Through The First Week Of The 2018-19 NHL Season, Goaltending Has Been Optional
I feel like this is a pretty common trend that we see each year early on in the NHL season. For the first couple of weeks, it’s goal city. The guys who operate the goal horn at the arenas are working overtime. Lamps getting lit left and right. I think it’s a combination of a few things. For starters–I feel like the league is constantly making goalies change their equipment every year. So it takes them a little time to get used to that. Secondly–teams are still starting to get used to each other out there. Even if you bring back essentially the same roster from the year before, the lines still change and teams are just a little sloppy in their own zone. And lastly–guys are just ready to fucking pop off. It’s been months since the previous season and the boys are ready to go. They got their shot dialed in over the summer, probably have a few new fancy twigs they’re working with, and they’re ready to crush some corners. It’s a great time to be a blogger, but an awful time to be a goalie. This year is no different.
The season opened up on Wednesday October 4th. From Wednesday 10/4 to Wednesday 10/10, there were 44 games played. Over the course of those 44 games, two hundred and goddamn eighty six goals were scored. Two. Eighty. Six.
Now for those of you who like to have a little coin on the game while you’re watching, you probably know that the typical NHL game has a total somewhere around 5 or 6. Sometimes you’ll get a 6.5 but the majority of the games are at 6. So with that in mind, I decided to look back through all of the scores over the last week to find out how many times people were getting rich off the over. Here are the numbers….
- 21 games so far this season have had a total of at least 7 goals or more. 10 of those games had a final total of 7.
- 11 games so far this season have had a total of at least 8 goals or more. 2 of those games had a final total of 8.
- 9 games so far this season have had a total of at least 9 goals ore more. 2 of those games had a final total of 9.
- 7 GAMES SO FAR THIS SEASON HAVE HAD A DOUBLE-DIGIT TOTAL. The highest total has been 13 and that was hit multiple times.
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There’s been at least one absolute gongshow almost every single night in the league so far. Goalies getting shelled and shelled and shelled and shelled. It’s ruthless out there. And I know that life is too short to bet the under, but let’s just look at the numbers on those real quick.
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- Only 1 game so far this year has had a total of 1 goal.
- 5 games have had a total of 3 goals.
- 4 games have had a total of 4 goals.
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I didn’t major in math or anything but if my calculations are correct, that leaves 12 games in the push territory of 5-6. 21 games for 7+. 12 games for 5-6. And only 8 games with 4 or fewer. Not a bad opening week for the National Hockey League. Well… it was a pretty shitty week for a bunch of goalies around the league. But if you’re a hockey fan who enjoys watching superstars do superstar things and put up ridiculous numbers on a nightly basis? Well as my good pal Borat would say, it’s been…
