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Ah, the Blues. In the league since 1967, yet never won a Cup. Nonetheless they have had, it seems to me, a disproportionate number of strong teams over the years, and have never, to my knowledge, "tanked." They're like the ultimate in consistency, missing the playoffs only five times since 1980. Unlike the Habs, they are often rated as contenders, yet - exactly like the Habs - never break through. Classy logo and old-school jerseys too, with some distinguished players over their impressive history. They have a neat name of the type that would never, ever be chosen in today's shiny super-corporate NHL. And they seem to be rock-solid in terms of the fan-base. Kind of an interesting and under-appreciated franchise, all things considered. Living in the Vancouver area, I find myself wondering if their fans are as whiny and self-pitying as Canucks fans, who feel tragically hard done-by by the fact that they've never won. Not totally unlike Canucks' fans, Blues fans are both privileged - they have a good team, year after year after year - and long-suffering - they never win or even come close.

Wise words re: Pacioretty. It's the same old story, the guy is streaky, and during his slumps struggles to do anything that impacts the game. It doesn't follow that he is a "problem" or that he should be dealt; and you're absolutely right that trading him in the midst of one of his worst seasons (so far) in years is nuts. I have no problem trading Patches, because it's crystal clear that this core is not good enough. If we can move him as part of a deal that strengthens the core, then, we obviously should do it. But that is quite different from thinking that trading him is an end in itself. Again, he's not the problem.

I like him...hope he stays up for the remainder of the season.

That was a neat (and very lucky) shot from Weber to get it to within one. That was the type of shot that I could see players trying to duplicate in practice for fun (and failing).

The last 5 games show how this is a good team, a playoff team. Games like this show they are not a contender. Dominated up the middle.

Yeah but if I mentioned those then my post wouldn't have been as good. They can have as many late first round picks as they want as long as we get a point per game center

There were multiple first-round picks going to Philly in the deal as well... Who'd have thought that on December 5th, Benn would have as many goals as the three Norris finalists from last season (Karlsson, Burns, and Hedman) combined?

Carr with a beauty screen on Benn's goal. He really should be an everyday player on the 4th line.

I wish the Habs had a player as terrible as Jori Lehtera to trade for Brayden Schenn back in the summer

It feels foreign to me to shoot lefty, but that's what I'm "supposed" to do as a right hand dominant person. At least that's what coaching tells us, and is apparently true with all the LH shooters out there. I guess I now know while I'm still a never signed UFA at 46.

There are "crucial moments" in every sport. A crucial shot, or pitch, or throw that can define a game in a close game. And yes, one team will win and one team will lose. If Clutch is a skill, then its repeatable. Then someone who has this "clutch" ability will show it time and time again. While they won't be perfect in crucial moments, and you can't always win... you would still see a statistically significant improvement in performance in crucial moments. You'd be able to identify these players statistically as being better in those crucial moments than they are at other times of the season and game. But people who have studied this can't do it. There is no statistically significant evidence in any professional sport that makes the case for the existence of "clutch" as an ability that some pros have more than others.

There's a small tragedy in Houle's failure. In The Game, Dryden gives a very warm portrait of Houle as a kid from a hardscrabble background who had to battle against long odds and personal insecurities; and Dryden concludes his portrait by saying, in effect, that Rejean Houle has made it, and has begun to internalize that he is, indeed, a successful person. It must have been exquisitely painful, then, to reach the apogee of his career and fail so appallingly and totally. Based on Dryden's portrait, he's not a Trump or a Tremblay, sufficiently brash and arrogant as to ignore his own failures or blame others for them or just doggedly plough forward; nor is he a Gainey, who always seemed so self-contained that he'd deal with failure philosophically. It's probably been really, really hard for Houle to come to terms with the disaster of his GMship. This was brought home to me when he was reported as being very worried that he would be booed when he skated out onto the ice for the 100th anniversary spectacle in 2009. We seem to have here a very decent man who desperately wants to do well and be accepted. Now his legacy is one of destroying the organization that defined him and that he loved. It's a sad tale.

The thing that I noticed about that list right away is how many right hand shots there are, 14 out of 22 (64%). I don't have the numbers, but I imagine that there are way more lefties than righties that ever played the game.

If you adjust for era (ie adjust for the fact that 80s goals were much easier than now)... the top 3 in GPG are Lemieux Ovi Bossy

A link to the article mentioning this: http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/daniel-briere-details-highlights-life-career-autobiography/

This is one of those games where it'd be nice for Max to show up and show some fire. Won't hold my breath, but....it'd be nice. And I don't mean laying in permimeter shots directly to the goaltender's crest for those of you about to point out that he has 3 SOG in this game. I'm talking about cutting to the middle...going to the net hard and burying one.

2 things. 1) Mariano Rivera was Great. He was great in the regular season. He's a Hall of Fame level closer, a rare thing. Repeated strong performances in both the regular season and the playoffs isn't showing you are clutch... it is showing you are a great pitcher. 2) Mariano Rivera choked in the World Series against Arizona. For all his "clutchness", he choked that one away.

I didn't say you can't have one bad game a year. But "If Clutch is a skill, then its repeatable. Then someone who has this "clutch" ability will show it time and time again. While they won't be perfect in crucial moments, and you can't always win... you would still see a statistically significant improvement in performance in crucial moments. You'd be able to identify these players statistically as being better in those crucial moments than they are at other times of the season and game. " In Cammalleri's case, you can't see that "statistically significant" improvement. The sample size is too small. We need more playoff games out of him, before we declare him the one outlier who is clutch. No one has been able to do that over a statistically significant amount of time. Why would we assume its an actual clutch skill and not just a hot streak. Heck we have 3 series he performed great in during his playoff career (Washington 10, Pittsburgh 10, Boston 11), two series he scored zero goals and a few assists (Flames 08 Playoffs, Flyers 10). 3 good series, 2 bad series, does not prove he is a clutch player. It is more likely he is a streaky scorer who had a good month.