Scott Hartnell has a +/- of +18.

Claude Giroux has a +/- of 0.

Does anyone want to make the case that +/- is a valuable stat?

Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers-related news and notes...

• Some good anecdotes about Claude Giroux in the following stories, as Paul Holmren explains how Jaromir Jagr didn't know who he was: [CSNPhilly] [Toronto Sun]
• Kimmo Timonen is awesome. Go remind yourself of that: [SB Nation Philly]
• Travis says last night's player draft is the best part of All-Star Weekend: [SBNation.com]
• Pavel Datsyuk was the first pick last night, while Logan Couture was left sitting by himself: [SBNation.com]
• Scott Hartnell and Joffrey Lupul shared a toilet last night. The word "swords" is used by one of them. Not awkward at all: [Puck Daddy]
• Going into the second half, the Flyers will need better play at home and continued contributions from their rookies: [SB Nation Philly]
• What should fans expect to happen at the deadline? [Flyers Faithful]
• Marc-Andre Bourdon has been coughing up the puck lately. That has to stop: [The Checking Line]
• Ten highs and ten lows from the month of January: [Bill Meltzer]
• Video segment on the Flyers at the break: [Frequent Flyers]
• Some excerpted quotes from Claude Giroux's interview with Mens Health: [the700level]
• The Phantoms got a Harry Zolnierczyk back temporarily, which offered Tim a chance to speak with him: [PostStar]
• So the NHLPA is going to be releasing videos filmed by players, including Scott Hartnell, Joffrey Lupul, and Martin Biron: [Puck Daddy]
• Jeff Carter is supposedly on the trade block, but if that's true, shouldn't the Blue Jackets' management go too? [Puck Daddy]
• Arguing they should not necessarily be forced out: [The Cannon]
• R.J. Umberger is having a down year. Could he be replaced by... Derek Dorsett?? [The Cannon]
• Another interview about goalie mask designs featuring the two best things associated with the Islanders - Al Montoya and the Fisherman: [Backhand Shelf]
  
• The Kings lead the group of teams who should breakout in the second half: [Hockey Prospectus]
• Fenwick rankings at the All-Star break: [Arctic Ice Hockey]

Scott Hartnell isn't the prototypical All-Star.

He plays the exact opposite of what one could call a "flashy" game, he pisses people off every shift he takes, and he looks like a caveman. He isn't a poster boy. He isn't necessarily well-liked around the league. And he was picked as an All-Star at the last possible second, meaning he's, in theory, one of the least All-Stary of the All-Stars.

All of this adds up to the strong likelihood that he's picked last in tonight's 2012 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft (8 p.m., NBCSN). According to Bovada (you might know them as Bodog), Hartnell has 6/1 odds as the last pick in the draft. Jamie Benn, Jason Pominville, Logan Couture and Jordan Eberle all sit at 13/2 odds, but Hartnell sits alone at the top of the list. Or perhaps the bottom, depending on how you look at it.

Honestly, I hope Hartnell gets picked last, because he would have more fun with the Mr. Irrelevancy "honor" than anybody else in the draft. Just think about it...

On the flip side, Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen both sit at 70/1 odds to be selected with the first pick in the draft. Six other players are listed at the same mark. Full list of the odds after the jump. Claude Giroux will be picked early.

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Originally wrote this back in September. Considering All-Star Weekend is just about here in both the AHL and NHL, it seems timely to bump it up again now. I hope the AHL All-Star Game on Monday in Atlantic City isn't a failure, but...

The American Hockey League announced on Thursday afternoon that their 2012 All-Star Classic will be held in Atlantic City. All the important details:

• When: Sunday, January 29 at 3 p.m. (All-Star Skills Competition) and Monday, January 30, 2012 at 7 p.m. (All-Star Game).
• Where: Historic Boardwalk Hall, 2301 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, N.J.
• Tickets go on sale Monday, September 12 at the Boardwalk Hall Box Office or through Ticketmaster. $52 for seats on the glass, $37 for lower-level seats and $32 for upper-level seats. Includes admission to both events.
• Click here to view the entire press release from the AHL and the ACCVA. It's a .doc file.

