Worst Stat Ever Stated?...

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!)

Stat Of The Day

In the past two games - last night and tonight - Sean Bergenheim has three breakaway opportunities while shorthanded. Of the three, one ended when his contact lens came dislodged, one resulted in a penalty shot, and the other resulted in a goal, his third shorthanded goal of the season. Bergenheim is now just one goal off his career high of 10, which he set last year, but has played 29 less games this year.

Oh, and Bergenheim is signed through next year and has gone on record saying he wants to stay on Long Island and make it work with the Islanders. We need more guys like Sean Bergenheim on this team.