I know that this has been blogged to death and made the highlight reel on Sportscenter. Regardless, I have to share this goal by Ovechkin for all the folks who read this blog but aren’t into hockey.
The best thing about this is that the Cap’s were playing the Habs when Ovechkin decided to make his move. Guy Lafleur completely trashed the Habs, who are freefalling through the standings.
I was really curious about how the teams would stack up against each other if they were scored using the revised points system I mentioned before.
The table below is a ranking of all the NHL teams using the three point system. Just for kicks, I left in the old points in the second to last column. As you can see, it shuffles around some of the teams, but it isn’t as drastic as you might expect. “NP” stands for normalized points.
| Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | P | NP |
| BOS | 51 | 32 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 80 | 112 |
| SJS | 48 | 30 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 77 | 107 |
| WSH | 51 | 26 | 6 | 4 | 15 | 68 | 94 |
| DET | 49 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 69 | 93 |
| CGY | 48 | 27 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 64 | 91 |
| NJD | 50 | 21 | 11 | 3 | 15 | 67 | 88 |
| CHI | 48 | 22 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 62 | 84 |
| MTL | 50 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 62 | 82 |
| NYR | 51 | 18 | 11 | 4 | 18 | 62 | 80 |
| PHI | 49 | 18 | 8 | 9 | 14 | 61 | 79 |
| PHX | 51 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 22 | 53 | 76 |
| BUF | 50 | 19 | 7 | 5 | 19 | 57 | 76 |
| ANA | 52 | 20 | 5 | 5 | 22 | 55 | 75 |
| EDM | 49 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 53 | 75 |
| CAR | 51 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 55 | 74 |
| FLA | 49 | 19 | 4 | 8 | 18 | 54 | 73 |
| MIN | 49 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 53 | 73 |
| CBJ | 50 | 18 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 53 | 71 |
| VAN | 50 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 20 | 52 | 70 |
| PIT | 51 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 22 | 53 | 70 |
| DAL | 48 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 53 | 69 |
| NSH | 49 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 24 | 47 | 64 |
| LAK | 48 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 47 | 64 |
| TOR | 50 | 16 | 3 | 8 | 23 | 46 | 62 |
| COL | 50 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 26 | 47 | 62 |
| TBL | 50 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 23 | 44 | 58 |
| STL | 48 | 13 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 44 | 57 |
| OTT | 48 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 24 | 41 | 55 |
| ATL | 51 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 39 | 52 |
| NYI | 49 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 29 | 35 | 46 |
I bought some new equipment to go snowshoeing with Tracey. The first thing I needed was a pair of waterpoof hiking boots. I decided on the Hi-Tec Montana after reading the reviews. I’ve used them a few times now this winter and I love them. They were very comfortable out of the box and are waterproof. If I was hiking longer distances I’d consider replacing the inserts.
I also bought the Atlas 2008 9 Series Snowshoeing Kit. I am a beginner at snowshoeing and so far these have been fantastic. They are really lightweight and are easy to get on/off. They have a lot of “bounce ” to them because of the rubber suspension system. My only criticism is that because of the spring, you get a lot of snow thrown up your back – so wear waterproof clothing!
Tracey bought the Winter Walker snowshoes from LLBean. These seem to be a little bit sturdier, and feel a bit heavier than mine. However, they have a pretty loud hinge on them and make “clacking” noises.
I’d say that both are pretty good beginner choices. However, I like the choice that I made and am looking forward to more days on the snow.
Unfortunately, the Bruins have lost two games in a row. They had a fair number of chances in both games, but the puck just did not seem to go in. The Bruins are still on top of the conference at this point.
As a fan, I am really excited about this. However, as I have started to realize, the standings are a terrible indication of the actual strength of each of the teams. With many games being determined by OT shootouts, it is really difficult to say that the standings reflect the true strength of the team.
This issue is explored by Jeff Klein in his NYT Article.
Let’s examine the record of a random team, like the Rangers. The N.H.L. tells us they’re 20-11-2. Wow, that sounds good — 20 wins, 11 losses, and 2 “OTL,” which seems like ties or kind-of ties. They’re a powerhouse, and Rangers fans should be really happy!
