Stat Line of the Day: May 20th

J. Giambi (COL): 3-5, 3 R, 7 RBI, 3 HR vs. Phillies
When Jason Giambi won his only MVP, at the age of 29, he hit 43 home runs and drove in 137 RBIs. That was eleven seasons ago. Now 40, the veteran is still playing, though he  hasn't had more than 400 at-bats in a season since he was 37, back in 2007

Giambi went yard three times in Philadelphia

with the New York Yankees. In fact, coming into last night, Giambi (left) hadn't even gotten a hit since April 10th, a series of 11 personal games (but 34 Rockies games). Then, for some reason, he remembered his MVP ways for one game in Philadelphia. Giambi hit a home run in his first three at-bats. The first one, against Kyle Kendrick, came in the first inning with two men on base. The next long ball, also off Kendrick, was a two-run shot in the third inning, scoring Carlos Gonzalez. The final long ball came off Danyz Baez in the fifth inning, with Troy Tulowitzki on base. Coming into the game, Giambi had just one home run and four RBIs on the season. The three home runs alone added 40.7% to the win for Giambi, the 79th time this season that a batter added more than 40% to their team's win probability.

NHL Eastern and Western Conference Catch-Up

The talk of the Eastern Conference Finals coming in was goaltending and how major its role would be in the series.  In two games already, there have been a combined 18 goals scored as the series is tied at one apiece heading to Tampa Bay.  Despite a 6-5 loss on Tuesday night, the Lightning have the Bruins right where they want them as they dominated Game 1 and now have the home-ice advantage working for them.  Tim Thomas, the likely Vezina Trophy winner, has allowed five goals in each of the first two games and has already allowed more than he did against Philadelphia in Round 2.  At age 37, Thomas is still capable of playing his very best hockey in hopes of leading the Bruins to their first Stanley Cup since 1971-72.  Dwayne Roloson had won eight straight games before faltering in Game 2, as he has the Lightning just three wins away from the Stanley Cup Finals.  Tampa Bay was a team that many people had forgotten about late in the season as they took a nosedive and lost the division lead, but they have made some noise in the post-season.

Offensively, the Lightning are still every bit as deep as they have been all season.  They have had 10 different players score their 10 goals in this series.  Their "spreading of the wealth" offensively has them in an enviable position heading home tied at one game apiece.  To their credit, the Lightning have rifled 74 shots at Thomas in just two games.  Possibly they took notes from both Philadelphia and Montreal and realize that getting the puck at Thomas, or any goalie for that matter, is half the battle. This young Tampa team tends to take on the tenacious personality of its coach Guy Boucher, and that is a good thing in terms of their grit and will.  Boucher, at age 39 and in his first NHL season has turned Tampa's fortunes back to pre-lockout.  Remember, they did win the Stanley Cup back in 2003-04, just before the lockout.  Perhaps no team was hurt more by the lockout as this is just the third time (post-lockout) that the Lightning have made the post-season.  The Lightning have shown in this series that they do not need success from Steven Stamkos, Vincent Lecavalier or Martin St. Louis alone to win hockey games.  Of their "big three," just St. Louis registered a point in their 5-2 victory in Game 1.

Boston finally was able to get something going in Game 2 as rookie Tyler Seguin took over with four points (2G, 2A).  Seguin, who had just 22 points this season, has already had six in two postseason games (both in this series).  He was nowhere to be found against Montreal or Philadelphia, but he has now stepped in for the injured Patrice Bergeron.  Although not glorified for offensive depth, Boston proves they have a bit of it with this replacement.  Keep in mind that Seguin himself is just 19-years-old.  Boston also boasts the ever-dangerous Milan Lucic (see above), Nathan Horton and Michael Ryder among others.  Defensively, Zdeno Chara, their captain, is their rock as usual.  Chara heads one of the game's best and deepest defenses.  In Tuesday night's game, the Bruins scored five goals on Roloson on just nine shots.  At long last, Boston's power play appears to be clicking as they have went 2-for-10 in the first two games.  At 20%, they are far better than in their first two series when they went an abysmal 2-for-37 with the man advantage.

