Hello again, another update on the 3-2-1 Point System.  For the history of this thread, check out the following links.

1st Quarter

2nd Quarter

To begin with, I'll show the current point system standings, and follow it up with the 3-2-1 Point System.

Current Point System

Eastern Conference
Pos GP Pts Team
 01   62  90   Washington Capitals
 02   61  77   New Jersey Devils
 03   63  76   Ottawa Senators
 04   62  76   Pittsburgh Penguins
 05   60  75   Buffalo Sabres
 06   60  67   Philadelphia Flyers
 07   60  65   Boston Bruins
 08   63  64   Montreal Canadiens 
 09   61  63   New York Rangers
 10   61  63   Tampa Bay Lightning 
 11   60  62   Atlanta Thrashers
 12   63  58   New York Islanders 
 13   61  58   Florida Panthers
 14   61  55   Carolina Hurricanes
 15   61  49   Toronto Maple Leafs

Western Conference
Pos GP Pts Team
 01   62  89   San Jose Sharks
 02   61  87   Chicago Blackhawks
 03   61  76   Vancouver Canucks
 04   63  79   Phoenix Coyotes 
 05   61  78   Los Angeles Kings
 06   61  76   Colorado Avalanche *
 07   61  71   Nashville Predators
 08   62  69   Calgary Flames 
 09   61  68   Detroit Red Wings
 10   61  68   Dallas Stars
 11   62  67   Anaheim Mighty Ducks
 12   62  65   St. Louis Blues
 13   61  64   Minnesota Wild
 14   63  60   Columbus Blue Jackets
 15   61  44   Edmonton Oilers 


3-2-1 Point System

Eastern Conference
Pos GP Pts   Team
 01   62  122   Washington Capitals
 02   63  107   Ottawa Senators
 03   61  107   New Jersey Devils
 04   60  102   Buffalo Sabres
 05   62  102   Pittsburgh Penguins
 06   60   95    Philadelphia Flyers
 07   61   85    New York Rangers 
 08   63   84    Montreal Canadiens 
 09   61   83    Tampa Bay Lightning 
 10   60   82    Boston Bruins
 11   60   79    Atlanta Thrashers
 12   61   75    Florida Panthers 
 13   61   73    Carolina Hurricanes
 14   63   73    New York Islanders 
 15   61   58    Toronto Maple Leafs

Western Conference
Pos GP Pts   Team
 01   62  120   San Jose Sharks
 02   61  120   Chicago Blackhawks
 03   61  110   Vancouver Canucks
 04   63  108   Phoenix Coyotes 
 05   61  107   Los Angeles Kings
 06   61  105   Colorado Avalanche
 07   61   97    Nashville Predators
 08   62   92    Calgary Flames 
 09   61   90    Minnesota Wild 
 10   62   90    Anaheim Mighty Ducks 
 11   61   88    Detroit Red Wings
 12   61   88    Dallas Stars
 13   62   83    St. Louis Blues
 14   63   82    Columbus Blue Jackets
 15   61   56    Edmonton Oilers 

The next (last) quarter I will really break things down so that people can adjust the scores for their own point systems.  I will do this as I know that a lot of people seem to disagree with my 'Overtime opinion' where I include the 5 minute overtime in the 3 point win section.

* Not sure why this isn't linking properly.

In the World Hockey Championships of 2009, Tomas Surovy and the Slovakians were down 7-0 to the Czech Republic when Jaroslav Halak replaced the starter (Lasak).  The Czech's decided that 7 wasn't enough, and before too long scored an eighth goal on the Slovaks.  This was very unfortunate for Halak, as his teammate Surovy had apparently had enough.  He swung his stick in frustration at the goal post, missed and struck Halak in the back of the head.  Luckily for both players, the stick glanced off Halak's helmet, and Surovy was able to skate around the back of the net and take another good hard shot at it with his stick.  See the video for this here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0emzMJ6FiwQ&feature=related


Earlier this week in a game against the Atlanta Thrashers, Keith Ballard of the Florida Panthers decided the Surovy may have been onto something, and after Ilya Kovalchuk scored a go ahead goal midway through the first period he gave it a shot.  Ballard two-handed goaltender Tomas Vokoun in the side of the head, lacerating his inner ear.  Vokoun had to be removed from the game on a stretcher.  Ballard, who was likely just aiming for the post and not trying to take Vokoun's head off, hit his goalie in the head and then proceeded to take another swing at the post, this time hitting his mark.  He then skated off the ice without even stopping to make sure that Vokoun was alright.  I mean, why would he, Vokoun was only laid out in the net just seconds after being struck in the head with the stick that Ballard hit him with.  See the video for this one here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAdyZFfFehc

Now, I have heard many people defend Ballard for just being 'passionate' about the game and showing his frustration by trying to bang it out on the post.  But why does that justify this action?  In my opinion, it doesn't.  Have passion for that game, but don't be a poor sport about losing (or missing coverage as was likely what was going on in his head when he hit Vokoun) and don't EVER swing your stick anywhere near another players head.

