The Carolina Hurricanes would like to disagree with you. They lucked out by facing injured teams.

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Girgensons for captain. Team Keep Nick DesLauriers forever.

@TJLuckman550

I want to put some scary stats in his thread now:

8th in the league in goals scored a game. 4th in the league in goals against. 6th in the league in 5-on-5 goals for/against, over a 1. 16th in the league on the Powerplay. Tied for 1st in the league in PK. 7th in the league for shots a game. 20th in the league in shots against. 1.000% when leading after 2 periods, only team right now. We are 5th in the league in how little PIMS we take, coupled with the best PK in the league.

There are also a few other stats I find funny. The Detroit Redwings are LAST in the league in blocked shots. The teams with the most blocked shots are actually The Florida Panthers, New York Islanders, Montreal Candiens, Edmonton Oilers, and Philadelphis Flyers, and Toronto has the 6th most blocked shots in the league. The teams with the fewest blocked shots throughout the season are actually the best teams in the league, Like Detroit has the least, Then Anahiem, Boston, The Devils, Phoenix, LA Kings, and then Buffalo.

Buffalo has the third most giveaways, but the team with the fourth most is the San Jose Sharks, followed by the LA Kings, then Detroit, Washington is 11th in total giveaways.

Buffalo is dead last in hits though, Pittsburgh is dead last in takeaways, with Buffalo being 23rd in takeaways.

Buffalo has a .538% winning percentage in one goal games this season, good for 13th in the league.

Buffalo has been shutout 6 times, but Detroit has been shut out 9 times this season. Washington only has one shutout, at the hands of Buffalo this season. Chicago and Boston have the most shutouts this year, with the fewest going to Pittsburgh and Carolina.

Buffalo scores its most goals in the second period with 83 followed by 74 in the third, and we have scored 67 in the first so far, and with 6 OT goals this year.

Buffalo has allowed 65 goals in the first, 64 in the second and 66 in the third and 4 OT goals this year.

Just some stats to show you some scary things.

Buffalo is basically top ten in the most important stats except in the PP.

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Little of what you posted is actually "scary", but instead rather predictable.

Most teams in playoff position, particularly the top 5 in each conference, can dissect and extrapolte all kinds of cool things to show how great THEY are.

That probably has something to do with why they're all in playoff positions, especially the top 5.

I showed every stat throughout a season that meant a damn, if you go to NHL.com it's right there, everything I posted came from a regular season, through 81 games so far.

Look again, this team is obviously a top 5 team in the league.

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Many of those stats are either statements of inconsequential facts, like how much they score in each period (so what?), and comparisons to perennial playoff teams/cup winners that don't really mean anything.

There are excellent programs that perform consistantly season in, season out, year after year, who have shitty stats in some areas vs. teams that see the plaoffs once every leap year, if that. So?

The Sabres are in the top 3 in the east because of some of those stats. Nobody is surprised at that, it's an equation.

so what stats matter then?

you still havent answered my question about how you think the sabres will fair in the playoffs.

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Check out my website: http://www.artistzero.com

"That wasn't very nice...I do believe you killed my hat."

Driver of the FIRE LINDY RUFF Bandwagon since 2008.

I think Miller will do great. I think he is the premier goaltender in the league right now, but that can only take you so far. He will let some in.

How far the Sabres go depends entirely on whether the offense shows up. Given that there are no real go-to players (save Vanek in the past 24 hours), offense with this team is a crap shoot.

Boston has the potential to be HORRIBLE. Rask can save their bacon, but only so far. Needless to say, the first round will be the easiest. The 2nd round presents the Penz or the Sens, I really cannot see past that round.

Here's another stat...Boston is dead last in the league in Goals For with 196. Buffalo is 8th.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/teamstats.htm?fe ... e=goalsFor

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

I posted where Buffalo ranked in goals for for the season, and also in goals against.

One in the top 5 and the other top ten, he simply can't see stats that truly matter, like goals for and goals against.

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I can't?

Sure I can. You just have blinders on to other variables that DO matter.

It's not always numbers on the page. Just ask any sports handicapper.

Buffalo tied for the league lead in PK % with St. Louis at 86.8%.

With the importance of special teams in the playoffs, this bodes well.

So teams that score and keep the pucks out of the net don't matter the most?

I always thought the team who had more goals in the game won, I guess goals don't matter now?

Also if I'm blind to other stats, why did I post up most if not all that really mattered, like giveaways and takeaways and hits? Also blocked shots, which I found hardly any of the playoff teams led the league or were in the top ten for at the end of the season.

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Let's be honest here. Most handicappers are in business to sell you their picks, not pick winners.

On the flip side, if the numbers told you everything, there wouldn't be a reason to play the games.

You can't rely on stats for everything, nor can you choose to ignore them completely.