The best thing about the NHL playoffs is that almost anything can truly happen in a seven-game series. When the sample size is that small, there are so many things that can occur. Any goalie can get hot and steal a series for a lesser team, a player or a line can tear it up […]

The Coyotes really have bad luck with drawing the worst possible first round opponents possible as their first round matchup is the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that a lot of people think are good enough to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. That’s not to say that Phoenix will be a complete pushover but the […]

Much like the Vancouver-Los Angeles series, the #2 vs. #7 matchup between the San Jose Sharks and St. Louis Blues looks to be a lot closer than the team’s seedings indicate. In one corner, we have the Blues who have quietly assembled a great foundation over the last few years and are now seeing it […]

I enjoyed being part of the scoring chance project so much this season that I decided to take the liberty to track a few playoff series. While most of the teams in the playoffs have people tracking for them already, there are still many who are not tracked and two of them are the Detroit […]

The Nashville Predtaors are a team that has been driving stat nerds crazy all season. They are 4th in the West with 104 points despite having the second worst Fenwick close percentage in the league and getting outshot in almost every single game they’ve played. How can a team that spends so much time in […]

In last year’s playoffs, the Canucks drew one of the toughest first round opponents they could have asked for in the Chicago Blackhawks and barely made it out of that series alive. Unfortunately, the same thing happened to them this season as they will be taking on the Los Angeles Kings in what should be […]

We are now at the series that as being regarded as the best of the first round. I have different opinions on that, but I do think that this will be a very entertaining series as it features two of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. It’s a shame that one of these teams […]

The long playoff drought in Florida is over as the Panthers made the playoffs for the first time in over a decade this year by winning the Southeast Division. I’m very happy for them and their fans but one thing to keep in mind is that they won an awful division and are probably the […]

When people were making their pre-season predictions, many had this as a possible Eastern Conference final. The Bruins did their part of winning their division and locking up the #2 seed but the Capitals have been struggling all year and barely made it into the playoffs. They’ve been marred by injuries, inconsistencies and coaching problems […]

It’s the most wonderful time of the hockey year and I am going to celebrate it by breaking down every series. I will also be tracking scoring chances, this one I’m about to talk about not being one of them. The Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers both have terrific bloggers who already track scoring […]

Shots on goal is a stat that’s heavily relied on when looking at how good a team is at controlling possession. However, they are not the most reliable because some arena’s scorers have different definitions as to what counts as a “shot on goal.” This should not be that complicated because, by definition, a shot […]

Only eight months removed from their Eastern Conference final appearance, the Tampa Bay Lightning have fell way short of the expectations that people had for them this year. They are currently in a three-way tie for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders with only 40 points and […]

As most of you know by now, the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was involved in a deadly plane crash which took the lives of nine players including former Carolina Hurricane Josef Vasicek. This just adds to what’s already been a terrible off-season for the NHL after the deaths of Derek Boogaard, Wade Belak, Tom Cavanagh […]

Generally, I think Jim Rutherford has done a good job as GM during his years in Carolina but I know a good number of fans who have been unhappy with him in recent seasons. Most of the complaints are related to him not supplying this team with enough talent, especially through trading. I will touch […]

I’ve always been a huge fan of Stephen Weiss. The former first round pick always had a reputation of being a very underrated center in the league and someone who would thrive on a better team with a better supporting cast. Weiss is definitely a great player and you could say that he’s underrated because […]