The very next game, Ballard decided that he needed to make up for hurting Vokoun (his own goaltender) and decided to take a run at the opposing goaltender.  In the game against the Colorado Avalanche, Ballard took a run at Craig Anderson late in the overtime period.  According to the commentators in the game, Ballard was flying in on a rush on his backhand and 'lost his edge' and ran into Anderson.  Watching the replay, anyone who know about momentum knows that Ballard's upper body betrays certain laws of physics had he simply just lost an edge.  If you watch the view from behind the net, it is clear that Ballard's upper body moves towards the goaltender when he is said to have lost his edge going around the net.  Despite the best efforts of the FSFlorida commentators to sway all blame away from Ballard, my unbiased opinion (I could care less about either team to be honest) leans towards a deliberate act on Ballard's part to get into Anderson, throw him off his game, or possibly remove him from the game.  See the video for this one here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQcvo43hC9k

And for the record, Anderson had to leave the game, Colorado put Peter Budaj in for the last 45 seconds of overtime and the shootout, Budaj put up a good fight, but came out with the shootout loss. 

That's one way to put it.  The Habs are not having a great year, and if they keep this pace, they'll be very lucky to squeeze into the playoffs.  But that doesn't mean I don't love them, that doesn't mean I will ever cheer for another team.  But I may poke a little good-natured fun at them in this post.

This 'joke' is in reference to the game of November 21 when they played the Detroit Red Wings and wore their retro jerseys from the 1909-1910 season.  A link to the photos is below.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/gamece
nter/photos/NHL_20091121_DET@MON


Why did the Montreal Canadiens wear their blue and white jerseys for the game against Detroit?

• They've playing so badly, the NHL forced them to dress up like the Maple Leafs.

Hahaha, hey why isn't anybody laughing...

I am not, and never have been a fan of the 'shootout' to resolve an NHL game.  I know I am not alone in this dislike of the 'breakaway relay' but the league seems to be pretty adamant about keeping it around.  One of the reasons I dislike the SO is that a team winning in this manner attains the same value of points as a team winning in 60 minutes.  And the team losing in this manner still gains a point.  The league is giving away 3 points on some games and 2 points on others.  So points totals appear bloated, with teams who have lost a lot of close games edging out teams who have won more games.  A greater number of wins should count for a higher standing than a team who loses in overtime a lot, at least in my opinion.

So I have been keeping track of the wins/losses for the last couple seasons using a point system that I feel favours teams who actually win more.  I refer to it as a 3-2-1 point system, as the title implies.  This point system would see a team winning in regular time or over time receiving 3 points for their effort.  A team winning in the shootout would receive 2 points, while the team losing in shootout would receive a single point.  Losses in regulation or overtime would be worth zero points.

Now, a lot of people may argue with me including the 5 minute overtime in the pure win/loss category, but it wasn't that long ago that a loss in overtime was actually a loss and you got zero points.  I personally feel that that is a loss in regular season, just as it would be in play-offs.

So, now how does this affect the teams this season (2009-2010) up to this point, being approximately one quarter of the way through the season?  So first I'll post the current standing, by conference with division leaders at the top.

Eastern Conference
Pos GP Pts Team
 01   21  30   Washington Capitals
 02   20  29   New Jersey Devils
 03   18  25   Buffalo Sabres
 04   22  28   Pittsburgh Penguins
 05   18  25   Philadelphia Flyers
 06   21  23   New York Rangers
 07   19  23   Ottawa Senators
 08   21  23   New York Islanders
 09   19  23   Tampa Bay Lightning
 10   18  22   Atlanta Thrashers
 11   21  22   Boston Bruins
 12   21  20   Montreal Canadiens
 13   19  18   Florida Panthers
 14   21  13   Carolina Hurricanes
 15   20  12   Toronto Maple Leafs

Western Conference
Pos GP Pts Team
 01   23  32   San Jose Sharks
 02   22  29   Colorado Avalanche
 03   20  28   Chicago Blackhawks
 04   23  28   Los Angeles Kings
 05   20  26   Columbus Blue Jackets
 06   20  26   Calgary Flames
 07   22  25   Phoenix Coyotes
 08   21  24   Dallas Stars
 09   20  23   Nashville Predators
 10   19  23   Detroit Red Wings
 11   21  22   Vancouver Canucks
 12   22  21   Edmonton Oilers
 13   19  18   St. Louis Blues
 14   20  17   Anaheim Mighty Ducks
 15   21  16   Minnesota Wild

