Everyone was excited when the National Hockey League announced that they intended to play an entire 82-game season. There would be endless opportunities to make up for a lost time, whether rookies got their chance or veterans pushed for one last kick at the Cup. All in all, the NHL was slated for a pretty great regular season until protocols and injuries to star players really put a dent into the excitement.
Top of the Rock was filled with high expectations; the team recently advanced to the finals and won silver medals last season. However, just like Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks, a new season and a clean slate didn’t really change much, leaving a lot left to be desired.
Yahoo projected the Rock to be seven-point favorites in a matchup with Stoned Assassins. Instead of pulling away with a victory to be 4-3, the Rock let another one slip away, extending their losing streak to three games in the process. The underdogs came through and, despite failing way under their projections, still managed to pick up a 14.50 point victory.
The Rock started out this week’s matchup trailing 32.00-14.50 after Monday’s action for the first time since week one. The boys rebounded quite nicely on Tuesday, scoring a 66.00-49.00 point lead after two days. Sadly, the Assassins regained their lead on Wednesday and never looked back en route to winning.
The most significant deficit of the week occurred on Friday when the Assassins built up a 41.50 point lead, getting to 200 points first. After chipping away on Saturday and Sunday, the Rock managed to turn a 40 point hole into a respectable 14.50 loss when it was all said and done.
The Rock remains the league’s worst team, with just 70 goals on the campaign. There have been improvements in assists and plus/minus, but their most essential areas continue to be shots, hits, and blocks.
It would be safe to say that the Rock’s season would be a total loss at this point if it wasn’t for the goalies, who have the best statistics of all the categories. The netminders remain tops in the league with five shutouts and have the second-best loss totals. They also have the third-best win and save calculations, with their worse showing in goals against, ranking fourth.
Dirty Sanchez (6-1) continues to put up filthy numbers, scoring over 400 points in their week seven matchup. They destroyed the Manager-less Team, who employ Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby in their lineup. Sanchez is running away with their division title and, as of right now, only have competition from Steve’s Great team (5-2). Steve’s team was the only other team to eclipse 300 points in their matchup, coasting to 71 point victory over Icing.
The Rock and Assassins had the closest matchup of the week, with a difference of just 14.50 points.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog collected his first best player award with 26.50 points in week seven action. The multi-positional player had six assists, 13 shots on goal, two hits, and two power-play points to go along with a team-best plus-four rating. Landeskog was one of three players who scored more than 20 points in the defeat.
Robin Lehner (Las Vegas) was the week’s best goalie with just 28.50 points. He collected a single win alongside two losses, giving up ten goals in the process. Lehner made 79 saves during the matchup. His win was the second-lowest total of any best goalie, which came close to his previous low of 22.50 in week one.
As mentioned in the opening, Pettersson has had a rough season in Vancouver. Coming back from a significant injury that cost him the bulk of the shortened 2021 campaign, the Canucks center just hasn’t found his groove, one that used to produce 66 point seasons. During his week seven matchup, Pettersson was -3.50 with just five shots on goal and a minus-three rating, tied for the worse on the team.
During their week seven loss, the Top of the Rock management were active players in the free agency pool. The week started with Viktor Arvidsson (Los Angeles) getting sent to the waiver wire. The former Nashville Predators star has struggled since moving to the west coast, and after spending some time on the IR, he has yet to return to form.
Two days after the Arvidsson move, Jesper Fast (Carolina) was also cut, failing to produce after his signing during week five.
The roster shake-up wasn’t complete yet as three players were waived in many moves on the second to last day of the matchup. Since several key players were returning to the lineup, while replacements like Rickard Rakell (Anaheim), John Klingberg (Dallas), and Erik Karlsson (San Jose) were all returned to the free agency pool.
Klingberg was drafted by the Rock, but having spent a handful of games on the IR, he is a shell of his former self. The Swedish defenseman has picked a terrible time to have a lousy season with his contract expiring in the summer of 2022.
Despite all the cuts, management executed one acquisition: to sign Oliver Kylington from the Calgary Flames to boast the defense who have seen their fair share of struggles.
Weekly Move Total: 1/4
Season Move Total: 9/50
 |
 |
 |
Keeping the Stats 