I still need to write up my notes on the quarter-finals of the World Cup, but holy crap! that game yesterday.
I figured it'd be close to a toss-up with both teams at full strength, so with Silva and Neymar out, I did expect a German victory. But man, did Brazil crap the bed.
I joked to a friend of mine, after the third goal, that it looked like Brazil had already given up. He responded that they were doing the traditional turtling, defensively, except that this turtle was on its back and thrashing.
And then there were a couple more German goals, in short order. After that stretch, figured the Germans would score a few more.
What I didn't realize, going in, was how key Silva was at the back end. I knew how big a deal Neymar missing was, but didn't know that Silva was the coordination for the defense. At least, I hope that was it, because there was no coordination on the back end.
For a while, not only were Germans finding space anywhere they wanted to, but they weren't even being pressed until they got within ten yards of the Brazilian box. It was incredible.
When Mueller scored in the 11th minute, on the Germans' first corner, he was basically uncovered. I saw a tweet saying that he'd "found a thiago silva-sized hole", and that seems about right.
It took about ten more minutes for the Germans to score again (Klose, this time, with a generous feed from Mueller and a bit of luck on a rebound. That was enough to give him the all-time World Cup goal-scoring record), but then they scored three more in rapid succession after that. The remaining fifteen minutes or so of the first half went fairly quickly, with the Germans able to move about at will, but unable to score.
The second half finally showed a bit of spine from the Brazilians; in fact, they had several good scoring chances in the first few minutes of the half. Some of that was due to the German's playing extremely avoiding of any fouls, and thereby giving a lot of space. That still might have been a good strategy, though, as the Brazilians were diving all over the place, and that might have been less obvious.
But Schuerrle came in for Klose not too long after, and he got into the scoring act with a pair of his own (to match Kroos' brace and exceed Khedira's lone tally).
The rest of the game was pretty desultory, with occasional attempts by each team to score (Oezil missed a nearly-empty net off to the side some time around the 85th minute), but the only remaining score can from Oscar in the 90th minute. I was surprised the ref gave them as much stoppage time as he did, but it was still two minutes.
I saw a funny tweet doing scoring equivalents of that final margin. Though funny, it seems a bit off-base, in some of those sports. Baseball being twenty-two seems reasonable. NFL seems twenty or so points high as well (it's been well over 800 games (how many all-time World Cup games there've been) since anyone has scored even 80 points in an NFL game. Actually, just did a bit of research, and highest score since 1940 seems to be 73 (when the Bears beat the Redskins for the title; hadn't realized that was highest-scoring game since then). So 107 is pretty bizarre.
And the NBA one is just wacky-land. I'm fairly sure no one has ever scored even half that many in a single game. One quarter that many is well short of an everyday occurence. 484 is eight points a minute. That's at least three baskets a minute over an entire game. Crazy.
And I might need to rethink that NHL comparison. Since the 1917-18 season, there have been eight games with 14+ goals scored by one team (none in almost thirty-three years). Eight in almost a hundred years. Over 12000k games just in the last eleven seasons.
One in 800+ would be significantly less than that, and this was not the most lopsided result ever seen in the World Cup, so probably eleven or twelve would be a more reasonable number for NHL equivalence.
Showing posts with label blowout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blowout. Show all posts
20140709
20140127
Habitual position
The Caps definitely like going to Montreal; Saturday's game against the Habs definitely didn't change that.
I mentioned that Grabo wasn't available; I don't know how soon he will be. OV did make it, which certainly surprised me. To make up for Grabo, Wellman was called up again. The defense didn't change from the previous game, unless you want to count Holtby in net.
The game started out pretty well, with the Caps having a very solid edge through the first period (13-7 fenwick events, 12-3 on net) but no goals being scored (and that does include each team getting a power play). Just before the end of the period, Backstrom got tagged for a high stick on Plekanic and Eller got a double against Carlson (after seeing the replay, I'm not sure why that one was a double, though I'm not complaining). The refs definitely screwed up, though, as they waited to blow the whistle until Washington corralled the puck, even though Washington ended up with the power play. Not a big deal, but it definitely was weird.
That carryover power play worked out well for Washington, as OV got his 36th of the season less than a second after it ended on a beautiful juggling play. A shot rebounded in the air, and OV bounced it on his stick twice to bring it back in front of the net, then slammed it home in a tiny hole Price left when he wasn't able to move over after the prior shot.
