Mark Streit, Andrei Markov's Creation? Sorry, no.

Markov’s just that good! He’s a Canadien!

There’s a Peurto Rico soccer team called the Islanders, so when you check Google Trends for Islanders they are more popular in Peurto Rico then NY

Sure never lets us forget that David Garrad was a pro bowl QB, despite the fact that 5 other QBs claimed injuries so they wouldn’t have to play in the game

Now who made Major major? Or who made Streit unhealthy?

/looks sideways at Moulson

Since the Markov PP wizardry was the tonic that apparently made Streit rich.

I wonder if there will be any drop-off in Streit outside of Gordo’s system…interesting to keep an eye on, but with the injury variable there too, will be tough to tell.

He has still experienced mild-moderate concussion symptoms 8 months removed. Apparently it’s stopped him from skating at least this once. I think he’s either done now or an inevtiable head/other injury away from retiring because of this. He seemed way to fragile to get a 2nd concussion from that Hedman hit 8.5months ago. That sucks for the NHL, but Crosby’s future in the NHL is looking really dim right now.

That the Pens played far, far over their heads last season for the hope that Crosby could return to help lift them to another Cup. With the depth guys they lost and starting the season without Crosby and with Malkin coming off an injury I just don’t see them repeating last years performance.

But this is all the Penguins fault. They employ Cooke who is solely responsible for ending Savard’s career and karma just bit them in the ass like a pitbull that won’t let go. The team rushed him back from Steckel’s hit way to soon, regardless of how innocent it may or may not have looked. This is what happens when the NHL and the Pens put all their eggs in one basket. I hope Sid recovers and plays in the NHL again, but I must say it sure was nice having the NHL focus on it’s other stars for a change.

I’m getting flashbacks to when Mario’s career was derailed.

Apparently, Cosby’s Agent denies all of this.

Crosby hasn’t said a word. As pointed out on our local radio station this a.m., he could be the poster boy for NHL concussions if he wanted to, but remains eerily silent.

I like your comment.

“As a Habs fan, here’s what I think. Now here’s a reason why Toronto is soooooo much worse.”

And of course I’m just picking on one at random (I know every fanbase has their Aunt Ednas they’d rather keep from view of company).

Thanks for dropping in, Taves.

….from 1994-2005, Pedro DID crap gold and piss Cristal. Dig this 12-year stretch. From ‘97-’03 in particular, they could have made him pitch from second base and it wouldn’t have helped. He’s 23rd all time for wins above replacement for pitchers (if you like the newfangled stats), 14th for pitchers after WW2.* He’s 13th all-time in strikeouts (about 10 per nine innings), and first in the entirety of baseball for ERA+ for starters.**

*WAR is cumulative, so old-time guys who were in three-man rotations with no relievers, and threw a million innings a year, have an unfair edge.

**ERA+ of 154, which means his ERA was about 65% of the league average in a typical season.

BTW – it’d be nice if hockey-reference.com was as on-the-ball with advanced stats as baseball-reference.com… I’d love to see sv% and GAA broken down by even-strength, PP/60, and PK/60, with the league averages overall and by component; and a sv%+ and GAA+ to break down the numbers relative to league average; shots per 60 min to show who was getting lighter or heavier workloads… granted that hockey sabermetrics is behind baseball by at least 35 years, and that a lot of stats are proprietary, but the goalie stuff is just math – anyone with the raw data could compile it.

great post.

Thanks for the insight. We can understand. We even have a name for the irrational hate we sometimes develop about players: The Scapewagon. (Alexei Yashin owns the dealership, and Rick DiPietro is his celebrity sales rep.) And any fanbase that can shlepp 3000 folks over 500 miles to a non-rival’s building, just because, gets some respect in my books.

Markov is absolutely key for you guys. He flies under the radar outside of Montreal, I think, especially lately because he’s played so little the last year or two. Honestly I didn’t realize how good he’s been either. I can see where you’d feel like he wasn’t getting his due, the way we do with Streit sometimes. Everything’s Weber-Keith-Lidstrom-Chara-Doughty-Pronger to the mainstream guys… and sure, that’s an amazing set of defenders, but it’s not a complete list. Markov’s a better player than some more-popular guys like Dion Phaneuf, for example.

Appreciate the insight. And yes, definitely respect Markov as a great defenseman.

(This was just an excuse to ding the media you’re obviously quite familiar with. It’s one of the shames of hockey-mad markets that the situation you describe develops as people try to get noticed.)