Will anyone ever score on Philly-Leighton again?
Well, I’m sure that eventually somebody sometime is going to slip a puck past Flyers goalie Michael Leighton. Surely it has to happen, don’t-cha think…if for no other reason than the odds simply dictate it must happen. But just when it might happen…well, that’s anyone’s guess.
Chris Pronger and Michael Leighton check each others temperature...because they and the Flyers' have been on fire of late (AP photo)
Leighton and the Flyers have jumped out to a two games to none lead on the Montreal Canadiens by following up their 6-0 whipping of the Habs with another shutout…this time 3-0. Montreal outshot Philly 30-23 in Tuesday night’s game-two, but just like Sunday Leighton sprung no leaks and held tight. He has now stopped all 58 Canadiens shots taken in the series.
“We’re in a great situation”, Leighton said of his team being only two wins away from their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1997. “I’m not trying to think so much”.
The shutout means a lot to me but the win means a lot more”.
Going back to Friday night’s game-seven, come-from-behind win in Boston, the Flyers keeper has gone over eight periods without being scored upon…a total of 165 minutes and 50 seconds since Milan Lucic’s unassisted goal put the Bruins up 3-0. It is the second-longest scoreless streak for any Flyers goalie in the playoffs since 2000 when Philly went 184:45 between having a puck get past a keeper.
The over/under on when the Flyers will be scored on again is 13:30 of the second period of game 3 with Montreal
- I'll take the"under"! (70%, 38 Votes)
- I'll take the "over"! (30%, 16 Votes)
Total Voters: 54
Loading ...The goalie that was in net for them at that time…Brian Boucher.
Since entering game five of the Bruins series, he has played in 4 games plus 24:35 and has stopped 124 of the 128 shots taken against him for a .969 SV% and a goals against average of OH-89…BINGO!.
Given that, I’m going to set the over/under for the next time someone will score against Philadelphia at…13:30 of the second period of Thursday’s game-three in Montreal. If you think the Habs will finally break through before that time, choose the “under”. If you think it’ll take longer…then the “over” is your vote.
Not to be overlooked is the work on the other end of the ice for Philly. They have scored 13 consecutive goals since the first period of that game-seven in Beantown Friday night. But Danny Briere says they are just getting warmed up.
“We all feel like we haven’t played our best games yet,” said Briere who scored his ninth goal of the playoffs Tuesday night. “We still have more in the tank.”
Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch…
While we sit by and watch Michael Leighton and the Flyers defense deny and turn away their opponents in much the same fashion and frequency Debbie Hesslefielder did me in the 11th grade…let me redirect you focus back towards Thrasherville for a moment, if I may.
Oh, there’s no real news to report here… but just for grins and giggles I’ve compiled the Thrashers defensive stats over their first 10 years of play in the league and now submit them for your review.
But I warn you… if you have just eaten or are otherwise squeamish in general, you may wish to skip over it and go straight to the comments section of this forum. It isn’t pretty…
1999-’00: 3.82 GA/G, (28th)* – 31.0 SA/G, (27th)* – 80.3% PK, (24th)*.
2000-’01: 3.52 GA/G, (29th) – 32.4 SA/G, (30th) – 77.9% PK, (30th).
2001-’02: 3.51 GA/G, (30th) – 35.5 SA/G, (30th) – 81.8% PK, (25th).
2002-’03: 3.46 GA/G, (30th) – 31.6 SA/G, (27th) – 81.6% PK, (25th).
2003-’04: 2.96 GA/G, (25th) – 29.4 SA/G, (23rd) – 85.1% PK, (T-8th).
2005-’06: 3.26 GA/G, (24th) – 30.3 SA/G, (18th) – 72.2% PK, (T-25th).
2006-’07: 2.94 GA/G, (15th) – 31.5 SA/G, (25th) – 79.8% PK, (26th).
2007-‘08: 3.24 GA/G, (T-30th) – 33.9 SA/G, (30th) – 78.8% PK, (27th).
2008-’09: 3.40 GA/G, (29th) – 32.7 SA/G, (27th) -76.0% PK, (29th).
2009-’10: 3.05 GA/G, (25th) – 33.1 SA/G, (T-27th) -82.2% PK, (16th).
*Only 28 teams in NHL in the 1999-’00 season.
Now, the words “defensive power house” and “Atlanta Thrashers” have rarely seldom not often hardly…OK, OK…have NEVER been used in the same sentence. In fact, I have often opined that the way the Thrashers play defense causes goalies to take more rubber to the face than a possum on GA Hwy. 92.
