What We Learned: In which Capitals Coach Dale Hunter uses plus/minus to bench people

Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it.

We've been told that we're in an age where advanced hockey stats are becoming the norm.

There have been a ton of articles about how many teams throughout the League are pursuing the use of this information, which gives you so much more information about players and their true value than we had even five years ago; and how that data is being used to reshape not only the thinking in the front office, but behind the bench and on the ice as well.

For example, we know that no one in the League starts more of their shifts in the offensive zone than the Sedin twins (Daniel at 78.7, Henrik at 77.4). We know that this means that, as good as they are offensively, they're incredibly sheltered as well. This type of stat, your Corsi and Fenwick and QualComp, also give us a better understanding of players that are great at driving possession.

Having all this information available is great. And if a team uses it correctly, they're getting a competitive advantage against those foolish few that still rely on conventional player evaluation methods in the pursuit of free agents, trade targets or prospects, as well as in maximizing their chances to win every night.

One such team that apparently does not subscribe to the use of advanced statistics as a means of bolstering their on-ice success, apparently, is the Washington Capitals.

Or at least their coach doesn't.

Dale Hunter made the decision on Thursday night to sit Mike Knuble, the first time the 39-year-old now-defensive specialist has been a healthy scratch since 2002-03. On Saturday, the reason why Hunter made the decision was revealed.

"He�told me I wasn't going to play and just kind of said, 'You haven't scored in a while and bad plus-minus,'" Knuble told reporters.

That's enough to make even the least-geeky stat geek take a long, hot shower curled into the fetal position. It's the equivalent of benching a baseball player because he doesn't have enough RBI.

(Coming Up: Jonathan Toews on the Blackhawks' spiral; the Kings' offense stinks; Dion Phaneuf gets turn-stiled by Lars Eller; two struggling goalies have great performances; the Bruins want to trade for everyone; Malkin's pretty good; safe to say Luke Adam's not winning the Calder; Clemmensen owns the Devils; the Flames are hurtin' bad; the Islanders are delusional; Walsh speaks out on the Moore; Nicklas Backstrom health update; and the Flyers hear it from Timonen and see Bobrovsky become a sieve.)

"We watch game film, we look at stats," Hunter explained.

Well that's reassuring.

The "haven't scored in a while" thing is obviously a perfectly reasonable complaint (at least if you're looking to Mike Knuble for offense, which I'm not sure why you would be these days). The guy doesn't have a goal since Dec. 5 and only has three this season. And the Capitals had been somewhat goal-deficient in recent weeks, though not in the game immediately prior to the scratch. Certainly, if you're trying to work in a guy who gives you a little more offensive pop, it's at least an understandable position to take.

But that thing about Knuble's plus-minus? Seriously? What year is this? To excoriate anyone who plays a wholly defensive role on a team with an even goal differential and doesn't score a whole lot seems pretty dumb.

You would think that in 2012, knowing what we know about statistics ? and given that we've been saying how bad of a stat plus-minus is for telling you anything since at least that one time Marek Malik led the League in it?�that this factor would be the least of anyone's concerns, let alone the coach of a National Hockey League team's, is alarming.

There's no way to know for sure, of course, whether Hunter actually uses plus-minus in player evaluation, or if that was just a thing he said to Knuble to justify benching a 39-year-old who's very clearly on his last legs if he's not already past it. But at this point, there's no reason for anyone to buy into it.

No one stat is enough to properly evaluate a player's effectiveness in this day and age. Even goals scored and points accumulated in a short period of time can be misleading. Ask Sam Gagner.

Hell, you can use advanced stats to explain why the Capitals are so bad this year. They've gotten more than their share of breaks in the last few regular seasons, and the fact that they're currently ninth in the East despite actually improving on paper in the offseason can probably be chalked up, at least in part, as regression to the mean.

But if their coach is dumb enough to base personnel decisions on plus-minus, that probably has a lot to do with it too.

What We Learned

Anaheim Ducks: The Ducks' penalty kill was pretty bad the last two years but has improved considerably to be 84.3 percent. Why? According to Bruce Boudreau, it's the emergence of Andrew Cogliano, but if that were true, why does he only play 1:34 per night on the PK, 113th in the league among forwards? He doesn't even lead Anaheim forwards in shorthanded TOI/game.

Boston Bruins: Who might the Bruins target on the trade market? Everyone, apparently. If you've ever played rec league hockey, they've at least had a look at you.

Buffalo Sabres: Luke Adam has played so poorly for the Sabres in the last few months they sent him to Rochester over the weekend. Adam doesn't have a point in an NHL game since Dec. 17. He has 10-10-20 this season, and 16 of those came in 24 games in October and November. How awful.

Calgary Flames: Blair Jones fractured his ankle on Thursday and is out indefinitely, and now Mikael Backlund is walking around in a cast. Derek Smith has a bum ankle too. So does David Moss. And Lee Stempniak. Curtis Glencross is also on the shelf with an injured knee. In short, everyone on the Flames is injuring themselves.

Carolina Hurricanes: On Friday, the Hurricanes lost to Colorado with 1.2 seconds left in overtime, but that's really not something that should surprise anyone. The last time Carolina won there, they were still Hartford. It was the 1995-1996 season. Kirk Muller still had another seven seasons before he retired. Eric Staal was 12 years old.

Chicago Blackhawks: Chicago's losing streak hit eight games in Glendale on Saturday and hoo boy is Jonathan Toews not happy about it. "We need something," he said. "We don't care what it is. Something has to give in to make us feel good about ourselves. ? I've been searching for words for a while now. It's getting even harder to explain it right now." It's actually pretty easy to explain: Your goaltending sucks.

