Merry Christmas, Dallas

Volumes of work, probably eclipsing the works of Shakespeare, have been written about the NHL "loser point" and its impact on the standings. Therefore, I don't expect to add much to the debate, but as a fan of the only team in the NHL without an overtime or shootout loss (and one that's currently out of a playoff spot), I'm curious to see how the year would be if the NHL tabulated its points totals differently. I'll look at three scenarios: the current system (2 points for a win, 1 point for an OT/SO loss, 0 for a regulation loss), a win or lose system (2 points for a win, 0 for a loss), and another proposed system (3 points per regulation win, 2 for an OT/SO win, 1 for an OT/SO loss, and 0 for a regulation loss. Let's check a breakdown:

Current system: (with OTL in brackets)

East:

1. New Jersey - 53 pts (1)

2. Washington - 52 pts (6)

3. Buffalo - 47 pts (3)

4. Pittsburgh - 53 pts (1)

5. Boston - 43 pts (7)

6. Atlanta - 40 pts (4)

7. Ottawa - 40 pts (4)

8. NY Rangers - 39 pts (3)

9. Montreal - 39 pts (3)

10. Florida - 39 pts (7)

11. Tampa Bay - 35 pts (9)

12. NY Islanders - 35 pts (7)

13. Philly - 34 pts (2)

14. Toronto - 34 pts (8)

15. Carolina - 24 pts (6)

West:

1. Chicago - 51 pts (3)

2. San Jose - 51 pts (7)

3. Colorado - 48 pts (6)

4. Phoenix (wtf?) - 48 pts (2)

5. LA - 47 pts (3)

6. Nashville - 47 pts (3)

7. Calgary - 45 pts (5)

8. Dallas - 43 pts (11)

9. Vancouver - 42 pts (0)

10. Detroit - 41 pts (5)

11. St. Louis - 39 pts (5)

12. Minnesota - 39 pts (3)

13. Anaheim - 37 pts (7)

14. Columbus - 35 pts (7)

15. Edmonton - 34 pts (4)

Now, with just wins as a measure (ties go to those with less games played, 2nd tiebreaker is more losses is OT):

1. New Jersey - 52 pts

2. Washington - 46 pts

3. Buffalo - 44 pts

4. Pittsburgh - 52 pts

5. Boston - 36 pts

6. Atlanta - 36 pts

7. Ottawa - 36 pts

8. NY Rangers - 36 pts

9. Montreal - 36 pts

10. Philly - 32 pts

11. Florida - 32 pts

12. NY Islanders - 28 pts

13. Tampa Bay - 26 pts

14. Toronto - 26 pts

15. Carolina - 18 pts (yikes)

West:

1. Chicago - 48 pts

2. Phoenix (double wtf) - 46 pts

3. Vancouver - 44 pts

4. San Jose - 44 pts

5. LA - 44 pts

6. Nashville - 44 pts

7. Colorado - 42 pts

8. Calgary - 40 pts

9. Detroit - 36 pts

10. Minnesota - 36 pts

11. St. Louis - 34 pts

12. Dallas - 32 pts

13. Anaheim - 30 pts

14. Edmonton - 30 pts

15. Columbus - 28 pts

Now, time to dust off the muliplication tables and figure out the last format:

1. New Jersey - 79 pts

2. Washington - 75 pts

3. Buffalo - 69 pts

4. Pittsburgh - 79 pts

5. Boston - 61 pts

6. Atlanta - 58 pts

7. Ottawa - 58 pts

8. NY Rangers - 57 pts

9. Montreal - 57 pts

10. Florida - 55 pts

11. Philly - 50 pts

12. NY Islanders - 49 pts

13. Tampa Bay - 48 pts

14. Toronto - 47 pts

15. Carolina - 35 pts

West:

1. Chicago - 75 pts

2. Phoenix - 71 pts

3. Colorado - 69 pts

4. San Jose - 73 pts

5. LA - 69 pts

6. Nashville - 69 pts

7. Calgary - 65 pts

8. Vancouver - 63 pts

9. Detroit - 59 pts

10. Dallas - 59 pts

11. Minnesota - 57 pts

12. St. Louis - 56 pts

13. Anaheim - 52 pts

14. Edmonton - 49 pts

15. Columbus - 49 pts

So what do we find? In terms of difference between measurements 2 and 3, not a whole lot. Vancouver dropped 5 spots, and Dallas rose 3, but other than that no other team moved more than one spot. I don't have the fancy math degree required to measure parity between these two systems, but the parity in the current system and system 3 are massive, where 5 wins separates 3rd and 12th in the West in system 1, and 4.3 wins seperates 3rd and 12th in system 3. Even though the standings in all three systems are relatively similar, with the exceptions of teams that, you know, win (Vancouver) and teams that lose closely (Dallas).