Now in the 3-2-1 point system, with the same layout as above.  And as you'll see, not a lot of major differences overall.  The teams that it most affects are teams that would be fighting for playoff spots, teams like the New York Islanders and the Dallas Stars.  Each of those teams would be out of their 8th place rankings in the current system because the 3-2-1 system doesn't reward them as heavily for their SO and OT performances.  Each of those teams has a SO win, 4 SO losses and a couple of OT losses, which would add up to a lot of extra points in the current system (9 of 16 possible points for NYI and 8 of 14 possible points for DAL).  But in the 3-2-1 system which favours wins, those games would only account for 6 points for either team (out of a possible 24 for NYI and 21 for DAL).

Eastern Conference
Pos GP Pts Team
 01   20  40   New Jersey Devils
 02   21  38   Washington Capitals
 03   18  34   Buffalo Sabres
 04   22  38   Pittsburgh Penguins
 05   18  35   Philadelphia Flyers
 06   21  32   New York Rangers
 07   19  31   Ottawa Senators
 08   18  31   Atlanta Thrashers
 09   19  28   Tampa Bay Lightning
 10   21  27   New York Islanders
 11   21  27   Boston Bruins
 12   21  26   Montreal Canadiens
 13   19  22   Florida Panthers
 14   21  12   Carolina Hurricanes
 15   20  11   Toronto Maple Leafs

Western Conference
Pos GP Pts Team
 01   23  43   San Jose Sharks
 02   22  40   Colorado Avalanche
 03   20  39   Chicago Blackhawks
 04   23  39   Los Angeles Kings
 05   20  36   Calgary Flames
 06   20  36   Columbus Blue Jackets
 07   22  34   Phoenix Coyotes
 08   20  32   Nashville Predators
 09   19  31   Detroit Red Wings
 10   21  31   Vancouver Canucks
 11   21  30   Dallas Stars
 12   22  28   Edmonton Oilers
 13   19  23   St. Louis Blues
 14   21  22   Minnesota Wild
 15   20  22   Anaheim Mighty Ducks

I'll be re-addressing this at about the half way point in the season as well, and will likely break it up a little differently to show the individual team records for better illustration of the point.

Back on November 6th, the two worst teams in the NHL faced off in the 'Battle for Last Place.'  The Toronto Maple Leafs (boasting a 1-7-5 record for a total of 7 points) were in Carolina to face the Hurricanes (also with 7 points, but having a 2-9-3 record).  In that game Carolina scored 2 goals on Toronto goalie Jonas Gustavsson on 8 shots in the first period.  They then fired 9 more shots in the second and 19 more in the third, all to no avail.  Gustavsson held strong between the pipes and gave Toronto a chance to get back into the game.  And that's precisely what they did, scoring twice in the second and once more in the final period to secure their (temporary) hold on 29th overall in the NHL.

Less than two weeks later, on November 19th, those two teams faced off again in Carolina.  And the situation hadn't changed much in the meantime.  Toronto had a record of 3-11-5, for 11 points, and Carolina matched those 11 points with a record of 3-12-5.  This time around, Toronto jumped out to a good lead in the first putting 3 pucks past Manny Legace (in to replace the injured Cam Ward).  Carolina got a couple back in the second on goals from Stephane Yelle and Matt Cullen that were scored 43 seconds apart.  At 3:43 into the third period, though, Alexei Ponikarovsky scored to give Toronto a two goal advantage.  Carolina refused to give up, and Tim Gleason scored twice at around the 8 minute and 12 minute marks to tie the game at 4 goals a piece.

The score stayed that way until there was 30 seconds left when Ian White's shot found the net and would likely stand up as the game winner - right?  Wrong, as Erik Cole was able to tie the game yet again with less than 3 seconds on the clock.  And we're off to extra time, where nothing was solved in the first 5 minutes and Carolina's shooters put 2 past Gustavsson in the shootout.  With the win, Carolina was able to take a 1 point lead in the standings and, at least for now, take sole possession of that not so lonely second-to-last place.

So, unless one of these teams picks up their game, the next game in the 'Battle for Last Place' will take place January 17th, 2010 in Toronto.  Will you be watching?

Last night, Brad May and the Detroit Red Wings faced off against the Dallas Stars in Detroit.  Dallas and the officials (on and off the ice) got the better of Detroit in this one, and finished that game up 3-1.  The major focus of conversation in regards to this game was a disallowed goal that was 'scored' by Brad May.  Along with that, I'm going to focus on the Brad May v. Krys Barch fight in the second period.

