Dave Lozo's Bag Skate: CapGeek Ceasing Operations Latest Loss for Fans, Media

About four years ago, in the doldrums of summer, I was looking for a project idea. It was partly out of necessity, partly out of not wanting to atrophy at my desk during the NHL offseason. A man can only update his Facebook status so many times.

So I had this ambitious idea while planted at my NHL.com cubicle—what if 30 of us got together one day and redrafted the entire league and then we simulated that season? Thirty people, thirty teams, everyone is available.

The one caveat—all NHL players would keep their contracts, so you’d have to take the cap hit with the player and fit it all under the salary cap. When would certain players be drafted if their contract was part of the deal?

The one problem—getting every NHL player’s current cap hit in list form so it could be sorted from most to least or least to most. 

CapGeek was available to the world at this time, but there was nothing that let you sort every existing contract. Without that, doing a draft that was this complicated would be at best tedious and at worst impossible. 

I emailed Matthew Wuest, a human being I had never met. I figured it was a long shot, as I was essentially asking for proprietary information that would help foster a goofy draft for a website. And not just any website—the NHL website. It’s not that the NHL doesn’t have access to all contract values, but I wasn’t sure how Matthew would react to a league employee asking to see his goods. 

He could not have been more helpful, and it took zero coercion. All he asked was that the spread sheets he was sending me never left league possession, which in hindsight, is a lot of trust to ask of someone you don’t know. All I could offer was a link to his site at the bottom of a story, which seemed like a bad trade for him, but he obliged. 

What resulted was one of the more fun hockey things I’ve ever done. We only had 15 owners, so we each had to draft for two franchises and had to submit line combinations and defense pairs. We had EA Sports simulate a season with our fake teams, and people seemed to really enjoy it. The Columbus Blue Jackets won the Presidents' Trophy and the Steven Stamkos-led Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.

Everyone involved seemed to have a lot of fun.

And none of it would have been possible without Matthew, much like most of our work in recent years.

That anecdote is one of a million reasons why the news that he was shutting down CapGeek because of health issues was so sad. He has requested that his privacy be respected over this time, so hopefully whatever is ailing Matthew can be treated, fixed and remedied, and whatever becomes of his magical, important website is completely secondary.

Graig Abel/Getty Images

A lot of media types tweeted and wrote about how CapGeek was the most invaluable tool at our disposal, and they were all correct. There are at least three instances below in the mailbag where I wanted to cite specific contract information but could not and had to do it from memory. CapGeek became something we all took for granted, which is the highest compliment that could be paid to it.

Most of the information regarding contracts can be found with a quick Google search and the player’s name, but sometimes there’s...ugh...math required. “What’s the cap hit? When does this extension begin? What was his cap hit before this deal? How many contracts does this team have for next season?”

That and more—pending unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents are going to be the thing I miss the most—were all available to us media types. The site was incredible.

But CapGeek was also great for fans, too.

An informed fan is a good fan, and fans could receive insight into their teams like never before starting in 2009. CapGeek was informational, but it was fun, too. A fan could look at cap space available in a future season and imagine the team signing this player or that player. Heck, there was even an armchair GM function that everyone used at some point.

With CapGeek gone—at least for now—there is suddenly a dearth of hockey information available when as recently as six months ago we were all swimming in the informational equivalent of Scrooge McDuck’s money pit.

When Darryl Metcalf was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs, his exceptional stats site, ExtraSkater.com, went with him. Other sites have popped up to fill the void—war-on-ice.com is probably the best of them—but the way Metcalf organized and presented his information was second to none. 

We are in the information age, yet the NHL landscape looks like that of an abandoned Old West town, tumbleweeds rumbling through the barren dirt streets.

If the NHL was smart, it would already have a carbon copy of ExtraSkater somewhere on its website. NHL.com is by far the best league site when it comes to organizing statistics, but there are so many holes that need to be plugged, mainly specific five-on-five numbers and anything related to possession that ExtraSkater and sites like it provide.

But the league is beholden to teams, and if teams don’t want what they feel is secret information out there—there’s a reason why ExtraSkater no longer exists—they’re not going to publicize it, no matter what fans want. 

CapGeek would be a different animal, an animal the league will never have on its site. But that doesn’t mean someone can’t offer the same CapGeek service on their own site. The NHLPA has a sorta-kinda-but-not-really version of CapGeek on its site, but it’s like asking for a Ferrari and someone giving you a race car bed. The Hurricanes are one team that releases contract information after every signing, but they are the exception to the rule.

In a perfect world, Matthew will recover from his health issue and resume operating CapGeek like he has in the past. Heck, in a more perfect world, he’ll get better and sell the site for millions and live out his life on a tropical island, free from the stress of having to pin down the bonus structure on Jori Lehtera’s contract.

Knowledge is power, and the NHL, perhaps even unintentionally, is hanging on to that power. CapGeek was democratic; the NHL’s central registry is a dictatorship.

Cot’s was once a Blogspot blog that tracked baseball contracts and is now part of Baseball Prospectus. Here’s to hoping CapGeek resurfaces in a similar form on a similar website and Matthew can reap the benefits of five years of hard work.