Colorado Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov hasn't been great this year, but he sure was on Saturday. He made nine saves in the first period, 13 in the second and 18 in the third, but only one in OT. He really deserved better.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Steve Mason earned a win on Saturday, his first since Dec. 29. No, really. It took a game against Minnesota to do it, but apparently that counts just as much as a win over Detroit would have. Doesn't seem fair.

Dallas Stars: Here's Stars owner Tom Gaglardi saying that basically the Stars won't acquire any old players at the deadline because they want to get better going forward, rather than shoot for the moon with a mediocre team now. How terribly sensible.

Detroit Red Wings Presented by Amway: There are, as you'd probably expect, a bunch of crazy-ass stats from the Red Wings' 20-game home winning streak, a franchise best. My favorite stat is that in the first 19 games, 18 players scored for the team. That's a lot of them.

Edmonton Oilers: This Taylor Hall kid is pretty good at putting the puck in the net, eh?

Florida Panthers: The Panthers beat New Jersey on Saturday afternoon, and it was just their third road win in their last 16 tries. The other two came at Winnipeg (in a shootout) and at Boston. Then they won on Long Islander yesterday. It's all turning around.

Los Angeles Kings: This Kings offense is really something. The team has lost 10 games 2-1 this season, and 11 in overtime or the shootout. Following Saturday's loss to the Isles, poor Jonathan Quick had lost more games than he'd won despite a .934 save percentage and 1.91 GAA. Insanity.

Minnesota Wild: The Wild now know they're running out of time to get the ship back on the right track, and 3-1 losses to Columbus where they outshot their cellar-dwelling opponents 35-19 sure aren't helping.

Montreal Canadiens: Here's All-Star Captain Dion Phaneuf getting turn-stiled by Lars Eller.

Nashville Predators: The Preds might have lost to Boston 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday but they're real lucky Pekka Rinne was in net. It would have been about 6-1 Bruins through 20 minutes had Rinne not stood on his head. Ryan Suter was really happy with the performance: "That was a terrible game for us. We came out slow. In the second period, we looked like a minor hockey team. Second half of the second period we started to play a little bit better. We were very fortunate to get one point today."

New Jersey Devils: Remember when Scott Clemmensen played for the Devils? Lou Lamoriello is probably wishing he never left. Clemmensen is now 4-0-0 in five starts against his old team, allowing just nine goals on 143 shots in those games.

New York Islanders: The Islanders aren't trading Evgeni Nabokov because they think they can make the playoffs. Given how bad the East is, they just might do it. (But of course they won't.)

New York Rangers: Who's the most furious about Ruslan Fedotenko not being avenged by a lengthy suspension for Dominic Moore? Fedotenko himself? His Rangers teammates? John Tortorella? Close, it's his agent, Allan Walsh. Surprised?

Ottawa Senators: When even Bryan Murray is saying he won't overpay for a player at the deadline, you start to get the feeling this is going to be one boring TSN special.

Philadelphia Flyers: Count Kimmo Timonen among those who think the Flyers' efforts were lacking against the Rangers on Saturday: "We were disappointed with the effort actually. The emotional level, playing against the top team in the conference...league...to be honest I think we got half the guys going half the guys not."

Phoenix Coyotes: Don't know if I've ever seen a goalie take a shot so directly in the face. Usually the shots go off the side of their helmet. I guess that's just staying square to the puck.

Pittsburgh Penguins: A goal and an assist in just 16:14 of ice time? Yeah, Jordan Staal looked pretty damn good in playing his first game in 36 days against Winnipeg Saturday.

San Jose Sharks: Hey remember when the Sharks' power play was atrocious earlier this year? Yeah, it's fourth in the league these days, and going 8 for their previous 16 headed into yesterday's game really hasn't hurt.

St. Louis Blues: Andy McDonald returned to the lineup yesterday after missing 51 games with post-concussion symptoms, and that's always great to see.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Steven Stamkos has scored more goals than any player in the league since 2009-10, with the next closest player (Alex Ovechkin) being 28 behind. If everything shakes out as expected, he'll have his second Rocket Richard in three seasons come June.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Here's the full video of the Mats Sundin banner raising and acceptance speech, the latter being really very good, and the former being only okay, in my estimation.

Vancouver Canucks: The Canucks might get Chris Higgins back from injury on Monday, which would be pretty good considering he's exactly the type of player they've been missing in this frustrating stretch. Six of their last seven games have gone to OT or a shootout, and while they've still won five of them, it's a really dicey proposition to live and die with that kind of uncertainty.

Washington Capitals: Nicklas Backstrom still isn't skating, and it's been 40 days since Rene Bourque elbowed him in the face. Reading stories like this every week really sucks.

Winnipeg Jets: Ondrej Pavelec stopped just 31 of 39 shots against the Penguins on Saturday but Claude Noel doesn't think he's accountable. "We hung him out to dry," the coach said. "I'm not going to sit here and blame the goaltender. Eight goals, yeah, but he should be the most livid guy in the room, teammates doing that to you. It's awful."

Gold Star Award

Evgeni Malkin had five points against Winnipeg on Saturday and it was his third five-point game of the season; he added two more goals on Sunday. So I guess what I'm saying is he's pretty good.

Minus of the Weekend

Sergei Bobrovsky gave up five goals on 26 shots and if it had been Ilya Bryzgalov doing it, he would have been killed in the parking lot by the Philadelphia press. Instead, Claude Giroux is issuing quotes like, "We have to do a better job of protecting [Bobrovsky]. We have to learn from it."

Play of the Weekend
Reminder that Steve Mason was, at one time, a good NHL goaltender.

Perfect HFBoards Trade Proposal of the Week

User "habs09" isn't doing much to help his favorite team.

to CLB: Pleckanec, Palushaj, 3rd 2013 and Weber

to MTL: Vermette, 2012 2nd, Kubalik, 2013 2nd

Signoff
I can't keep doing this on my own with these... people.

