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Asking for taxpayer money, P.K. Subban and PDO (Puck Daddy Countdown)
(In which Ryan Lambert takes a look at some of the biggest issues and stories in the NHL, and counts them down.)
8. Cash grabs
Oh didn’t we all love the Winter Classic in St. Louis this year? Wasn’t it so good? Didn’t the Blues win?
Well the Blues and city officials are so, so glad you liked it that they now want to turn that goodwill into the ability to renovate the rink. And all it will cost St. Louis and Missouri taxpayers is $138 million, though the team will pay about $90 million of that. So That’s it! What a bargain!
The good news is the state’s new governor-elect is opposed to spending any taxpayer money on stadiums, but the Blues will meet with him soon and try to convince him it’s actually good to give millionaires more money from working-class families.
And sure that’s a lot of money. And sure St. Louis is still paying off $144 million in debt and other costs after the NFL’s Rams skipped town. And sure they really only want that money so they can continue attracting more lucrative events. And sure even if they don’t get the money the Blues aren’t going anywhere.
But don’t you like the Blues? Don’t you like them so much you want to give them a bunch of money they should just spend themselves? Don’t you want to ignore the fact that arena deals like this are a ripoff?
Well guess what! It doesn’t matter what you feel about it!
“Aldermanic President Lewis Reed plans to introduce the bill as early as Tuesday. He says it would not require a vote of the people.”
And to the surprise of no one, the local media is already saying that giving millions of dollars to an ownership group collectively worth in the range of nine figures is, like, really smart and “reasonable.” Bet this kind of water-carrying gets you some good scoops:
“It’s difficult to swallow giving what many view as corporate welfare for millionaire sports owners, but it’s in St. Louis’ best interest to refurbish Scottrade Center for the Blues and for all the other major sporting events that we want to attract here.”
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Hockey contest now]
You can say it’s in the city’s best interest, but maybe show your work next time.
These people are jackals and snakes.
7. P.K.’s injury
I’m really worried about P.K. Subban. The fact that the team is out here saying, “Hey this isn’t a season-ending injury, okay?” sets off alarm bells that maybe it could be if things don’t go as planned.
Obviously you never want to see a difference-maker like Subban sidelined for any length of time, and while two to three weeks is certainly palatable — more so than “the whole season” anyway — you never know with back issues. I hate it. I hate it!!!!!!!
6. World Junior attendance
Boy when Canada games in Montreal are drawing Arizona Coyotes-like crowds in the medal round, you know this is a country that doesn’t actually care about hockey. Especially because empty seats haven’t exactly been uncommon at this tournament.
It’s almost like — and I know this theory is crazy so stick with me — even Hockey Fans in The Hockey Country only really care when the team is really good. Canada’s just kinda good this year, so they’re like, “Ah, well, I mean, maybe we’ll go if they make the gold medal game.
But in the meantime, it kinda shoots a hole in that whole “Toronto could support two NHL teams!” Maybe nah.
5. The Centennial Classic
On the other hand, this game was sold-out, and very fun. And then the Leafs won because the Leafs are actually pretty good this year and also the Red Wings are very much not. The Marner goal? Awesome. The Matthews goal(s)? Awesome.
Is… is this what it’s gonna feel like when the Leafs are maybe another year or two down the line in their rebuild plan? Because if they can be both convincingly good AND fun, maybe people will stop complaining that they’re on Hockey Night in Canada every week.
I mean, probably not. But the Leafs deserve to be praised for their approach and entertainment value.
4. Tom Wilson
Get this guy out of the league. For real. Because he finished the hell out of that check on John Moore, then told reporters after the game, “I wasn’t trying to finish my check.” He slows down, sure, but he also pushes into the hit at the last second.
C’mon. He’s a trash player who does this kind of stuff all the time. The fact that the league didn’t suspend him is a joke, and it’s not like Wilson is going to change his game at all no matter how “shaken” he pretended to be after hospitalizing someone.
But because there was no suspension, next time he does something like this we’ll all say, “Well he’s only been fined twice, and never suspended!” Cool. Great.
3. USA Hockey
The United States World Junior team is playing pretty well (despite their tendency to take dumbass penalties at inopportune times). They and the Swedes are the only teams to go undefeated, and the Swedes had a much easier group insofar as theirs did not include Canada or Russia. Outscored opponents 17-6 in the round robin, then edged the Swiss to ensure a return meeting with Russia tonight.
Our wonderful brave boys already beat the cowardly Russians 3-2 but otherwise ran them out of the building with a plus-10 shot differential. They will further humiliate the Russians tonight I am quite sure!!!
And moreover, everyone is scoring pretty much. While most of it seems to run through Clayton Keller and Jordan Greenway — who are linemates at BU — there has also been important contributions from Colin White and Jeremy Bracco among others. And Charlie McAvoy is playing about 50 minutes a night, which is good because that US defense isn’t exactly dominant otherwise.
2. Trading Iginla
Rumors are starting to circulate out of Colorado that the Avs are looking to trade Jarome Iginla to a contender. Let’s get this man a damn Cup already folks! Let him bounce around from team to team after the deadline, I don’t care. We gotta make this happen, folks.
1. Understanding PDO
Big kerfuffle on Hockey Twitter Tuesday about the latest 30 Thoughts, in which an unnamed GM said he couldn’t go to the owner and say all the losing the team had been doing thanks to a low shooting percentage:
“What the [expletive] am I supposed to do with that? I supposed to tell my owner everything is going to be okay because our percentages are due to climb to the [expletive] median? I’m sure that status report will go over well.”
I mean here’s the thing: Yeah. You tell your owner that because it’s true. Everyone eventually moves back toward a PDO of 100 whether it’s high or low. But the problem is that GMs have a vested interest in pretending their teams are actually playing well when their PDO is in the 102 range, so they don’t say to their owners, “Just be prepared for all this winning not to last.”
If you can set that expectation when things are good, you can also turn to it when they are bad. If owners don’t understand the concept by now — and they totally should — then that’s a bigger problem.
The unnamed GM in question asked Elliotte Friedman, “How do you manage bad luck?” And the answer is that unfortunately you don’t, especially when you’re like the Bruins and you’re dominant in all other ways but just not scoring. The Leafs were in that same boat earlier this year (remember Auston Matthews’ long goalless streak?) but they played through it and now the puck is going in for them, which it should because they are getting a lot of shots from dangerous areas.
(Not ranked this week: Chicago.
Tough to lose like that in the Winter Classic. Tough to have lost five of your last six. Tough to re-sign Artemi Panarin — who’s been unbelievable this year even as Patrick Kane has been not-exactly-MVP-caliber — knowing that it means you’re going to have to fire someone into the sun again.
That’s the long-term price of success, I think. Chicago’s dominance on the puck and in most games has slowly eroded over the past few years, and speaking of PDO they had a huge one for most of the season so far. That’s why they sit where they do in the standings, but they’re not even a 50 percent adjusted CF team, and are getting badly outshot and outchanced at 5-on-5. Their expected-goals share is fourth from the bottom of the league.
They’re going to make the playoffs with ease, but another unfortunate first-round exit is starting to look like it’s in the cards. Guess the three Cups will have to hold you over.)
Ryan Lambert is a Puck Daddy columnist. His email is here and his Twitter is here.
(All statistics via Corsica unless otherwise noted.)