And these numbers just back that up…but let’s look even closer still.
There has only been two…count them, one-two… occasions in the first ten seasons of play that the Thrashers have finished in the upper half of any of those statistical categories. 2003-’04 when their 85.1% penalty killing was tied for 8th in the NHL and in 2006-’07…a.k.a., the playoff season…their 2.94GA/G was good enough for 15th in the league. Coming close was last year’s 82/2% PK, which was 16th best.
Conversely…of the 30 possible categories, 24 times they have finished in the bottom 6.
In just the past three seasons alone, they have ended the year 30th, 29th & 25th in GA/G…30th, 27th & tied for 27th in SA/G… and 27th, 29th & 16th on the penalty kill.
Either way you look at it, folks, historically the Thrashers defense has been un-good. In fact, the defensive play has been downright…ahem…offensive at times.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
119 comments Add your comment
Tom
May 19th, 2010
2:13 pm
GaVaHokie said “WOW, 6 DUI’s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Unreal… can’t believe he was allowed to get to 6 before getting house arrest.”
The problem wasn’t the house arrest, the problem was he lived in a Winnebago.
GaVaHokie
May 19th, 2010
2:19 pm
Here’s Carrozzi vs. Pasquale… ugly game for both…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0PfKiQ3HL0
Tony C.
May 19th, 2010
3:22 pm
I think the “most correct” answer regarding where Carozzi should play (what league) was given to Dudley by his agent: Send the kid to Finland. They are just putting out too many top-flight goalies and highly regarded goalie “prospects” lately: Kipprusoff, Raask, Rinne, Backstrom, Niemi, and Nittymaaki… Even those of yall that are Lehtonen’s detractors would have to agree that the guy looked pretty damn polished when he arrived in North America as an under-21 member of the Chicago Wolves…I’m not saying La Belle Provence doesn’t turn out some of the best netminders in the biz, but Finland does seem to working with something over there.
Oh, and regarding my comments regarding the defense Mr. T: It’s called “diminished expectations”….
Tony C.
May 19th, 2010
3:47 pm
Ok so I didn’t mention too many prospects, however, there’s guys like NYI’s Mikko Koskinen, unfortunately, I’m lazy and not going to do too much legwork to back up my idea… But just to throw out some names… here ya go.
Smoothie
May 19th, 2010
4:14 pm
Pasquale’s numbers may not look as good as Carrozzi’s but in fairness, Pasquale’s team’s defense was much worse. Perusing the various good and bad teams in the OHL, it looks like Pasquale’s Saginaw team gave up the most SOG by far at an avg rate of 38.27. So while his GAA wasn’t too stellar, it was because he was facing so much rubber. Carrozze on the other hand only had to face an avg of 27.26 SA so his numbers should be taken with a grain of salt. Not trying to take anything away from Carrozzi, but Ed may end up being the better prospect.
Red Light
May 19th, 2010
4:25 pm
If you start looking at numbers and gnashing teeth over goalies who are under 21 years age, you’ll wind up spending time with Randle Patrick McMurphy and Martini, and being read to by Nurse Ratched.
World Be Free
May 19th, 2010
7:50 pm
Red Light, nice “Cookoo’s Nest” reference.
Brendan
May 20th, 2010
12:36 am
“It’s that Nurse Rachet. She (pause) ‘interferes.’”
Jack Nicholson, at his very best.
Tony C.
May 20th, 2010
4:10 am
Smoothie The issue isn’t which kid shows more promise (Pasquale or Carrozzi), but that Carrozi’s going to be too old to play Junior hockey next season-This leads to the issue: where can he play, and where should he play to maximize his development; ECHL, AHL, or a European league…. I think Europe would be the best option… I don’t think he’d get as many starts against quality competition if he went to Chicago (AHL), being that the Wolves are a “win-now” organization, and will Most likely give the bulk of the work to another (more experienced) guy. I don’t think he’d see a higher quality of competition in the ECHL, and that’s got to be key in his development. Therefore, I think he’d be best suited to playing in Finland or Sweden.
Tony C.
May 20th, 2010
4:11 am
ok not suited to, but maybe best served I should say.
World Be Free
May 20th, 2010
6:19 am
“Ahh, Juicy Fruit”
Lee
May 20th, 2010
6:48 am
If we called up Pasquale and Carozzi, we’re probably getting ready for some goalies to leave ATL. (hint hint)
Martini
May 20th, 2010
8:20 am
Hit me! Hit Me!