Ryan Lambert publishes hockey awesomeness rather infrequently over at The Two-Line Pass. Check it out, why don't you? Or you can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter if you so desire.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/learned-capitals-coach-dale-hunter-uses-plus-minus-144656572.html

Justin Falk T.J. Fast Mark Fayne Andrew Ference

Grand National 2012: weights unveiling - as it happened

Chris Cook and Will Hayler brought you all the latest news from the annual Grand National weights lunch

10.50am The road to the Grand National 2012 starts here

Chris Cook: Greetings from the plush confines of the Savoy, where a breathless crowd of pressmen await the release of the Grand National weights at 11.30am. The topweights will be released at 11am.

In normal circumstances, there would be no suspense at all about this kind of thing, because the weights would automatically follow the handicap ratings which are updated and republished each week. But, for this one race only, carte blanche is allowed to Britain's top handicapper, Phil Smith, to award weight as he pleases.

The National has always been a tricky puzzle for punters but Smith is credited with making it significantly more competitive than it was even a decade ago. He has generally used his powers to reduce the margins between those at the top of the weights, meaning that the best horses get to compete on more attractive terms than in any other handicap. It is a sensible approach, because the extreme stamina demands of the National mean that every pound carried makes more of a difference than in other races.

There was concern recently when it was revealed that only 82 horses had been entered for this year's John Smith's Grand National, to be run on Saturday 14 April. Normally, there would be more than 100 at the initial entry stage, although only a maximum of 40 can actually line up on the day.

Smith believes the reduced entry is explained by the fact that the race now attracts a better quality of horse. "There are more horses rated 145 plus than there were in 2011, which obviously shows that the race is going in the right direction," he says.

"The other point to note is that the percentage of entries rated over 135 is the highest ever. A whole host of horses were entered over the past five to 10 years that never had any hope of getting a run. All that is happening now is that owners and trainers are being more realistic and only entering horses which have a good chance of lining up."

A secondary significance to the weights is that, when the final entry stage comes along two days before the race, only the highest-weighted 40 will be allowed to run if there are still more than 40 in the race at that stage. That means heartbreak for the connections of those who just miss out on a run. With this year's reduced entry, however, it is possible that there may be fewer than 40 left by that stage and that everyone who wants to take part will get a run.

On past form, Smith is likely to take the "Aintree factor" into account, allotting a few extra pounds to horses who have done well over the Grand National fences in the past.

11am Top weights in Grand National are revealed on Twitter

Tony Paley: The weights are embargoed until 11.30 am but the ten at the top of the handicap for the 2012 running of the race have just been revealed on Twitter here by @TheAintreeInsider. They are: Synchronised, Ballabriggs, Midnight, Weird Al, Burton Port, Quel Esprit, Calgary Bay, Neptune Collonges, Alfa Beat and Planet of Sound.

11.15am Those National top ten in detail

Tony Paley: Chris Cook has tweeted the details of the weight allotted to those ten at the top of the handicap here via his @ClaimsFive Twitter feed. They are: Synchronised 11-10, Ballabriggs 11-9, Midnight Chase 11-8, Weird Al 11-8, Burton Port 11-7, Quel Esprit 11-7, Calgary Bay 11-6, Neptune Collonges 11-6, Alfa Beat 11-5, and Planet Of Sound 11-5.

Chris says: Synchronised may not run but Ballabriggs will as long as he's fit, so weights unlikely to be raised by more than 1lb . . . Ballabriggs carried 11st when he won the National last year. He will have at least 9lb more on his back this time . . . Re handicap ratings, Ballabriggs was 150 in last year's National. For this year's race, he is rated 1lb higher than horses rated 163 & 164.

11.28am Top ten in National weights face tough task

Chris Cook: Now that we have the top 10 in the weights, all of them set to carry 11st 5lb or more, it is time to reflect on the task that faces this talented bunch. The last horse to win the National with more than 11-5 on his back was Red Rum in 1977, when he carried 11-8. He was also the last horse to win with more than that to carry, having shouldered 12st in 1974.

Don't Push It won with 11-5 a couple of years ago and Smith's changes to the race mean that it is not so hard to imagine success for horses with that kind of weight. But Don't Push It remains the only winner to carry more than 11-1 since 1983.

11.45am Synchronised the top weight for 2012 Grand National

Lexus Chase winner Synchronised has been allotted top weight of 11st 10lb for this year's John Smith's Grand National at Aintree.

The nine-year-old, who is trained by Jonjo O'Neill and owned by JP McManus, landed the Leopardstown Grade One over Christmas to supplement his previous win the Welsh National at Chepstow.

Next on the list is last year's winner, the Donald McCain-trained Ballabriggs, who shouldered 11st to victory but will be saddled with 11st 9lb should he line up on April 14.

Neil Mulholland's Midnight Chase and another McCain contender, Weird Al, both sit on 11st 8lb while Nicky Henderson's Burton Port and Willie Mullins' Irish Hennessy winner Quel Esprit are on 11st 7lb.
The Henrietta Knight-trained Calgary Bay and Paul Nicholls' Neptune Collonges are both on 11st 6lb while John Hanlon's Alfa Beat and Philip Hobbs' Planet Of Sound have been allotted 11st 5lb.

The David Pipe-trained Junior, the 14-1 market leader, failed to get in the field last year but has a certain place in 2012 with 11st 2lb.

Irish-trained raiders have a tremendous recent record in the Grand National, winning six of the last 13 runnings, and they have strength in numbers this year, accounting for 31 entries.