The reality, of course, is that 9 of those 20 wins came via overtime or penalty shootout, and those 2 “ties” are actually losses in OT or PS. And, you know, in the playoffs there is no four-on-four overtime or penalty-shot contest … just hockey, with five skaters a side and no guaranteed points for being tied after 60 minutes.
There have been have a number of solutions proposed, including the three point system and a no points system. Regardless, I really wish there was a place to get a “normalized” version of the standings for hockey purists.
I found this compilation video of the top ten “own goals” in hockey. Since I posted earlier about Montreal’s own goal, I thought that I’d share this.
There hasn’t been a lot of opportunities to laugh at the Canadiens in the last few years. The Bruins were winless against them last year, and lost to them in the post-season. The Bruins have beat them several times so far this year. I am experiencing some schadenfreude while watching this clip.
If you haven’t seen it already, you have to check out Milan Lucic’s hit on Mike Van Ryn. According to the announcer, it will make every highlight reel for the next 10 years.
He got a hat trick in the same game. This was the first game he played with contact lenses. I hope he keeps them in for the rest of the season.
I had lunch at this place called “J’Bo’s” today. J’Bos is one of our regular lunch places. Their signature dish is called the “Cheddar Bomb.” (btw, cheddar bomb is something quite different in the urban dictionary.) The cheddar bomb is a 1/3 pound hamburger with a 1/4 pound of cheese on it. It is served with a side of cheese fries. Although I have had that once before, I went with a regular burger.
Tonight was our team dinner. The team chose to go to a Brazilian Churrascaria. When I was working at KPMG, one of my clients did not have any extra office space. They signed an agreement to have the auditors sit in a Mexican Churrascaria in the building. I listened to really bad Mexican music on a very unergonomic chair for a few weeks. I left with a backache and a distaste for the Big Four. I hate Churrascarias now, but I decided to go with the flow rather than fighting it.
Arkansas is a pretty obese state. According to this article, it is tied for ninth place in a list of fattest states. It is very unhealthy for me to keep consulting here. The food is very good and very unhealthy. I get little or no exercise while I am here, since I choose to play golf rather than go to the gym. It is very hard to pass up free golf.
All of the bad choices I have made has had two effects. I now weigh 10 pounds more than when I started this project 9 months ago. Secondly, I have two extra inches of body fat around my waist.
I need to start making healthier choices and start exercising more.
My younger brother took me to game six of the ALCS. I think it was the first time I’ve ever seen a grand slam at Fenway.
Separately, I have a few friends who work at Jordan’s Furniture. Jordan’s had a promotion where they would refund the cost of any furniture bought in March 7 and April 16, if the Sox won the World Series. My friends are not rooting for the Sox to win because of the potential financial impact. I think they must be mistaken though, since the article says Jordan purchased insurance to cover any losses from the promotion. Relax guys, your bonus is safe.
Jordan’s is owned by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.b). I have BRK.B in my portfolio. I’m pretty sure it must have been Berkshire that underwrote the promotion. So does the rest of the world, which has lead to a ton of press stories about how Warren Buffett is rooting against the Sox.
I don’t remember how I heard about Stephon Marbury. Tracey must have told me about him. I definitely don’t watch a lot of basketball.
Anyways, I read online that he was selling 15 dollar shoes (that is not a typo) through a retail chain called Steve and Barry. This is interesting because I think it is a concerted effort to bring higher fashion and quality clothing at a deep discount to consumers. It is one part fast fashion and one part frugal fashion.
My first impression of Steve and Barry’s was that it was very similar to Old Navy in look and feel. The store I went to was much larger than most discount retail stores. It was the size of a full mall anchor store. They had a really good selection of T-shirts and sports apparel, which reflects their roots. My impression is that their prices are much better than what you would pay for lesser quality goods at Old Navy. There is a great article about Steve and Barry’s in Business Week.
I bought a few pairs of shorts and a few polo shirts there. I also picked up a pair of Starbury Cyclones in Grey. I will review them after I have worn them for a few weeks. But so far, I think they are excellent quality and they are very comfortable. They also look extremely sharp. My only complaint is that some of the models that are on the Starbury website weren’t available in the store. I will check back to see if they have them in before Christmas.