THE BOB – WEEK 9 INTRO: Here we are: the last week of the regular season! The division with the Kings/Dwarves/Bear/Faceless is already decided for the playoffs, so those teams will just be playing this week to fine tune their games and try to get some chemistry going to fuel them through the first round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the division with Unsullied/Children/Rydaz/Neds still has a lot of possibilities, so they’ll be playing for seeding (but really, if they’re all that close together anyway, is there that big of an advantage to the top seeds?) WEEK 9 RECAP: Unsullied 16, Rydaz 13 I really had planned on attending all of the games this week because of all of the cool storylines and it being the last week of the regular season, but I ended up getting stuck at work later than I expected and I was lucky to at least get there by the second game after rushing around at home to get to the Y as quick as possible. I know: excuses, excuses. So, I didn’t see this game. I’d love it if someone wrote a guest recap and posted it in the comments! Here is what I see from the stats: Unsullied is passing, and that scares me. Half of their goals had an assist attributed to it, and everybody on the team contributed a goal. If this team is really playing like a team, as the stats suggest, then I would be worried to play them in the playoffs. Also – what the hell got into Shane Humphrey? 5 goals?? I wish I saw the performance, that’s a big night for the big man. As for the Rydaz? They decided to make me a liar by having Joe put up big numbers, and have Mike Sturgis add another 4 goals to his total, but still get the loss. Without watching this team play I don’t know how to diagnose the issue. Also: it was good to see Pete Skidmore back on the floor again. Unsullied Stats: Gianni Jones: 6 goals and 2 assists Tim Anderson :2 goals and 4 assists Gafei Szeto: 1 goal and 1 assist Steve Newbury: 2 goals and 1 assist Shane Humphrey: 5 goals Ryan Konko subbed in net: 51 saves/80% Rydaz Stats: Joe Gandt: 7 goals and 3 assists Mike Sturgis: 4 goals Matt Gilluly: 1 goal Pete Skidmore: 1 goal Chad Burdick did not play Brett Siebert: 56 saves/78% 3 Stars (Upstairs): Gianni J, Joe G, Shane H 3 Stars (The Bob): N/A Kings 8, Dwarves 5 This was a fun game to watch. I feel like it was actually closer than the score suggests, because while watching the game I never counted the Dwarves out. Brian D’Angelo had his shooting hand get banged up early in the game, and you could tell it really was bothering him and he couldn’t get any power on his shot. Meanwhile Zach Davis went into full “MJ mode” during the third period trying to single-handedly win the game for his team. It was fun to watch him deke past three defenders and then rifle a shot that went top shelf stick side on Bill. But the Kings just played a solid game, top to bottom, for three periods. All of the Kings players were integral in the win, and they just seemed to be completely in sync with each other. They really impressed me, not just from a skill perspective, but from a teamwork/chemistry perspective. By week 9 you should know that I get all geeked out about chemistry, and this team has it. They now have won 8 games straight, and sit comfortably in first place. The goaltending did not disappoint either. Bill Reilich keeps his 90+% streak alive, and Ryan Konko did everything that could be expected to keep his team in the game recording an 88%, second highest on the night after Bill. It obviously wouldn’t be a surprise if these two teams play each other one more time, but this time in the postseason. Kings Stats: Tim Torrey: 2 goals Jeff Birge: 4 goals and 2 assists Dan Glading: 1 goal Kevin Parker: 1 goal and 1 assist Joe Fertitta: no stats, but he played a great game Bill Reilich: 59 saves/92% Dwarves Stats: Zach Davis: 5 goals Brian D’Angelo, Chris Lally, Andy Gauvin, and Colton Shannon didn’t record any points. Ryan Konko: 59 saves/88% 3 Stars (Upstairs): Jeff B, Bill R, Zach D 3 Stars (The Bob): Agreement – Jeff had the stats, so I have to agree with giving him the nod, but it’s hard to single out any specific floor player on the Kings because I truly feel like they contributed equally to this win – from Jeff’s 6 points to Joe’s 0. I feel like it’s hard to single out any players on this team right now because they are all playing like one. Bear 11, Faceless 7 Well, that sucked. I really felt good about this game going into it, but we just got