Untouchable?

1) That's the word that's been talked about VERY quietly among many around the NHL with respect to the soon to be returning Sidney Crosby. Several of our valued sources have told us (on the QT ofcourse) that they and many others feel that the word is out from the top levels of the NHL that "Sidney Crosby is NOT to be touched". In other words beware of trying to line up the superstar Pens center for anything but a mild to moderate body check and be certain you stay far from his noggin! From what we can discern any player that appears to intentionally target Sid with a hit that is even on the edge of legal could face one of the stiffer fines/suspensions this side of Don Murdoch/Chris-Simon- . A 40+ gamer wouldn't shock anyone if it appears Crosby's career is threatened by such an incident. Even if the player is a first time offender.

2) So what might this mean for the league and Crosby? Well firstly for #87 we fully expect a return to form! He already is the best/most talented all around player in the NHL. With added room to maneuver he will be down right deadly. Multi point games will probably be the norm and if he avoids any new injuries and plays the remaining 12 or so and playoffs we would expect Crosby to help propel the Pens towards the Cup Finals. (It won't hurt that the pens already have the odds on favourite to win the Hart in Malkin) As for the rest of the league, coaches will have to decide how to try to stop Crosby. Our source added that even stick fouls would likely be called very closely with regard to Crosby who already has a league-wide rep for dives. So how long will these 'unwritten/stated rules' apply? Minimally through the remainder of the regular season. It'll be tough for the league to do this in the post season when money is on the line?? Opposing GM's might stay mute about the special treatment that Crosby will be getting during the regular campaign, but you can bet you bottom dollar that the volume will be turned up quite a bit if a team sees any preferential treatment going to the Penguin's during a playoff series!

Week 22 Results

1) Yet another week is complete. As has been our pattern this season another rather disappointing night where we went 6-5 to bring our record to 146-115 for a .559 winning %. We did get another Lock of The week correct to improve that stat to 18-4. We will be back again for week 23 next Saturday when 11 games will be played on St. Patty's Day.

2) Also look for a couple of posts this week. One discussing Crosby's (possible) return and one discussing the state of officiating. As always keep it here for all the latest!

Week 22 Picks

1) We're going down to the wire in the 2011-2012 NHL season. Only acouple more chances to improve on my season long winning percentage. Today/night there is a full slate of 11 games. We bring our record of 140-110 or a .560 winning % and try to improve it


Washington at Boston: Bruins

Edmonton at Colorado: Avalanche

Philadelphia at Toronto: Flyers

Buffalo at Ottawa: Senators

New Jersey at NY Islanders: Islanders

Carolina at Tampa Bay: Lightning

Columbus at St. Louis: Blues (Lock of The Week)

Detroit at Nashville: Predators

Anaheim at Dallas: Stars

San Jose at Phoenix: Coyotes

Montreal at Vancouver: Canucks

Stop Rewarding Losing!!

1) As we first opined nearly 5 years ago(see link beow), we Hate, with a capital H to rewarding of losing. Whether it be the 'loser point' or with respect to the NHL entry draft positioning. The former may in fact propel teams into the playoffs and eliminate some. New Jersey for instance in the current format is safely (8 pts) in the playoffs. However if there were no post Over time gimmicks (shootouts) deciding games they'd have a mere 70 pts or tied for 8th with several teams right behind them. For the record we feel there should ONLY be winner points. Two for regulation/OT/So wins. ZERO for ALL losses. Period. Of course the 'loser point' keeps the standings closer than they otherwise would be allowing Gary Bettman/NHL to stay they have good competition (parity). http://newfaux.blogspot.com/2007/03/stop-rewarding-of-losers.html

2) Our real hate for rewarding losing though has to do with draft positioning. Each year we'd see teams clearly out of the playoffs suddenly go into a prolonged tail spin/losing streaks solidifying their positioning into the Bottom 5. Many thought the "lottery" would curtail the situation we saw in 1984 when Pittsburgh and NJ "competed" to be worst and get a chance at drafting Mario Lemieux. Pittsburgh won that "race, and NJ had to settle for Kirk Muller at #2. The current format does not guarantee that teams' will get a particular pick, but it doesn't disincentivize teams from tanking. The bottom finisher still has a 49% chance of winning the lottery while the 2nd worst record has a mere 19% chance.

