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By the Numbers: 2022 Winter Olympics

21 February, 2022 (10:27) | HOCKEY TALK | By: Nick

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games concluded over the weekend, with the closing ceremony taking place on Sunday. In the hockey portion of the proceedings, Canada took the gold in the women’s event with a 3-2 win over the rival US team last Thursday, and Finland took home the men’s title with a 2-1 win over the ROC late Saturday night. Here are some numbers from the 2022 Olympic hockey tournaments.
The Canada women’s hockey team dominated on the way to its fifth Olympic title
328 – Total number of goals scored in Beijing. The women scored a combined 176, and the men tallied 152.
57 – Goals the Canadian women scored on the way to the gold medal, most of any team in Beijing (men or women). The next closest goal total was 30, put up by the U.S. women, while Finland was the highest-scoring men’s team finishing with 22.
18 – Points Canada’s Sarah Nurse had, leading all skaters in Beijing. Nurse set an Olympic record with a tournament-high 13 assists to go along with her five goals (four goals behind teammate Brianne Jenner, the top goalscorer). Four players tied for the most points in the men’s competition with seven. Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovský led the men in goals, the source of all seven of his points.
.966 – Save percentage (SV%) for Slovakia men’s goaltender Patrik Rybár, tops among all goalies who played more than 40% of their team’s minutes, stopping 141 of the 146 shots he faced. China’s Jiaying Zhou led all women’s goalies who fit that criteria with a .955 SV%, stopping 85 of 89 shots.
+50 – Goal differential for the Canadian women was by far the largest throughout Beijing. Canada outscored its opponents by a combined total of 57-7. The U.S. women had the second-best at +19, as Finland led the men’s competition with a goal differential of +14.
1 – Olympic gold medals for the Finnish men’s team and medal of any color for Slovakia (bronze) after taking home their first in Beijing.
5 – Gold medals for Team Canada in women’s hockey. Thursday was Canada’s seventh straight championship game appearance and first victory since 2014.
0 – NHL players who participated. For the second straight Olympic games, the league decided not to send players—this time due to COVID-19. There is hope that the NHL will participate in 2026.

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Which Teams will make the Playoffs?

17 January, 2022 (15:20) | HOCKEY TALK | By: Nick

We are quickly approaching the halfway point of the 2021-22 NHL season, and while you might think that is still a lot of time to make up ground in the Stanley Cup Playoff race, the reality is that it is not. Making up ground in the standings this late in the season is an extremely difficult task, and even a five-or-six point gap between you and a playoff spot might be asking a lot to overcome.

The Eastern Conference

It is kind of stunning how big of a gap there is right now between the teams currently in a playoff position in the Eastern Conference and the teams outside of a playoff spot. Two Wild Card teams (Pittsburgh and Boston) are both on pace for more than 106 points this season, which is an exceptionally high floor for a playoff spot because in most years 95 points tends to be the cut off.

Here is a look at the Eastern Conference standings, sorted by points percentage, and what each team needs to do to reach the 95-point mark this season. And keep in mind, the current playoff cut-off in the Eastern Conference is actually 10 points higher than that at the moment.

Given where all of those teams are right now, which ones below Boston do you see playing at the required level and making up that much of a gap in the second half of the season? You can never say never because strange things do happen in sports sometimes, but it would be a pretty significant shock if the current Eastern Conference playoff teams change much — if at all — between now and the start of the postseason.

The Western Conference

The Western Conference still looks to be a little more wide open. Based on current points percentage the Colorado Avalanche are starting to run away with the top spot, and there is a clear group of teams that look to be sitting in a good position with Minnesota, St. Louis, Nashville, Vegas, and Calgary. After that, there is still some pretty stiff competition for the remaining spots while the current playoff cut off is at 95 points.

Arizona, Seattle, and Chicago are pretty much out of it, and for as strong as Vancouver has played under Bruce Boudreau even that is looking like a long shot. There are seven teams there still fighting for what should be three playoff spots. That race at least looks like it has the potential to be interesting down the stretch.

The Ducks, after a great start, are starting to fall back a little bit over the past couple of weeks while the Kings, Jets, and Stars are starting to put things together. Who knows what to expect from Edmonton the rest of the way, while San Jose has been a surprising playoff contender.

In the end, if you are an Eastern Conference team currently outside of the playoff picture your chances seem slim. If you are outside of the top-five in the Western Conference, prepare yourself for quite a scramble in the second half.

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Rangers – 1st NHL franchise worth $2B

8 December, 2021 (12:15) | HOCKEY TALK | By: Nick

For the seventh straight year, the New York Rangers sit atop Forbes’ annual list of team valuations, and they’ve become the first NHL franchise valued at $2 billion. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, and Boston Bruins round out the unchanged top five.

The Edmonton Oilers had the biggest jump of any team, doubling last year’s $550 million valuation to $1.1 billion. No teams decreased in value from last year. The team with the smallest increase – the Vancouver Canucks – saw a 14% rise in value from last year and an 18% rise over the last five years.

Here’s the full list:

RANK TEAM VALUE 1-YEAR CHANGE 5-YEAR CHANGE
1 New York Rangers $2B 21% 60%
2 Toronto Maple Leafs $1.8B 20% 64%
3 Montreal Canadiens $1.6B 19% 43%
4 Chicago Blackhawks $1.4B 29% 51%
5 Boston Bruins $1.3B 30% 63%
6 Philadelphia Flyers $1.2B 50% 67%
7 Edmonton Oilers $1.1B 100% 147%
8 Los Angeles Kings $1.03B 24% 71%
9 Detroit Red Wings $990M 28% 58%
10 New York Islanders $950M 83% 147%
11 Washington Capitals $930M 24% 62%
12 Pittsburgh Penguins $900M 38% 58%
13 Seattle Kraken $875M N/A N/A
14 Vancouver Canucks $825M 14% 18%
15 New Jersey Devils $775M 46% 142%
16 Dallas Stars $720M 25% 44%
17 Vegas Golden Knights $710M 25% N/A
18 Calgary Flames $680M 42% 66%
19 Minnesota Wild $675M 35% 69%
20 Tampa Bay Lightning $650M 38% 113%
21 St. Louis Blues $640M 25% 106%
22 Colorado Avalanche $630M 35% 75%
23 San Jose Sharks $625M 21% 33%
24 Anaheim Ducks $620M 35% 49%
25 Nashville Predators $600M 38% 122%
26 Winnipeg Jets $575M 42% 69%
27 Carolina Hurricanes $550M 25% 139%
28 Ottawa Senators $525M 22% 48%
29 Buffalo Sabres $500M 30% 67%
30 Columbus Blue Jackets $475M 53% 94%
31 Florida Panthers $450M 53% 91%
32 Arizona Coyotes $400M 40% 67%

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