Imagine you are flipping a coin, with the goal of trying to land heads four times in seven chances. [url=http://www.cheapjersey

Posted in IYH Forums by jokergreen0220 at 06:30, Apr 25 2020

Imagine you are flipping a coin, with the goal of trying to land heads four times in seven chances. Cheap Jerseys Stitched . Whats the better outcome? Game A: T H T H T H T Game B: H H H T T T T Obviously, the answer is neither – you only managed to land heads three times out of seven chances. In coin-flipping, we would almost certainly treat the two sequences as equals. Beyond the realm of coin-flipping, rational thought can deviate in a hurry. What if we changed the coin-flipping game to a best-of-seven hockey series, with heads signifying wins, and tails signifying losses? We have seen enough hockey to know the answer to this question. Game A would be treated as an unbelievably competitive best-of-seven; Game B, despite lasting the same number of games, would be treated as (a) an incredible choke-job by the heads group; and (b) a comeback story for the tails group. This accurately captures what happened to last years San Jose Sharks. The Sharks didnt just lose to rival Los Angeles in seven games – they went down in flames, blowing a 3-0 series lead. The Kings went on to win the Stanley Cup. San Jose could have spent the summer arming their roster to the teeth. Instead, they decided to do absolutely nothing, save for some predictable scapegoating of now ex-captain Joe Thornton. The overreaction to the first-round loss has left San Jose in a bad situation. One week ago, I noted that San Jose has experienced one of the biggest drops in 5-on-5 play this season, a far cry from the dominance they exhibited in years past. The poor play has translated unfavorably in the standings – they have only compiled 24 points in 23 games, good enough for tenth place in the West. San Joses not universally struggling this year. The larger problem with this team is that their depth is getting beaten up pretty badly compared to previous years. Since San Joses mostly stuck with the same guys down the middle of the lineup, troubleshooting the problem areas shouldnt be difficult: Sharks Lines Line Corsi +/- Per 60 Corsi% Goal% Couture Line +5.9 52.3% 47.4% Thornton Line +16.4 57.0% 52.0% Sheppard Line +11.7 55.3% 42.9% Burish*/Desjardins Line -29.9 35.9% 25.0% Its not really a surprise to see Adam Burish waived – San Joses fourth-line has been a massive Achilles heel for this team in the early going, a far cry from past competent depth that wasnt leaking scoring chance after scoring chance. On the other hand, the most impressive part of San Joses team remains Joe Thornton. Hes played a bulk of his minutes with Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl, the trio more or less caving in the opposition with frequency and relentlessness through the first quarter of the season. Also of note, they are really the only group of the four thats in the black as it pertains to goal rates. Theres a special kind of irony, I think, with the above table. San Jose spent an awful lot of time talking up a long-term rebuild and the closing of their contending window in the past few months, and for the most part, the team has taken a decisive step back. Except for Joe Thornton – the guy who was more or less fingered for San Joses early post-season exit. Hes been sensational, carrying an otherwise shaky Sharks team. And its important to note that Thornton doesnt just compare favorably to other lines in San Jose. We can pull out the same numbers for some of the best centers around the league, and Thornton still shines. Ive included individual scoring rates in this table as well: Elite Centre Production PLAYER TEAM Corsi +/- Per 60 Corsi% Goal% Points/60 Jonathan Toews Chicago +17.4 57.5% 50.0% 1.72 Joe Thornton San Jose +16.4 57.0% 52.0% 2.27 Henrik Sedin Vancouver +13.1 56.6% 57.1% 1.95 Jonathan Tavares N.Y. Islanders +12.2 55.2% 48.5% 2.01 Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh +11.6 56.8% 68.2% 2.51 Anze Kopitar Los Angeles +11.6 55.0% 47.4% 1.51 Tyler Seguin Dallas +4.3 51.8% 63.2% 3.52 In this group, the first six elite centers that came to my mind, along with the veteran Thornton. You can make the argument that every one of these centers plays on a likely playoff team, though Dallas and San Jose have obviously had slower-than-anticipated starts. The important takeaway from this group is that there’s virtually nothing separating any of the other six centers from Joe Thornton in terms of production. Thornton’s towing the second-best possession rate of the group, has seen favorable goal-rates on the ice, and is scoring at a better per-60 rate than guys like Toews, Sedin, Tavares, and Kopitar. We are left with maybe the most fascinating dynamic in the National Hockey League. By design, San Jose’s front office may have done just enough to push their team out of the top-eight this year. And yet, they simply have no answer for Joe Thornton – a player of such unique talent, he’s capable of carrying an entire lineup for games on end. Most teams would kill for this sort of player. San Jose? Don’t ask me to explain it. Cheap Jerseys Store . Not sure yet. #livetweetingthegreatuntangle — Strombone (@strombone1) April 17, 2014 Stage three, coping: I feel like I could use a cigarette or something. