Standings of Reality

ATL

1.TBL 137
2.OTT 108
3.TOR 104
-------------
4.DET 82
5.BOS 82
6.MTL 78
7.FLA 68
8.BUF 64

MET

1.NJD 116
2.CBJ 99
3.NYI 97
-------------
4.PIT 94*
5.CAR 92*
6.NYR 91
7.WSH 91
8.PHI 82


CEN

1.STL 117
2.WPG 111
3.NSH 106
-------------
4.COL 87*
5.MIN 87
6.DAL 87
7.CHI 82

PAC

1.LAK 109
2.SJS 103
3.LVK 101
-------------
4.CGY 97*
5.VAN 91
6.ANA 82
7.EDM 73
8.ARZ 29



NHL

1.TBL 137
2..STL 117
3.NJD 116
4.WPG 111
5.LAK 109
6.OTT 108
7.NSH 106
8.TOR 104
9.SJS 103
10.LVK 101
11.CBJ 99
12.NYI 97
13.CGY 97
14.PIT 94
15.CAR 92
16.NYR 91
17.VAN 91
18.WSH 91
19.COL 87
20.MIN 87
21.DAL 87
22.CHI 82
23.PHI 82
24.DET 82
25.ANA 82
26.BOS 82
27.MTL 78
28.EDM 73
29.FLA 68
30.BUF 64
31.ARZ 29

Almost at the 20 game mark and it kinda looks like a changing of the guard in the East. Pit/Wash/Rangers/Boston/Montral all struggling and the Lighting, Leafs, Devils, Jackets and Canes moving up in the world.

I'm sure the Pens will rebound. But if the Caps don't one name that doesn't get talked about, but would be a perfect fit for the Leafs is John Carlson. He is a UFA after this year.

The West is still the West led by the Kings, Blues, Sharks and Preds.

Tough to tell still. A lot of this may still just be luck at this point.

Most of the surprise top teams are riding super high PDOs:

1.NJD 103.4
2.WPG 102.8
3.TB 102.7
4.NYI 102.3
5.VAN 102.0

and the surprise strugglers are mostly the bottom PDOs:

26.NYR 98.4
27.BUF 98.0
28.DAL 97.6
29.MTL 97.3
30.ARI 96.6
31.PIT 94.6

leafman101 said:

Almost at the 20 game mark and it kinda looks like a changing of the guard in the East. Pit/Wash/Rangers/Boston/Montral all struggling and the Lighting, Leafs, Devils, Jackets and Canes moving up in the world.

I'm sure the Pens will rebound. But if the Caps don't one name that doesn't get talked about, but would be a perfect fit for the Leafs is John Carlson. He is a UFA after this year.

The West is still the West led by the Kings, Blues, Sharks and Preds.

Click to expand...

Unless the Caps go into a real tailspin, they'll be close enough that they won't be selling. I mean, even by the pace stats above, they're only a game out of the playoff race right now.

Pittsburgh has an ugly goal differential that has to concern them, but they are out-shooting their opponents by a lot overall so likely will bounce back. Although outshooting your opponent isn't everything - the Habs have the #2 shot differential in the game right now and obviously that's not really doing much for us.

You don't want to draw conclusions from one game, but when the Leafs played the Caps this year, it really stood out how diminished this year's version of that team is compared to the one we played in the playoffs last year.

Their defense has taken a major hit, and is a lot less mobile. And swapping replacement-level players at best for two quality top-6 forwards like Marcus Johansson & Justin Williams really kills their depth.

As for the rest...Boston is pretty much a one line team, built on David Pastrnak, a rapidly diminishing Tuukka Rask, and the few remnants of a seven year-old Stanley Cup winning team. The Rangers are an average team, built on a star goalie that's well past his prime, and a collection of middling talent. The Habs are a mediocre, poorly-constructed team that needs otherworldly goaltending to be any good at all.

So yeah, I'd agree. The only team in that group that I think will regain their former place near the top of the East is Pittsburgh. It's only a matter of time before Crosby gets back to top form, and in the meantime, Kessel's been incredible for them and is carrying their offense.

The only worry I'd have about the Penguins is their goaltending. Matt Murray's rightly gotten a lot of acclaim for the two Cups he's won at his age, but the reality is, he's still never been a full-time starting goalie at the NHL level. So, this year will be a big test. Can he handle the increased workload? And mentally, can he handle being "The Guy", without a high-end, Cup winning goalie as his safety net? At least so far, the returns haven't been good.

marcus Johansson is a huge loss. that guy's numbers look great the deeper and deeper you go. super underrated player and super underrated part of that Caps teams' success.

