Nate Silver of the New York Times wrote a great piece about hockey recently that starts with the question of why Canadian NHL teams haven’t won the Stanley Cup in the last two decades. One reason is simply that there aren’t that many Canadian teams anymore, with various franchises having relocated from the Great White North to the southern and western United States. Silver, by estimating the approximate number of hockey fans in various markets, makes a strong case that the NHL would be better off financially to abandon its American expansion and return to being a more strongly Canadian league. Below is a visualization of his recommendations.

click to see the current VS. Nate’s Version.

There’s a lot more interesting stuff in Silver’s article here.

Not only am I a die-hard hockey fan, I’m a Montreal Canadiens life-long fan. They are the kings of  the sport. The Habs hold many records and have a replica of their dressing room at the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Much angst, and ink, has been spilled in recent years over fighting in hockey. Progressives say ban fighting. Traditionalists say ‘over our dead bodies.’ A moral debate rages. Yet what seldom gets asked is: How does fighting affect a team’s performance?

Does toughness win games? Is meting out an ugly black eye as valuable as scoring a pretty goal?
Let’s drop the gloves, shall we, and look at the numbers. [via]

As a (wanna be) goalie, I have the utmost respect for those who stand in between the pipes. Here are the stats pertaining to shutouts for NHL goalies. I must mention that Martin Brodeur is from my hometown, along with other amazing goalies.