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
8:35 am
Smoothie… re: Saginaw’s defense, Cody Sol is on that team too.
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
8:41 am
I’d say Pasquale back to Juniors and Carozzi to Finland.
It’s going to get even more interesting next summer when Alex Kangas graduates from Minnesota.
Speaking of overseas players… I wonder if Joel Kwiatkowski’s name comes up again this summer?
Alan R.
May 20th, 2010
9:40 am
Hokie, I hope you’re not fretting over junior players.
I also hope Joel Kwiatkowski’s name doesn’t come up. At all. Especially in reference to Atlanta. Don’t need him, don’t want him. To Russia, with love. We can’t be in the business of stocking Chicago by using our own money on players who won’t suit up for us at all.
Joe Friday
May 20th, 2010
9:49 am
“Whoa whoa whoa JF – is this not EXACTLY what I said a few weeks back about Halak.”
Yep, that’s why I mentioned also that I don’t think the Habs being down can be pointed at Halak. I don’t think his play has dropped down as much as the whole Habs club has come down to earth. But I fully expect them to win tonight and get back in the series.
Randle
May 20th, 2010
9:57 am
Damn, what a sorry-looking outfit. You boys don’t look so crazy to me.
World Be Free
May 20th, 2010
10:03 am
“Hey Tabes, you gonna bet a buck? Yeah, I’ll bet a buck.”
Smoothie
May 20th, 2010
11:00 am
By presenting the comparison of Carrozzi’s and Pasquale’s numbers, I was in no way trying to use them as a basis of an argument to support where they should go next. I was simply pointing out that Pasquale may end up being the better player. I hope one of them gets to go to Europe. Who’s the last goalie from the ECHL to make it to the show?
Anywho, does anyone think Craig MacT will pull his head out of his arse and let Kaner and Pevs play with pesky Jordan Eberle and try to forecheck Russia’s bottom two lines to death? Yeah, didn’t think so. And they wonder why they’re losing.
Brendan
May 20th, 2010
11:00 am
Did everyone see this article on Leighton at NHL.com? Here’s a link: http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=529628. They claim Leighton only cost the Flyers, $11,250, as a waiver claim. Does that mean Leighton’s minor league salary was $22,500, which they got at “half price” on re-entry waivers? But don’t the Flyers have to pay Leighton at the NHL price, if he has a two-way contract? And if so, that’s surely more than $11,250. Discuss.
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
11:10 am
Brendan… is that, maybe, what was left of his salary after reentry waivers and partial season pay?!… dunno.
Alan R… Hokie, I hope you’re not fretting over junior players.
It’s all interesting to me… I like keeping track of the depth. Franchise depth is important.
Red Light
May 20th, 2010
11:13 am
Brendan: He was on the Flyers roster for just 118 days, and while the claim only cost $11,250, they still have to pay him whatever the prorated amount of $600k is for 118 days.
“What are you doin’ here? You oughta be out in a convertible bird-doggin’ chicks and bangin’ beaver.”
Red Light
May 20th, 2010
11:16 am
NHLnumbers.com said Leighton’s cost to the Flyers is $183,000
J-man
May 20th, 2010
11:16 am
Folks, this isn’t the first time some mediocre or even bad player came out of nowhere and got hot in the playoffs. The question is whether Leighton and Boucher will be any good starting in the 2010-11 regular season. Fernando Pisani was a great hometown boy makes good story in playoffs 3 years ago, but he hasn’t exactly set the league on fire since then. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if either Leighton or Boucher is out of the NHL by the end of December of this year or maybe even sooner, but I’ll grant you that they both have been great in the playoffs this year.
GaVaHokie – Waddell is no longer the GM and Dudley has been on record in the past few weeks as saying that it’s stupid to sign veterans of limited ability when kids who might be better are in your system, so the signings of Kwiatkowski, McCarthy, etc. are probably over unless they are done specifically to put someone on the Wolves.
Alan R.
May 20th, 2010
11:23 am
There’s a difference between keeping track of depth and worrying when said depth isn’t performing well. You have to remember that a lot of those players in juniors aren’t NHL-ready, and they shouldn’t be looked at as such. Sol may not have played very well in a few games, but he’s still a kid, still developing, and nowhere near his peak. Now, if he spends a couple seasons in Chicago and still has trouble, then it’s time to worry.
Smoothie
May 20th, 2010
11:46 am
You know, when you start clicking around in the Internet Hockey D’base website to track various players careers, movement and who coached whom, you begin to see some interesting trends that help to explain decisions that are made in terms of hiring. For that reason, I have a strong inclination to believe that either Scott Arniel or Craig Ramsay will end up being our next head coach.
