NHL : Pittsburgh au bord du gouffre

source : hockeyhebdo.com

Situation impensable il y'a de cela quelques semaines mais qui pourrait se produire ce soir, les Pens de Sidney Crosby pourraient être absents des séries de la Coupe Stanley après leur nouvelle défaite d'hier, au Consol Energy Center, contre les New York Islanders 3-1. Les joueurs de Mike Johnston n'y arrivent plus, n'ayant pas gagné un match ce mois ci (0-4-1) et joueront leur destin contre Buffalo ce soir.

Soyons clair, si les Penguins n'arrivent pas à battre Buffalo, la pire équipe de la ligue dans un match couperet, alors ils n'ont rien à faire en playoffs. D'ailleurs on pourra s'interroger sur leur futur parcours en séries car pour le moment, et même si ils venaient à se qualifier, on ne donne pas cher de leur peau lors d'un premier tour contre les Rangers. De plus et même si on pouvait s'y attendre, Kris Letang, le défenseur numéro un de cette équipe, ne rejouera pas cette saison.

Avec sa défaite d'hier contre Columbus 4-2, qui finit la saison en boulet de canon, les Sabres de Buffalo sont assurés de finir derniers de la ligue et se trouvent du coup en bonne position pour la draft où ils viseront le phènomène Connor McDavid. Ils s'inclinent contre une étonnante formation des Blue Jackets qui a pris des point lors des 12 derniers matchs (11-0-1).

Hockey News: Penguins Collapse; 700 Assists for Henrik Sedin

                                              (Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports)

source : http://thehockeywriters.com

Tonight’s game between the Penguins and Senators has become a crucial one for both teams, something that a few months ago seemed highly unlikely. Ottawa is playing their best hockey while Pittsburgh is on a terrible slide that could actually see them missing the playoffs. Everyone is offering their thoughts on why the Penguins are collapsing, and I’ll throw mine into the hat.

1. The easy answer is injuries. The Penguins are missing three of their top four defenceman and only just got Evgeni Malkin back on Sunday. But here’s the problem with that excuse. Every season, like clockwork, the Pens’ most important players get hurt, sometimes for long stretches. They have always been able to keep on trucking, but this year for some reason, they haven’t been able to recover. Is it the coaching? Is it the lack of depth? Could be both of those things. Yes the injuries hurt, but even when healthy, the Penguins haven’t been the juggernaut we’re used to seeing. Not being able to admit that is simply denial.

2. The Pens have not won a game all season when trailing after two periods. That is a remarkable stat. And while we can put the blame on other things, their inability to dig deep and find a way to come back is troubling, and suggests to me that even if they do squeak into the playoffs, there is no magical Los Angeles Kings run in them. For whatever reason, this team just doesn’t seem to have the fight in them that’s necessary to find sustained success. Is it a lack of leadership, or heart, or character? It’s easy to spout those words but much more difficult to really prove it. In any case, something big is missing from this group. They aren’t going to figure it out this season, even if they get healthy.

3. And the biggest problem in my mind is the lack of awareness of the Pens management team. The mess of their salary cap aside, the team made moves as if they were a couple of pieces away from contending, which is as laughable as it is baffling. Isn’t a GM supposed to know his team? The Pens have given away draft picks at an alarming rate. They have little-to-no good forward prospects in the system and no way of re-stocking the cupboard. The trades they made haven’t improved the team, not even a little bit. Did Jim Rutherford truly believe his team was good enough, and therefore those trades were warranted? If so, he really shouldn’t be an NHL GM. The Pens are in trouble, not just this season but beyond. As Crosby and Malkin gets older, and the window continues to close, there is no one there to step up and take over. We saw the best of the Penguins in 2008 and 2009 and for this core, that’s as good as it’s gonna get.

More on the Penguins from our own Mike Colligan: [Hockey Writers]
And now onto the rest of the NHL…

Tyler Myers has been the right fit for Winnipeg. [Jets Nation]

Jonathan Benier would like to stay with the Maple Leafs. No idea why, but nevertheless. [The Score]

(Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Who are the most annoying players in the NHL? [Full Tilt Hockey]

The Sharks have wasted a lot of high-end talent. [Today’s Slap Shot]

If coaches chose the winners for the annual awards: [TSN]

Drafting and developing is so much more than simply winning a lottery. [Along the Boards]

Oliver Ekman-Larsson deserves a shot at the Norris Trophy. [Hockey Buzz]



A little Sedin magic. [Canucks Army]

The sad tale of former NHLer Dan LaCouture. [Post Gazette]

Good thing Marc Methot’s shot didn’t go in, because the Sens still wouldn’t have got the win. [Sportsnet]

And finally, great piece about religion and hockey. [Boston Globe]

Analyzing The Average Age of Stanley Cup Winning Teams

Source : Sportingcharts.com

There are numerous factors involved in determining why any sports team wins or loses their league title. One of these is often the age of the players or their years of experience. Do younger teams really have to mature and grow together before they can become championship calibre teams? What if your team is too old? At what point does father time catch up with a team and experience becomes a negative instead of a positive?

