TUESDAY TIDBITS…
By Jason Gregor
10 years ago
This past week Jaromir Jagr continued to climb the rankings amongst the all-time great players and point-producers in the history of the NHL.
Jagr is off to a solid start in New Jersey with 2-7-9 in 11 games, and last Tuesday night he became the 32nd player in NHL history to play 1,400 games.
Jagr is on the verge of being in the top-ten all-time in goals, assists and points.
Jagr is on the verge of being in the top-ten all-time in goals, assists and points.
He is currently 10th in goals with 683, and if he stays healthy he will pass Mario Lemieux (690), Steve Yzerman (692) and Mark Messier (694) before the end of the season. He needs 25 goals to tie Mike Gartner (708) for 6th.
He sits 12th in assists with 1,014. He will likely pass Joe Sakic (1,016) and Mario Lemieux (1,033) before the end of the season and move into 10th place. He has a chance to finish as high as 8th if he can pick up 36 more assists this season and surpass Marcel Dionne (1,040) and Gordie Howe (1,049).
He is 8th all-time in points with 1,697, and with 26 more points he will pass Mario Lemieux (1,723) before April.
Of the 32 players to have played 1,400 games, Jagr has the 2nd highest points-per-game ratio. Only Wayne Gretzky his higher with a ridiculous 1.92 PPG, while Jagr has a 1.21. Jagr has been able to play a long time, but he’s also managed to produce at a high level for his entire career.
The Oilers play the Devils on February 7th, and with Jagr already hinting this will be his final season, I suggest you try to watch one of the game’s best players one final time. Jagr could get moved at the deadline, if the Devils aren’t in the playoff hunt, so you might get to see him play one final time in Edmonton. Either way you should sit down with your kids and let them watch one of the most prolific scorers the NHL has ever seen.
RANDOM THOUGHTS…
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Teemu Selanne will become the 33rd player to play 1,400 games this Saturday in Buffalo. Selanne is also ranked high amongst the all-time greats in goals (11th with 678), assists (40th with 759) and points (15th with 1,437).
- There has been a lot of talk, deservedly so, about Alex Ovechkin’s hot start to the season. He has 10 goals in 12 games and has 32 goals in his last 33 games, but St.Louis Blues forward Alex Steen has been the hottest goal scorer this year.
- Steen has 10 goals in 9 games. The Blues have played the fewest games in the NHL, but when they’ve played Steen has been incredible. He will either need to start shooting more, or it is impossible he will continue to score like he has. Steen has 10 goals on 26 shots, 38.5 SH%, while Ovechkin has 10 goals on 75 shots for a 13.3 SH%.
- Steen has 15 points in 9 games and he’s tied with Sidney Crosby at 1.67 points-per-game. Steen has had a fantastic start, and while I don’t expect him to maintain this level of production, I think he can be close to a 75-point player this season.
- Ryan Kesler looks healthy again. He has 8 goals in 11 games with 7 of them coming at ES. If he stays healthy, the Canucks will once again be a top contender in the west.
- The Oilers are 3-5-1 vs. the Eastern conference, while the rest of the west is 49-14-7.
- The Oilers are 1-4 vs. the Metropolitan division, while the other 13 teams in the west are 26-3-3.
- The Oilers next five games are against Toronto, Detroit, Florida, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia. They need to find a way to beat teams in the east.
Josh Harding is having incredible start to the season. After being diagnosed with MS in October of 2012, many wondered if the Wild goalie could compete in the NHL. He recorded a shutout in his first start last season, but he only started two games all season. An injury to Niklas Backstrom forced him into action in the playoffs and he played well despite losing the series to the Blackhawks.
- Oiler draft pick Greg Chase is 4th in the WHL in goals with 13 in 17 games and he’s 8th in points with 22. 2011 draft pick Mitch Moroz is 5th in the league with 12 goals and 21st in points with 16.
- The Oilers have improved their 5-on-5 scoring with 25 goals; however, they’ve given up 31 goals at ES and sit at -6. Here is a list of all 30 teams with their GF-GA ratio at 5-on-5. The teams in bold are currently in a playoff spot.
- St. Louis has only played nine games, otherwise they would be in the playoffs. Ottawa is one point behind Carolina and the Islanders, but they have games in hand. Based on winning %, not points, they would be in the playoffs and the top-13 teams in GF-GA ratio would all be in the playoffs.
- Last season the worst 11 teams in GF-GA at 5-on-5 all missed the playoffs. The Islanders had the worst rating of all the playoff teams at -2. Until the Oilers can start to outscore the opposition at ES, it is going to be very difficult to win games, especially when their special teams are 24th (PP) and 29th (PK).
- The San Jose Sharks are dominating teams thus far. They are 10-1-1, and their only loss was 2-1 against the Bruins despite outshooting Boston 39-17. The Sharks have outscored their opponents 48-20 and they’ve averaged 13.3 shots more per game.
- Now that Nail Yakupov scored a goal, here is a list of the forwards who’ve played at least ten games, that you wouldn’t expect to have zero goals: Claude Giroux, Ray Whitney, Sean Couturier, Martin Erat, Marcus Johansson, Jarret Stoll, Chris Stewart and Valeri Nichuskin. Marc Arcobello is tied with Johansson for the most points, 10, without a goal. Out of those nine skaters, who do you think scores a goal last?
Unless Selanne plays another season the only player he can catch in points is Stan Mikita (1,467), while he is chasing the same guys as Jagr in goals. If he picks up another 26 assists this season he will pass Bernie Federko (761), Chris Chelios (763), Vincent Damphousse (773), Jean Ratelle (776), Brian Leetch (781) and Mats Sundin (784).
Selanne is another player you’d like your kids to watch one final time. The Oilers play the Ducks four times this year. December 15th and January 3rd in Anaheim and March 28th and April 6th in Edmonton. This year, Harding has started seven games and has a sparkling 1.00 GAA and a .953 SV%. Having worked closely with the MS Society the past few years, I’ve seen how difficult it is to live with MS. I’m cheering hard for Harding, because his health could change quickly.
| SAN JOSE | 16 |
| ANAHEIM | 13 |
| BOSTON | 12 |
| COLORADO | 10 |
| ST LOUIS | 9 |
| CHICAGO | 6 |
| MINNESOTA | 6 |
| MONTREAL | 6 |
| PITTSBURGH | 6 |
| VANCOUVER | 3 |
| OTTAWA | 2 |
| TORONTO | 2 |
| PHOENIX | 1 |
| DALLAS | 0 |
| COLUMBUS | -1 |
| TAMPA BAY | -1 |
| CALGARY | -2 |
| WINNIPEG | -2 |
| DETROIT | -3 |
| LOS ANGELES | -3 |
| CAROLINA | -4 |
| NY ISLANDERS | -4 |
| PHILADELPHIA | -5 |
| EDMONTON | -6 |
| FLORIDA | -8 |
| NASHVILLE | -8 |
| WASHINGTON | -8 |
| NEW JERSEY | -10 |
| BUFFALO | -12 |
| NY RANGERS | -15 |
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