And guess what, Rick Dudley coached John Anderson at the end of Johnny’s career when they were in San Diego playing in the IHL. I don’t really recall JA commenting on his time under the “tutelage” of Rick Dudley. I’m starting to wonder if they butted heads quite a bit during their time as “Gulls”. Check out who was on the ‘92-’93 team coached by Rick Dudley:
Scott Arniel
John Anderson
Lindy Ruff
Denny Lambert
Tony McKegney
Keith Gretzky
Clint Malarchuk
Rick Knickle (just threw that in cuz it’s a funny name)
Red Light
May 20th, 2010
11:53 am
The NHL is nepotism at its highest level Smoothie. It’s a good-ole boy club where no one makes waves for fear they’ll never get another job in the game. You make waves or say something negative and you’re out of the fraternity. If anyone inside the fraternity says something negative about a former employee, coach, etc., they can’t get another job in the league.
But, it’s a much better conversation in person than on a blog!
Smoothie
May 20th, 2010
12:01 pm
Red Light – I can only imagine! Perhaps we can belly up to the bar at TJ’s at some point and you can share some stories with me. I would certainly enjoy that.
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
12:13 pm
Alan R… Oh, I’m by no means writing anybody off. Just pointing out that Sol is part of a struggling defense in Saginaw. I have no idea if he’s part of the problem or not.
re: Kwiatkowski… I was thinking he had an agreement to come back to Atlanta after one year in the KHL, but we have no commitment to him and his KHL deal is 2 years anyway.
I’m sure we’ll have numerous camp invites like we did last summer, ie. Dan Fritsche, Legace, etc. That’s what made me think of Kwiatkowski.
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
12:16 pm
Alan…fyi… I thought you were criticizing me for caring about Pasquale and Carozzi in general.
World Be Free
May 20th, 2010
12:27 pm
No better example of being out of the fraternity than Ted Nolan. Rumor was he was difficult to deal with in Buffalo and shunned, even though he won Coach of the Year. How Mike Keenan has continued to be employed is beyond me. Keenan learned his coaching style under Scotty Bowman, but Mike always took it too far and ended up alienating everyone.
NBA, NFL and MLB are all the same-Doug Collins is going to be the next coach of the 76er’s even though he hasn’t coached in the NBA for 7 years. Tough to risk your GM career on an unknown commodity.
Arniel, Ramsay or Torchetti
Alan R.
May 20th, 2010
12:57 pm
Nah, Hokie. I’m not one of *those* people. I just think it’s far too early to worry about bad performances with our prospects. So they had a few bad games in the O or Q. BFD. Everyone has bad games in every league. The key is whether or not these players make the same dumb mistakes in Chicago after getting acquainted with the coaching staff there as they’ve been making as kids in juniors.
Smoothie
May 20th, 2010
1:00 pm
World – it’s gotta be one of those three I suspect. I reckon Lever got a courtesy interview but no way we go for the guy from our farm team. Eventhough Arniel is AHL as well, I think Arniel’s ties to the Sabres and playing for Dudley will give him the edge in that race. But in my opinion, it should be Rammer’s job to lose.
Red Light
May 20th, 2010
1:01 pm
Any time Smoothie. I’m sure Tim could share some insights as well.
Smoothie
May 20th, 2010
1:03 pm
GVH / Alan – not that it matters that much, but Cody Sol did lead their D-men in +/- at +20. What that means on a team that gives up almost 39 shots on goal per game, I don’t know. But I would hope his size and weight give him an edge when it comes to clearing loose pucks and neutralizing traffic in front. As a 5th rounder, Cody was worth a shot at that point in the draft.
Alan R.
May 20th, 2010
1:17 pm
Not complaining about the pick, Smoothie. Just saying that it’s far too early to worry.
Smoothie
May 20th, 2010
1:32 pm
I don’t think anyone’s worried as much as bored and looking for things to talk about. If I was a real worry-wort, I don’t think I’d be pulling for a team that had any ties to Don Waddell!
glovesave29
May 20th, 2010
1:45 pm
Smoothie – LaBarbera, Halak, Legace, Lalime, Quick, Smith and Vokoun are all ECHL alums tending NHL nets. There are others who’ve moved back and forth between the AHL and NHL, and a few more that have hung them up.
My fear of goalies coming from the European leagues is that the season is so much shorter there, that they are not accustomed to the length and rigors of an NHL season – the E plays 72 games, and there’s a lot of travel involved.
