 16:04 to give the Blues a power play.  The Caps stymied the Blues, holding them without a shot on goal as the man advantage was about to expire.  The Caps got caught breaking formation, though, on their penalty kill, and T.J. Oshie and Patrik Berglund found themselves with a 2-on-1 deep, only Roman Hamrlik defending.  Oshie laid the puck off onto Berglund’s stick, and with Holtby unable to scramble across to defend, Berglund finished the play to tie the game.

Alex Steen jumped on a mistake just before the period ended to give the Blues a lead they would not relinquish.  Caps defenseman Jack Hillen misfired on an attempt to send the puck into the far corner and put the puck on the stick of Steen.  The Blues forward broke clean on a breakaway and finished the play with a deke and a backhand over Holtby's left pad for the score.

The third period passed without either incident or excitement, the Blues happy to put the clamps on the Caps, and the Caps unable to cast off the shackles of a stifling Blues defense.  The Blues limited the Caps to seven unsuccessful shots on goal and held on for a 2-1 win.

Notes… Nine different Caps had points for the week, but only Alex Ovechkin (1-1-2) and Jason Chimera (0-2-2) had more than one… Michal Neuvirth has been cleared to play after sustaining an ankle injury in the Caps’ 4-2 loss to the New York Rangers on November 14th… Since taking over for Neuvirth in the November 14th contest, Braden Holtby is 2-2-1, 2.10, .927 in six appearances…