Quote of the Week: Jon Cooper vs. Darryl Sutter

Lightning coach Jon Cooper and Kings coach Darryl Sutter are the two most quotable coaches in the NHL. Each week, we will let you decide who had the best quote.

Sutter is usually quotable because he's dry, to the point and perhaps crotchety. This week, his most notable statement involved goaltending and what he considers to be an acceptable save percentage.

Mark Humphrey/Associated Press

To Sutter, it's .950 or bust.

From Rich Hammond at the Orange County Register:

"

We need them to be thinking that they’re in that .950 save percentage (range. That should be in practice, too. When you drop below .920 in this league, you just get average goaltending. It used to be .900 was good, but that’s not anymore. Teams that have both goalies in that .920-plus range, they’re at the top. That’s a high standard, but that’s real. That’s today’s game.

"

Sixty-five goaltenders in the history of the NHL have posted a .950 save percentage or better in one season, according to Hockey-Reference.com, and of course, it's a ridiculous list with most guys playing one game. When Jonathan Quick won the Stanley Cup in 2012, he was at .946 in the playoffs. So recall how great Quick was, then realize Sutter feels he could be better than that.

Cooper was barren this week. But he tweeted for the first time in months.

He will be better next week.

KHL Thing of the Week

There is some quality hockey that is played overseas that we rarely hear about in North America. This section will highlight that or something else from our friends playing hockey in the KHL.

Who doesn't enjoy a good obscene gesture? Certainly not Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod head coach Peteris Skudra, who was ejected from a KHL game for just that last week and later suspended one game. Skudra was upset with the officiating and let it be known through the majesty of body language.

Here's the video, although we don't see what he did:

I personally enjoy the handshake from someone on the opposing bench as Skudra exits.

This takes us back to when Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville had a similar incident that cost him $25,000, although he wasn't suspended.

Being a sports official seems great.

New rules, same scoring levels

Before the 2013-14 season, the NHL changed a few rules in an effort to increase scoring. Smaller pads and shallower nets didn't exactly have the desired effect: Goals per game jumped from 5.44 to 5.48.

Before the 2014-15 season, the NHL made a few more tweaks. Defenders who hit a puck before taking out an attacking player's legs would be subject to a tripping penalty, teams would switch ends in overtime—thus creating a longer distance to skate to make a change, which allows for more scoring—and all pucks shot out of play by an attacking team in the attacking zone would lead to faceoffs in the offensive zone no matter what.

Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images

Scoring has again risen, but barely, from 5.48 to 5.50 goals per game.

The NHL has made some smart changes the past two years, but the fact remains that if it wants scoring to return to those 2005-06 (6.16 per game) and 2006-07 (5.90 per game) levels, referees need to call penalties the way they did in those seasons.

This season, teams are averaging 3.27 power plays per game, which is right around where it's been the past four seasons. In 2005-06, teams averaged 5.85 power plays per game; in 2006-07, it dropped dramatically but was still at 4.85 per game.

In 2005-06, referees called...let me clear my throat...EVERYTHING when it came to interference infractions. Some of it was players adjusting to the new NHL, but a lot of it was referees calling EVERYTHING in that area. As the years have passed, they've let a little bit more go here, a little bit more go there, and now scoring is somewhat stagnant.

Goals do not automatically equate to good hockey, and while the hooking and holding calls aren't anywhere near pre-2005 levels, a course correction in officiating would do wonders for offense around the league.

Who Is Connor McDavid-ing This Week?

The tank battle for Connor McDavid will be quite the scene this season as teams stumble over each other to finish last in the standings, thus guaranteeing either McDavid or future American hero Jack Eichel.

30. Edmonton Oilers (9-22-9, 27 pts)

Tom Hanks and Matt Damon must have placed sticky bombs on the Oilers, because this tank isn't rolling anymore. The Oilers have points in four straight games and are getting dangerously close to 29th place. They traded David Perron and now are winning; the Oilers can't even win at losing.

With three straight home games coming up, the Oilers are entering dangerous territory.

Gregg Forwerck/Getty Images

29. Carolina Hurricanes (12-23-4, 28 pts)

Slow and steady wins the race, but slower and steady can lose the race, which might the Hurricanes' mantra. No team will ever say, "We are absolutely tanking right now and we don't care who knows," but with the 'Canes scoring two goals or fewer in 13 of 14 games, they are sinking in quicksand like champs.

The Hurricanes have a tough matchup of tanks this week when they host Buffalo on Thursday. They say the cream rises to the top, so hopefully they will be the opposite of cream (rocks?) and descend to the bottom.

28. Buffalo Sabres (14-23-3, 31 pts)

After an embarrassing stretch of 10 wins in 13 games, the Sabres have found themselves. They have three points in their past nine games and are again looking like a contender for last place.

Falling behind an Edmonton team that's already begun the process of trading away players for future assets will be difficult. But as long as the Sabres continue to allow 35.4 shots per game, hope remains strong and absent in Buffalo.