Hit the jump to read about the Western Conference Finals:

NHL Eastern and Western Conference Finals Predictions

The NHL Eastern Conference Finals will be headed by two fantastic goalies drinking from the fountain of youth. Both Tim Thomas (37 years old) and Dwayne Roloson (41) have  taken long, similar paths to  get to this point in  their respective careers. Thomas
(left) has reclaimed his stake as “the guy” in  Boston’s net and could ride that to a Stanley Cup. Or, will Roloson and Tampa Bay continue their miracle run and represent the East? Goalies will be in the spotlight in this series, but will they be the only ones that will shine? These are two of the highest-scoring teams in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Western Conference Finals pits the top two seeds head-to-head as the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks do battle. These two teams have never faced one another in the NHL playoffs, and both have struggled in recent years in the postseason despite phenomenal regular season success. San Jose won the President’s Trophy in 2008-09 with 117 points but were hastily ousted by the Anaheim Ducks in Round 1. Vancouver has been a top seed in the West in each of the past two seasons but have been eliminated in the Semis twice. This season though, they enter in as the President’s Trophy winners and the unquestioned #1 seed in the Western Conference. Common belief is that the winner of this series will win the Stanley Cup. Not so fast though as the East winner, whomever that may be, will surely have something to say about that. So how do these series shake out? Hit the jump to see:

NHL Playoffs Update

The NHL Playoffs are as entertaining as any playoff in any sport. This year is no different. The Boston Bruins avenged their monumental collapse from a season ago, and the Tampa Bay Lightning secured another early round exit for the Washington Capitals. Both of those series were quick and painless for the victors. As for the Western Conference, the two remaining series have become quite a battle. Early on, it looked as if both series' would end rather quickly. However, the Predators and Red Wings have both clawed their way back into their respective series and are in great positions to force pivotal Game Sevens. Hit the jump to see my complete playoff review of the Conference Semifinals.

2011 NHL Playoffs: The JvR Show

There's a new wave of talent coming into the NHL. Of the top 30 scorers in the NHL this season, 12 of them were 25 years old or younger. This is a positive development for the NHL, a league constantly trying to engulf new fans into the game. The Philadelphia Flyers build through the draft with young talent and have no accumulated a good core for their future. Among them are Jeff Carter, Mike Richards, Claude Giroux, Sergei Bobrovsky, and several others. However, there is one other player that the entire NHL has had its eyes on as of late. James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia's "underrated" 2nd overall pick back in the 2007 NHL Draft. Which leaves hockey buffs with this question: can a No. 2 pick really be considered "underrated"? You bet he can. That is exactly what van Riemsdyk is being seen as now as Chicago's Patrick Kane soaks in the praise and glory that comes with a Stanley Cup. 

Stat Line of the Day: May 1st

David Krejci (BOS): 2 G, 2 A, 4 SOG, +3 @ PHI
I wasn't sure whether to put Krejci or Philadelphia goalie Brian Boucher, as they were equally important in Boston's 7-3 thrashing of the Flyers in Game One of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last year, Philadelphia allowed Boston to go up 3-0 before they

Krejci celebrating his first goal against the Flyers

stormed back to win 4-3 and eventually lose to Chicago in the Stanley Cup Finals. This year, the Flyers--while they do have a stronger offense--have some serious goaltending problems to deal with. Brian Boucher became the first goalie in NHL history to win multiple games in relief in the same series, which isn't exactly a great distinction. He was helped by Bruins forward David Krejci (left), who had only one goal in the playoffs until last night's outburst. Krejci scored Boston's first goal of the game and assisted on their second, but it was his second goal that put the Bruins up 4-1 and really took all the wind out of the Flyers' sails. Unlike baseball, hockey is a game where you never want to use a reliever, much less have to rely on three-and-four goal comebacks to win a game. Unfortunately, the Flyers goalies keep putting them in that position, like the 5-1 hole the Flyers found themselves in by the 2nd period of yesterday's action. No, it wasn't entirely Boucher's fault, but watching Tim Thomas stop good attempt after good attempt while Boucher allowed in a few semi-bad goals must have been infuriating for a Flyers fanbase that has been begging for a true starting goalie ever since Ron Hextall retired in 1999. Now Flyers fans will be kept wondering if it will be Boucher or rookie Sergei Bobrovsky, who's only got an 87.5 save % thus far in the playoffs. It remains to be seen if Bobrovsky will eventually grow into the netminder he showed flashes of being during the regular season, but it's pretty clear he's not ready yet for the playoffs.

