Re: An NHL Expansion Story: Deep in the Heart of Texas
For the first time since the Houston Aeros departed for Iowa and became the Wild in 2013, Houston is having its latest taste of professional hockey. The 32nd NHL franchise, the Houston Huskies, took to the ice for their first time in 2018-19, at the Toyota Center. After the amazing run last season by the Vegas Golden Knights, going all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before being knocked out by Washington in five games, fans were looking to see if there would be a repeat. Well, after 41 games, it looks favorable.
As of today, Houston sits first in the Central Division and fourth overall in the NHL. With 56 points, they are only one point behind the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, and two points behind the NHL leader, the Los Angeles Kings (Editor note: WTF?!?!). And the Huskies don’t look like they'll slow down anytime soon, defeating the St Louis Blues 2-1 in shootout yesterday. But there are some cracks…
So, let’s start with the good: They are first in what is arguably the most competitive division in the NHL. They have three points on the Nashville Predators, second in the division, and six points on the third ranked Colorado Avalanche. They are scoring at rate of 2.85 goals per game, fifth best in the NHL, though their goals against of 2.59 puts them at fourteenth in the league. We’ll talk about special teams in a minute, but the Huskies are tied for second in the NHL for short handed goals (4). They also boast the fourth best home record (14-5-1) and away record (13-7-1). They have gone 8-2-0 in their last ten, second best in the NHL.
Goaltending, while not phenomenal, sees Sergei Bobrovski sitting twelfth in save percentage (92.3%) in the NHL for starters and tenth for goals against (2.31). Philipp Grubauer has been a solid, if not phenomenal backup, with a 90.9% save percentage and a goals against of 2.83.
Defenseman Mike Giordano ranks seventh among defensemen for goals (7) and first for plus/minus (+18). Jared Spurgeon (injured) is tied for sixth with a +15. Jared Spurgeon is tied with three other defensemen for first for defensemen powerplay goals in the NHL (4). However, did I mention he is injured?
Shootout: I’ll talk on the negatives of this later, but the Huskies have engaged in ten of them this season and won them all. This has not happened since the ’67 expansion.
Not a hockey stat, but amazingly, the Huskies have sold out every game this season. And while their tickets aren’t Toronto expensive, they are above the league average. Forbes estimates that the Huskies are the ninth most profitable team in the NHL, ahead of the Washington Capitals, last year’s Stanley Cup winners, and Canadian “show up at the game like zombies” teams like the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. Interesting note: Winnipeg sits 28th on the list; guess the Winnipeg Looney is lower in value than other Looneys?
Now, let’s move on to the bad: Houston hasn’t found that one “go to” guy to turn a game. Joe Thornton, 39, is the team’s leader in points (36), but this doesn’t even put him in the top twenty. Next is Joe Pavelski, 34th in the league, with 33 points, and Anders Lee tied for 44th with 32. Artemi Panarin, the third highest paid player on the team, doesn’t crack the top 75. This said, only four other teams have three players in the top fifty, but each of them have a player in the top ten.
Houston’s defensemen are having some problems joining the play. Jared Spurgeon leads defensemen on the team with assists but sits 16th in the NHL (16). The next defenseman is Adam Larsson, tied with 14 other defensemen for 42nd in the NHL (10). They also have limited “minute munchers”, with only two defensemen getting over 25 minutes a game.
The Houston powerplay sits fifth in the division, scoring on 18.5% of opportunities. That is good for 20 goals. This is 17th in the NHL. This said, they are tenth in the league for opportunities. However, ninth for opportunities, the St Louis Blues, are ranked #1 for conversions with 25.2%.
Time for the ugly: The penalty kill. Sits dead last in the NHL with a putrid 74.4%. Only the New York Islanders are even close with a 74.8% (next closest team, the Vegas Golden Knights, sits at 77.5%). The only high point is what I mentioned earlier: the short handed goals for. The Huskies are the 11th most penalized team in the NHL.
Although the Huskies have 27 wins, amazingly, ten of these came from shootout. Though a technicality, this could have huge implications if Houston should tie in the final standings. With the Pacific being weak, this could mean you face an Central Team instead of LA.
Do the Huskies make the playoffs? Unless they have a cataclysmic collapse, it is a virtual guarantee. The Central Division is very competitive but the Huskies are 10-6-0 against divisional foes so far so they can hold their own and only have twelve more divisional games. Going 17-6-2 outside the division, the Huskies should be resilient enough to get it.
Do the Huskies win the cup? I’m just not seeing it. While they have some clutch players like Thornton, Pavelski, Lee, Panarin, Giordano, and Spurgeon (did I mention he’s injured), they have some glaring holes. After Thornton, center quality drops like a rock kicked into the Grand Canyon. When your second center is Plekanic, you have some issues. This could be solved with signing prospect A.J. Likens, but are the Huskies willing to burn a year of entry level contract for a questionable cup run. Plus, the goaltending and special teams need to be better.
Will the Huskies make any deadline trades? Doubtful. The team seems happy with its lineup for its inaugural season; there is no “win now” feeling in the organization. If they drop out of the playoff picture, I could see them drop a number of expansion grab vets for draft picks and quality rookies. Even if they are fighting for the playoffs, and having three 1st round draft picks, I can’t see them trading them unless it is for a quality prospect, not an aging veteran.
Bottom line, the last 41 games of the season will be exciting!
Other notes: Did I mention that the Huskies’ farm team, the Arlington Bald Eagles, at 33-6-2? Yes, you heard that right. They sit first in the AHL, five points ahead of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by five points. They are scoring an amazing 3.56 goals per game, with twenty goals more that the closest competitor (St Louis Blues farm team, the San Antonio Rampage). It also helps they are second in the AHL in goals against. Should make Huskies fans excited for the future.
