re: NHL Offseason Thread

Yeah. Him and Binnington carried a team that was absolutely dead to nearly a division title. IDK how they both didn't win.

Good for Batya.

I'll admit, I've learned more about hockey and tema-building from the career of Brooks Orpik than just about anyone. He was derided by analytic types such as myself because, well, he's slow, can't score, and lacks any sort of passing touch whatsoever. He was a relic of a game that we've long since discarded, or thought we had.

But... That view of Orpik ignores all of the good things he brought to the game. First off, he hit like a monster, and that has more value than the analytic community wants to admit, particularly in the playoffs. He made you pay for going into the corners, and players would slow up just that half second as a series wore on. It doesn't matter as much in the regular season, but heavy hockey pays dividends in the postseason.

He also ate minutes, and the worst kind. In the Stanley Cup season, Orpik only started in the offensive zone 41% of the time... only Beagle and Niskanen had worse zone starts. He had less Off Zone Starts/60 than anyone on the team. There is no bigger drag on possession stats than zone starts, as its hard to get shots from your own end. Yet Orpik was a near even CF% player despite some of the most extreme defensive zone starts in the entire NHL (Beagle was the leader in the NHL in crappy zone starts).

Orpik played the penalty kill, faced off against other team's top lines and top pairs, and ate up near top line minutes. The dude was a machine. Sure, he couldn't score. He couldn't pass. He was slow. Those criticisms were true, but it ignored the things he could do: which was essentially play defense.

But most importantly, Orpik was Batya. He earned the A on his sweater, and he was the go to guy in the locker room, acting as a father figure to the young players, the defensemen, and the Russians. He was a one man cultural bridge between the Russian and English speaking factions in the locker room.

Orpik made a career out of pure grit. I mean that as the highest compliment. Most of us aren't blessed with Ovechkin's skills. Orpik had to work for every damn shift, and it showed.

I'll miss him. Eat a carb or something, dude.

Craig Berube:

Interim Head Coach [FULL TIME HEAD COACH]

Oh a Star fan taking credit for a hab

Joe Pavelski visited the Stars today. Would be a solid veteran addition and some badly needed scoring punch

PK first day in a Devils jersey

My favorite player who doesn't play for the Wings or Bolts.

Stars buying out Nichushkin