Along with Quel Esprit, Mullins has Thyestes Chase winner On His Own (10st 11lb), Blazing Tempo, the only mare entered, (11st 4lb), Apt Approach (11st 1lb), Scotsirish (11st 2lb) and Prince De Beauchene (10st 6lb) among his 12 possibles.

Other notable contenders include Henderson's other pair of Shakalakaboomboom (10st 12lb) and Quantitativeeasing (11st 2lb) while Mon Mome, who sprang a 100-1 surprise in the 2009 Grand National, has been given 10st 8lb this time.

The rapidly-improving Hold On Julio, who has won both his starts for trainer Alan King, has been given 10st 7lb, while his stablemate West End Rocker, winner of the Betfred Becher Chase over the Grand National fences at Aintree on December 3, has a weight of 10st 12lb. PA

11.58am The 2012 Grand National weights in full

Here are all the entries for this year's Aintree marathon with name of horse plus age and weight (in old-fashioned stones and pounds) allotted.

SYNCHRONISED 9-11st-10lb; BALLABRIGGS 11-11-09; MIDNIGHT CHASE 10-11-08; WEIRD AL 9-11-08; BURTON PORT 8-11-07; QUEL ESPRIT 8-11-07; CALGARY BAY 9-11-06; NEPTUNE COLLONGES 11-11-06; ALFA BEAT 8-11-05; PLANET OF SOUND 10-11-05.

BLAZING TEMPO 8-11-04; ROBERTO GOLDBACK 10-11-04; BLACK APALACHI 13-11-03; DEEP PURPLE 11-11-03; JUNIOR 9-11-02; QUANTITATIVEEASING 7-11-02; SCOTSIRISH 11-11-02; TARTAK 9-11-02; APT APPROACH 9-11-01; LITTLE JOSH 10-11-01; PSYCHO (IRE) 11-11-00.

CHICAGO GREY 9-10-13; TATENEN 8-10-13; ACCORDING TO PETE 11-10-12; SEABASS 9-10-12; SHAKALAKABOOMBOOM 8-10-12; WEST END ROCKER 10-10-12; HECTOR'S CHOICE 8-10-11; MASSINI'S MAGUIRE 11-10-11; ON HIS OWN 8-10-11; ALWAYS RIGHT 10-10-10; CAPPA BLEU 10-10-10; CRESCENT ISLAND 9-10-09; RARE BOB 10-10-09; MON MOME 12-10-08; ORGANISEDCONFUSION 7-10-08; THE MIDNIGHT CLUB 11-10-08; TREACLE 11-10-08; ARBOR SUPREME 10-10-07; COOLDINE 10-10-07; HOLD ON JULIO 9-10-07; PEARLYSTEPS 9-10-06; PRINCE DE BEAUCHENE 9-10-06.

NICHE MARKET 11-10-05; ROULEZ COOL 9-10-05; STEWARTS HOUSE 10-10-05; SUNNYHILLBOY 9-10-05; UNCLE JUNIOR 11-10-05; FAIR ALONG 10-10-04; KILLYGLEN 10-10-04; QUISCOVER FONTAINE 8-10-04; THARAWAAT 7-10-04; ALWAYS WAINING 11-10-03; BECAUSEICOULDNTSEE 9-10-03; LE BEAU BAI 9-10-03; STATE OF PLAY 12-10-03; SWING BILL 11-10-03; POSTMASTER 10-10-02; SHAKERVILZ 9-10-02; THE PACKAGE 9-10-02; WYMOTT 8-10-02; BACKSTAGE 10-10-01; GILES CROSS 10-10-01.

HELLO BUD 14-10-00; IN COMPLIANCE 12-10-00; MIDNIGHT HAZE 10-10-00; NORTHERN ALLIANCE 11-10-00; VIC VENTURI 12-10-00; VIKING BLOND 7-10-00; QHILIMAR 8-9-13; SOME TARGET 8-9-10; NEPTUNE EQUESTER 9-9-09; ANY CURRENCY 9-9-08; OUR ISLAND 7-9-07; SCHINDLER'S GOLD (IRE) 10-9-07.

ABBEYBRANEY 11-9-05; SADDLERS STORM 10-9-05: SMOKING ACES 8-9-05; KING FONTAINE 9-9-04; ANOTHER PALM 7-9-03; BALLYVESEY 7-9-02; MINELLA THEATRE 9-9-00.

12.04pm:

Tony Paley: If you want those weights with more details, including trainer, owner and form figures you can find them here on the Racenews website.

12.22pm:

McCain has no problem with Ballabriggs' burden

Chris Cook: Last year's winner, Ballabriggs, has not been seen since that day but his trainer, Donald McCain, reports that he "looks a million dollars and he's in really good form". He has been kept under wraps with this race in mind and will be given a gallop after racing at Haydock on Saturday. A gallop had been planned for a recent meeting at Bangor, but the card was abandoned.

After that, Ballabriggs will go to Kelso in early March for a final prep run in the same race he used last year as a springboard for the National. It's worth bearing in mind that he was surprisingly beaten at Kelso last year, which meant he started 14-1 for Aintree, having been favourite until that defeat.

I half expected McCain to complain about the horse's weight for this year's National, 11st 9lb, just 1lb below the top weight. In absolute terms that's only 9lb more than last year but, in terms of handicap ratings, it means he's been lifted by about a stone.

But the trainer smiled at my concern. "He was the National winner and he was a good National winner. I don't have a problem with it.

"He's a big, strong horse, a great big brute of a horse. If I was moaning about it, my father would turn round and say, just improve him 10lbs, so that's what we'll try and do."

McCain has two other entries in the National. Weird Al's aim is the Cheltenham Gold Cup but there is "a possibility" that he may then tackle the National, in which he is 1lb below Ballabriggs. The trainer says Weird Al is "well forward" and pleasing him in his work.

