carpandean

I don't have the actual studies to point you to, but the short answers are: (1) yes, including more than just shots that reach the goal and/or goalie has been shown to be a better indicator, and (2) faceoffs have been shown to have little effect on possession (it's very short lived, as good puck possession teams get it back quickly when they lose one, bad puck possession teams give it up quickly when they win one.)

To keep more teams in the playoff race longer. It makes it so that it doesn't cost anything to win a minute or two later (OT vs. end of regulation), but it does cost something to lose a minute or two earlier. So, teams will lock a game down late if it's tied to ensure that they get at least a point. Edmonton was on their heals for the whole third period just playing defense to try and get at least one point.

These Oilers shootouts are so nerve racking. They had 9 different players shooting with the game on their stick before one finally scored. It was just like the one against the Sharks (except the one round in that game where both teams scored.) Two big points, though.

But Kane + Bogosian will almost surely get you more scoring and hitting over the next few years (and beyond, depending on re-signings) than Myers + Armia. The wild card would be Lemieux, but he's far from a guarantee to be anything significant (see Kassian, Zack.)

Oddly enough, the gray bits don't bother me very much. They would, however, look more out of place with royal blue. I like the dark blue much better in person than on TV. They really do look almost black at times. I wouldn't mind something between dark navy and bright royal.

Not as the primary, but twice as alternate jerseys: From the mouth of one of the big three during the Golisano era (TG, LQ, DD), it was for merchandise sales purposes (at least, that was one of the biggest reasons.) Navy sells better than royal. Apparently, the slug was a big fashion seller outside of Buffalo (and even outside of hockey markets, all together.)

I hadn't, but I actually just realized that the 65-point line doesn't belong there, anyway. That should unclutter things a bit.

Sabres now need to win out in order to reach the 93-point pace axis.

Yeah, 20% McDavid, 80% Eichel sounds much better than 13.5% McDavid, 20% Eichel, 66.5% someone else. Of course, there's another big drop-off from 29th to 28th. While the chance of McDavid, specifically, doesn't fall much (11.5% vs. 13.5%), the chance of of getting either one is cut by 2/3 again: 30th: 100% chance of McDavid or Eichel 29th: 33.5% chance of McDavid or Eichel 28th: 11.5% chance of McDavid or Eichel

It was just gas. ;)

I made it, but in looking back at the original, I kinda like the bottom of the sea feel that it has.

Trying out a new version of the tank chart. Like the playoffs chart, Tank 2 is net of a position (last place). You do lose games-in-hand on the worst team (for example, Edmonton won last night, but that cannot be reflected since the Sabres' 52nd game has not been played yet), but it shows the differences better.

I didn't think that they could possibly break -30 again. We may yet see the dragon this year.

Don't laugh to hard at the Leafs ... it's still possible that the Sabres finish 29th and the Leafs win the draft Lottery. :sick:

The Leafs just fell onto the Tank chart.

Taking over as the worst record in the league and the worst Sabres record since at least the 2004-05 lockout in the very same game. Impressive.

I haven't gone back and looked, but I suspect that we have more good, young talent in the system than they did in 2009. I know that they had a couple of fun to watch, but not very effective "young kids" teams, though, so maybe I'm wrong.

He's going for the hard deck. Let's get down there first and nail him, Mav. No way, Jester, you're mine.

Welcome back to 2013-14!

The real interesting thing about the Charts right now, is that although it's clear we are a longshot for the playoffs, there's also pretty much no way we're getting back in the tank race against Edmonton and Carolina. In fact we could very easily play ourselves right off the tank chart. So 9th place here we come, right? Probably not, but we were 6/7 points below Edmonton and Carolina only 12 games ago, so you never know. The Sabres went from an 0.44 points/GP over the first 18 games to 1.50 points/GP over the last 12. Carolina has averaged 0.4 point/GP over their last 15 and Edmonton has averaged 0.45 points/GP over their last 22. Those paces put teams in the 30's over the course of the season, so it's unlikely that they will maintain them. Pretty much no way, eh? :P

I'll get right on that. :flirt:

End-of-year update. A tiny bit of life on the tank chart over the last three games, but still 7 points above Edmonton.

I don't know Eleven ... er, Santa Claus ... that playoffs chart isn't getting any better. Still 10 back and only 1 point in the two games where 8th is not yet determined.

OC, QB, O linemen. That's my Christmas list.

Probably not, but we were 6/7 points below Edmonton and Carolina only 12 games ago, so you never know. The Sabres went from an 0.44 points/GP over the first 18 games to 1.50 points/GP over the last 12. Carolina has averaged 0.4 point/GP over their last 15 and Edmonton has averaged 0.45 points/GP over their last 22. Those paces put teams in the 30's over the course of the season, so it's unlikely that they will maintain them.