Sure, but Carlson is a pending UFA who maybe won't want to commit the next 7-8 years to a team on a downward trend.

The Pens should rebound. Their goaltending will likely improve, and Crosby will start scoring again. New Jersey will likely fall off. I think Tampa's high PDO is sustainable due to their talent.

Toronto, Washington, Columbus, Carolina and Boston all have reasonable PDOs. It looks like Toronto, Columbus and Carolina's success and Washington and Bostons drop off is entirely sustainable.

ATL

1.TBL 138
2.TOR 107
3.OTT 101
-------------
4.DET 86
5.BOS 82
6.MTL 74
7.FLA 73
8.BUF 64

MET

1.NJD 114
2.NYI 100
3.CBJ 99
-------------
4.PIT 98*
5.CAR 87*
6.NYR 86
7.WSH 86
8.PHI 82


CEN

1.STL 119
2.WPG 114
3.NSH 100
-------------
4.COL 92*
5.MIN 91*
6.CHI 86
7.DAL 82

PAC

1.LVK 105
1.LAK 104
3.SJS 97
-------------
4.CGY 91
5.ANA 87
6.VCR 86
7.EDM 69
8.ARZ 35



NHL

1.TBL 138
2.STL 119
3.WPG 114
4.NJD 114
5.TOR 107
6.LVK 105
7.LAK 104
8.OTT 101
9.NYI 100
10.NSH 100
11.CBJ 99
12.PIT 98
13.SJS 97
14.COL 92
15.MIN 91
16.CGY 91
17.CAR 87
18.ANA 87
19.CHI 86
20.NYR 86
21.VCR 86
22.DET 86
23.WSH 86
24.DAL 82
25.PHI 82
26.BOS 82
27.MTL 74
28.FLA 73
29.EDM 69
30.BUF 64
31.ARZ 35

Eagerly awaiting Sensible's three team update.

WellPlayed said:

Eagerly awaiting Sensible's three team update.

Click to expand...

The Leafs won and the Sens lost so, like always, Zeke updated right away.

I only need to be helpful when the Leafs lose and he "forgets" to update for a couple of days.

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SENSible said:

The Leafs won and the Sens lost so, like always, Zeke updated right away.

I only need to be helpful when the Leafs lose and he "forgets" to update for a couple of days.

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

You have a phone reminder set for that or do you just log it in your diary?

I never got this argument we've had for years here. When the Leafs win I'm more excited and make sure I catch the post game, next day's coverage, etc. When they lose I'd still listen to the analysis, well some of it, but I'm not as eager and may put it off.

It's only natural no?

CTheBigPicture said:

I never got this argument we've had for years here. When the Leafs win I'm more excited and make sure I catch the post game, next day's coverage, etc. When they lose I'd still listen to the analysis, well some of it, but I'm not as eager and may put it off.

It's only natural no?

Click to expand...

Same for Zeke apparently, so in order to be helpful I update for him.

You're welcome.

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Hello down there.

SENSible said:

Same for Zeke apparently, so in order to be helpful I update for him.

You're welcome.

Sent from my SM-G955W using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

It's crazy how we've gone from being terrible and going for the first overall pick to being awesome and expecting to win even without our first overall in the lineup.

In just 18 months.

BeLeafer said:

Hello down there.

Click to expand...

Hi.

:seeya:

Sens lost again. Do your thing Zeke

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ATL

1.TBL 131
2.TOR 109
3.OTT 95
-------------
4.DET 90
5.BOS 86
6.MTL 70
7.FLA 66
8.BUF 57

MET

1.NJD 108
2.CBJ 103
3.NYI 98
-------------
4.CAR 95*
5.PIT 93*
6.WSH 90
7.NYR 86
8.PHI 82


CEN

1.STL 121
2.WPG 117
3.NSH 104
-------------
4.COL 91*
5.CHI 90
6.MIN 86
7.DAL 86

PAC

1.LVK 108
1.LAK 102
3.CGY 95
-------------
4.SJS 91*
5.ANA 91
6.VCR 86
7.EDM 66
8.ARZ 41



NHL

1.TBL 131
2.STL 121
3.WPG 117
4.TOR 109
5.LVK 108
6.NJD 108
7.NSH 104
8.CBJ 103
9.LAK 102
10.NYI 98
11.CGY 95
12.CAR 95
13.OTT 95
14.PIT 93
15.SJS 91
16.COL 91
17.ANA 91
18.CHI 90
19.WSH 90
20.DET 90
21.MIN 86
22.BOS 86
23.DAL 86
24.VAN 86
25.NYR 86
26.PHI 82
27.MTL 70
28.EDM 66
29.FLA 66
30.BUF 57
31.ARZ 41

Crickets. Typical.








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