Feel the same way about the Canadian juniors…I prefer a player from the WHL, as it more closely resembles an NHL schedule than the O or the Q. Heckuva lot longer trip from Brandon to Portland than it is from Sarnia to London…Chicoutimi to Baie-Comeau. And speaking of B/C – what is a Drakkar anyhow other than the cologne we wore back in high school in the 80’s? But I digress…
Smoothie
May 20th, 2010
2:00 pm
GS – thanks bud! I didn’t realize Halak, Quick, Smith and Vokoun all played in the ECHL at one point. I knew about J-LaB and Legace, but I didn’t realize some of the younger talent in the NHL now had played in the ECHL. You’re right, the longer the season the better for the ‘tenders to get the games they need to sharpen their skills.
Funny you mention B/C – Drakkar cuz I just stumbled upon Maxime Fortunus, a black D-man who played JR there and helped the Texas Stars dispose of the Wolves in the playoffs this year. Why was I looking at him? Cuz he played for Scott Arniel in Manitoba back in 2006-’07.
Red Light
May 20th, 2010
2:16 pm
The European aspect is an interesting one, but here is a reason to consider it…larger ice surface allows more room for the skilled players and thus a young goalie has to be wary all game long. On the negative side, the larger ice surface also changes the angles that shots come from in comparison to the North American rinks, but it certainly hasn’t affected most of the guys who come over here. The length of schedule shouldn’t be as much of a problem as the Euro coaches who likely will give preference to the “homeland” kids.
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
2:19 pm
Speaking of prospects… it’s funny they have this article up today, I was just noticing Bubnick’s playoff performance the other day.
http://www.bluelandblog2.com/2010/05/20/bubnick-breaking-out/
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
2:22 pm
Alan… sorry, I wasn’t trying to knock the prospects. The Pasquale/Carozzi video I posted was just a simple way to watch both at the same time… it just happened to be a bad game for both.
I remember Cody Sol actually had a good camp last summer, if I’m not mistaken… same with Bubnick.
Smoothie
May 20th, 2010
2:24 pm
Kane stuck playing with Downie and Ott and Pevs gets to play with Tavares so far in the QF vs Russia. Downie with a stupid boarding penalty to give Russia the first PP. Mason needs to be sharp.
Red Light
May 20th, 2010
2:28 pm
Smoothie: That should read Kane and Downie stuck playing with Ott. Downie’s going to be a stud during the next few years!
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
2:29 pm
The length of schedule shouldn’t be as much of a problem as the Euro coaches who likely will give preference to the “homeland” kids.
That’s my thinking… I’d rather see Carozzi in Gwinnett. The two guys playing there right now aren’t even Thrasher property.
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
2:35 pm
Here’s the Russia v. Canada game live…
http://www.channelsurfing.net/watch-iihf-world-championship.html
Red Light
May 20th, 2010
2:38 pm
Hokie: Gwinnett also has an agreement with the Blue Jackets. It’s not a true feeder system just for the Thrashers.
glovesave29
May 20th, 2010
2:42 pm
RL – It takes a bit of getting used to the larger suface as it pertains to angles, but less that you may think. I’ve played in larger olympic rinks and undersized rinks too, you get your bearings pretty quickly. Positioning is actually very intuative. You just over time learn where you are in relation to the play / net. If you don’t have that feel for exactly where you are on the ice, you need to go out with the inferior players and play forward or defense (jk). Even of rinks of similar size, the stands and other arena angles and layouts can throw you just as much.
Smoothie – I used to collect pucks. Had about 3000 of them. The Drakkar puck used to bug me because the logo was so cheesy. Even worse than the AHL Beast of New Haven or the Pensacola Ice Flyers. Look up those logos on chriscreamer.com and you will see what I mean.
I do have a question for those among us who have given their support to a coaching candidate who is w/o NHL experience. How are you forming your opinions? Do you know their offensive and defensive strategies? How about their ability to work with vets and rookies? How are they at mid-game adjustments? How do you know enough to be a Torchetti or Arniel or some other assistant coach? I am not asking this as a smart-a@@, I really do want to know. I consider myself to be a pretty astute observer of the sport, and people are giving opinions here that I cannot confirm nor deny…I just don’t know. I do know some here just re-hash what is heard on the game the night before, or something read in an article on the web. But there are some here with a long history of insight that I respect. So please, enlighten me…thanks
GaVaHokie
May 20th, 2010
2:46 pm
Afingonev scores 1-0 Russia.