For the first time since the Houston Aeros departed for Iowa and became the Wild in 2013, Houston is having its latest taste of professional hockey. The 32nd NHL franchise, the Houston Huskies, took to the ice for their first time in 2018-19, at the Toyota Center. After the amazing run last season by the Vegas Golden Knights, going all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before being knocked out by Washington in five games, fans were looking to see if there would be a repeat. Well, after 41 games, it looks favorable.
As of today, Houston sits first in the Central Division and fourth overall in the NHL. With 56 points, they are only one point behind the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins, and two points behind the NHL leader, the Los Angeles Kings (Editor note: WTF?!?!). And the Huskies don’t look like they'll slow down anytime soon, defeating the St Louis Blues 2-1 in shootout yesterday. But there are some cracks…
So, let’s start with the good: They are first in what is arguably the most competitive division in the NHL. They have three points on the Nashville Predators, second in the division, and six points on the third ranked Colorado Avalanche. They are scoring at rate of 2.85 goals per game, fifth best in the NHL, though their goals against of 2.59 puts them at fourteenth in the league. We’ll talk about special teams in a minute, but the Huskies are tied for second in the NHL for short handed goals (4). They also boast the fourth best home record (14-5-1) and away record (13-7-1). They have gone 8-2-0 in their last ten, second best in the NHL.
Goaltending, while not phenomenal, sees Sergei Bobrovski sitting twelfth in save percentage (92.3%) in the NHL for starters and tenth for goals against (2.31). Philipp Grubauer has been a solid, if not phenomenal backup, with a 90.9% save percentage and a goals against of 2.83.
Defenseman Mike Giordano ranks seventh among defensemen for goals (7) and first for plus/minus (+18). Jared Spurgeon (injured) is tied for sixth with a +15. Jared Spurgeon is tied with three other defensemen for first for defensemen powerplay goals in the NHL (4). However, did I mention he is injured?
Shootout: I’ll talk on the negatives of this later, but the Huskies have engaged in ten of them this season and won them all. This has not happened since the ’67 expansion.
Not a hockey stat, but amazingly, the Huskies have sold out every game this season. And while their tickets aren’t Toronto expensive, they are above the league average. Forbes estimates that the Huskies are the ninth most profitable team in the NHL, ahead of the Washington Capitals, last year’s Stanley Cup winners, and Canadian “show up at the game like zombies” teams like the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. Interesting note: Winnipeg sits 28th on the list; guess the Winnipeg Looney is lower in value than other Looneys?
Now, let’s move on to the bad: Houston hasn’t found that one “go to” guy to turn a game. Joe Thornton, 39, is the team’s leader in points (36), but this doesn’t even put him in the top twenty. Next is Joe Pavelski, 34th in the league, with 33 points, and Anders Lee tied for 44th with 32. Artemi Panarin, the third highest paid player on the team, doesn’t crack the top 75. This said, only four other teams have three players in the top fifty, but each of them have a player in the top ten.
Houston’s defensemen are having some problems joining the play. Jared Spurgeon leads defensemen on the team with assists but sits 16th in the NHL (16). The next defenseman is Adam Larsson, tied with 14 other defensemen for 42nd in the NHL (10). They also have limited “minute munchers”, with only two defensemen getting over 25 minutes a game.
The Houston powerplay sits fifth in the division, scoring on 18.5% of opportunities. That is good for 20 goals. This is 17th in the NHL. This said, they are tenth in the league for opportunities. However, ninth for opportunities, the St Louis Blues, are ranked #1 for conversions with 25.2%.
Time for the ugly: The penalty kill. Sits dead last in the NHL with a putrid 74.4%. Only the New York Islanders are even close with a 74.8% (next closest team, the Vegas Golden Knights, sits at 77.5%). The only high point is what I mentioned earlier: the short handed goals for. The Huskies are the 11th most penalized team in the NHL.
Although the Huskies have 27 wins, amazingly, ten of these came from shootout. Though a technicality, this could have huge implications if Houston should tie in the final standings. With the Pacific being weak, this could mean you face an Central Team instead of LA.
Do the Huskies make the playoffs? Unless they have a cataclysmic collapse, it is a virtual guarantee. The Central Division is very competitive but the Huskies are 10-6-0 against divisional foes so far so they can hold their own and only have twelve more divisional games. Going 17-6-2 outside the division, the Huskies should be resilient enough to get it.
Do the Huskies win the cup? I’m just not seeing it. While they have some clutch players like Thornton, Pavelski, Lee, Panarin, Giordano, and Spurgeon (did I mention he’s injured), they have some glaring holes. After Thornton, center quality drops like a rock kicked into the Grand Canyon. When your second center is Plekanic, you have some issues. This could be solved with signing prospect A.J. Likens, but are the Huskies willing to burn a year of entry level contract for a questionable cup run. Plus, the goaltending and special teams need to be better.
Will the Huskies make any deadline trades? Doubtful. The team seems happy with its lineup for its inaugural season; there is no “win now” feeling in the organization. If they drop out of the playoff picture, I could see them drop a number of expansion grab vets for draft picks and quality rookies. Even if they are fighting for the playoffs, and having three 1st round draft picks, I can’t see them trading them unless it is for a quality prospect, not an aging veteran.
Bottom line, the last 41 games of the season will be exciting!
Other notes: Did I mention that the Huskies’ farm team, the Arlington Bald Eagles, at 33-6-2? Yes, you heard that right. They sit first in the AHL, five points ahead of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers by five points. They are scoring an amazing 3.56 goals per game, with twenty goals more that the closest competitor (St Louis Blues farm team, the San Antonio Rampage). It also helps they are second in the AHL in goals against. Should make Huskies fans excited for the future.
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