Wymott has been set 10-2, making him 61st in the weights, so he has a good chance of making the final cut of 40. McCain says "there would be no reason not to send him" though he has not ready explanations for the horse's disappointing form since he was sixth in the Hennessy in November. He may run first in the Kim Muir at the Cheltenham Festival, which Ballabriggs won two years ago.

12.29pm:

Timeform make Prince their early pick

Tony Paley: Timeform have revealed their ratings following the publication of the Grand National weights and it is Donald McCain's Weird Al who comes out top. However, in their detailed analysis they make a very good case for Prince De Beauchene who is second-highest in their current list. Coincidentally, the experts at the Press Association racing desk just gave me the Willie Mullins' runner as their early fancy. So that's the race sorted then ? remember you read it here first.

12.43pm:

Trainer says "good chance" top weight Synchronised will run

Chris Cook: Jonjo O'Neill says there is a "good" chance of Synchronised running in the Grand National, despite being set top weight of 11st 10lb, though he adds the caveat that he has not yet discussed this with the horse's owner, J P McManus. "He stays well, he jumped reasonably well at Leopardstown. He has his own way of doing it but, touch wood, he keeps doing it."

I put it to O'Neill that the horse is not the biggest. "No, he's not, but Red Rum wasn't that big. He's as big as him, I don't know if he's as good as him or not."

Synchronised missed the Hennessy Gold Cup in Ireland on Sunday after failing to please O'Neill in his work last week. "He wasn't just firing, so there was not point in going. But he's in the [Cheltenham] Gold Cup, so we'll see how that goes and, if he's OK, he has a month then to go from there.
"I haven't done anything with him since, to be fair, so I don't really know [if he has since recovered his wellbeing]. He wasn't really sparkling. Whether he had a little bit of chill on him, I don't know."

I asked O'Neill if the horse would definitely be aimed at the Gold Cup. "I'd say probably. I'm swayed this way [towards the Grand National] a bit. He stays so well and you've got to stay there. It's all right having a good horse but they've got to stay. It's that last half-mile makes all the difference."

O'Neill has inherited Arbor Supreme from Willie Mullins, who sent the horse over for the last two Nationals, in which he failed to complete the course. O'Neill says he is "in good form" and describes 10-7 as "a good racing weight".

O'Neill's third entry is Sunnyhillboy on 11-5. "He ran a blinder in the Irish National last year to be third. It's whether we go there or go here, we'll decide nearer the time.

"He's not the biggest and it took him an awful long time to get his jumping right. He took a nasty old fall at Cheltenham [last March] but he seems to have got over it and he seems in good form."

Sunnyhillboy was last seen flopping when favourite for a valuable handicap at Cheltenham in December and I asked O'Neill if he had an explanation for the poor showing. "Don't know, to be honest with you. Just one of those things, he didn't fire at all and he can't have been right. But he seems in great shape at home now and I'm looking forward to his next couple of runs. He's in this weekend at Haydock over hurdles and we'll see where we go from there."

1.00pm:

How Ballabriggs won in 2011

The 2011 National winner Ballabriggs is going to have to defy the stats to follow up in 2012 under what will be a huge burden. Here's a re-run, above, of how he won the world's most famous race last April.

1.06pm:

House could be one to have mortgage on in National

Will Hayler: From a punters' point of view, it's not easy to recommend a bet on the Grand National looking at the prices put in front of me so far by the bookmakers.

A quick thumbnail calculation suggests that Betfred's ante-post market on the race adds up to an over-round of 230 per cent ? a massive take-out for the bookmakers. William Hill's is even bigger ? I make it roughly 242.

In the (limited) defence of the bookmakers, they will be refunding stakes on all horses that are balloted out of the race and fail to make the final line-up. There were around 20 last year. Furthermore, one would expect a bigger take-out on the race than any other due to high number of runners ? even the starting price return on the day is likely to weigh in at around 150 per cent judged on recent evidence.

Horses who are right at the bottom of the weights that would have struggled to get in in recent years have a realistic chance of making the line-up this year. That seems to have scared bookies.

But a look back at William Hill's book for the 2008 National suggests that the prices offered on that day were at a margin of around 200 per cent. Why so much tighter this year?

Betfair, who operate to the same ante-post rules for backers (in other words, that stakes are lost on non-runners but refunded on horses who are balloted out) are pricing the race to 132 per cent plus commission of up to five per cent on winnings.

Horses to catch my eye initially in the weights include Stewarts House (84-1 on Betfair, best price 40s with the bookmakers), The Midnight Club (a very fair 33-1 with Ladbrokes) and old friend State of Play, 8-1 on Betfair and with BetVictor to make the frame for the fourth year running.

1.13pm:

The lunch has actually started and Chris Cook is enjoying the delights of the Savoy's food and drink (he hasn't sent a copy of the menu yet but we are expecting news on that soon). Meanwhile, you can follow the up-to-the-minute news via his @ClaimsFive Twitter feed here.
Will Hayler is working on finding tomorrow's winners and informs me he might make it in for dessert. You can follow the thoughts of the last man left in the Press room at the National weights lunch via Twitter here.

1.43pm:

Lunch is served . . . Chris Cook reveals what the great and good of jump racing and assorted freeloaders are enjoying at the Savoy . . . At Tony's request, here is the gravy train menu for the National weights lunch. We have begun with slow-roasted rump of Kentish lamb with minestrone vegetables, braised potato and tomato-tarragon jus. We will shortly receive Lemon breton, mascarpone vanilla cream and apricot honey sauce, followed by coffee and petit fours. Some (but not the good folks of the press) have been quaffing Les Vigneaux Chardonnay (2010) and Chateau Roudier (2006). I hope you appreciate the suffering that is endured in order to bring you today's racing news. The fare may not be quite up to this standard in the press room at Kelso tomorrow.

