Sunday, January 20, 2008

Sunday Open Thread

Rock it, Erskine style.
Photo: AP

15 comments:

Abhinav said...

One point of contention. I don't get the .500 talk. The team has still lost more games than it has won (26-21). And if you're talking about %age of games where they've earned at least one point, they had that when they were victories + otl = losses, not at 21-21-5.

Their winning percentage is still 21/47=44.68%.

Whatever, two points closer to the goal. So there's that.

bradley said...

The Caps have gotten .500 out of all possible points (47 out of 94), which is why we're at .500. Since we're just talking about us, and not the impact on the rest of the league (e.g. giving 5 other teams 2 points while we take 1), it makes sense to have this be the .500 mark.

Unknown said...

.500 is such a silly, arbitrary thing in sports. It means nothing in terms of standings or post-season hopes. The relevant numbers are points and the trend there is fantastic.

Brian said...

Who would have thought at Thanksgiving that we'd be talking about a) a goalie controversy or b) the definition of .500.

Based on that website JP linked to a while back, we've doubled our chances of making the playoffs in the last 4 weeks and we've gone from finishing 12th to 9th in that time frame. Nice trends, indeed.

Mark Bonatucci said...

Well I think 0.500 or otherwise "the trend is the Caps friend". I also think that Jeff Schultz is definately getting more physical and comfortable in his NHL skin based on last night's game. But even cooler was that last night was the best I've ever see John Erskine play. Overall the defense, formerly a major achilles heel, was pretty solid, except for the 10 minute streatch you rightly cite when nobody in a Caps uniform looked good.If you take the current 47 points and project the Caps finish based on their play since Thanksgiving 90+ points is clearly within reach, but they can't let up for a second so Boudreau and Ovie's attitude is dead on. LETS GO CAPS!!!!!

The Peerless said...

Tyler...as for that "trend"...

The Caps are 15-7-4 under Boudreau. That is a 107-point pace. And, as it is over a 26-game stretch -- about a third of a season -- it is something more than "fluke" or "streak." The Caps have holes in personnel and approach, but this is now at least a "competitive" team and in a lot of ways, a "good" one.

It's just that the hole they dug for themselves in the first 21 games was so deep...

DMG said...

IMO, if you think about it, the third column is a tie - you get that point if you tie in the 60 minutes but lose in the altered (4-on-4) game or in the gimmick. So, in my view, the Caps have won 21, lost 21 and tied 4...yeah I'm aware some of their wins come in OT, but still.

Plus that they have 50% of possible points is a good reason to consider them at .500.

I disagree w tyler than .500 is arbitrary b/c if you're getting more than half the points (in the NHL) or winning more game that you're losing then you're going something right.

Victor said...

Anyone else notice the Cats first goal was scored because the Caps *still* can't keep the crease clear when defending against the PP? Or am I hallucinating?

Anonymous said...

if memory serves, in that instance, it was due to mo having just taken a shot on the leg and not being able to get back in the play in time.

on an unrelated note, does anyone know how many points the caps had at this point last year?

Anonymous said...

The more things change, noonan...

After 47 games played last season, the Caps had 47 points. Their record was 20-20-7.

NS said...

Atlanta lost today. Caps have 3 games "in hand" over ATL and CAR now. A win on Monday ties them with ATL at the 2nd spot in the division.

=D

Schultz needs to sit vs the Penguins

Anonymous said...

Oh, and team scoring is down slightly. Goals Against, improved.

2006-07 (47 Games, 47 Points)
  GF: 148
  GA: 157

2007-08 (47 Games, 47 Points)
  GF: 137
  GA: 147

Abhinav said...

Thanks for the obvious breakdown, Bradley. I don't know how I hadn't figured that out.

JP said...

Season stats to date are meaningless given the regime change. Here's all that matter:

2006-07
G/G: 2.85
GA/G: 3.35
PP%: 16.4
PK%: 80.2

2007-08 under Boudreau
G/G: 3.42
GA/G: 3.12
PP%: 20.2
PK%: 82.2

And, of course, all that really matters is that the team is 15-7-4 under Bouds.

Anonymous said...

yea, the team is going in a completely different direction right now when compared to this time last year. we have a ways to go though, here's to staying healthy!