re: I'm considering getting into hockey, help me pick a team

Just wanted to say I've absolutely enjoyed reading this thread. I think theres's a good number of sports fans in the same boat as the OP as I am one of them.

Good luck with your decision OP and if you have anymore questions, please ask bc Im interested to see the answers!

If i may pose one to the hockey minds: If you had to pick one thought, opinion, fact, story etc about the Colorado Avalanche, what would it be? 30 for 30 my arse with knowledge on them.

Im standing on the edge, push me over. Give me something frickin cool about em. I don't want to know anything about the city, just the team...or player, or coach, or owner, etc..just something cool related to someone affiliated with them.

To the OP: the city is without question, one of the best there is.
Mountains, geese, snowboarding, hiking, MLB (solid team that meets most of your criteria), NBA, nightlife, Peyton Manning, etc

I lived there for 2 years and it was fantastic. Thanks again for the thread and good luck with your choice!

I don't think it's bandwagnoning to pick a team in the playoffs. I mean, half of the league is in the playoffs. You can't choose a team that just won, but to pick a team BEFORE they win is fine by me (and there's no guarantee they will win -- going by the #fancystats, the Avs have almost no chance of winning the title. A win by the Avs would go against the past decade of hockey statistical trends, but outliers always happen and that's what makes this so much fun)

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If i may pose one to the hockey minds: If you had to pick one thought, opinion, fact, story etc about the Colorado Avalanche, what would it be? 30 for 30 my arse with knowledge on them.

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The 30 for 30 would certainly be the move from Quebec and the Lindros deal.

Lindros was the first overall draft pick in 1991 and was already being called the Next One. He was the most hyped draft prospect in hockey since Mario Lemieux. And he wasn't going to play for Quebec, no matter what. He refused to even put on a Nords sweater at the draft and he reportedly turned down a $50 million offer. The Nords kept trying to sign him, but finally recognized the reality of the situation, and traded him to the Flyers. The next day, the Rangers had a better offer, so the Nords traded him AGAIN as they hadn't officially turned in the paperwork to the NHL.

The case went to an arbitrator as both the Flyers and Rangers made the case for the Next One. Eventually, the Rangers lost the case, and were able to keep the reported package of Alexei Kovalev, Tony Amonte, Doug Weight, John Vanbiesbrouck, cash, and draft picks. I know you don't know hockey well, but trust me, those guys were awesome. Instead, the Flyers won the case and won the right to trade everything that wasn't nailed down to the Nordiques for Lindros.

The Nordiques received defensemen Kerry Huffman and Steve Duchesne, goalie Ron Hextall, forwards Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, and Peter Forsberg, draft picks, and $10 million. As it turned out, Forsberg for Lindros might've been a win for the franchise, getting the rest of the roster was just icing on the cake.

It wasn't enough. The Nordiques, though vastly improved from perennial doormat standards, had to move to Colorado in 1995. In their first season in Denver, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, the only team in the modern era of sports to win a title in their first year of existence. Also taken from the province of Quebec was not just the team, but the goalie Patrick Roy.

Roy was humiliated by his coach and left in the game in which he allowed 9 goals, an 11-1 loss to the Red Wings, the worst loss in Habs history. He vowed never to play for Montreal again. Had the Nords remained in Quebec, there is literally no chance the Habs would have traded him there, but now in Colorado, Roy ended up on the Avs.

The Avalanche's title run was almost entirely at Quebec's expense, making them the rest of Canada's favorite American team ever.

Come be a Wild fan with me. Strength in numbers

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DFWAggie09

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I thought I had him earlier in this thread. I could feel his preference swaying to the good guys in green. Then I got outnumbered and everyone started blowing smoke up his arse about the Avs & StL and he started falling to the power of the darkside before I knew it.

Why dont you jump on the Nashville Predators wagon with me. I am moving there possibly, so I figure I will go all aboard. Nashville is a cool city, a southern city, and solid jersey/colors.

Last two years they havent been, but previously they were good. A really physical team. Just fired their coach.

Why not the Carolina Hurricanes?

You already like the Dolphins, so go with the Panthers.

Dallas is sneaky good.

If you're a stats guy, listen up. If you're not, stop reading now. The biggest concept in hockey "fancystats", a derisive name that the stat geeks have proudly adopted is that of possession. You win by tilting the ice in your favor. Teams with better possession win. the best possession teams year in and year out are Boston, Chicago, and LA... you know, the best teams in the league.

OK, possession is tough to measure as there is no time of possession stat, so we use a stand in: shots attempted. Corsi measures shots on goal + shots wide of net + blocked shots. Fenwick is the same minus the blocked shots. Additionally, score effects heavily influence Corsi and Fenwick, as teams that are winning tend not to press as much and give up possession in exchange for territory and time. Anyway, this has lead to the creation of FenClose, Fenwick when the game is within 1 or tied in the final 5 minutes.

Still with me?

OK, good. Here's this year's top FenClose teams:

LA 56.5%
Chicago 55.1%
SJ 54.7%
Boston 54.%

Now, let's check in on Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville, and Colorado

St. Louis 53.3%
Dallas 51.8%
Nashville 50.7%
Colorado 46.9%

In fact, the Avs have the fourth worst FenClose in the NHL. If you're a fancystat guy, the Avs are an awful choice, and Dallas has far better underlying metrics. They haven't seen the wins yet, but stat geeks would argue that the performance is already there, results will follow.