First, the disallowed goal.  At 6:24 of the second period, Brad May was in the slot and sent a backhand on goal.  The puck went directly over the line and sat between the pad of Alex Auld and the padding at the side of the net.  The whistle clearly did not sound for a second or two, and when it did, the referee said no goal.  This is an understandable mistake as from his vantage point, he could not see the puck.  But through the miracle of science, the NHL has video replay.  As a matter of fact, they have a 'room' in Toronto that watches every game in progress and assists the on ice officials in cases of video replay.  The first replay that was shown during the game clearly showed the puck crossing the line immediately.  Auld never stopped it, slowed it down and deflected it.  It went over the line, hit his toe and was stopped by the side of the net.  So this should have been a clear goal when it was reviewed in Toronto.

But the referee 'had the intent to blow the whistle' which is the most ridiculous bit of nonsense I think I have heard.  Even in the case where the referee did actually have intent to blow the whistle to stop the play, he hasn't and the play is still live.  But in this case especially, it's truly awe inspiring that the referee had the intent to blow the whistle on a live play (May in the slot with the puck), or a shot that went directly over the goal line.  Why does the on ice official have the power to make that call in today's age of video replay?  And if he has this power to overrule undeniable video evidence of a goal, why is the NHL spending however many millions of dollars using the equipment?  I  for one feel clearer lines have to be drawn in regards to the 'intent to blow the whistle' scenario.

Second, the May/Barch fight that happened a little over a minute later.  Now, for the record, I have no problem with fighting in hockey.  I don't want to get into a discussion about whether fighting is wrong or right, that's not the point of what I'm about to say.  As I said, I have no problem with fights in hockey, but I am beginning to develop an issue with pointless preplanned fights.  Players who sign their fight card in the pregame, talk about it in the first period and then go through with it in the second period.

During the pregame warm up, Krys Barch skated over to Brad May twice.  They shared a few words, apparently a few laughs and then went about their warm up.  During the first period, Barch again skated up to May and said a few words.  May shook his head "no" and motioned to his head.  And then in the second period, at 7:21 while the puck was being recovered on a dump in, the fight started.

So what changed between the first and second periods that would make Brad May change his mind and decide to fight?  Well, the score was closer, he had just had the above mentioned goal disallowed, and he wasn't wearing a visor this period.  Yeah, he took his visor off his helmet for the second period.  When he came out in the first, visor on.  Second, visor off.  Third, visor back on.  To me, that's a clear sign of a premeditated fight, not one brought about for any other reason but for the fight itself.  I don't understand the point of that kind of fight.  They're not fighting with the intent to fire up the team, they're not 'righting' some past wrong, they're just throwing punches at each other.

I may be making this seem a little hard on Brad May, which is not my intention.  I think May did what he would hope anyone fighting him would do and took off the visor for the fight.  To even up the discussion a little bit, I'll leave with these bits of information about his opponent in the fight, and likely the person who made the arrangements during pregame, Krys Barch -

• Krys Barch missed about 2 weeks because of a back injury
• Been back for 3 games: Nov 12 (SJ), 14 (PHO) and 18 (DET)
• Has averaged about 6:45 ice time over those three games
• Has 1 shot on goal in those 3 games
• Has a fighting major in each of those games...

Wes Goldstein has an article on the main page right now about the 'Rookie sensation Tavares' and I just wanted to touch on a few things in the article.  So, first I will include the link to the article, please go have a quick read before you continue.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/story/
12524878/rookie-sensation-tavares-c
hanging-isles-fortunes

Now that you have read that, the first thing I want to say is this - why do people put so much pressure on a rookie to 'save' a franchise?  Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, Carey Price, and now John Tavares.  Sometimes it works, and the player responds positively to the pressure, as was the case with Crosby and Ovechkin.  Other times, as with Stamkos and Price, the player has a 'normal' rookie season, and the media turns around and bashes them for not producing, not saving the team.  Luckily for Tavares, so far he is playing up to the media expectation and no one is doubting his ability to become and NHL star.

And though I must say that up here in Canada we do love our hockey, I would like to see the media change their coverage level a little bit.  Especially in Montreal and Toronto, where the news media is dominated by NHL stories during the season and sometimes even during the off season.  Because it kills me a little inside to see a former Montreal Canadien, Mark Streit, make mention of what should be an obvious fact about hockey being 24/7 here.  Streit is right though, in regards to Tavares.  The Islanders may not be saying it, the media may already be trying to pry it out of them, and Tavares may well be it, but can we just let the kid play some hockey without laying it on him.

And since this is about Tavares, and I've been a fan of his for a while, watching him play in the OHL and the World Juniors, I've decided to include a link to what I would consider my favourite John Tavares goal.  If you have an alternative, feel free to post it, I'll watch it.

So here it is, World Junior magic -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-zmRP0e3kE