NHL Playoff Update: Western Conference

The past two nights of the NHL Playoffs have been nothing short of entertaining. We have seen multiple overtime games, and epic comeback, and even one team finish off a sweep. As I mentioned before, the NHL Playoffs fail to disappoint, and that will continue until the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup is complete. Hit the jump to see a review of the Western Conference Playoff Series' thus far:

NHL Playoff Update: Eastern Conference

With all but one series (Kings-Sharks) through 3 games, the NHL Playoffs have not disappointed. With intense end-to-end action and spectacular goalie saves, these playoffs seem to live up to the hype every year. With all series' shifting to the lower seed's home-ice, we have seen two teams take commanding 3-0 leads, as well as two teams climb out of an 0-2 series hole, and temporarily avoid that fatal elimination game. Hit the jump to review this year's NHL Eastern Conference Playoffs thus far:

What's Screwing with the Bruins?

There's no hockey time like the NHL Playoffs, and there's nothing like a playoff series between two of the Original Six NHL teams--the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens. The Bruins, behind unflappable Tim Thomas in net, as well as home-ice advantage, seemed to have a fairly large edge heading into the playoffs. However, this is the NHL--where low-seeded teams coming into the playoffs are more than capable of riding a hot goalie all the way to the Finals.  We don't even need to look throughout history, because last season's playoff stands as proof enough:

• The 8th seeded Montreal Canadiens defeat the top-seeded Washington Capitals in seven games, and advance all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
• The 6th seeded Boston Bruins defeat the 3rd seeded Buffalo Sabres in 6 games to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they lose in 7 games. (We all know how that ended).
• The 7th seeded Philadelphia Flyers defeat the 2nd seeded New Jersey Devils in 5 games, and advance all the way to the NHL Finals.

In one season, we saw three lower seeds advance in one conference, and one of those teams make it all the way to the NHL Finals--impressive, not to mention entertaining.  So what's to say it's not going to happen again? Hit the jump to find out.

#2 Philadelphia vs. #7 Buffalo Preview

Can the Flyers prevent this
from happening again?

The Eastern Conference is full of classic match-ups.  Obviously, the Original Six meeting of the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens is the most storied of the first round, but another match-up with some significant history is the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres.  This will be the ninth playoff meeting between these two teams, and there have truly been some memorable games in the previous eight encounters.  There's definitely some history here, and the guys over at Die By The Blade have compiled some good clips from the previous playoff meetings between the Flyers and Sabres. The Flyers have won five of the eight previous match-ups, but the Sabres have won three of the last four encounters.  One of the most memorable games (or infamous, depending on whom you ask) was the 8-0 drubbing Buffalo gave the Flyers in game six of the 2001 Conference Quarterfinals.  And, if you've been watching since the lockout, you will no doubt remember R.J. Umberger getting destroyed by Brian Campbell in 2006 (by the way, film of the games mentioned here are all included in the link above).  But before the Sabres beat Philly in 1998, the Flyers had defeated Buffalo all four times they had met in the playoffs, including a fight filled event in 1997 on the way to being swept in the Stanley Cup Finals by the soon-to-be dynastic Red Wings.  But perhaps the most famous match-up between these two teams was their first, in the 1975 Finals.  Specifically, game three.  Also known as the Fog Game, this game included (but was not limited to) a crazy bat with a thing for hockey players and a thick fog covering the entire ice surface as the game continued.  Just two games later, the Flyers lifted the Cup as the first Expansion team to win it all. But all of this history aside, what can we expect this year?

The Big Bad Bruins Are Back

As the playoffs approach in every sport, fans consider which teams they would least like to face this postseason.  There are a few such teams in the NHL's Eastern Conference right now.  The Flyers have sat atop the standings for most of the season with their scoring depth, solid blue line, and strong duo in net.  The Capitals always threaten to break out with their fire power.  The Pittsburgh Penguins have more star players injured than most teams have at all, and yet they continue to win with strong team play.  But sitting in third place, with 99 points and having clinched their division, the Boston Bruins are beginning to look like the kind of physical and scrappy team you definitely don't want to play in the first round.  This is especially true for the Montreal Canadiens if they continue to cling to sixth place.

Take note, the Boston Bruins are
surging into the playoffs

In the recent meeting between Montreal and Boston, the Bruins scored a touchdown's worth of goals against the Habs, while Tim Thomas posted his eighth shutout of the season that night.  In the previous meeting, on March 8th, the Bruins lost to Montreal, but Boston captain Zdeno Chara's hit on Max Pacioretty left the latter with broken vertebrae, and led to the city of Montreal initiating a criminal investigation into Chara.  Chara was cleared by the league, and in March 24th's 7-0 victory, the Bruins made it clear that they can also channel their aggressive play into copious goal scoring. So why is Boston such a dangerous matchup? Let's take a look at the numbers...