beat in every aspect of the game. Give Bear credit: they outplayed us on offense, defense, and in transition. Dan pointed out in between periods that they were getting to every loose puck before us, which is an embarrassing thing for me, since I like to pride myself on hustle and determination (because it’s certainly not skill). Mike Bryant had a typical night for him, scoring a lot of quality goals and running past defenders to create odd-man rushes. Jeremy had a great night too, even without his two empty-net goals he had a lot of shots and converted a hat-trick before we even pulled our goalie. It has to be encouraging for Bear to see the number of assists and the goal distribution between their floor players. The only bright spot for Faceless is that we were able to score 7 goals, but now we let up more goals than we have since week 3. We can’t sacrifice our defense for goal scoring, because we’re not going to win high-scoring games. Bear Stats: Mike Bryant: 3 goals, 2 assists, 1 penalty minute Jon Chatterton: 1 goal and 1 assist Jamie Habitzreuther: 2 goals and 1 assist Brian Ciaccia: 2 assists Jeremy Boehmer: 5 goals (2 empty net) Kenton Sawade: 46 saves/87% Faceless Stats: Dan Hoock: 4 goals Kyle Antilla: 3 goals Kurt Brownell: 2 assists and 1 penalty minute Bob Hartman: 2 assists Rob Masten did not have a point Matt Marfione: 42 saves/82% 3 Stars (Upstairs): Mike B, Jeremy B, Dan H 3 Stars (The Bob): Agreement Children 22, Neds 8 I was really frustrated after my game so I left the gym to talk about it a little, and didn’t watch this game. I can’t believe the score, even though I’ve checked the stats several times. I’m not sure a YMCA team has ever scored 22 (can a YMCA floor hockey historian confirm this?). I’d love to see a write up from someone on this, but I have a feeling it’s just going to be: the Children played really well and the Neds played really poorly (how else do you get a total like that?) And it’s like Paul saw that Mike scored 10 goals last week and had to remind him who the MVP is in the league, by adding another 3 assists to one-up his own teammate’s total from last week. All of the Children floor players had great nights from a stats-perspective, as you would imagine when your team scores more than 20 goals. Also – I don’t know if they were garbage time goals, or good quality scoring, but the only silver-lining I can find in the stats for the Neds is that they were relatively well-balanced in their scoring, with 4 different floor players recording a goal. Another interesting note: these are by far the two most penalized teams in the league. I think my stats might be off a bit because statkeepers don’t always record penalty minutes, but what I have recorded on the season is 12 penalty minutes for the Neds and 10 for the Children. The next closest is Unsullied with 7. Children Stats: Paul Paradine: 10 goals and 4 assists Mike Furlano: 6 goals and 1 assist Jon Ramsey: 1 goal and 4 assists Jim Gross: 3 goals and 1 assist Ian Smith: 2 goals and 1 penalty minute Alex Packard: 32 saves, 80%, 1 assist Neds Stats: Rich Hutchins: 4 goals, 1 assist, 1 penalty minute Mike Tepper: 2 goals Steve Kazmark: 1 goal and 1 penalty minute Aaron Sevedge: 1 penalty minute Jesse Tredo: 1 goal and 1 assist Dave Fose: 47 saves/68% 3 Stars (Upstairs): Paul P, Mike F, Rich H 3 Stars (The Bob): N/A 3 Stars of the Week (Upstairs): Paul P, Joe G, Gianni J 3 Stars of the Week (The Bob): N/A – I didn’t see either game that these three players played in. POWER RANKINGS: There’s a new King at the Y! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist) 1. Kings – 17 points; 8-0-1 (5-0-1) (Last week: 2) What else can be said? Eight straight wins, and their only loss coming in week 1 to the Dwarves in overtime. Since that overtime loss they have won every game they’ve played by at least 3 goals. Bill Reilich is playing better than any goalie in the Y. Their defense is better than any other defense right now. They have the second highest assist to goal ratio (47%). They have the best shots on goal differential at +79 (outshooting opponents almost 9 times per game on average). They have won without Tim Torrey, and they have won without Jeff Birge (and they won without Bill Reilich back in week 3). They deserve the top spot, but now they’ll have a target on their back from here on out. 2. Dwarves – 14 points; 7-2-0 (4-2-0) (Last week: 1) I only really count one of these losses, but still, they are 1-1 with the Kings, but their win came in overtime week 1 while the Kings’ win came by 3 just last week. Gianni was saying to me this week that they don’t like the divisional setup, because he felt like the Kings and Dwarves should have a chance to play each other in the championship game. Unfortunately for the Dwarves and the Kings – only one of the two of them may have a chance at the championship game (and don’t count out the Bear and Faceless - there have been upsets of this magnitude at the Y in the past – involving current players on Bear and Faceless). 