There is no one perfect answer to this question, but we thought it would be interesting to examine the average age of teams who have won the Stanley Cup and see what we find.

The following numbers are based off of only players who actually played in the playoffs for each team. The age of each player is based on Feb. 1 of the year that the playoffs took place.

I decided to start my calculations with the year the Conn Smythe Trophy was first awarded, the 1964-65 season. This gives us 48 seasons of data to work with. Let's get right to the results and see how things shake out….

Rank	Team	Year	Average Age
1	Montreal Canadiens	1985-86	24.48
2	Edmonton Oilers	1983-84	25.17
3	Montreal Canadiens	1992-93	25.18
4	New York Islanders	1979-80	25.45
5	Montreal Canadiens	1975-76	25.53
6	New York Islanders	1981-82	25.59
7	Boston Bruins	1969-70	25.67
8	Montreal Canadiens	1976-77	25.68
9	New York Islanders	1980-81	25.7
10	Montreal Canadiens	1978-79	25.78
11	Philadelphia Flyers	1973-74	25.82
12	Edmonton Oilers	1987-88	25.86
13	Edmonton Oilers	1989-90	25.88
14	Edmonton Oilers	1986-87	25.92
15	Edmonton Oilers	1984-85	25.96
16	Montreal Canadiens	1977-78	26.05
17	New York Islanders	1982-83	26.17
18	Los Angeles Kings	2011-12	26.18
19	Montreal Canadiens	1972-73	26.2
20	Chicago Blackhawks	2009-10	26.42
21	Calgary Flames	1988-89	26.6
22	Philadelphia Flyers	1974-75	26.67
23	Colorado Avalanche	1995-96	26.67
24	Montreal Canadiens	1970-71	26.81
25	Pittsburgh Penguins	1990-91	26.83
26	Chicago Blackhawks	2012-13	26.91
27	Montreal Canadiens	1964-65	27.05
28	New Jersey Devils	1994-95	27.33
29	Colorado Avalanche	2000-01	27.39
30	Montreal Canadiens	1967-68	27.48
31	New Jersey Devils	1999-00	27.59
32	Anaheim Ducks	2006-07	27.71
33	Tampa Bay Lightening	2003-04	27.83
34	Pittsburgh Penguins	1991-92	27.88
35	Montreal Canadiens	1965-66	28.16
36	Pittsburgh Penguins	2008-09	28.35
37	Detroit Red Wings	1996-97	28.39
38	Boston Bruins	1971-72	28.4
39	Montreal Canadiens	1968-69	28.55
40	Boston Bruins	2010-11	28.57
41	New York Rangers	1993-94	28.78
42	Detroit Red Wings	1997-98	28.92
43	Carolina Hurricanes	2005-06	29.3
44	New Jersey Devils	2002-03	29.36
45	Dallas Stars	1998-99	29.68
46	Toronto Maple Leafs	1966-67	30.67
47	Detroit Red Wings	2001-02	31.17
48	Detroit Red Wings	2007-08	31.7

The youngest team to ever win the Stanley Cup is none other than the 1985-86 Montreal Canadiens, lead by a 20 year old rookie goalie named Patrick Roy. Claude Lemieux was also only 20 years old while other youngsters included Chris Chelios (24), Brian Skrudland (22) and Guy Carbonneau (25). The only players over 30 on this roster were Larry Robinson (34) and Bob Gainey (32).

Five out of the top 15 youngest teams belong to the Edmonton Oilers (2^nd, 12^th, 13^th, 14^th, 15^th). Wayne Gretzky lead most of these teams to the title in the 1980's with their first title coming when he was only 23 years old. In fact, their top 5 scorers during their first victorious playoff run were all 23 years of age or younger (Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Coffey, Anderson).

The two oldest teams belong to the Detroit Red Wings who consistently put together very experienced teams through out the 2000's. The oldest team, in 2007-08, was lead by a younger core, but was filled with aging veterans like Dominik Hasek (46), Chris Chelios (43), Nicklas Lidstrom (37), Kris Draper (36) and Darren McCarty (35).

The average age of the Stanley Cup winning teams in the last 48 years is 27.2. Only 3 teams in the last 18 years are under the average age (2011-12 Kings, 2009-10 Blackhawks and 2012-13 Blackhawks). Some might find it interesting that the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins are ranked so low considering they were lead by Sidney Crosby (21), Evgeni Malkin (22) and Marc-Andre Fleury (24). Their core players were obviously very young, but the roster was filled with veterans like Bill Guerin (38), Sergei Gonchar (34), Miroslav Satan (34) and Hal Gill (33).