And that pretty much opened the floodgates, as Erskine scored a minute and a half later. Then, three minutes later, Wilson had a really pretty assist, backhanding across to Beagle, who had an open net. And four minutes later, Carlson added another when his (fairly weak) wrist shot was deflected a hair, at the last second, by Beaulieu, past Price. That was enough to bring Budaj off the bench, although at that point Montreal hadn't even attempted a shot in the period (so, yes, more than halfway through the game, Washington had more goals than Montreal had shots on net).
The crowd was definitely restive at that point, as Montreal's next shot was greeted with a lot of (mock) cheering (the next couple were as well, although not quite as much so).
Montreal closed the shot gap a bit, the rest of the way, but that's about it. The only other goal scored came on a 2-on-1 with OV and Wellman where everyone (probably including Wellman) was fixated on OV shooting, and he instead passed across to Casey. Casey took a second to get the shot off, but made sure to get it up, and got his first goal of the season.
I had actually already turned the game off at that point; I might have been asleep when he scored.
It might have been Washington's best game of the season, although it should probably be attributed as much to Montreal's lack of effort as to Washington's skill. They just looked considerably off, all game. And Washington certainly had no reasons for complaints with the officiating; they got eight power plays to the Habs' three.
The power play certainly wasn't terribly effective, with only seven shots (fifteen attempts) in that time. The last PP I saw was with the 4-0 lead already, and was pretty lackadaisical. Three more of them came after that, so I suspect they were pretty similar.
The PK did a good job, though, limiting Montreal to only two shots in their six minutes with the man advantage. Certainly nothing to complain about, there.
My biggest worry is that the Caps will slack off after that. Buffalo's next, and Miller hasn't been allowing them anything. I guess we'll see, tomorrow night in Buffalo. Hopefully, OV didn't reinjure himself, and Grabo will be better (I know, that's a stretch). Go Caps!
I mentioned that Grabo wasn't available; I don't know how soon he will be. OV did make it, which certainly surprised me. To make up for Grabo, Wellman was called up again. The defense didn't change from the previous game, unless you want to count Holtby in net.
The game started out pretty well, with the Caps having a very solid edge through the first period (13-7 fenwick events, 12-3 on net) but no goals being scored (and that does include each team getting a power play). Just before the end of the period, Backstrom got tagged for a high stick on Plekanic and Eller got a double against Carlson (after seeing the replay, I'm not sure why that one was a double, though I'm not complaining). The refs definitely screwed up, though, as they waited to blow the whistle until Washington corralled the puck, even though Washington ended up with the power play. Not a big deal, but it definitely was weird.
That carryover power play worked out well for Washington, as OV got his 36th of the season less than a second after it ended on a beautiful juggling play. A shot rebounded in the air, and OV bounced it on his stick twice to bring it back in front of the net, then slammed it home in a tiny hole Price left when he wasn't able to move over after the prior shot.
And that pretty much opened the floodgates, as Erskine scored a minute and a half later. Then, three minutes later, Wilson had a really pretty assist, backhanding across to Beagle, who had an open net. And four minutes later, Carlson added another when his (fairly weak) wrist shot was deflected a hair, at the last second, by Beaulieu, past Price. That was enough to bring Budaj off the bench, although at that point Montreal hadn't even attempted a shot in the period (so, yes, more than halfway through the game, Washington had more goals than Montreal had shots on net).
The crowd was definitely restive at that point, as Montreal's next shot was greeted with a lot of (mock) cheering (the next couple were as well, although not quite as much so).
Montreal closed the shot gap a bit, the rest of the way, but that's about it. The only other goal scored came on a 2-on-1 with OV and Wellman where everyone (probably including Wellman) was fixated on OV shooting, and he instead passed across to Casey. Casey took a second to get the shot off, but made sure to get it up, and got his first goal of the season.
I had actually already turned the game off at that point; I might have been asleep when he scored.
It might have been Washington's best game of the season, although it should probably be attributed as much to Montreal's lack of effort as to Washington's skill. They just looked considerably off, all game. And Washington certainly had no reasons for complaints with the officiating; they got eight power plays to the Habs' three.
The power play certainly wasn't terribly effective, with only seven shots (fifteen attempts) in that time. The last PP I saw was with the 4-0 lead already, and was pretty lackadaisical. Three more of them came after that, so I suspect they were pretty similar.
The PK did a good job, though, limiting Montreal to only two shots in their six minutes with the man advantage. Certainly nothing to complain about, there.
My biggest worry is that the Caps will slack off after that. Buffalo's next, and Miller hasn't been allowing them anything. I guess we'll see, tomorrow night in Buffalo. Hopefully, OV didn't reinjure himself, and Grabo will be better (I know, that's a stretch). Go Caps!
20111119
Leaf blown
The Caps, tonight, looked kind of like the leaves in my yard this morning: getting blown all over. This is another game where there was just nothing positive to be said.