For those of us who love AHL hockey and live in Philadelphia or points east, this is fantastic news. Boardwalk Hall is a beautiful venue for hockey (or anything, really) and the AHL All-Star Game is a great event. At the same time, there are plenty of questions here.

Continue reading this post »

Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers-related news and notes...

• Two very good articles on the Flyers at the break, with some good insight from GM Paul Holmgren: [CSNPhilly] [Frequent Flyers]
• Matt Read still can't believe he's in the NHL, let alone the All-Star weekend: [Daily News]
• Sergei Bobrovsky is unquestionably the Flyers' best goalie right now:[The Checking Line]
• Claude Giroux is heading home for the All-Star game: [Inquirer]
• The Atlantic Division is not easy this year, and even with their injuries, the Penguins are right behind the Flyers: [the700level]
• Chris Pronger is an anchor on the Flyers cap: [Hockey Prospectus]
• The Phantoms lost to Manchester, 5-1 last night: [PostStar]
• Antero Niittymaki was placed on waivers by the Sharks, they didn't tell him, he doesn't want to be in the "organization at all anymore", and there are a couple of suitors in Columbus and Tampa Bay. Good luck, Frank: [Puck Daddy] [the700level]
• In a surprising move, the Maple Leafs extended John-Michael Liles with a four year, $15.5 million deal. They are now paying their #4, #6, and #7 defensemen $12 million. Looks like someone is about to be traded: [Pension Plan Puppets]
• The anonymous player talks about why the NHLPA rejected the proposed realignment: [Puck Daddy]
• Matt Hendricks got his ear split after taking a slapshot to the side of the head. He then got the stitches broken after taking a puck to the head 3 days later. Graphic image of his ear: [Deadspin]
• Explaining score effects in easy to understand graphs and small paragraphs: [Driving Play]
• Defending the Blue Line, the organization that helps children of armed service members play the sport, is up for an award directly from the President. They need people to vote, so go ahead and help them out: [Joining Forces]

I've seen a number of discussions lately about the best way to predict future goaltender performance. The analytical community showed long ago that because a goalie doesn't see very many PK shots per year, simple luck doesn't come anywhere near balancing out and a goalie's PK Sv% bounces around almost completely randomly from year to year.

From that, it was natural to infer that the penalty kill just adds noise to our measurement of goalies and that we should focus on even strength save percentage (ES Sv%) instead of total save percentage. This would also presumably remove any unfair advantage a goalie gets in total save percentage by playing for a team that doesn't take many penalties. And so it became a widespread belief that ES Sv% was the best measure of goalie talent.

I personally made that argument just a few days ago, arguing that James Reimer's ES Sv% is a better predictor of his future results than his overall Sv% is. And yet when I went looking for an article that showed this directly, that made the leap from theoretical to empirical, I couldn't find any.

Continue reading this post »

Today's open discussion thread, complete with your daily dose of Philadelphia Flyers-related news and notes...

• Recaps: [BSH] [CSNPhilly] [Daily News] [Inquirer] [Flyers Faithful] [the700level] [The Checking Line]
• Sports Illustrated talked about concussions in the NHL, and they naturally discussed the Flyers a lot: [SB Nation Philly]
• The Phantoms are looking for others to step up while Ben Holmstrom and Tom Sestito are in Philadelphia: [PostStar]
• Niko Hovinen stopped 24 of 25 shots in a 5-1 win: [euroflyers]
• Johan Backlund stopped 34 of 35 shots in a 4-1 win: [euroflyers]
• Jakub Kovar stopped 27 of 28 shots: [StrychF]
• Scary moment in Slovakia as Richard Zednik defies death once more, this time as the roof of the hockey rink he is skating at collapses: [SBNation.com] [Puck Daddy]