Just a few things rattling around on the off-day:
-Don’t know how many of you caught this from Mirtle’s article yesterday about the Sedins. In it, he shows why the twins are amongst the best even-strenght players in the league, and goes to list the top-20 in terms of Goals-For/60 minutes on ice. Here it is:
| NAME | TEAM | GP | QCMP | Pt/60 | GF/60 | GA/60 | +-ON/60 | |
| 1 | B. WHEELER | BOS | 81 | 0.02 | 2.43 | 3.88 | 1.78 | 2.10 |
| 2 | P. DATSYUK | DET | 81 | 0.04 | 2.91 | 4.28 | 2.30 | 1.97 |
| 3 | A. SEMIN | WSH | 61 | 0.03 | 3.21 | 4.10 | 2.24 | 1.86 |
| 4 | M. HOSSA | DET | 74 | 0.02 | 2.75 | 3.81 | 2.12 | 1.69 |
| 5 | R. FEDOTENKO | PIT | 65 | 0.03 | 2.58 | 3.27 | 1.75 | 1.52 |
| 6 | D. SEDIN | VAN | 82 | 0.06 | 2.97 | 3.40 | 1.94 | 1.46 |
| 7 | T. ZAJAC | N.J | 82 | 0.04 | 2.17 | 3.31 | 1.94 | 1.37 |
| 8 | Z. PARISE | N.J | 82 | 0.03 | 2.93 | 3.46 | 2.09 | 1.36 |
| 9 | A. LADD | CHI | 82 | 0.11 | 2.61 | 3.58 | 2.27 | 1.31 |
| 10 | H. SEDIN | VAN | 82 | 0.06 | 2.79 | 3.42 | 2.16 | 1.26 |
| 11 | J. LANGENBRUN. | N.J | 81 | 0.04 | 2.70 | 3.23 | 1.99 | 1.23 |
| 12 | E. MALKIN | PIT | 82 | 0.06 | 3.07 | 3.75 | 2.53 | 1.22 |
| 13 | J. FRANZEN | DET | 71 | 0.06 | 2.13 | 3.22 | 2.01 | 1.22 |
| 14 | M. HAVLAT | CHI | 81 | 0.05 | 2.89 | 3.77 | 2.57 | 1.20 |
| 15 | J. CARTER | PHI | 81 | 0.04 | 2.67 | 3.61 | 2.62 | 1.00 |
| 16 | P. ELIAS | N.J | 77 | 0.03 | 2.56 | 3.13 | 2.13 | 1.00 |
| 17 | C. PERRY | ANA | 78 | 0.02 | 2.50 | 3.49 | 2.50 | 0.99 |
| 18 | J. THORNTON | S.J | 82 | 0.04 | 2.33 | 3.07 | 2.13 | 0.94 |
| 19 | A. BURROWS | VAN | 82 | 0.04 | 2.44 | 3.23 | 2.32 | 0.91 |
| 20 | D. SETOGUCHI | S.J | 81 | 0.03 | 2.34 | 3.14 | 2.22 | 0.91 |
You see #9 there? That’s Andrew Ladd. If you’ll notice, his Qualtiy of Competition, i.e. the quality that is on ice against him all the time, is significantly higher than anyone else’s on this list. From that, you could, could, make the argument that Andrew Ladd has been the best even-strength player in the NHL. You could. I won’t. But I’m not here to tell you what to do. What you can’t argue is that Ladd’s numbers don’t reflect just how effective a player he’s been.
– From that, I’m giving Ladd his Committed Indian Nickname back, which was Nails, because that’s what he’s been all year. It’s also time to give one to Dave Bolland, so I’ll float Your Fabulous Weapon, in a nod to the Eagles of Death Metal Song “Don’t Speak (I came to make a Bang!)”.
“I’m too smooth, you never see me coming
I’m never in a hurry, I’m just movin’ fast”
Sounds all right to me.
-Last reminder: The three stooges of this sight will be at Whirlaway tomorrow for the game. Come one come all, be there or be stupid, as said, McClure will be both.