Thought that popped into my head while, weirdly, doing something else on a Wednesday off (haha, there are no days off, until you get sick, and then you take Thursday and Friday off). We around here are fond of talking about how Playing Without Your Best Players Is A Bad Thing. Well, this latest dip in the power play roughly coincides with Michael Dal Colle’s last recall. Got curious.
| Players | With | Without |
|---|---|---|
| Dal Colle and Toews | 22/91 (24.2%) | 30/228 (13.2) |
| Dal Colle | 34/155 (21.9) | 18/164 (11.0) |
| Toews | 26/127 (20.5) | 26/192 (13.5) |
This isn’t surprising, and you could probably do this for other guys, too (with Ho-Sang: 41/248, 16.5; without, 11/71, 15.5), and sample sizes and such, but it’s kind of striking. (Also, if someone had begun the season shouting “Bridgeport will miss Michael Dal Colle more than anyone in March!” you’d probably have chuckled a little, right?)
Where were we?
- Who, when, whatever: Bridgeport at Providence, The Dunk, Friday, 7 p.m.
- Watch: AHLTV pay-per-view
- Listen: Mixlr audio
- Twitters: Alan / the Sound Tigers / Mark Divver / the P-Broons
- Box score: Yes (R: Blandina, R.Anderson; L: Antipin, J.Millea).
- Scoreboard watching: Hershey at Belleville; Binghamton at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. And further down on the farm, Worcester’s tragic number is one.
- Storyline: Bridgeport’s two leading scorers and a goalie are among those who have been out of late; supposedly all but Mike Sislo practiced yesterday, so we’ll see who’s in tonight. Magic numbers: 2 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (to clinch a playoff spot), five vs. Providence, nine vs. Hershey (get all of those and clinch second place). As before, if Bridgeport wins these two games (one non-shootout) and Hershey loses two in regulation, Bridgeport clinches second. But the Bears have won three in a row. Providence is beat up and recall-ravaged itself.
- Meh, what else is going on: Absolutely fantastic: Check out Craig Cunningham. Newtown’s Melissa Samoskevich and Bridgeport’s Bobo’s big sister Alex Carpenter scored for the United States national team in a victory to begin the Women’s World Championship in Finland; Canada’s next up on Saturday. Bobby Nardella has signed with the Capitals, and there have to be some old-school Sound Tigers fans who just got a chill.
- Aren’t you supposed to be doing something else: Yes, but I’m kinda sick, and it stinks.
- If this were a regular blog post, what word or phrase would most likely follow “More” at this point: TBD.
APPARENT BRIDGEPORT LINEUP
F: Kubiak-Koivula-C.Bourque
St. Denis-Lorito-Bernier (A)
Bellows – Stevens – Ho-Sang
R.Bourque-Carpenter-B.Holmstrom (C)
(Wahlstrom-scratch)
D: Wotherspoon-Helgeson (A)
Aho-Burroughs
Vande Sompel-Hutton
G: Smith
Gibson