Up until last night, the stupidest stat I had ever heard was a few years ago while watching my 4th repeat of ESPNews, a TV show I used to watch religiously until I got tired of seeing Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals highlights.
The stat: Someone had hit a home run, and it was his birthday. They then mentioned that he was the 4th player to ever hit a home run on his birthday when his age matched his jersey number. So, for example, he wore number 33, and he turned 33 that day and hit a homer, joining this exclusive club.
Yesterday was the stupidest hockey stat I might have ever heard.
The stat: Jordan Staal's shorthanded goal was the first for a Penguin in the Cup Finals since 1992! The first since Bob Errey scored in Game 2 against Chicago!
My Lord! Stop the presses!
Let's figure this out. They Penguins played 2 more games in the Finals that year, as they swept Chicago in four games. They then played 6 last year and 3 games this year in the Finals without scoring shorthanded.
It was the Penguins first goal in 11 Finals games that came shorthanded. Wow. What an accomplishment. It's not like the Penguins had played in the Finals 6 times since then '92. They had made it two times, and one time they didn't score a shorthanded goal.
Maybe it wasn't even the stat that was completely stupid, it was the way they had said it. They said it like it was some sort of amazing feat, similar to the Chicago Cubs making the World Series (or in hockey terms, the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Cup or the Florida Panthers making the playoffs).
They were so astonished by this incredible 11-game shorthanded goal drought that they said it twice. They said it once, confusing me. Then, Christine Simpson did a between-period interview with Jordan Staal and said it to him, and then they flashed the stat on the screen.
Sleep easy Penguin fans. Your team has finally scored a shorthanded goal in the Finals after 11 tries. Now that the monkey is off your back, perhaps the team can get back to actually playing and forget about that. I heard that was hovering over them like a black cloud on a sunny day.
(For the record, the entire 2005-06 Rangers team only had 4 shorthanded goals in 82 games, less than 1 in 20. Imagine how crazy the Versus broadcast would've gone had they seen Jason Ward put one away while a man down!)
Dick Irvin won four cups, one with the Leafs and three with the Habs.
ReplyDeleteHe lost in the finals 12 times, seven with the Leafs and five with the Habs.
Lester Patrick and Frank Boucher were the Ranger cup-winning coaches, Bill Chadwick for the Hawks and Art Ross for the Bruin.
Alright, you were right, and I was fantastically wrong. Thanks for the info though.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, Zach - it's not the first time we've been wrong. All I could think of last night was, "So much for that whole 'Pens in 6' thing."
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