3. Children – 10 points; 5-4-0 (4-2-0) (Last Week: 4) The Kings and Dwarves are the easy frontrunners in their division, but how do you separate out all of the teams clumped together in the other division? As for my power rankings, if I had to pick one team, right now, to beat any other team I would hesitantly pick the Children. They have won 3 of their last 4, and their one loss in that four game stretch came by just one goal. After I called Paul out for not being a team player, his team has stepped up big with a lot more goal scoring from everyone and more assists next to Air Canada’s name. They have the best offensive efficiency in the league: scoring on 20.5% of their shot attempts. Their weakness right now is defense; they have the worst defensive efficiency in the league, allowing goals on 24.0% of opposing shots on net. You read that right: almost one out of every four shots on goal you put on the Children finds the back of the net. What would worry me is that this means one bad night on offense and this team is doomed. 4. Unsullied – 10 points; 5-4-0 (3-3-0) (Last Week: 5) I’m not sure I’ve been there to watch them when they’ve played really well. Maybe that’s their secret: they don’t want Bob watching their games! In all seriousness, the stats suggest to me that this team is finally starting to play as a team, and I’ve been saying all season long that this team has too much talent, and if they find a way to play together instead of as a group of individuals they will be very, very good. It looks like they’ve found it. The question now is: can they keep it every week? 5. Rydaz – 8 points; 3-4-2 (2-3-1) (Last week: 3) Two straight losses and I have to drop them down to #5. This team has to be the most exciting team to watch though. They’ve scored double digit goals 8 out of the 9 weeks this season. But they’ve also allowed double digit goals against 7 of the 9 weeks this season. If you want scoring – then you should come watch the Rydaz play! I didn’t see either loss, so I’m having a hard time figuring out the reason, but I wonder if it’s the same thing I just wrote about the Children. The Rydaz have the second highest offensive efficiency, scoring on 19.8% of all shot attempts, but they have the second worst defensive efficiency, allowing goals on 21.1% of shots against. Maybe these last two weeks they just didn’t get the right bounces that you need to get when you’re putting up and allowing 10+ goals every week. It’s fun to watch, but it’s kind of like playing with fire too, because even though this team makes scoring 10-13 goals look like it’s nothing, you never know when you’re going to have an off night and allow 15+. 6. Bear – 7 points; 3-5-1 (2-3-1) (Last week: 6) They got a good win, and played like a solid team doing it this week. They were passing well, moving around off the puck, finding the holes in our defensive zone, and capitalizing on their chances. But they’ve been really inconsistent all season, and I am wondering if this was just a good week that they can’t repeat. Their season has gone like this: 1 win, 3 losses, 1 win, 3 losses, and now 1 win. If that’s the pattern, then that doesn’t bode well for them the next two weeks. 7. Neds – 6 points; 3-6-0 (3-3-0) (Last week: 7) Talk about inconsistent: one week they dominate a very good Rydaz team, winning by 4. The next week they get the doors blown off, losing by the number of goals that would take my own team three weeks to score. I’ve been saying this all season long, but I’ll say it again: the shots on goal differential is killing them. I know it’s an over-simplification, but they’re not getting enough shots on goal and they’re giving up too many. Their shots on goal differential is -187 on the season. That means they are allowing opponents, on average, to outshoot them by more than 20 times per game. I think Dave Fose is having the best season I’ve ever seen him play, but there’s no