There's been a complete lack of snark towards the MSM around here recently. For that I apologize. To slake the thirst of the bloodthirsy few who enjoy a good fisking now and then, I present this abomination from nhl.com.
It's some sort of mid-season grading article on the NW division. In it, Roger Philips makes a number of baffling claims that makes one wonder if he watches the teams he's talking about. Or their stats. Or hockey at all for that matter.
Player of the First Half: Jarome Iginla, Calgary -- This probably should come as no surprise.
Now in his 12th season with the Flames, Iginla continues to be one of the most complete and durable players in the game...
Last year, Iginla scored 50 goals for the first time in his career. This year, he's a bit off that pace, but his assists are up, and most importantly, the Flames have taken control of the Northwest Division.
That's some quality fact checking right there.
Iginla is way off his ES and PP rates from last season and his plus/minus has taken a huge dive. He's been pretty much ineffective for the most of January. I wouldn't even call him the "player of the first half" for the Flames let alone for the NW Division.
I also like how the author conflates the teams success with Iginla's. The Flames are winning therefore Iginla is doing well. This is where the "leadership" myth comes from: if your team does well, you're obviously a great Captain. Not...then not.
Oddly enough, however, this is probably the most defensible choice the author of this article makes.
Coach of the First Half: Tony Granato, Colorado -- Granato, in his second stint as the Avalanche's coach, deserves a world of credit. Despite major injuries to Joe Sakic and Paul Stastny, his team remains in the mix for a postseason berth.
Right now, as they wait for their two leaders to return, they are winning enough games to give themselves a shot.
Granato?? REALLY? Yes the Avs have dealt with some injury issues...but so have the Canucks (Luongo), Wild (Nolan, Gaborik) and...yes...the Oilers (Horcoff, Hemsky). Colorado is currently 11th in the conference, ahead of precisely NONE of the other NW teams. They have a GD of -11 and their special teams languish in the bottom third of the league. But, yeah...his team is winning enough to "keep them in it". Oh, and he's getting "grit" out of them.
Wow.
Rookie of the First Half: Adam Pardy, Calgary -- This has not exactly been the Year of the Rookie in the Northwest Division. There is no first-year player putting up gaudy statistics here.
Alright, we'll let this one slide. There's no real noteworthy rookies in the NW this year. In fact, I would have excluded this section altogether were it my piece.
Surprise of the First Half: Kyle Wellwood, Vancouver -- It would have been impossible to predict at the start of the season that center Kyle Wellwood would be the Canucks' second-leading goal scorer.
Yup, a recent healthy scratch with all of 19 points in 40 games is the big surprise. Not Rene Bourque's 15 ES goals and team leading +/-. Not Miiko Koivu's giant step forward. Not Andrew Raycroft challenging for the starters role in COL. It's Wellwoods illusory effectiveness (built entirely on an unsustainable SH%).
What a train-wreck. Someone got PAID to produce this folks.