Stat Line of the Day: April 1st

Ramon Hernandez (CIN): 4-for-5, 3 RBIs, HR vs. MIL

Hernandez and the Reds walked off on Opening Day

Is Cincinnati headed for the playoffs this season? Probably not--but that's the beauty of the beginning of baseball season. Every game has equal weight, every team's got a shot, like San Diego last year, and getting off to a hot start can do wonders for a team's confidence and continued ability level. Edinson Volquez needs to pitch better than he did yesterday (six innings, seven hits, five earned runs), and rookie Aroldis Chapman would need to make an impact (along with a few other young-ish players who still need to improve) but it's about getting off to that good start and trying to maintain some sort of momentum. Ramon Hernandez was the hero on Day One of the season, taking an 0-1 fastball over the right field fence with two on and two out to deliver a 7-6 victory to the home crowd. It capped a solid day for Hernandez, who singled in the second, sixth, and eighth innings. Hernandez actually took advantage of his second big plate opportunity of the day--in the third inning, he flew out to center with the bases loaded and two outs. Milwaukee had taken a 6-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, helped by back-to-back homers leading off the season by Rickie Weeks and Carlos Gomez, and it took a nearly-35-year-old catcher with 149 career home runs in 5122 plate appearances over 12 seasons to send Reds fans home happy on day one--not to mention in first place.

Honorable Mentions

Chris Mason (ATL): 0 GA, 43 Saves, 1.000 SV% vs. PHI

Our second shutout in as many days, Mason's first of the year comes against a much more impressive Flyers attack than the Rangers, who got shut out last night. Mason stopped 43 Flyers shots--amazingly, that's the third time this season the Flyers have been shutout when taking 40+ shots (Carey Price stopped 41 shots for the Canadiens back in November and Tim Thomas stopped that many a month later for Boston). This was Mason's first shutout of the year, though he does have 21 career shutouts in 283 games in net, so this was a performance overdue by quite a few games this season--he's had at least two in every season since 2005. The Flyers, as balanced an offense as they have, with seven players at 19 or more goals, have been shut out seven times this season--seven more times than they've managed to do to opposing teams. Atlanta needs to win their remaining games and have quite a few things go right to make the playoffs, but this was a good way to start off with a huge win on the road.

Rajon Rondo (BOS): 22 points, 14 assists, 5 rebounds vs. SA
Talk about a player picking it up when his team needs him the most. Clinging to a second place in the Eastern Conference, just a half-game up on the Heat, the Celtics were playing in San Antonio against a Spurs team who'd already dropped four games in a row. To be fair, the Spurs had been battling some injury problems, but Tim Duncan and Tony Parker both started and played 30+ minutes for the Spurs. Rondo was on when the Celtics needed it, the leading scorer on a team with three who got 20+ (Garnett and Pierce had 20 and 21), and his 14 assists are obviously huge--especially when you add in the fact that Rondo didn't turn it over once. If the Celtics are gonna hold off the Heat for the second place slot (and a likely matchup with the struggling Knicks), they'll need Rondo to put up those kind of numbers over their last eight games.

Stat Line of the Day: March 31st

St. Louis Blues: 10 G, 47 SOG vs. Detroit Red Wings

   Not the team you would think to score 10
   on the Red Wings for the first time in 18 years

Over the last 15 years, no team has had quite the success of the Detroit Red Wings. But before they won the Stanley Cup in 1997, they hadn't won a Cup in 42 years. Wednesday night's loss to the St. Louis Blues brings back memories of that "Dead Wing" era. The Blues posted 10 goals, with five in the second period alone. The last time the Red Wings gave up 10 goals in a single game was 1993. And eight goals in two periods? March 3, 1986. As for the Blues, the last time they scored in the double digits was in 1994 when they beat the Ottawa Senators 11-1. Tonight's game, however, also gives a unique insight into the current parity in the NHL. The Blues are on the verge of elimination in the Western Conference. The Red Wings, meanwhile, despite a bit of a late season slide over the last six games (1-3-2), are still in second place in the West and and 1st in the Central Division with a comfortable 6 point lead over the Nashville Predators. Despite this, the Blues came out tonight and scored on a whopping 21.3% of their recorded shots. Furthermore, these ten goals were scored by 9 different players. Chris Porter scored his first two goals of the season. Cam Janssen scored his first of the year tonight. Eight different forwards scored in this game, with only one goal coming from a defenseman. This kind of herculean effort bodes well for a team that is looking to build on this year's efforts next season. They have many of the right pieces in place, and this is a team that has a lot of success to build on next season. Although a game like Wednesday's match between the Red Wings and Blues is anomalous in the NHL, with its score looking more like a defensive football struggle than a hockey game, it does speak to what a developing team can do when it gets hard work from its entire lineup and perhaps some lucky bounces.