way you’re going to win that many games when you’re letting your opponents outshoot you by that much. 8. Faceless – 4 points; 2-7-0 (1-5-0) (Last week: 8) I just have to hope that we find the chemistry we’ve had a few times during the season. I think we need to tighten up on defense, and try to play our own game. If we try to keep up with a high scoring team like a track meet, we will lose. We simply do not have the firepower. But if we can control the puck, play lock down defense, give Marf a chance to do what he does best in net, and find the back of the net a few times ourselves, then I think we win more often than we lose. We just have to remember our identity and play to our strengths instead of our weaknesses. (By the way, I pretty much just plagiarized everything Marf told me after the game – I can’t take credit for any of these insights). STATS/ANALYSIS: Point Leaders: 1. Paul Paradine (75), 2. Joe Gandt (61), 3. Zach Davis (56), 4. Gianni Jones (54), 5. Jeff Birge (45), 6. Brian D’Angelo (44), T7. Tim Torrey and Mike Furlano (40) Points Per Game Leaders: 1. Paul Paradine (8.3), 2. Joe Gandt (7.6), 3. Zach Davis (7.0), 4. Gianni Jones (6.8), 5. Jeff Birge (5.6), 6. Brian D’Angelo (5.5), 7. Tim Torrey (5.0), 8. Mike Bryant (4.5) Goal Leaders: 1. Paul Paradine (53),T2. Zach Davis and Joe Gandt (45), 4. Gianni Jones (38), 5. Jeff Birge (36), T6. Brian D’Angelo and Mike Furlano (34), 8. Mike Sturgis (28) Goals Per Game Leaders: 1. Paul Paradine (5.9), 2. Joe Gandt and Zach Davis (5.6), 4. Gianni Jones (4.8), 5. Jeff Birge (4.5), 6. Brian D’Angelo (4.3), 7. Mike Furlano (3.8), 8. Mike Bryant (3.7) Assist Leaders: 1. Paul Paradine (22), T2. Gianni Jones and Joe Gandt (16), 4. Tim Torrey (14), T5. Zach Davis and Matt Gilluly (11), T7. Brian D’Angelo and Jon Ramsey (10) Game Star Leaders: Paul Paradine has 8. Zach Davis, Dan Hoock, and Jeff Birge all have 7 game stars. Gianni Jones, Brian D’Angelo, Joe Gandt, and Bill Reilich all have 6. Weekly Star Leaders: Gianni Jones has 5. Paul Paradine and Joe Gandt have earned 4 weekly stars. Bill Reilich has 3. Save Percentage: 1. Bill Reilich (91.1%), 2. Ryan Konko (86.9%), 3. Dave Fose (84.6%), 4. Tim Scott (83.1%) Saves/Game: 1. Ryan Konko (56.0), 2. Dave Fose (55.1), 3. Bill Reilich (46.1), 4. Brett Siebert (44.8) Goals Against Average: 1. Bill Reilich (4.50), 2. Tim Scott (8.00), 3. Ryan Konko (8.44), 4. Matt Marfione (8.50) OTHER NEWS AND NOTES: I don’t have time right now to do a full awards preview. I’ll try to post a comment with some of my nominations. Feel free to comment on your own nominations/thoughts/opinions! Reminder, schedule for Week 10 below: 6:30 Kings vs Rydaz 7:30 Dwarves vs Unsullied 8:30 Faceless vs Children 9:30 Bear vs Neds Also, as I’m sure you’ve seen the hilarious photo provided by Ryan Konko – there will be pickup floor hockey at the YMCA on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Not to be your mom on this one, but regardless of what you choose to do on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving – please be responsible and don’t drink and drive. PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Here are your current division standings: Division 1: *1. Children: 10 points; 5-4-0 (Div: 4-2-0) *2. Unsullied: 10 points; 5-4-0 (Div: 3-3-0) 3. Rydaz: 8 points; 3-4-2 (Div: 2-3-1) 4. Neds: 6 points; 3-6-0 (Div: 3-3-0) *Children currently hold the tie-breaker. They split head to head with Unsullied, but their divisional record is better. Division 2: 1. Kings: 17 points; 8-0-1 (Div: 5-0-1) 2. Dwarves: 14 points; 7-2-0 (Div: 4-2-0) 3. Bear: 7 points; 3-5-1 (Div: 2-3-1) 4. Faceless: 4 points; 2-7-0 (Div: 1-5-0) Rankings are based on: 1. Points, 2. Head to Head, 3. Divisional Record, 4. Goal Differential, 5. Goals For, 6. Goals Against Well, division 2 is boring. We are locked in 1-4 with no ability to move around in week 10. There goes Jon’s chance at cool storylines in week 10 for the second division! But, the first division could still move around a bit. Let’s go through team by team (anyone who is a veteran knows that trying to figure out the different scenarios is my favorite thing to do all season!) Children: We know they’re guaranteed a top 2 seed. If they win, then they get the #1 (if Unsullied wins, they would be tied in points but Children would own the tie-breaker with the better divisional record after splitting head to head). If they lose, and Unsullied wins, then they will have the #2 (even if