New Season – What’s up at M&G

With the new year in full swing, it's time for an update on what's going on around here:

1.) Game Takes

We'll continue to put up posts (pre-during-post) for each game, of course. We'll also endeavor to carry out the odd liveblog now and then.

On that issue, feel free to let us know if there's anything you'd like to see in any of the pre-game or post-game articles. Links to event summaries, corsi rates, alternate takes, etc.

2.) Prospect Updates

In what will likely become a weekly or monthly item, I plan to keep an eye on the Flames future assets at the various levels. I’ll also keep in touch with Adam Savonen about the progress of Tim Erixon in Sweden (commenter shep will likely help in that regard as well).

3.) Stats discussions

I know a lot of people see emerging metrics in hockey as a lot of voodoo and nonsense. And, truth be told, some of them are – just take a gander at the stuff by Scott Cullen of TSN or some of the material put out by Puck Prospectus currently. Secret formulas pumping out numbers without context isn't of much use to me.

However, there are some tools and measures available today that are both new and useful to the observant hockey fan. RO, Robert and I plan to not only discuss and include such stats in our on-going analysis at this site but to make them as clear and transparent as possible to anyone that stops by. RO's debut on the site was a good first step in that direction.

4.) Other

As the season progresses, things will pop up and new topics will present themselves. Frequent commenter Arik will update us on the fantasy happenings of M&G's yahoo league "the Bonfire". I can add fantasy analysis and advice if such a thing is in demand, as I've already been doing so for Rototimes for a couple of years. Robert will also continue to contribute his excellent weekly link dumps which is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine.

That's the long and short of it for now. We're always looking to get better, so if there's anything else you might think the site is lacking or could improve upon, feel free to leave a comment or contact me directly via email.

Thanks folks. It's going to be a fun year.

by Kent Wilson