导出博客文章It would be convenient to point to the Steven Stamkos injury as a major reason the Tampa Bay Lightning are struggling, but it doesnt explain the entire story.
Hydro Flask 40 Oz Mint .Of course, losing their captain and offensive superstar hurts the Lightning, especially since he had been playing some of his best hockey in two years before the injury. But the Bolts have been a resilient bunch that was able to survive key injuries before. Tampa Bay reached Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season, and the Lightning were without Stamkos until the final game of that series.Weve been able to do it in the past, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman told ESPN.com on Tuesday. Even with Stammer or other players being injured, weve been able to generate offense, get enough production and ultimately play well defensively and keep the puck out of our net to win games.A popular preseason pick to challenge for the Stanley Cup, the Lightning have lost seven of their past eight games and sit 12 points behind the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens. The Stamkos injury aside, Tampa Bays slide is puzzling. This is a deep, talented lineup with a great coaching staff, a team that reached the Cup finals two years ago and fell one win short of a return trip last season.We need to get a bit more offensive production out of our top-nine forwards, said Yzerman. We need more out of them. But mostly, its our play defensively as a team that has to improve. Thats what is hurting us the most.The ingredients are there. But as Yzerman said, it starts with a better defensive effort.Were not going to win many 6-5 games, said Yzerman. Were falling in some categories -- our penalty killing is dropping, our goals against, our shots against. Were in the bottom half of the league now in those three categories, and those categories have to be good in order to win.Goalie Ben Bishop is not playing nearly as well as he was last season, and I cant help but wonder if the pending unrestricted free agent isnt distracted by his cloudy future. He almost was traded to the?Calgary Flames?last June, a deal that fell through because he couldnt come to terms on a contract agreement with the Flames. The Bolts then signed younger goalie?Andrei Vasilevskiy to an extension during the offseason. The writings on the wall, in all likelihood, for Bishop -- whether its in the form of a trade before March 1 or simply that he will walk away as an unrestricted free agent next July 1.Bishop can only help his stock by playing better. Not only will that attract trade suitors, it will also improve his contractual leverage for his next deal if he gets back to the level he was at a year ago.Yzerman refused to single out players, but rather stressed the collective need for Tampa Bays entire roster to be better. And theres no doubt the team can be better in front of its goaltenders.In the meantime, Lightning fans would love to see their GM make a trade. Who can blame them? But as weve seen around the league during the opening few months of the season, the cap system has had a paralyzing effect on big moves. Teams are waiting until closer to the March 1 trade deadline, when some bottom-feeding clubs finally give up on the playoff chase and put players up for sale. The parity throughout the league means that almost no one has raised the white flag yet. And it takes two teams to make a trade.Were constantly looking at ways to improve our team, Yzerman said. Weve lost seven out of eight. But it really doesnt change what were trying to do or what wed like to do. We have areas wed like to address with our team, whether thats from within the organization with the players we have, or seeing if we can do that out there on the trade market. If theres something that makes sense, were prepared to do that. But its difficult to find a partner for it to make it work. Everybody has concerns about the salary cap; everyone has concerns about the expansion draft. It is difficult to make a trade.Yzerman, who keeps his cards close to the vest, wouldnt specify the teams trade needs. But Im confident that a top-four defenseman tops his wish list. Its been a missing piece for this team for quite some time. And since a bunch of other teams also covet elite D-men, theyre a prized commodity and thus difficult to get -- which means theres no guarantee that the Lightning will be able to score one before the trade deadline.But you can bet Yzerman will continue to work the phones.Again, wed like to think we know what our team needs, said Yzerman. Wed like to think we know our players well and how we can help our team improve. But as Ive said time and time again, Ive got to find someone whos willing to work with me.
Hydro Flask 32 Oz Black . According to a report from the Winnipeg Free Press, the Bombers will name Acting GM Kyle Walters to the post full time.
Yellow Hydro Flask 32 Oz . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record.
http://www.cheaphydroflaskstore.com/ . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Often in this space well explore the work of someone who had an exceptionally poor performance QBR-wise, or look at why an opponent adjustment may be helping or hurting a QBs numbers. So why are we looking this week at Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford, who had an above-average opponent-adjusted QBR of 66.1 in Sundays win over the Eagles? The reason is that Stafford also happened to possess the highest NFL passer rating of the week at 135.0. Lets take a look at what differentiates Total QBR from Staffords traditional passer rating:Dont forget about the fumbleStaffords passing numbers (19 of 25, 180 yards, 3 TD) last week were fairly impressive. He completed 76 percent of his attempts and threw for three scores without an interception -- all good things. But one area the NFL passer rating fails to account for is when a QB fumbles, yet fumbles are often a big part of the picture of a quarterbacks day.Stafford was responsible for only one turnover, a fumble lost, but it was a potentially costly one. With the Lions up by four and operating at their own 12-yard-line midway through the third quarter, Stafford lost control of the ball while trying to maneuver within the pocket. Officially, the play is recorded as a sack, and the fumble was recovered by the Eagles at the 16, setting them up with a chance to pull within a point with a field goal or take the lead. To put it in terms of their win probability, Detroit went from a 62 percent chance to win before the play to a 50 percent chance after -- a loss of 12 percentage points.Staffords QBR fell from 90.5 to 81.0 on the play though his NFL passer rating was unchanged, underscoring the incomplete nature of the latter metric.Sacks matter tooIn addition to the aforementioned sack-and-fumble, Stafford took three other sacks.
White 40 Oz Hydro Flask. The first came on the play just before the lost fumble. That, along with a damaging unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Anquan Boldin, is what helped set the Lions back to their own 12.Staffords other two sacks both came on third downs in the fourth quarter. The first turned a third-and-7 at the Eagles 38 (on the verge of field goal range) into a fourth-and-16 and a punt, dropping his QBR from a 76.5 before the play to a 67.5 afterward. His final sack came on a third-and-goal from the Eagles 5. Not nearly as detrimental as the lost fumble or moving out of field goal range, but it also wasnt a positive and did make the ensuing field goal attempt slightly more difficult for his kicker.None of these plays were accounted for in his NFL passer rating.How penalties improved Staffords numbersPenalties are one area NFL passer rating overlooks and QBR accounts for, and in this case it was actually beneficial to the latter number for Stafford. He was able to draw a defensive offsides call and a pair of defensive pass interference flags, and while none were huge gains for him, QBR does account for these plays.In the end, the largest differentiators between Staffords QBR and his passer rating were the four sacks and the turnover. If we look at just his 25 passing attempts, his raw QBR would have been an 81. But losses incurred from those damaging plays get us to his final number of 66.1, highlighting the magnitude negative plays can have on a game.A look at Staffords week-to-week progression in the QBR realm: ' ' '
