Thanks Dan....I'm married with two teenagers in the house, so I'm very comfortable speaking to others from the perspective that no matter what I say, I'll be wrong. So I don't take any of this to heart.
As for the Nash/Marchand issue...I admit that I didn't know Nash's numbers until after the game last night, however, it doesn't change my opinion.
To me being good at the shootout isn't a "skill". Because a skill is something that can be repeated over and over again, the same way. Nobody (except maybe Bergeron
) does the same thing, every shootout attempt.
Every shootout attempt, IMO is akin to a roll of the dice. Just because double sixes came up on the first roll, doesn't mean it's any more or less likely to come up on the second, third or 45th. Every roll of the dice, has the same odds for any number to come up.
What Nash has done, while impressive statistically, to me is an anomaly and highly unlikely to be sustained.
This is why, unless we are talking a much larger sample size, I don't necessarily care about the statistics. Maybe confidence plays a larger part in this than skill, but I'd still go with my most skillful players first, provided they aren't in some sort of mental funk, that we as fans would not know about.
I'd always go with my most talented offensive players first. If there were a shootout again tomorrow, I'd still go with Marchand, Pasta, Spooner, Krejci, Bergeron, Krug over Nash
Specific to last night, I just saw a guy (Marchand) who was skating hard, working hard, feisty, involved and productive......and it struck me as criminal that he wasn't included in the first 3 shooters.
Maybe I overreacted, but my opinion hasn't changed. Skill over stats.
