A few weekend musings...

1. It's always interesting when Science and Hockey mix together like a guy from North Carolina and a girl from South Carolina. Anyway...

From ScienceDaily:

Researchers at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Kinesiology may have found the secret to dazzling goaltending, after they discovered the exact spot a goalie needs to watch to be successful.

Graduate student Derek Panchuk and professor Joan Vickers, who discovered the Quiet Eye phenomenon, have just completed the most comprehensive, on-ice hockey study to determine where elite goalies focus their eyes in order to make a save.

Simply put, they found that goalies should keep their eyes on the puck. In an article to be published in the journal Human Movement Science, Panchuk and Vickers discovered that the best goaltenders rest their gaze directly on the puck and shooter's stick almost a full second before the shot is released. When they do that they make the save over 75 per cent of the time.

"Looking at the puck seems fairly obvious," Panchuk said, "until you look at the eye movements of novice goaltenders, who scatter their gaze all over the place and have a much lower save percentage than the elite goalies."

The findings also contradict some research out of Europe which suggests that soccer goalies concentrate on the non-shooting foot of the kicker to make the save.

Well, soccer is a much different game than hockey, especially for goalies. On penalty kicks, reaction time means a lot less than in hockey. Reading the non-shooting foot is a good indicator, especially among lesser players, of which direction the shot will go. Still, it does blow away Martin Brodeur's assertion that Alexander OVU-L8's robocop visor gives an unfair advantage. If you are an NHL goalie watching the eyes of a shooter and not the puck, yer just screwing yourself.

2. For all of the talk about the new-and-improved Dinner Jackets, they still score less than Dave Coulier at Ladies Night. Last season, the BJs sucked hard offensively and scored just 223 goals, which was 4th worst in the NHL. This year? They have 19 goals in 9 games and are right near the bottom once again.
That's what you get for screwing around with Gilbert Brule and Jaroslav Balastik. Why are the BJ's keeping Brule if they intend to play him 6 minutes a night and with linemates who couldn't score in the AHL? Yeah, Freddy Modin is the answer *sigh*

3. Speaking of BJs, I hope they enjoy Tarantula Head. It's rather obvious why he didn't get the huge contract he desired and why he had to settle for Columbus.
Anson Carter: 9GP 1-1-2 -1 4PIM
Taylor Pyatt: 12GP 6-2-8 +4 6PIM & One bitchin MySpace site.

4. JP at Japers' Rink has the "Sidney Crosby Hat Trick", which is apparently a goal, an assist, and a diving penalty. *grumble*.
So, what's an Alexander Ovechkin Hat Trick? 1 goal, 1 assist, and 15 giveaways from hogging the puck all night?

5. Penguins 8(!) and the Flyers 2. Nice to see nothing has changed in Philly.
Check out this goal by Maxime Talbot. I *almost* feel sorry for the Flyers in that instance. Almost.

6. Speaking of Ovechkin, he currently sits 46th in NHL scoring with 10 points. Crosby? He's tied for #5 with 15 points. Just sayin'