6-6-6 With Michael Scott (Week 4) 6 TEAMS at the top --> Teams that shouldn't change a thing and keep grinding. 6 TEAMS on the cusp --> Teams who show signs of life who are most vulnerable to join the contenders or head towards the bottom. 6 TEAMS in the hole --> Teams that are currently in the toilet and are trying to avoid a flush. 6 Teams at the top 1) Ottawa Senators (23-2-2): The Ottawa Patt's are on FIRE - Atop the hardest division in s37 of LG, the Sens pulled off an impressive 9-0 with a +25 goal differential and held every team on the week to 1 or 2 goals. There's not one impressive line on this team as everyone with the exception of XenoSZN having 1 or less regulation loss (and Xeno is 6-2-1). I am most impressed by @Justdumpit who is 17-1 as the starter. Even the best goalies in LG suffer a down week, but we haven't seen that just yet with dumpit. There is one GLARING need on this team and it's not roster related. Can someone get Patt a fucking goal? Dude is goal-less since s31 and will need a few genos on his road to his inevitable Norris run. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 2-1 W vs. Capitals, 4-2 W vs. Leafs (Fisher line) Players To Watch: @Justdumpit @XenoSZN 2) Tampa Bay Lightning (22-4-1): A team that would dominate the headlines in any other week, month or season - The Lightning have been just as impressive. The Lightning also went 9-0 this week with 2 shutout wins and remain only 3 points back from the Sens and are leaps ahead of the next best team. There is an argument to be had that the Lightning have been more impressive this season. Although Tampa remains in the middle of the pack for goals scored, they have only allowed 47 goals against (15.5 goals per week), with the next 'best' defense allowing 62 (Chicago/Florida). They are also tied for 1st in PP efficiency, and 2nd in PK% (Behind your bois Preds) and are #1 in GD with +40. The best news for this team is the third line progression; The Ovi-Edenheart-Schrieny line went 3-0 this week and will continue to be the lynch-pin for this teams chances at overcoming Ottawa. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 2-1 W vs. Detroit, 1-0 W vs. Florida Players To Watch: The Third Line 3) Chicago Blackhawks (17-6-4): The Hawks follow up an impressive Week 2 with a friendly 5-2-2 week - A weekly record that seems to be the average for this division. I know this team had some scheduling issues with the Hxndry line and Burnsy's line over Monday and Tuesday that caused some ECU usage on Tuesday so I predict Chicago mirroring their Week 2 success when we return from break. The third line, headlined by @rG Breezyy had a 2-1 week and seem to hold the keys to the Blackhawks success this season. Their top two lines match any other team in the league so like usual, the third line could make the difference. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): Two wins vs. teams right behind them in their division on Tuesday (Minny and Nashville). Players To Watch: @rG Breezyy @Yonnnnnnn x 13 4) Washington Capitals (16-7-4): The Caps have chipped away at the Metro leaders over the last two weeks going 7-2 in Week 2 and 6-0-3 in Week 3 to finally claim the top spot heading into Week 4 with the Jackets and Islanders nipping at their ankles. I was worried about how the 7-1 loss to Firehalo and Calgary's third line would affect @aHuff21 and company but was quickly quieted after the line went 3-0 to end the week. Looks like Huff needs to feed Parksy a little more with the center only potting 2 goals on the season thru 3 weeks. Looks like this team caught a bit of the Monday blues, going 0-0-3. The Caps special teams have been impressive, sitting in 3rd in both PP% and PK% and are one of a handful of teams to allow less than 70 goals on the season. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 6-1 W vs. Isles, 4-1 W vs. Jackets, 3-1 W vs. Florida Players To Watch: @I Parksy x I76I @ExtraSweetSauce 5) Dallas Stars (16-8-3): This team is fucking wild. They are in 2nd place in the West Central with 35 points, but - They have allowed the 4th most goals (99), have a negative GD (-9), Rank in the middle of the pack or lower in PP, PK, TOA, SD and are near the top in PIM. However, they are 11-1-3 in 1 goal games, behind only the Sens (12-0-2). Dallas does not make it easy on themselves but they have been getting the job done. At this point in the season, it's hard to tell if this team just has giant balls and know how to close out games or if they are on the brink of a major losing streak. Time will tell. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 7-6 W vs. Oilers Players To Watch: @No Regretzkys @JOFA8087 6) Edmonton Oilers (16-7-4): The Oilers have been uber consistent this season despite their propensity to shake up their roster, ending Week 3 with a 6-1-2 record. Most of their games were tight this week. With the exception of a 2-0 and 10-2 victory, the other 7 games were 1 goal games (4-1-2). With plenty of time before Week 4's games, I wouldn't be shocked if Twist makes some more moves; already having acquired god skillz and verathy for Malkine and Turboyuri. Leading the West Pacific, the Oilers are the only team to put up over 100 goals this season (101) and will look to expand their lead in a weak division. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 3-2 W vs. Wild, 3-2 W vs. Blackhawks Players To Watch: @Letunov @X God Skillz X 6 Teams on the cusp 1) Detroit Red Wings (16-6-5): After being a undeniable top 3 team for the first couple weeks of the season, the Red Wings had quite the slump this week going 3-2-4 and there's even whispers of the week ending with a rage quit. This team is still very deep and Truck/Kos/Dom are pretty fluid when it comes to improving the team thru trades if need be. The bulk of the turnaround needs to come from the first line - They only have one regulation loss but have been murdered in OT games (4-1-4 record). Good: They are in the top 5 for TOA differential. Bad: Their special teams is TRASH - They are only 19.6% on the PP and 66.7% on the PK. If this team can tighten that up and get a little more aggressive in OT, they will be right back in the Top 3. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): N/A Players To Watch: @Shaunaldinho @ReV Hellcat 2) Toronto Maple Leafs (16-9-2): The Leafs have recovered well after only grabbing 3 wins and had a nice Week 3 at 6-3. The stats are solid; +21 GD, 8-3-2 in 1 goal games, #1 in the league in TOA differential with 52 minutes and an incredible 98 shot differential (next best is 50). The Leafs have fallen victim to the Atlantic division murderers row but I'd be shocked if they didn't at least get in with a wild card spot. The top two lines have been very solid but the Leafs third line has held them back a bit at 3-5-1. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 3-2 W vs. Capitals, 2-1 vs. Jackets, 4-0 W vs. Detroit Players To Watch: @officialmark07 @Dip City Don 3) San Jose Sharks (15-11-1): At 7-2-1 in Week 3, the Sharks are starting to make their move towards the top of this division. Led by an undeniable management trio of Jakoo, Gwan and ScaryJoey - The Sharks are buzzing. The Sharks have a strong D-core which has only allowed 69 goals on the season but despite the talent across the roster, SJS has only put up 84 goals thru 3 weeks (in the bottom half of the league). They have done a bit of shuffling with their three lines, spreading out the wealth with Jakoo carrying a line and Gwan bouncing around where the Sharks see fit. The Sharks are first in the league in PP efficiency at 40% but have struggled a bit on the PK. Expecting this team to start to push for the Top 6 instead of the other way around. Only blip on the Week 3 results was losing to MiikeScott on LW. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): Players To Watch: 4) St. Louis Blues (13-9-5): Panda + Frank = An Abortion. Panda by himself, Frank by himself (heavily sedated and backpacked by Odie) = Gold. Both Panda and Frank enjoyed a 3-0 week as the Blues finally got over the hump and put up a 7-2 record including a few impressive inter-division dubs. The margins are still razor thin with only a +1 GD, are 7-2-5 in 1 goal games and are in the middle/bottom of the pack for most team statistics. This squad is definitely the most volatile team of the '6 on the cusp' list. I see a scenario where they have another 6-8 win week and start to threaten the Blackhawks lead or all hell could break loose and they fall back to the bottom. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 5-4 W vs. Blackhawks, 7-4 W vs. Wild, 3-2 W vs. Kraken Players To Watch: @Dork x22 @Grandma in Urn 5) New York Rangers (12-9-6): A team that seemed destine for another Top 5 pick thru two weeks found their stride in Week 3 (6-3). They have scored the second least amount of goals on the season (72) but their GD is only -1 due to a decent season so far from their defense. They have also struggled a bit in 1 goal games (5-1-6). Surprisingly, they rank #2 in the league in TOA differential (44 mins) but that statistic doesn't seem to mean much this season (See: Vancouver Canucks). They don't have a line that is having a good season but there is also no lines who are majorly costing. So far the only bright spots have been Dimitri and Goonderk (ew). Despite all of this, their division is pretty week so who knows? Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 3-1 W vs. Jackets, 2-1 W vs. Panthers, 3-2 W vs. Red Wings Players To Watch: @goonderk @iAMoee 6) Colorado Avalanche (14-12-1): Similar to the Rangers and Blues, the Avs turned around their poor start in Week 3 by going 7-2 and getting back into the mix in the Central. Their team statistics are bleh, ranking in the bottom half of goals, GAs, GD, PP, PK, TOA, etc. but this team has some star power. The Avs had some impressive wins this week including going 4-0 vs. the West Central. Their third line is struggling (3-6) but I actually see some potential to turn things around with the talent on the line (Chowder, Bushook, Atreyal, etc). Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 4-0 vs. West Central (ARI, NSH, MIN, DAL), 4-3 W vs. Oilers Players To Watch: @lxChowder71xl @Oakua 6 Teams in the hole 1) Arizona Coyotes (10-13-4): With another poor week in the books (3-4-2), the Yotes are in danger of falling out of the West Central race early in the season. Despite have some major star power (Dangs, Vape, Muted, Desyd and a good goalie duo), all three of their lines have not been up to par. The biggest problem? Pucks in nets. Arizona has only scored 63 goals on the season, tied with two other teams for worst in the league and have a -24 goal differential. One more 2-4 win week and I'll be ready to call them DONEZO. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 5-4 W vs. Dallas Players To Watch: @Dangs92 @GeT MuTeDD 2) Montreal Canadiens (9-16-2): Going 2-7 (both wins vs. non-playoff teams) really soured this teams chances after being a middling 7-9-2 heading into the week. More importantly, this team is in the Atlantic sooo... although it is early, pretty easy to see this team is dead to rights. They are a -34 GD and are one of the other two teams mentioned above (only 63 goals scored). This is a team where the stats really match the record: Bottom 5 PP%, Bottom 15 PK%, worst TOA (-59mins), 2nd worse shot diff (-67) and they lost 4 games this week by 1 goal and were unable to grab a single point from those games. I am a bit surprised by this teams lack of success so far despite the tough division, I had hopes of seeing success out of the friends crew of Psycc, Port and Fox. They did however make a slew of moves this week in hopes of turning things around: Added Smellykickbutt, ReplayChris, Malkine and TurboYuri. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): N/A Players To Watch: @Malkine @ReplayChr1s 3) Carolina Hurricanes (8-17-2): Still don't really get what's going on in Carolina. A 2-6-1 week adds to the poor start for JClaus and the boys who are a week or two away from falling out of the picture despite the weaker division they find themselves in. The biggest pimple on the face of the Hurricanes is the third line that is currently 1-7-1 with minimal changes made to that crew. Free contract and superstar PTP is 2-6-1 and JClaus himself is only 4-4-1. They have the second worst GD at -43 allowing an abysmal 117 goals. Mentioned in the Schwifty podcast, who woulda thunk Jclaus and HeroicDucks teams would be sitting at the bottom heading into Week 4. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): N/A Players To Watch: @P t P 10 @Archon Assassin 4) New Jersey Devils (8-17-2): Just copy and paste what I said above. A perpetual Norris candidate with a successful track record, TheHeroicDuck, has had a horrid start to the season (2-7) and there is not much on the roster that shows the potential for a strong turnaround. The Devils only collected 1 win this week and joined the Hurricanes club of 100 or more goals allowed. They are 17.6% on the PP (3rd worst, 66.7% on the PK (Bottom 10) despite being top ten in TOA and shots differential. Their GD isn't as poor as Carolina (-22) but with only 1 move made so far heading into week three (RICKOSHAY in, Segween out) - I don't see much changing. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): N/A Players To Watch: @xRICKOSHAY @PLP Kenny 5) Vancouver Canucks (6-19-2): We are now at the bottom two of the list where there isn't much to say. The Canucks have the worst GD in the league (-48), are another one of the 63-goals scored teams, are 2-7-2 in 1 goal games, Bottom ten in special teams and shot differential despite being top ten in TOA differential. They made a slew of deals this week, adding Verathy, Nardo, Manning, and drally but it's a little late for some roster changes to make an actual impact. I guess good luck? idk. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 6-3 W vs. Wild Players To Watch: No 6) Buffalo Sabres (5-20-2): At 2-6-1, the Sabres actually somehow improved off of their 0 win Week 2 but we're nearing the end of the Sabres season before the puck even drops for Week 4. Unsurprisingly, the Sabres have the third worst GD (-40), are 2-8-2 in 1 goal games, and are towards the bottom for all major team statistics. Cj142's line has all 5 wins on the season and it's a miracle that boy has a positive record despite this teams thin ass roster. Buffalostar was recently quoted in the NHL Podcast chat as saying "Mark my words, the Sabres will turn things around" - I'll be waiting homie. Impressive Wins (Wk 3): 6-3 W vs. Leafs Players To Watch: Also No. -Mike
Thank you for the media, thank you @SNipeSHow Inc for thanking @l S4K l for thanking him for the media