They couldn't get out of the defensive zone, they couldn't keep Toronto out, they couldn't get into the O zone, and they could rarely stay there once they made it.
The end result was getting absolutely demolished by a team they should have beaten.
Where do they go from here? I must admit, I don't know. They didn't look good in any phase of the game, or for any significant part of the game. The penalty kill allowed three goals. The power play not only didn't score, but allowed a short-handed goal as well.
I don't know how many turnovers there were from the forecheck, but it was not a small number.
The last couple of games, the Caps have not looked like a team widely picked to be one of the top two or three teams in the league. In fact, they've looked like a team lucky to be in the NHL at all.
Hmm... Thanksgiving is coming up soon. How comfortable are you, Bruce?
They couldn't get out of the defensive zone, they couldn't keep Toronto out, they couldn't get into the O zone, and they could rarely stay there once they made it.
The end result was getting absolutely demolished by a team they should have beaten.
Where do they go from here? I must admit, I don't know. They didn't look good in any phase of the game, or for any significant part of the game. The penalty kill allowed three goals. The power play not only didn't score, but allowed a short-handed goal as well.
I don't know how many turnovers there were from the forecheck, but it was not a small number.
The last couple of games, the Caps have not looked like a team widely picked to be one of the top two or three teams in the league. In fact, they've looked like a team lucky to be in the NHL at all.
Hmm... Thanksgiving is coming up soon. How comfortable are you, Bruce?
20111024
The Darby Match
Watched much of the Manchester United/City match yesterday; wasn't too sure what to expect, beyond good play.
It started out with Man U playing slightly better, in terms of keeping play mostly in City's end of the field. But, twenty-two minutes in, Balotelli (who I was watching more, because of his beautiful, bicycle-kick goal against Villa last week) converted a nice crossing pass from the top of the box, burying it into the far corner. De Gea made a nice try of it, but missed by a few inches.
The game really turned twenty minutes later, though, when Evans, on a very lazy defensive play, hauled down Balotelli at the edge of the box. Not only was this a very obvious foul, but he was the last defender, so he got a red card for his troubles. The wall blocked the subsequent kick, but the damage to the defense was done. City scored again in the 60th, 69th, 89th, 91st, and 93rd minutes, turning what was a very tense match for a long time into a laugher. The only (tiny) saving grace for Man U was that Fletcher did manage a single goal in the 81st minute.
I turned it off with around 75 mintues left, because my daughter wanted to watch "How to Train Your Dragon" again, and I had promised I would let her earlier in the day. Because of that, though, I have no idea if any of the remaining goals were pretty ones.
We did see typical British humor from the commentators a ways into the game. Balotelli had gotten a yellow card after his goal, when he pulled the front of his shirt over his head, exposing a shirt underneath, reading "Why Always Me?". The announcers, talking about this a few minutes later, commented, "Quite a shy lad, isn't he?" I was definitely laughing at that.
Anyway, the game broke all sorts of records for Man U (first time allowing six goals in a home, league game since 1930, worst defeat at Old Trafford since 1955, first loss at home in thirty-seven games, first time City had scored six there since 1926, etc). The crowning insult, perhaps, though, is that it leaves City atop the league table.
It was quite a statement of a game, and it's now certain that no one will take City lightly for the rest of the season. Good luck to 'em, the rest of the way.
It started out with Man U playing slightly better, in terms of keeping play mostly in City's end of the field. But, twenty-two minutes in, Balotelli (who I was watching more, because of his beautiful, bicycle-kick goal against Villa last week) converted a nice crossing pass from the top of the box, burying it into the far corner. De Gea made a nice try of it, but missed by a few inches.
The game really turned twenty minutes later, though, when Evans, on a very lazy defensive play, hauled down Balotelli at the edge of the box. Not only was this a very obvious foul, but he was the last defender, so he got a red card for his troubles. The wall blocked the subsequent kick, but the damage to the defense was done. City scored again in the 60th, 69th, 89th, 91st, and 93rd minutes, turning what was a very tense match for a long time into a laugher. The only (tiny) saving grace for Man U was that Fletcher did manage a single goal in the 81st minute.
I turned it off with around 75 mintues left, because my daughter wanted to watch "How to Train Your Dragon" again, and I had promised I would let her earlier in the day. Because of that, though, I have no idea if any of the remaining goals were pretty ones.
We did see typical British humor from the commentators a ways into the game. Balotelli had gotten a yellow card after his goal, when he pulled the front of his shirt over his head, exposing a shirt underneath, reading "Why Always Me?". The announcers, talking about this a few minutes later, commented, "Quite a shy lad, isn't he?" I was definitely laughing at that.
