TruthMonger

Just on the roster. I feel like you have the answer.

Yes, as long as it's clear that he won the Cup as a Canadiens player. Didn't want people to think I meant a Hab who may have won a Cup with a different team.

Which former NHL player was the most recent to celebrate his birthday by winning the Stanley Cup as a member of the Canadiens?

Florida Panthers

I'd respectfully submit a great big "who cares" for most of those stats. Yes, Stastny's FO% was 6 points better last season. At an average of 20 face-offs per game, that translates into one additional face-off won each game. While it's nice that Stastny wins 11 out of 20 face-offs, I can live with Pleks winning merely 10 out of 20. Stastny is one inch taller and 7 pounds heavier. Oh my. As CC pointed out, their point stats have been very similar for the last 3 years, which seems more relevant than their career numbers Pleks scores his points while also anchoring an excellent penalty kill. Stastny does not. Pleks is also significantly cheaper. Beyond the fact that Stastny is 3 years younger, I don't see the value.

Are those the new rankings? That's where they sat for the April rankings and on TSN it says that his next rankings aren't due until tomorrow (May 15).

Crawford coached him in Vancouver just before Bergevin retired. Only 9 games played, but they know each other...

All things being equal, face-offs are a nice skill to have, but I would hope it doesn't factor into any decision overly much. Unless you're comparing the best face-off guys in the league to the worst, the difference really isn't as great as it's sometimes made out to be. An average guy like Pleks takes about 20 face-offs a game and wins 10 (50%). A face-off whiz like Konopka wins 57%, which comes out to 11.4 on 20, or just over one extra win per game. So while I'd agree that one extra face-off win per game is not a bad thing, I would never want it to factor into free agent selection more than skating, hitting, or shooting.

Looking at last year's stats, during the regular season we had 164 games played by D-men who were not penciled in pre-season as our top-6. Doesn't hurt to have an extra body or two.

They had some bad Christmas seasons in the past, but that does not apply to the last two years. They closed out last year on a 7-game road-trip, winning 6. The year before finished with 3 road wins (though they lost the 4th road game in January).

I absolutely agree with this point. I've always disliked his reactionary style and his lack of subtlety or context. I was just making the point that him saying that he thought Price would be a star at the beginning was not an outright lie. I make no apologies for his flip-flopping or self-congratulation. I really don't like the guy's writing.

To be fair, he does spend much of the article calling himself out for trashing Price recently. And it is true that he used to talk up Price as being a saviour. A quick google search found this nugget from 2007: "What the Canadiens need, then, is a three- to five-year plan. Build around goaltender Carey Price, who may turn out to have been the most brilliant draft choice of Gainey's career. If Price is the goalie he appeared to be during the world juniors, he could conceivably be another Martin Brodeur or Patrick Roy, a guy who gives you a chance to win it all every year, even when he's backstopping mediocre teams." http://www2.canada.com/topics/sports/hocke...4338&page=2 That being said, I do find Todd to be a vacillating blowhard with limited writing skills.

Does anybody have a recent number of his shot-speed? I know he hit 99.2 mph to win the OHL hardest shot competition a couple of years ago, but I'm wondering if he's picked up any speed as he gains muscle and experience.

I'm not a Lapierre apologist and he drives me crazy half the time, but I'm pretty sure they mentioned last night that he's leading the team in hits...something like 48 for him, compared to 40 for the next highest guy..."

My point is more that I don't think anything really has to change, at least for Gionta to get going. He's getting a ton of good shots. Some times they just don't go in. The last NYI game was a good example of the power of a random deflection. So Gionta only has one goal in his first 36 shots. As an 11% career shooter, he's just as likely to get 5 goals on his next 36 shots and see things average out, without changing a thing in his game...