System 3 would be a tough system to put in place, considering that standings would need four columns of statistics (W, OTW, RL, L), bringing us back to the dreaded days of 2003 (W, L, T, OTL). The simplest system that would appeal to the "casual" fan that Bettman has such an erection for would be, of course, system 2, where the NHL could revert to the winning percentage system that all three other major sports use. Personally, this system makes the most sense to this writer. A win is a win, and a loss is a loss. Parity is good, but this is created by an effective cap system. Artificially created parity, like the results of the current system, are good for Stars season ticket holders but bad for the game. When only 7 or 8 teams in the league have "losing records," it's time for a change.

But in the meantime, Merry Christmas to our faithful readers. And Merry Christmas, Dallas Stars.

I Still Write

I just wanted to show that I'm still alive and that even though I haven't been writing about hockey or basketball, I've been covering a more important sport.

Here's the decade's best men's epeeists (2000-2009):

10) Gabor Boczko – Boczko represents a few fencers by taking this semi-honorable, semi-insulting tenth position. He’s here for all the guys who’ve been able to dominate a season, or two, or more, but have never been able to pull the trigger in the big events. I could easily replace him with Christoph Marik, Alfredo Rota, or Joerg Fiedler but Boczko’s consistently high rank and his match with Abajo in the 2008 Olympics really epitomize what this spot on the ranking is about. The bronze medal match in Beijing represented Boczko’s best chance to medal at a major competition - one win away from a medal and his opponent was a man he had absolutely dominated the last two times they’d fenced. However, the match went into overtime and Boczko predictably lost.

9) Krisztian Kulcsar – Kulcsar’s was a triumphant comeback story. After quitting fencing following the Hungarian team’s silver medal in Athens, Kulcsar was able to come back to the sport and win five consecutive one-point matches en route to beating Boisse in the 2007 St. Petersburg final and capturing his only World title. Kulcsar suffers in my rankings because he took so much of the decade off and because he appeared to be overly satisfied with his one title – evidenced by a lacklustre performance in Beijing where he never threatened to repeat.

8) Ruben Limardo – This entry may come as a surprise to some given his lack of results at the senior level but he belongs here for one reason - the 2004/2005 junior season. During this season Limardo won every single junior world cup he entered and capped it off with the Junior World Championship at the end of the season. Limardo has yet to live up to this promise as a senior but that one season was more memorable than many of the senior champions on this list.

7) Jerome Jeannet – This spot could easily go to José Luis Abajo as both of them have attained two bronze medals at World/Olympic Championships over the decade; however, Jeannet’s incredible team record and his European titles sets him a little bit ahead and robs Abajo of a spot on the list. Though often overshadowed by his younger brother, J. Jeannet stuck with the sport even after Fabrice quit and was rewarded with his second Worlds medal in three years in Antalya, ensuring a strong future for French fencing.

6) Anton Avdeev – Avdeev is the biggest surprise on this list, which makes sense since he was the most surprising World Champion that I can recall – he could be a flash in the pan like another Russian, Beketov, or, since he’s still very young, this could be the start of something amazing. By my ranking I’m leaning towards an extended run of strong performances by the Russian dynamo. Also, being an epee World Champion at 5’8” is an uncommon enough occurrence to warrant this placing.

5) Wang Lei – Wang is a champion - even though his world ranking is never very high, he always brings his best game to the biggest competitions. In 2004, he did the unthinkable in crushing Pavel Kolobkov on his way to Olympic silver. In 2006 he won gold in overtime in possibly the most upset-ridden World Championships of all time. In 2008, he was defeated by a combination of Verwijilen, the referee and nerves due to the hometown pressure. Regardless, any major competition Wang is a threat.

4) Marcel Fischer – Fischer lives for the Olympics. Back in 2000 he fought his way to the foot of the podium before losing out and finishing fourth. In 2004 he had a second chance and he didn’t squander it – he dominated the field on his way to a gold medal. Amazingly, Fischer almost missed out on the Olympics entirely that year. In one of the last qualifying World Cups of the season (Vancouver), Rota and Fischer were both battling it out to qualify individually. Both made the semi-finals and Fischer was matched up against Cody Mattern, who had been on fire all day. Fischer seemed to let his nerves get to him and made some dumb mistakes and was dispatched by the American. Rota, meanwhile, had the more proven veteran, Hugues Obry, in his bracket and fought to a 14-14 tie before winning off a parry riposte and dancing down the piste to shake hands. In the final Rota demolished Mattern and knocked Fisher out of his Olympic spot. Fischer only qualified by winning the European zonal tournament.

3) Matteo Tagliariol- This selection is based partly on results but even more on potential. Tagliariol has only been to two senior Worlds and one Olympics, so he hasn’t had the time to compile the type of impressive resumé that the two fencers who are ahead of him possess. Tagliariol’s fencing is aesthetically beautifully and deadly effective. He is a modern-day Muhammad Ali, unfortunately without the quotability.

