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Some interesting stats so far this season

Which stats stand out most so far this young NHL season?

Here are some interesting stats that have stood out so far this season:

  • Atlanta’s Rich Peverley is sixth in the NHL in points-per-game with 1.33.  Wouldn’t Nashville love a scoring winger right now?
  • Ales Kotalik leads the NHL with 13 power play points.  That Oilers power play is sure struggling pretty bad right now…
  • Patrick Marleau leads the NHL with 16 road points.  Taking the captaincy away from him only seems to have increased his willingness to become better.
  • Matt Carle leads the NHL in +/- with a +15.  Think Chris Pronger has anything to do with that?
  • Tomas Kaberle leads all NHL defensemen with 20 points.  But some in Toronto thinks he should be trade bait?
  • For all the attention Craig Anderson has been getting, Ryan Miller continues to lead NHL netminders with a .938 save percentage.  That’s the battle, including Tim Thomas,  for U.S. starting netminder.
  • On the other hand, Roberto Luongo is 30th in the NHL with a save percentage of .903.  Martin Brodeur is the favorite to start for Canada.
  • Marian Gaborik leads NHL forwards in ice-time with 22:15 minutes per contest.  John Tortorella is known for playing his horses a ton–see: Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis in Tampa.
  • Chris Pronger leads NHL defensemen in ice-time with 27:15 minutes per-game.  He’s my Norris winner so far this season.
  • Probably not known to many people outside Montreal, Roman Hamrlik is tenth in the NHL in defensemen ice-time with 25:27 per-game.  Injuries have necessitated Hamrlik’s increased workload.
  • Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa leads the NHL in penalty minutes with 61.  He needs to cut down on that total, as he’s one of their horses.
  • The Flyers lead the NHL in power play percentage, converting at a 27.9% clip.  Again, that guy Pronger may be pretty impactful.
  • The Blackhawks lead the NHL in penalty killing percentage, stopping the opponent 87.1% of the time.  A great defense and some very aware forwards willing to throw around their bodies.
  • Nashville has the worst power play in the NHL with a converting percentage of 11.1.  The Predators don’t have enough offensive talent and the talent they do have–Legwand, Erat, etc.–has been missing in action.
  • The Leafs have the worst penalty kill in the NHL with an awful 71.6% killing rate.  Wow.  With shot blocking defensemen on the blue line, this team has to be better.  Obviously the poor goaltending is a factor but the forwards need to sacrifice their bodies and the defense needs to step it up.
  • Buffalo leads the NHL in shots on goal per-game with 34.3.  A very well balanced team that can come at you from all lines. 
  • Surprisingly, the Flames sit at the bottom of the NHL in shots on goal per-game with 25.6.  Odd totals for sure.  I expect this total to rise.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks have allowed the least amount of shots on goal per game, allowing only 22.6 against.  Arguably the most talented team in the game–so no surprise here.
  • The Panthers are allowing a whopping 35.6 shots against per game.  Vokoun/Clemmensen need help.  The Panthers, in my opinion, need an identity.
  • The best five-on-five scoring ratio in the NHL belongs to the Capitals.  Still posting big offensive totals without Ovechkin too.

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