04/23/24
February 26, 2013
SportsFilter: The Tuesday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
50 Cent makes an extremely awkward and very public pass at Erin Andrews at the Daytona 500. The slow mo only heightens the awkward.
posted by dfleming at 11:51 AM on February 26, 2013
The Blackhawks run so far is amazing. Alot of teams are riding their starting goalies hard and in this short season, i think you need to rest those guys earlier so they are sharp come playoff time.
I agree, but in Chicago's case, Ray Emery has started 42% of their games and is amazingly 8-0.
If you adjust for the season length, last year's 8th place team in the West would've needed 56 points to qualify. The Hawks aren't even at the halfway point yet and only need 11 victories in their last 29 games to get there. That allows them a lot of freedom to spread the minutes out evenly and ensure Crawford and others are fresh for the playoffs.
posted by dfleming at 12:01 PM on February 26, 2013
I was unaware of the split there. I know the rangers have been riding Lundquist hard the first few weeks. Guess we will have to see how it all shakes out. The teams with the most depth that can rest some guys now and then should be freshest come playoff time will be at an advantage.
posted by Debo270 at 01:57 PM on February 26, 2013
The problem with the Rangers is that they don't really roll 4 lines. They ride their best players, and if it doesn't work, they're in trouble. The Hawks are running 4 lines and all of them are contributing on the score sheet, on defense, etc. Both their goalies are getting a lot of time (Emery out of necessity as Crawford was dealing with a concussion).
posted by insomnyuk at 02:01 PM on February 26, 2013
The Pens goalie split has been nice too. Thomas Vokoun has done well so far.
posted by Debo270 at 02:31 PM on February 26, 2013
The problem with the Rangers is that they don't really roll 4 lines. They ride their best players, and if it doesn't work, they're in trouble.
Yeah, they went all-in on that philosophy and now have two guys with more than three goals, although Nash likely won't stay that way for long.
They lost a lot of what made them so good last year (tight checking, pressure and forecheck, truculence) when they moved guys like Dubinsky, Anismov and even Prust. I don't think they're out-of-the-playoffs bad, but they're missing a huge part of what was working for them.
posted by dfleming at 03:06 PM on February 26, 2013
The Blackhawks run so far is amazing. Hope they burn themselves out. Alot of teams are riding their starting goalies hard and in this short season, i think you need to rest those guys earlier so they are sharp come playoff time.