1.54pm:

National hopefuls won't be sweating about getting a run

Chris Cook: Not many trainers and owners will have to sweat over whether their horse will make the cut for this year's National, as there are only 82 entrants. For the last nine years, 70th place in the weights at the initial entry stage has been high enough to get into the race, because there are so many withdrawals during the two months before the race.

That means that only the bottom dozen are really in trouble this year, in all likelihood. The 70th horse is currently Qhilimar.

2.31pm:

Carberry has live chance to record female National first

Will Hayler: Three clear rounds in three starts is an decent record for Nina Carberry and she might have her best chance yet of becoming the first female jockey to win the National when she partners Organisedconfusion in this year's race.

Trainer Arthur Moore has confirmed Carberry will ride the horse, on whom she won last year's Irish Grand National, provided he pleases in the build-up to the race.

"He had quite a nasty fall at the first on his last start and I'll be looking for a decent run from him when we give him a spin early next month, but I'd like to get him to Aintree if that goes well and Nina will be on board him again," said the trainer.

Carberry, who married Ted Walsh's son Ted junior earlier this month, has ridden over 200 winners. Her father Tommy rode the 1975 National winner L'Escargot, while her brother Paul was also successful aboard Bobbyjo in 1999.

• Grand National
• Grand National 2012
• Horse racing

Chris Cook

Will Hayler

Tony Paley

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/feb/14/grand-national-2012-weights

Patrik Berglund Blair Betts Mario Bliznak Alexandre Bolduc

Marek Vs. Wyshynski Radio: Rick Nash on the block; fixing Caps; Flames voice Peter Maher

It's a Tuesday edition of Marek vs. Wyshynski beginning at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT, and we're talking about the following and more:

Special Guest Star: The voice of the Calgary Flames, Peter Maher, joins us to talk about career milestones, changes in the business and the Western Conference race.

? In which Marek and Wysh discuss the sudden Rick Nash trade possibilities.

? The Greatest Trades That Never Happened Week continues.

? An AHLer uses a gay slur on Twitter.

? Puck Headlines and Talking Points

Question of the Day: "How do you fix the Washington Capitals?"

Email your answers to puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or tweet them with the hashtag #MvsW to either @jeffmarek or @wyshynski.

Click here for the Sportsnet live stream or click the play button above! Click here to download podcasts from the show each day Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or Feedburner.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/marek-vs-wyshynski-radio-rick-nash-block-fixing-181127604.html

Toby Petersen Rich Peverley Brandon Pirri Luke Pither

Trending Topics: Stay out of NHL fighting, Ralph Nader

Trending Topics is a column that looks at the week in hockey, occasionally according to Twitter. If you're only going to comment to say how stupid Twitter is, why not just go have a good cry for the slow, sad death of your dear internet instead?

You might remember Ralph Nader as the crusader who a million years ago wrote "Unsafe at Any Speed" and made it so cars had seatbelts and all those things. But you probably remember him as the joke third party candidate who everyone made fun of.

Now Nader has set his sights on concussions in sports and wouldn't you just know what he thinks is the leading cause?

It's fighting.

Because of course it is.

He also said that the NHL should ban all shots to the head outright, which is a more legitimate concern to express, but heck if that open letter doesn't say "Yeaheliminateallheadshotsorwhatever but seriously FIGHTING IS SO BAD."

Not liking fighting for what it represents within the sport is all well and good. Certainly, seeing two guys slug each other for between 30 and 60 seconds, which provides what may or may not be nebulous score effects within a single game, appeals to the baser instincts of the audience and, if you think about it, seems a little outmoded.

It's a perfectly valid opinion. It's a wrong one, but as Tim Thomas knows, you're entitled to have it as a Free Citizen. But saying that fighting is directly related to the number of concussions in the NHL these days, as Nader does, is obviously and very plainly stupid.

Reading his open letter to Gary Bettman, you can tell Nader hasn't watched too much hockey in, say, the last several decades. After conceding there is no evidence directly connecting fighting to brain injuries ?�the kind of missing link that makes the Intelligent Design crowd salivate ? he says, "[r]epeated head trauma has shortened the careers of Pat LaFontaine, Eric Lindros, and Keith Primeau.� Currently, concussions are threatening the careers of Pittsburgh Penguins' superstar Sidney Crosby and the Philadelphia Flyers' Chris Pronger."

First thing's first: How many of those guys got concussions from fighting? Primeau maybe? He also got popped more than a few times in open ice during his career.

Nope, highlights of those players getting their blocks knocked off don't come from them getting popped by some cementheaded goon in a fight, but rather from coming across the blue line with his head down (LaFontaine, Lindros), admiring the play or getting run from behind or inadvertently catching a flying elbow (Crosby) or something more nebulous that could have been one or more of several incidents (Pronger).

It is, second of all, a bit hyperbolic to say concussions are threatening Crosby's career because of how uncertain everything is. But let's just let that go by to get to the real issue with Nader's idiotic letter.

"Three enforcers, Derek Boogard, Rick Rypien, and Wade Belak, whose primary job was to protect teammates by throwing fists at the heads of opponents, have died in the past year.� It's certainly possible the brain trauma they received on the ice from their fellow combatants played a significant role in their deaths."

And that's where he loses any credibility he might have had as a guy who successfully made the roads safer for tens of millions of people worldwide. An admittedly horrific string of tragic events, the causes for which are disparate, cannot be tied directly to fighting except by the most ghoulish of agenda-pushers which, incidentally, is what Nader is.

His letter is also fraught with inaccuracies, only one of which he's bothered to correct after the fact, because he doesn't actually care about the sport or its participants. The point of this -- as it is with all busybody armchair advocates, like those who want dirty words and sexy ladies banned from television -- is, "Won't someone please think of the children."