3) In a perfect world we'd see NO reward for finishing dead last. What should be done, and would make, in our opinion. for good TV is what we saw prior to the 2004 draft(Crosby draft) There was no season (Thank you Mr. Bettman) and no way to position teams so the only way was to have ALL 30 teams in an even lottery for position. By doing so teams would not simply give up and play their best all the way through. We understand this simply won't happen especially in the current political climate where people want things for free from folks who achieve/work for it. Anyway recently we did hear another/new proposal that makes sense to us at Fauxrumors. Its not quite as good as our idea, but in the face of things its a good back plan and does reduce the chance of tanking teams every season.

4) In this plan teams would "win" points towards the top pick by winning games AFTER they have been eliminated from playoff contention. Yes, teams that got eliminated first would probably still get a top choice, but instead of watching the Edmonton Oilers, etc (again) go on a 6-10 game losing streak every March, we'd see the same Oilers putting forth a top effort to attain a better draft spot. It would also prevent teams striving for the post season to get an easy game. Those "bottom feeders" would put out as strong an effort in late March as they did in late October. Its a no brainer to implement this scenario as soon as possible. While it still rewards the lesser teams with better draft position it prevents the obvious annual collapse of the bottom 2-3 teams

Isosceles Triangle in Coaching Carrosel

1) In yet another bizzaro move in the realm of coaching changes, the Toronto Maple Leafs relived Ron Wilson of his coaching duties this past Friday. Now for the record we agree with the move. In our opinion (and we have stated it many times before) we don't think Wilson is a particularly effective head coach. He has a tendency to alienate his players and while he is usually prepared, he doesn't seem to get every thing out of his teams(s). This is what we wrote about Wilson last summer'" Has had 4 extended stops as an NHL head coach. Amassing an impressive regular season win totals that ranks him 7th all-time. However he is the epitome of an underachieving coach. His teams have missed the playoffs 9 times in 17 seasons behind the bench. In his 8 post season appearances he made it past the 2nd round once; making the Finals with the Capitals in 98'. As one scout told us, " No one knows there X's and O's better, but he's hard to like. WE have to say that despite his W's, we don't either." This issue we have here is the timing. The 56-year-old Wilson signed a contract extension in December and will be paid through the end of next season. Wilson had a 130-135-45 record with the Maple Leafs. In 1,401 career games with Anaheim, Washington, San Jose and Toronto, he has a 648-561-91 record with 101 ties.

2) The next interesting twist is whom was Wilson's replacement. None other than Randy Carlyle taking over with 18 games left in the season. Burke and Carlyle were in charge of Anaheim when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007. Carlyle will be tasked with getting the Leafs into the postseason for the first time since 2004. For those keeping score at home (and you know you are) the Isosceles Triangle of coaching changes started in Washington on November 28th 2011 when Bruce Boudreau was canned by the Capitals. Two days later Randy Carlyle was fired by the Anaheim Ducks and promptly replaced by recently fired Caps bench boss Bruce Boudreau. Fast forward to Friday and Ron Wilson was fired and replaced by the former Duck coach Randy Carlyle. Keeping in mind that Wilson has coached BOTH the Anaheim Ducks (their first head coach) as well as the Washington Capitals coach who brought them to the only Finals appearance in 1998, thus completing our coaching isosceles triangle. (Or is it a rhombus)?

Week 21-Results

1) Week 21 is over. The results produced an OMG to Fauxrumors. Eight of nine road teams won last night!! You read that correctly, the road team won all but one contest yesterday. We can't recall that happening on a busy Saturday anytime recently. No excuses, but comeon'!! For the day/night understandably we didn't fare well, going 2-7! We even F'ed our Lock of the Week. Our overall record is now 140-110 or a .560 winning %. Our locks record falls to 17-4. We will be back next Saturday for week 22 when 11 games are up for grabs as we attempt to get back on winning ways!

2) Look for a couple of upcoming posts this week. One concerns the recent firing of Ron Wilson and the curious circular(or other shape?) movement of coaches this season. Additionally loo for another post where we will have another take on one of our pet-peeves, the rewarding of losing!

Week 21 Picks

1) Its lucky week 21 in the NHL today. There are 9 games on the slate today/night where we take our season-long record of 138-103 or a .573 winning %, hoping to improve over last weeks showing

NY Islanders at Boston: Bruins

Toronto at Montreal: Habitants

Tampa Bay at Carolina: Hurricanes (Lock of the Week)

Nashville at Florida: Predators

Columbus at Phoenix: Coyotes

Pittsburgh at Colorado: Avalanche

Buffalo at Vancouver: Canucks

Anaheim at Los Angeles: Kings

St. Louis at San Jose: Sharks