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Yearbook 2010-11
The Hockey News has been providing the most comprehensive coverage of the world of hockey since 1947. In each issue, you'll find news, features and opinions about the NHL and leagues across North America and the world.
HUNGRY HEARTS WANTED
There’s no silver lining to being just the third team in league history to lose a best-of-seven playoff after building a 3-0 lead. It sure made people forget the Bruins’ disappointing regular season, though. Rarely in sync, often because of injuries, and disappointingly short on passion at times, Boston plunged from No. 2 in the NHL in 2008-09 to a team that barely qualified for the playoffs as the six-seed. Defense and goaltending remained impeccable, but the offense couldn’t make it stand up. After scoring 270 goals in 2008-09, the Bruins spiraled to a last-in-the-NHL 196 last season. Boston added potential scoring help in No. 2 overall draft pick Tyler Seguin, who will play wing instead of center, and took a step to replace goals lost in last year’s trade of Phil Kessel…
5-YEAR TRENDS
MOST POINTS Has there been a more happy hockey coincidence than Sid the Kid and Ovie coming into the league at a time when skill became favored over being able to water ski behind somebody with the puck? FIGHTS PER GAME After an initial dip, pugilism has been more prominent the past three NHL seasons 2009-10 0.578 2008-09 0.593 2007-08 0.535 2006-07 0.401 2005-06 0.374 TOTAL SHOOTOUT GAMES 2009-10 184 2008-09 159 2007-08 156 2006-07 164 2005-06 145 SHOOTOUT SCORING PERCENTAGE 2009-10 .321 2008-09 .337 2007-08 .333 2006-07 .325 2005-06 .336 TOTAL PENALTY SHOTS 2009-10 55 (16 G) 2008-09 59 (23 G) 2007-08 64 (19 G) 2006-07 70 (25 G) 2005-06 103 (35 G) AVERAGE NHL AGE (ages as of Oct. 1 for players who played at least one game in a season) 2009-10 27.04 2008-09 27.14 2007-08 27.29 2006-07 27.28 2005-06 27.41 TOTAL SHUTOUTS PER SEASON 2009-10 155 2008-09 156 2007-08 161 2006-07 148 2005-06 116 TOTAL SAVE PERCENTAGE 2009-10 .911 2008-09 .909 2007-08 .909 2006-07 .905 2005-06 .901 PIMS PER GAME 2009-10 25.6 2008-09 27.8 2007-08 27.9 2006-07…
SHARKS STILL HAVE WORK TO DO
Same old story in San Jose? Not exactly. The Sharks know they are ultimately judged not by their impressive regular season performances, but by what follows. Yes, they shed some – but not all – of their reputation as playoff underachievers by reaching the Western Conference final. Unfortunately for the Sharks, however, Chicago needed only four games to sweep them out of its path to the Stanley Cup. Even so, GM Doug Wilson said he felt his team had made significant progress since the embarrassing loss to Anaheim in the first round of the 2009 post-season. “The players, they know they left it on the ice and that’s the big difference,” Wilson said. “A year ago, I don’t know if they felt that way. That’s a big step.” Wilson’s biggest off-season decisions involved unrestricted free…
CALGARY HOPES TO BURN ANEW
It was a season of abject disappointment. At the 30-game mark of the 2009-10 campaign, the Flames had 19 wins, 41 points and were within striking distance of the Western Conference lead. Then, things fell apart. Goals came only at a premium, wins were even harder to find and they fell out of the playoffs amidst all kinds of discord and turnover. The focus during the summer was finding a way to add scoring. Unable to nab a true sniper or playmaker in free agency, the Flames, with Olli Jokinen and Alex Tanguay, opted for the route of signing players who had strong past seasons, but struggled in recent years. Will it mean more goals? Hard to say. Jokinen played almost the equivalent of a full season in Calgary during parts of two…
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