Anyway, the game broke all sorts of records for Man U (first time allowing six goals in a home, league game since 1930, worst defeat at Old Trafford since 1955, first loss at home in thirty-seven games, first time City had scored six there since 1926, etc). The crowning insult, perhaps, though, is that it leaves City atop the league table.
It was quite a statement of a game, and it's now certain that no one will take City lightly for the rest of the season. Good luck to 'em, the rest of the way.
20110326
Alas, RPI, It Was Not To Be
I got my undergraduate degree at RPI (Div III for all sports except hockey, hence my general lack of caring about who wins in the NCAA basketball tournament). Because of hockey being the only Div I sport, that's almost entirely the only one people care about.
The one exception to that is football, a few years ago. For a couple of years, RPI made noise in the Div III football rankings, even getting to the national championship game one year.
When I went to RPI, we had Joe Juneau and several other very good players for my freshman year. That was a really wild year; defense entirely optional. I remember one of the games against Harvard that year was 9-8, and I don't remember that being especially atypical. But I don't remember them being especially successful that year (though I didn't follow the team particularly closely that year, despite already being a hockey fan from following the Caps for years; I blame that on ROTC).
And I think I remember the year after that being really miserable, leading to a coaching change.
The remaining several years were very good for the school, with regular rankings in the national Top Ten. But we never really made it over the hump, wiping out early in the ECAC tournament each year, and never getting an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.
Incidentally, I believe the only player off of those teams to make the NHL was Neil Little, our awesome goalie. Well, awesome by NCAA standards. Obviously, he was only marginally replacement level in the NHL. Actually, I'm shocked he only played those two games, because that means it's a total fluke that I even heard about him playing.
Since then, the team has been downright miserable. I don't believe they've had a winning season from my graduation until this season.
All of which is a very roundabout way of leading up to this year. They didn't start all that well, but got on quite a roll in the middle. They even knocked off then-#1 Yale. I believe they peaked at #6. But the last couple of weeks were bad and the ECAC tournament was worse. And yet, they somehow got an at-large bid to the main tournament. I was hoping they would manage to turn things around a bit.
I got home from an ultimate frisbee game, and turned on the video for the game. Two-nil already, in favor of North Dakota. Ugh. I think I watched about ten minutes, which was enough to see two more goals scored. At that point, I'd had enough. Four-nil close to the end of the second period, if you aren't a better team who's been very unlucky, is damned near hopeless. What did I end up missing? Two more goals for the Fighting Sioux. Double-ugh.
So congrats on a fine season, RPI. But I'm very disappointed about the finish. I hope things can improve next year.
The one exception to that is football, a few years ago. For a couple of years, RPI made noise in the Div III football rankings, even getting to the national championship game one year.
When I went to RPI, we had Joe Juneau and several other very good players for my freshman year. That was a really wild year; defense entirely optional. I remember one of the games against Harvard that year was 9-8, and I don't remember that being especially atypical. But I don't remember them being especially successful that year (though I didn't follow the team particularly closely that year, despite already being a hockey fan from following the Caps for years; I blame that on ROTC).
And I think I remember the year after that being really miserable, leading to a coaching change.
The remaining several years were very good for the school, with regular rankings in the national Top Ten. But we never really made it over the hump, wiping out early in the ECAC tournament each year, and never getting an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament.
Incidentally, I believe the only player off of those teams to make the NHL was Neil Little, our awesome goalie. Well, awesome by NCAA standards. Obviously, he was only marginally replacement level in the NHL. Actually, I'm shocked he only played those two games, because that means it's a total fluke that I even heard about him playing.
Since then, the team has been downright miserable. I don't believe they've had a winning season from my graduation until this season.
All of which is a very roundabout way of leading up to this year. They didn't start all that well, but got on quite a roll in the middle. They even knocked off then-#1 Yale. I believe they peaked at #6. But the last couple of weeks were bad and the ECAC tournament was worse. And yet, they somehow got an at-large bid to the main tournament. I was hoping they would manage to turn things around a bit.
I got home from an ultimate frisbee game, and turned on the video for the game. Two-nil already, in favor of North Dakota. Ugh. I think I watched about ten minutes, which was enough to see two more goals scored. At that point, I'd had enough. Four-nil close to the end of the second period, if you aren't a better team who's been very unlucky, is damned near hopeless. What did I end up missing? Two more goals for the Fighting Sioux. Double-ugh.
So congrats on a fine season, RPI. But I'm very disappointed about the finish. I hope things can improve next year.
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