The first chart takes into consideration every single player who played during the playoffs, but what if we tried to remove the fringe players and focus on the core players of each team? The following chart shows the average age of the top 10 players from each team (top 9 scorers plus the goalie). This is not an exact science as you can argue that some defensemen should be included in the core even though they aren't among the scoring leaders, but for the purpose of this study I think it should give a pretty good indication of what we're looking for.

Top 10 Players Only				Avg. Age For Entire Team	Difference
Rank	Team	Year	Average Age
1	Montreal Canadiens	1992-93	24.5	25.18	-0.68
2	Edmonton Oilers	1984-85	24.5	25.96	-1.46
3	Philadelphia Flyers	1973-74	24.5	25.82	-1.32
4	Edmonton Oilers	1983-84	24.6	25.17	-0.57
5	Chicago Blackhawks	2009-10	24.7	26.42	-1.72
6	Edmonton Oilers	1987-88	25.5	25.86	-0.36
7	Montreal Canadiens	1985-86	25.5	24.48	1.02
8	New York Islanders	1979-80	25.5	25.45	0.05
9	Pittsburgh Penguins	1991-92	25.6	27.88	-2.28
10	Los Angeles Kings	2011-12	25.8	26.18	-0.38
11	Edmonton Oilers	1989-90	25.9	25.88	0.02
12	Philadelphia Flyers	1974-75	26.0	26.67	-0.67
13	Pittsburgh Penguins	1990-91	26.1	26.83	-0.73
14	Colorado Avalanche	1995-96	26.2	26.67	-0.47
15	Calgary Flames	1988-89	26.3	26.6	-0.3
16	Edmonton Oilers	1986-87	26.3	25.92	0.38
17	Pittsburgh Penguins	2008-09	26.5	28.35	-1.85
18	New York Islanders	1980-81	26.5	25.7	0.8
19	New York Rangers	1993-94	26.6	28.78	-2.18
20	New Jersey Devils	1999-00	26.8	27.59	-0.79
21	New York Islanders	1982-83	26.8	26.17	0.63
22	New Jersey Devils	1994-95	26.9	27.33	-0.43
23	Montreal Canadiens	1977-78	26.9	26.05	0.85
24	Montreal Canadiens	1976-77	26.9	25.68	1.22
25	Montreal Canadiens	1975-76	27.2	25.53	1.67
26	New York Islanders	1981-82	27.5	25.59	1.91
27	Montreal Canadiens	1972-73	27.5	26.2	1.3
28	Boston Bruins	1969-70	27.55	25.67	1.88
29	Chicago Blackhawks	2012-13	27.6	26.91	0.69
30	Montreal Canadiens	1965-66	28.1	28.16	-0.06
31	New Jersey Devils	2002-03	28.3	29.36	-1.06
32	Montreal Canadiens	1978-79	28.3	25.78	2.52
33	Montreal Canadiens	1964-65	28.36	27.05	1.31
34	Boston Bruins	2010-11	28.4	28.57	-0.17
35	Detroit Red Wings	1997-98	28.4	28.92	-0.52
36	Colorado Avalanche	2000-01	28.5	27.39	1.11
37	Anaheim Ducks	2006-07	28.6	27.71	0.89
38	Tampa Bay Lightning	2003-04	28.7	27.83	0.87
39	Detroit Red Wings	1996-97	28.7	28.39	0.31
40	Montreal Canadiens	1968-69	29.36	28.55	0.81
41	Dallas Stars	1998-99	29.4	29.68	-0.28
42	Toronto Maple Leafs	1966-67	29.5	30.67	-1.17
43	Boston Bruins	1971-72	29.73	28.4	1.33
44	Montreal Canadiens	1970-71	29.8	26.81	2.99
45	Carolina Hurricanes	2005-06	29.9	29.3	0.6
46	Montreal Canadiens	1967-68	30.4	27.48	2.92
47	Detroit Red Wings	2007-08	30.7	31.7	-1
48	Detroit Red Wings	2001-02	35.1	31.17	3.93

What really sticks out here is how the average age jumps up dramatically for the 2001-02 Detroit Red Wings. The core players average is almost 4 years higher than the entire team. This team was centered around veterans like Chris Chelios (40), Brett Hull (37), Dominik Hasek (37), Steve Yzerman (36) and Luc Robitaille (35). One of the few youngsters on this team was Pavel Datsyuk (23).

On the opposite side of the spectrum is the 1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins where the core players were 2.28 years younger than their team average. This team was lead by Mario Lemieux (26), Kevin Stevens (26), Tom Barrasso (26) and Jaromir Jagr (19).

So how big of a role does age really play? I don't think we can really say for sure as the results show a wide range. What we do know is that no team is really too young or too old. What really matters are how well they play as a team and which team gets hot at the right time.

Which teams surprised you the most on this list? Let us know in the comments below.