Trivial shots

I just wanted to note a little bit about the trivia question in the Oilers game. It asked about defenseman who led the Caps in shots for a season. I guessed it was either Stevens or Hatcher, and was half-right, I guess, since it was Hatcher. But what was interesting to me was that his total (from 92-93, FWIW) was 329. Two years ago, that total would have tied for second (in the league, not among defensemen). Three years ago, it would have been fourth; the year before, third.

Actually, looking into that a bit more, I'm surprised to see that there weren't players firing more shots back in the rip-roaring 80s. In fact, when Gretzky was clearing seventy goals every year, his highest shot total was only 369. And that did lead the league. Kind of puts an exclamation point on how incredible OV's first years were. Over 500 (!) shots?

Also puts a bit of emphasis on how much goaltending has improved, just over that span.

Helping Hands

Forgot to write about this last night, but thought it interesting that the trivia question during the game was about who the top five assist-getters in league history were (context: Oates is sixth). One (Gretzky), I knew, of course. Two (Ron Francis) and three (Mark Messier) I thought of, but decided they were a little lower down the list. Four? I always forget how good Bourque was at the offensive end. And five? Yeah, didn't think of him (Paul Coffey) at all (I think because I only remember the very end of his career. Stupid west coast and Penguins).

But what I found most interesting about the group of them was this:
1979-1980
1981-1982
1979-1980
1979-1980
1980-1981

That list is the first season played for each of the five (in order, if it matters).

Quite a testament to how high scoring was in the NHL in the 80s. And to add to it, #15 (Al MacInnis), #16 (Larry Murphy), #20 (Dale Hawerchuk), #23 (Denis Savard), and #30 (Jari Kurri) also started in those three years. #7 (Steve Yzerman), #10 (Super Mario), and #13 (Doug Gilmour) were only a couple of years after. Oates himself was only two years after the last of that latter group (imagine if he had skipped going to RPI).

Now just imagine if OV could have played in his prime in that time period. That would have been scary; he might well have set the single-season goal record.

crazy like a fox

Just looked at yesterday's Foxtrot, and I must admit that my first thought (before I'd noticed any details besides the screen) was that he wanted a 106" screen, not 100". Because 100" would be 4:3, not 16:9 (and if you're going to do a projector system, not doing HD is really, really silly).

Update: Looked at Herd Thinners shortly after. I must admit that I thought it was a perpetual motion machine, not wrestling.