The kind of fainting alarm expressed here has literally nothing to do with concussions in the NHL.

It has to do with kids getting concussions, which we can all agree is a pretty awful thing. But Nader draws a line between guys like Deryk Engelland and Paul Bissonnette (adults who aren't exactly surprised to find an angry 220-pound thug trying to punch them during one of their six shifts a night, getting paid handsomely to hit people in the face a dozen times a year and who, by the way, are not long for this league just due to the natural progression of the sport) to fights in junior hockey and youth hockey.

I don't have the exact figures in front of me, but I know enough about the sport to guess that the number of youth hockey leagues in the U.S. and Canada that allow fighting currently stands at zero and will do so forever.

So at the end of the day, this isn't an NHL issue, it's a junior hockey issue. Kids that are 16, 17, 18 years old absolutely shouldn't be allowed to fight each other in any setting. You'd probably be hard-pressed to track down someone who thinks they should. And if you can, you'll probably also find that they tend to breathe through their mouths. As he notes in his letter, the NCAA, IIHF, and even the OHL, all have complete or limited bans on fighting.

But no one cares if Ralph Nader writes a letter to the presidents of the OHL, QMJHL, WHL, OPJHL, AJHL, MJHL, BCHL, USHL, EJHL, and NAHL, among others. Because unless you really like junior hockey, you've never heard of any of them.

He wrote the letter to Gary Bettman because he wanted to get publicity for whatever harebrained garbage he cooks up next in his losing battle with irrelevance.

And I guess he did. So congratulations.

Jim Rutherford is ruining it for everyone

On Thursday afternoon, Pierre LeBrun tweeted that Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford spoke with Tuomo Ruutu, and decided that instead of trading him closer to the deadline like everyone thought would happen since the 'Canes stink and show few signs of improving, he would instead try to re-sign him.

So cross another one off the list.

I'm not sure if Rutherford knows how being a GM of a bad-and-going-nowhere team at the deadline goes (and he really should, given all the practice he gets) but usually they try to offload the mid-level, older, pending unrestricted free agents to other teams for picks and prospects. And, knowing Jim Rutherford, he'll dramatically overpay for Ruutu's services in both money and term. And maybe this is just him trying to drive up the price on his winger, but I'm disinclined, based on the Tim Gleason contract, to believe Rutherford thinks about his organization in those terms.

Remember, Ruutu and Gleason were getting hyped as The Guys who were going to make big splashes at the deadline and they're probably both going to be signed instead.

If things keep going on this way, this is going to be one boring-ass trade deadline, just like it was the last two years. But I guess at the same time, any trade deadline where Tim Gleason and Tuomo Ruttu were going to be the big gets couldn't have been very good to begin with.

Pearls of Biz-dom

We all know that there isn't a better Twitter account out there than that of Paul Bissonnette. So why not find his best bit of advice on love, life and lappers from the last week?

BizNasty on exciting sports moments: "If you ever have a spare hour of time on your hands, try watching the last 2 minutes of an NBA basketball game."

If you've got something for Trending Topics, holla at Lambert on Twitter or via e-mail. He'll even credit you so you get a thousand followers in one day and you'll become the most popular person on the Internet! You can also visit his blog if you're so inclined.

Related NHL content from Yahoo! Sports:

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/trending-topics-stay-nhl-fighting-ralph-nader-164435699.html

Paul Postma Tom Poti Corey Potter Chris Pronger

Bradley Wiggins: 'I'm way ahead in my fitness ? bring on the Tour de France'

In his first column of the season the Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins reveals how he cannot wait to start racing

I'm writing this in Mallorca, putting in a final spell of training before my season starts next week in the Tour of the Algarve. Everywhere I keep seeing other professional cyclists out training. There is a race going on here, my peers are competing and I'm starting to think 'God, the season has started already'.

As a cyclist, when you finish racing in early autumn you always think the winter is going to be long. You have so much time ahead of you. But all that time my thoughts have been on constantly working, training, progressing, seeing improvements in the numbers. So what it feels like right now is like when you go into an operating theatre, and have anaesthetic, then you wake up and time has moved on. It seems like no time since Mark Cavendish was winning the world's and suddenly it's only five months until the Tour de France.

I think I'm in a good position, with the self-belief I've got after the season I had last year, the work I've done and the confidence I now have as a rider. In cycling terms it's not long until the Tour and the most important part of the preparation is over: I've done the hard work, stayed healthy. It's just a matter of taking my training head off and racing now.

There will be extra excitement about that first race. When you've been working hard, you want to see where you are. All the evidence suggests I'm way ahead of last year in my fitness ? the numbers I'm producing, the work I've been doing, the tests I've had ? and you start to think 'I was third in the Paris-Nice with what I had last year and now I'm ahead'. You can't help wondering what you can do.

One thing which is clear cut at last is that the season will go ahead without Alberto Contador. Only he knows whether he was innocent or guilty, but the decision has been made and I think it was the right decision for the sport. If the whole affair had been drawn out any more it would have made a mockery of the system.

As for the chance of eating contaminated supplements or meat, that's something we live with every day. It's why we constantly check any supplements and why we employ a chef to source all the products we eat. He wouldn't be the first to fall foul of a supplement: Martin Gleeson, the rugby league player and the Belgian cyclist Iljo Keisse are other names that come to mind.

He won't leave a massive void at the Tour in terms of the racing, because last year he was almost unnoticed until the L'Alpe d'Huez stage where he attacked early on. It was only then that we saw shades of his old self. Other people emerged ? Tom Danielson, Tommy Voeckler, Pierre Rolland for example ? and it will be the same this year.