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. http://www.cheapjerseysonlinestore.com/ . Argentina, who have yet to beat New Zealand in 17 meetings, rocked the All Blacks with an early converted try to backrower Juan Manuel Leguizamon and led 7-0 after five minutes. But Smiths double in the 23rd and 26th minutes - when Argentina was reduced to 14 men by the sin-binning of hooker Eusebio Guinazu - turned the tide of the match and set up New Zealands third straight Championship win. DETROIT -- If the Texas Rangers are going to overcome the major injuries that have threatened their season, they likely will need significant contributions from rookies like Nick Martinez and Rougned Odor. Martinez pitched six sharp innings for his first major league win, and Odor drove in five runs with a pair of triples to lead the Rangers to a 12-2 rout of the Detroit Tigers on Saturday. Adrian Beltre and Donnie Murphy homered for Texas, which put slugger Prince Fielder on the disabled list this week with a neck problem that is expected to end his season. "Im convinced that I can go out and do it," Martinez said. "I think thats what separates major leaguers and minor leaguers, is that complete trust that they have in themselves." Martinez (1-1) allowed a run and eight hits. The Rangers scored four runs in the fourth, plus three each in the sixth and seventh. Rick Porcello (7-2) had won his last six starts before being knocked around by Texas. He allowed eight runs and 12 hits in 5 1-3 innings. Detroit has lost five of six. Leonys Martin, Murphy and Odor -- the last three hitters in the Texas batting order -- combined for eight hits, eight RBIs and seven runs. Odor had four hits after going 6 for 31 in his first 11 games. "It was nice to see the bottom of the order come through like that," Murphy said. "Its fun, because normally you dont see that. Odour, the day he had, that was unbelievable, and Martin, it was fun watching him too. Im glad that we were productive for the team today." Martinez was making his fourth start for the Rangers, and the 23-year-old right-hander lowered his ERA to 2.14. With Texas ahead 5-1 in the fifth, the Tigers put two men on, but Martinez got Torii Hunter to hit into an inning-ending force play with Miguel Cabrera looming on deck. Martinez ended his day by getting Nick Castellanos to line into a double play with the bases loaded in the sixth. The AL Central-leading Tigers have hit a rough patch. Theyve allowed 45 runs in the last six games, with their normally sturdy starting rotation suddenly looking vulnerable. Cheap Jerseys From China. For the second time in three days, Detroit used knuckleballing infielder Danny Worth to pitch the final inning of a blowout loss. Worth struck out two against Texas on Thursday, but on Saturday he allowed an RBI double to Michael Choice. "I dont want to turn it into a sideshow with a position player pitching, but weve got to do something to rest some of the arms in the bullpen," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. Detroit actually scored first on an RBI double by Rajai Davis in the second, but Porcello allowed four runs with two out in the fourth. Chris Gimenez hit an RBI double and scored on a single by Martin. The 20-year-old Odor added a two-run triple. Beltre hit a solo homer in the fifth, and Murphys two-run shot the following inning made it 7-1. Mitch Moreland added an RBI double in the sixth, and Odor hit his second triple in the seventh -- this one with the bases loaded. Texas came into the day having used 39 players this season, tied for the most in baseball. Outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was pulled in the sixth Saturday with a sore left ankle, although the Rangers said the move was precautionary. By then, Texas had broken the game open. The Rangers finished with 19 hits. NOTES: Detroits Ian Kinsler and Victor Martinez and Texas Alex Rios had three hits each. ... Detroit RHP Corey Knebel made his major league debut in relief of Porcello. He allowed the three-run triple by Odor. ... Kinsler extended his hitting streak to 10 games. ... There were replay overturns at first, second and third, two on challenges by the Tigers. In all three cases, the call was changed from safe to out. ... The Tigers wore the uniform of the Detroit Stars, while the Rangers wore the uniform of the Fort Worth Texas Black Panthers as part of a Negro Leagues tribute game. ... Detroit sends RHP Justin Verlander (5-3) to the mound Sunday to face Texas RHP Colby Lewis (3-3). ' ' '