the Rydaz win, they would be tied in points, but again they split head to head and Children have the better tie-breaker). Unsullied: As said above – they could take the #1 with a win and a Children loss (or a loss in OT and a children loss in regulation). But if the Children win their game, then Unsullied cannot get the #1. Any other scenario has Unsullied taking the #2 – they would split head to head with the Rydaz if they’re tied in points, but Unsullied has the better divisional record. Rydaz: These guys can either be the 3 or the 4. Even if they win and both Children and Unsullied lose, they would all be tied in points, tied head to head, and they have the worst divisional record out of the three teams. If they lose, however, and the Neds win, then the Rydaz would drop to the 4 because they’d be tied in points, but the Neds won both matchups against the Rydaz in the regular season and therefore hold the head to head tiebreaker. A loss in overtime this week would also guarantee them the #3. Neds: They will have the 4 unless they win this week and the Rydaz lose in regulation. As mentioned above, they hold the head to head tie-breaker over the Rydaz. WEEK 10 PREVIEW: 6:30 Kings vs Rydaz The top team in the league against a team that is struggling to find a win after a two game losing streak. Not only that, but the Rydaz will want a win to try to stay away from the #4 seed heading into the playoffs. If the Kings just had their work cut out for them playing the Dwarves, and then held them to 5 goals, it will be interesting to see how their defense and goaltending matches up against the second highest scoring team in the league, having scored 102 goals on the season so far (~11.3 per game). The Kings have only allowed 44 goals against all season long (~4.9 per game). This should be a great matchup, and even though the Dwarves are a fantastic team with a lot of talent, they haven’t been scoring the way the Rydaz have so I think this could be an even tougher matchup for the Kings defense and goaltending. But I think they will handle it. The Bob prediction: Kings by 2 (and therefore the smallest margin of victory for them all season, so that’s kind of like an upset, right?). 7:30 Dwarves vs Unsullied I expect the Dwarves to want to bounce back after a two game losing streak. The game doesn’t matter for them, but from a confidence perspective I expect them to be hungry for the win on this one. Meanwhile, Unsullied doesn’t have too much hope with needing a win and the Children to lose to take the #1, and the Children playing the team with the worst record in the league (man it hurts to write that). I was thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if Unsullied comes out a little flat, but then I remembered that Tim Anderson and Gafei Szeto are on this team. I think these guys probably break a sweat while playing backgammon with the same intensity as game 7 of the finals. So it should be an interesting matchup, but I think the Dwarves have figuratively more to lose, and that gives them the edge. The Bob prediction: Dwarves by 2. 8:30 Faceless vs Children I won’t be there this week (I’m writing this while on the plane), so I’ll miss the matchup. But if there was ever a chance for our team to try to play its own game, and play to our strengths instead of getting caught up in a high-scoring affair, then this would be the game with the Children coming off their 22 goal game. If Faceless can control the puck, control the tempo, play solid defense, and slow the game down then I think we win. But I think the firepower and tenacity of the Children will be too much for my squad. The Bob prediction: Children by 5. 9:30 Bear vs Neds The Neds will know going into the game whether or not the Rydaz lost. If they Rydaz won, or lost in overtime, then this game has no meaning at all for the playoffs and both teams will be playing for pride and confidence. But if the Rydaz lost earlier in the night, then I will expect the Neds to find another whole gear to kick it into and I think they make the night really long for the Bear. The Bob prediction: If the Rydaz lose in regulation, then I think the Neds win by 2. If the Rydaz win, or lose in OT, then I think this game is a coin flip. I won’t be here this week – any takers for a guest write up? And don’t forget to list your awards nominations below!
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 16:58:44 +0000
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