One thing that struck me last year was that Contador seemed quite dignified about doing his job considering what was going on. He just got on with things very quietly, like Alejandro Valverde did before he was banned. You would see Valverde ripping up a race and winning, and Contador was the same in spite of everything that has been hanging over him for the last year. He's clearly a strong character inside.

As for where his absence leaves me, when I saw he was banned I was a bit disappointed that he wasn't going to be at the Tour, because I want all the best guys to be there so that I can try to beat them. There's an element of 'I'd like to have had a go at him'. As it is, it's one rider less and one team less to think about.

Next week while I'm in Portugal my Great Britain team-mates will be riding the London World Cup. My thoughts will be with them: I know how important it is for them. It's the first marker on their road to London 2012, a key landmark, and I know they've been preparing for it as if it were a world championship. There's an element of wishing I could be there but you can't do everything. I'm preparing for a marathon this year so I can't be doing the cycling equivalent of a 100m sprint.

A lot of athletes and other people will have been counting down to 2012 but it doesn't feel that different. In fact it feels easier this year than last, when I was coming off a terrible 2010. This year I've got everything to look forward to. I'm going all out to try to win the Tour and that's bloody brilliant. It's what I dreamed of as a kid when I was sitting on my turbo trainer watching videos of Miguel Indurain climbing in the Tour. Bring it on.

• Bradley Wiggins
• Tour de France
• Olympics 2012: cycling
• Olympic Games 2012
• Cycling

Bradley Wiggins

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/feb/13/bradley-wiggins-tour-de-france

Blair Betts Mario Bliznak Alexandre Bolduc Dave Bolland

Puck Previews: Leafs meet Flyers; Steve Yzerman not playing in Winter Classic Alumni Game?

Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

? It's all fun and games until Fin gnaws your entire leg off. [Getty]

Preview: St. Louis Blues at New Jersey Devils, 7 p.m. ET. The Blues have won 10 of their 12 games against the Eastern Conference this season, but their toughest test yet comes against a Devils team looking for their sixth win in a row. While former Devils Jason Arnott will be scratched tonight while dealing with a shoulder injury, Jamie Langenbrunner returns to New Jersey for the first time since being dealt in Jan. 2011.

Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. ET. While members of the Detroit Red Wings were at home today to be a part of the 2013 Winter Classic press conference, their opponents in next year's outdoor game were in Philly as they try to earn some breathing room in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference playoff race. Sergei Bobrovsky will start for the Flyers as Ilya Bryzgalov missed the morning skate with an illness. Jason Bacashihua (!) will serve as the backup.

Preview: Calgary Flames at Phoenix Coyotes, 9 p.m. ET. The Coyotes stand one point ahead of the Flames as the two teams battle for one of the last playoff spots in the Western Conference. Leland Irving will give Miikka Kiprusoff, who recorded his 300th NHL win last night against San Jose, a night off in goal. Mike Smith will likely be in net for the Coyotes and given the task of slowing down Olli Jokinen who had four goals and 10 points in his last seven games.

Check out previews and updated scores for all of today's games on the Y! Sports NHL scores and scheds page. For tonight's starting goalies, check out Left Wing Lock.

Evening Reading

? Steve Yzerman on the 2013 Winter Classic Alumni Game: "At this time I don't plan on participating in the alumni game but hope to watch the (Winter) Classic on TV." Booooooo! Red Wings GM and Kris Draper both said they plan to bug Stevie Y until he changes his mind.�[Detroit News]

? Good news: Minnesota high school hockey player Jenna Privette, who was hit during a game last month, remains paralyzed from the waist down, but doctors expect a full recovery. [Duluth News Tribune]

? You can get 6/1 odds that Scott Gomez doesn't score a goal the rest of this season. [Bovada]

? Ted Nolan talks about life as the head coach of the Latvian national team. [IIHF]

Puck Daddy Reader Comment of the Day: Our buddy Colin on the Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium next Jan. 1:

"Can a fan hit the Winter Classic rink in the Big House with an octopus?"

Water balloon launcher

Bold Prediction: Olli Jokinen forgets to have a Big Mac last night and goes pointless in a 3-2 loss to the Coyotes.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/puck-previews-leafs-meet-flyers-no-steve-yzerman-233156170.html

Garrett Stafford Steve Staios Ryan Stanton Logan Stephenson

Puck Daddy?s NHL Valentine?s Day Candy Hearts Gallery; eat it up, hopeless romantics

It's once again Valentine's Day; a holiday in which romantics meticulously plan sincere expressions of affection for their loved ones ? or wait until the last minute, run to the drug store, buy a poorly stitched-together teddy bear and a box of chalky candy hearts on the way home from work.

Ah, but the candy heart can be so much more than the last item left on the shelf. It can also communicate feelings or reveal true emotions, in a delicious bite-sized form.

Which is probably why so many NHL players, coaches and personalities have created their own candy hearts for this Valentine's Day that we invented and then Photoshopped collected in this handy gallery. Enjoy!

The following were created by Wyshynski and Mooney (who did the Tim Thomas one up top).

And here ? we ? go.

Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby.

Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov.

New York Rangers Coach John Tortorella.

Winnipeg Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien.

NHL VP of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan.

Phoenix Coyotes winger Raffi Torres.

Chicago Blackhawks stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

Vancouver Canucks star Daniel Sedin.

Center Scott Gomez. Of the Montreal Canadiens. Coached by Randy Cunneyworth.

NBC and TSN broadcaster Pierre McGuire.

And finally ...

The Phoenix Coyotes.

Created by Greg Wyshynski and Harrison Mooney/Puck Daddy. Couldn't have done it without you, online candy heart maker. Go there and create your own!

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/puck-daddy-nhl-valentine-day-candy-hearts-gallery-143004908.html

Stefan Chaput Kyle Chipchura Erik Christensen Andrew Cogliano