Honorable Mention

Jhonas Enroth (BUF): 0 GA, 23 Saves, 1.000 SV% vs. NYR
After a quick glance at tonight's score, I wasn't overly surprised to see that the Buffalo Sabres had shut out the New York Rangers. This isn't to say that the Rangers are particularly bad, or that the Sabres are particularly good, but merely that a shutout was not a rare event for Ryan Miller (he has 22 SO in 392 starts over 8 seasons).  But the winning goalie was not Miller, but rather Jhonas Enroth,  a 22-year-old playing in his 10th NHL game. Meanwhile, the impressive rookie goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky of the Philadelphia Flyers has yet to post a shutout in 47 starts.  On the other hand, in his 49 starts this year, the Chicago Blackhawk's young Corey Crawford has posted four shutouts. Enroth was a 2nd round draft pick of the Sabres in 2006, and has spent the years since playing in both his native Sweden and for the Portland Pirates of the AHL, where he has posted 8 shutouts over two seasons. In his ten major league games, he has posted a .906 SV% and 2.77 GAA. Enroth may not be the next Ryan Miller, but nonetheless his first shutout is a nice achievement for the young goalie.

Stat Line of the Day: March 29th

Temmu Selanne (ANA): 3 goals, 2 assists, +2, 17 min vs. Colorado

Even at 40, Selanne is still producing for the Ducks

We venture onto the ice for the first time here at SportStatistics to honor a 40-year-old right winger, and boy what a night he had. His first of the day was a penalty shot 47 seconds into the second period--his first penalty-shot goal in 18 years. The second came 8 minutes later courtesy of Cam Fowler, and Selanne put in his 28th goal of the season with five minutes remaining in the third period to give Anaheim a 5-3 lead. That goal proved to be the difference-maker, however, with the final score at 5-4. Selanne has had quite the year for a 40-year-old, his 75 points the most he's had since 2006 (the last time he played more than 65 games; he's already played in 67 out of 76 games this year), and his big night helped the Ducks stay 4 points up on 9th-place Calgary in the Western conference. Anaheim is in 7th with 6 games to play, though they do have a game in hand over those Flames. The five-point game was the ninth such achievement of Selanne's career. 

Honorable Mentions:

Carmelo Anthony (NYK): 39 points (12-26 fg, 2-6 3pt, 13-17 FTs, 10 reb, 2 ast, 3 TO)

On a night where you could almost see the Knicks season spiraling out of control, it was their new star who had to pull them out of it in overtime. Did this game turn the Knicks fortunes around? That remains to be seen. But Carmelo had one of his best games of the season--he's scored 39 two other times and 50 once--against a Magic team without Jameer Nelson (15.0 PER in 30mpg) and J.J. Redick (12.87 PER in 25.6mpg), on a night where the Knicks maybe shouldn't have needed it. New York got some help in overtime when Dwight Howard fouled out and then got called for a technical on the same play, so to win at home in those circumstances is nearly a must if one wants any sort of confidence for the rest of the season. As good as 'Melo is, the Knicks are still only in the 7th slot in the Eastern Conference, looking at a first-round matchup with the Celtics--not exactly a rosy situation for what was supposed to be a season-changing trade. 

Kansas City Royals: 17-for-39, 10 runs, 3 walks, 0 strikeouts

What, an entire team can't have a great line? This really was the definition of a team hitting effort by the Royals: of the 14 hitters with a plate appearance, 12 of them got hits, 8 had an RBI, and 10 of them scored a run. That's right, a different player scored all 10 runs for Kansas City, and only one batter (Kila Ka'aihue, who had a 3-run homer) had multiple RBIs. Also impressive was the lack of strikeouts, the number of home runs (four), and the fact that no player had any more than two hits. I don't want to say too much about the Royals--we're going to spotlight them later on today.