Montreal vs. Boston

Looking back, I can see that I did not watch as much hockey this past regular season as I thought I would have, but I was able to follow a few interesting trends that I once discussed on my original blog (www.rwagman.blogspot.com) such as shooting percentage being a good indicator of future performance and the better likelihood of continued health from previously healthy players as opposed to future health of the historically injury-prone.
Watching bits of both the Boston-Montreal Game 7 and the Washington-Philadelphia Game 6 have reminded of what is meant by the intensity of the playoffs. It is easy to forget how in the regular season coaches have to plan for an 82 game season and cannot always go full-out when their eyes are on the big picture. The playoffs have no tomorrow. The big picture is right in front of our eyes. And the hockey has no let-up. Maximum intensity, 60 minutes or more. I am looking forward to tomorrow's Game 7's.

Something else that came to my attention while hovering over the CBC game. One of the announcers made a point of mentioning that last season's playoffs saw only one Game 7 (the whole playoffs!) and 2006's postseason featured three of them. And here we were, watching Game 7 of the Habs and Bruins, knowing that we could watch the Flamers and the Sharks go the distance tomorrow night and furthermore, if the caps could defeat the Flyers in Game 6 tonight, they would go seven as well. (They did and we will).

The I thought about last October`s baseball playoffs. Only one series (Red Sox vs. Indians) went the distance. A bunch of sweeps and one over the minimums. And the wheels slowly began turning. Is there a significant difference in the frequency of Game 7`s in baseball and hockey?
If there does seem to be a significance, does it then also extend to basketball?

Finally, if the numbers show any interest, how can we interpret that?

So I have a project. I will go back 20 seasons in both baseball and hockey and find the frequency of Game 7`s (and sweeps, and one over the minimum`s as well). And I will share what I find and we can discuss what it all means.

If it takes me longer than a few days, I will bridge the gap with a discussion on Frank Thomas, past and future (not much of a present, is there?)

Enjoy the game!