2) Fabrice Jeannet – A list with Kolobkov at number one would be incomplete without Fabrice Jeannet at number two. Despite an amazing career, Jeannet’s success has been handcuffed by Kolobkov’s dominance over the period. Jeannet had epic final matches with Kolobkov in both 2002 and 2005, but never prevailed. In 2003, the one year that Jeannet won senior individual Worlds, Kolobkov was not there. Instead he was trapped in France due to an Air France flight attendants’ strike. Still, Jeannet has been a rock for the French team, winning team gold in both Athens and Beijing and four of the six World Championships he competed in during the decade. Jeannet capped off the decade by taking silver in Beijing to Tagliariol.

1) Pavel Kolobkov – Simply the most dominant epee fencer in recent history, perhaps even the greatest of all time. During the stretch he captured two individual Olympic medals, one of which was gold, and three World Champion titles. If the contest was changed to the best men’s epeeist of the past two decades, Kolobkov would fare even better, having captured an additional three World titles in the 90’s. Kolobkov’s contributions to the sport transcend his results, as he has influenced an entire generation of mullet-haired Russian epee fencers.

The HCP's Breakdown of the Kovalchuk Rumors

zzOMG!! Kovalchuk to Vancouverzzz! The internets are going crazy these days with rumors about Kovalchuk demanding a max (10 year, 11.5 mil) deal from the ATL, and the Thrashers, not exactly rolling in money these days, turning it down. Before we all get our panties in a twist, lets not forget every single sports rumor site floods their boards with rumors about Canadian teams to boost their readers. Gionta has been on the verge of donning the stick-in-rink for at least two years, as every big name is linked to the Habs, Leafs, or Canucks. However, the Kovalchuk rumors, while possibly made up, do make a lot of sense. The two other rumored teams are the Kings and Wings; the Kings are unlikely to part with young, cheap talent and mess with a chemistry that's put them on top of the league, and the Wings aren't the type to go after big-name rental players at the deadline. So why does the deal make sense for the Canucks? Here's the rumored deal:

Canucks get: Kovalchuk

Thrashers get: Demitra, Schneider (the young one, some say a d-man instead), Grabner, and a 1st

For Gillis, I'm sure this deal would hinge on a sign-and-trade, since Gillis has a hardon for young talent and draft picks. However, with the signing of the Sedins and Luongo, the Canucks essentially have a 5-year window for the Cup. If Gillis can add big name talent right away, instead of waiting for young players and picks to develop, he'll do it. Sedin-Sedin-Burrows and Raymond-Kesler-Kovalchuk. Bitch please.

For Waddell, who's made some, er, questionable trades in the past (see 10, 9, and then go have a satisfied look at 1 for a bit), the deal makes sense for him, picking up a talented second liner in Grabner, a 1st, the best goalie in the A. Perhaps most importantly, it gets him Demitra, since the Thrashers NEED to make the playoffs this year (see: link in the the second sentence). Win now, win later is a win-win, especially if his back is against the wall and risking losing the 'Chuk for nothing, which will most certainly get him fired. (Don't worry Thrashers fan, he'll probably get fired either way.) The only thing stopping him is another team stepping up with a better deal, which could easily happen but if this is on his plate at the deadline he can be satisfied in taking it.

The only other variable is the salary cap. Assuming it stays around its current level (it's supposed to change by 2.5 million, but it's not clear if that's up or down), Gillis would have to unload some salary. If the Thrashers don't bite on Young Schneider (seeing as how they have Pavelec and Lehtonen), I wouldn't be surprised if Gillis tosses a guy like Bieksa into the deal, provided we get a serviceable (say, Christoph Schubert) d-man back. Assuming Wellfed (this picture, occupying the top 5 spots on the Google image search for Wellwood, will never get old) is gone, and Kesler gets his raise to about 4.5 mil, with the loss of Demitra, Old Man Schneider, and Bieksa that'll clear about 9 million give or take for Kovalchuk. Mitchell is coming off the books at 3.5 as well, and as much as we need him back, it'll give Gillis a bit of breathing room to work with. And come on, Gillis owns the cap. He's found more nooks and crannies than Tiger Woods (come on...I had to get one in).

So, Kovalchuk and Schubert to the Canucks? Demitra, Bieksa, Grabner, and a 1st back? Get 'er done.

Bonus: A week and a half before the Team Canada roster is announced, here's the HCP's picks:

nash-crosby-iginla
heatley-thornton-marleau
smyth-getzlaf-perry
morrow-mike richards-doan
toews

seabrook-keith
niedermayer-weber
boyle-pronger
regehr

brodeur
lou
fleury
alternates: savard, lecavalier, doughty