Goal of the Week

Watch Steven Stamkos hold down the "B" button and score an NHL 94 goal against the Ottawa Senators:

We always had a rule: If you are the Blackhawks, you can't use Jeremy Roenick to wheel from behind the net and cut to the middle because he was too fast and the play could not be defended. There is no such rule in the NHL, and Stamkos took advantage of it.

Questions and Answers

Got a question? Tweet me @davelozo or email me at [e-mail], but please don't call before 9 a.m. I will answer any of your questions about hockey or whatever if it's a good question.

"

@DaveLozo it's 2015, why can't I think a player is attractive and also be knowledgeable about sports?

— Sarah Calise (@SarahCalise) January 5, 2015"

This sounds like a question that's meant for a medical professional, not a writing professional. It seems like you should be able to have those simultaneous thoughts. For instance, I am able to see that Henrik Lundqvist's eyes are as blue as a calm Caribbean sea and he has been a finalist for the Vezina Trophy five times.

I wonder if there's a heterosexual male equivalent for this situation. I am able to both identify Cate Blanchett as beautiful and a terrific actress. But maybe some people think I'm just a dumb guy and the only reason I enjoy Notes on a Scandal is because Cate's super pretty and maybe I should stick to sports.

There's also the inverse. Sometimes I'll say, "The television show Girls is bad," and someone will say, "But Allison Williams is sooooooo hot." Great. Why can't both things be true? Why can't we just like/hate things for our own reasons without some man challenging us on it? 

Sarah, I think it's OK if you like to imagine Patrick Sharp shirtless as he slowly paddles a canoe across a calm lake and scoring in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in overtime. I think it's OK to only enjoy the first thing or the second thing. Watch hockey for whatever reason you want.

But if you have a brain disorder that doesn't allow you to have those thoughts at the same time, please see a doctor. 

It's hard to imagine any team that ices Rene Bourque on a regular basis can win a Stanley Cup, but he's just one player, and maybe the Ducks do something to remedy that situation between now and the trade deadline. The more I watch the Ducks, the more I think they're just a very good regular-season team that's not good enough to win 16 playoff games.

There are five teams (CHI, LAK, MIN, STL, NSH) ahead of them in Fenwick as of Monday. There are three more (WPG, SJS, DAL) right behind them. The Ducks are at 51.3 percent, which is probably what they are. It's good, for sure, but to me, most of those other teams are better or, at worst, equal.

If the Ducks have to face three West teams that are better at the possession game (in theory, they may have to go MIN-LAK-CHI/NSH just to get to the Cup Final), what are the chances this team that's skating by at record rates in one-goal games continues to get that lucky against a steady diet of superior teams?

I just don't think the Ducks have enough to do anything more than win one round.

If you asked me before the season if I'd rather have the Blackhawks/Kings or the field, I would have taken the two teams. As we approach the midway point of the season, I still feel that way, but maybe not as strongly. 

I look at Chicago and I wonder how Corey Crawford can be good enough for two months (after all, this isn't a 48-game season). I look at Los Angeles and I will never count them out until the final horn sounds on their fourth loss in a seven-game series, but I wonder how that group of defensemen is good enough to get it done in the playoffs.

But then I look at everyone else.

We already looked at the Ducks. I don't know if Nashville can score enough. I don't know if St. Louis can stop enough pucks. I don't know if San Jose...well, come on. I can't take anyone in the East seriously until the top teams over there make some moves at the trade deadline.

So yes, it's still Chicago and Los Angeles then everyone else. But they are more vulnerable than last season.

"

@DaveLozo will Adam Larsson finally be the star he was supposed to be since swedehating DeBoer is gone?

— Mauritz B (@mossefkinb) January 5, 2015"

No, but Adam Larsson can still be a very good top-four defenseman. He's still only 22 years old, and his development has been severely stunted, so it's hard to imagine him becoming a 50-point, top-pairing defenseman at this point.

But there's still potential there. 

I'm not sure if I can speak intelligently on Peter Chiarelli's gardening habits, but I'm sure his thumb is green enough to grow a pair of whatever you're talking about. As for the first-line winger thing, I don't know how the Bruins can make any moves to get someone like that without giving up something significant in return, which they can't afford to do.

If you look at the teams that look to be sure sellers at the deadline, who is available and what would they cost?

Would the Oilers trade Jordan Eberle? If so, and David Perron is worth a first-round pick and an NHL player, what is Eberle worth? Easily more than that, and do the Bruins have what it takes to land him? And if they do, exactly how much will Eberle help? Will he put the Bruins over the top or just plug a leaky ship and allow it to sink two weeks later than it should?

I think the Bruins will be the ones that determine what Chiarelli does at the deadline. The team is already facing a tough cap situation next season, and adding more big contracts (like Eberle's) when they have their own free agents to re-sign seems unlikely. But if the Bruins flip a switch over the next two months and make a push, it will allow Chiarelli to make a big move.

A right-handed defenseman has practically become Ken Holland's white whale. I don't think there's any guarantee he lands one at the deadline unless it's a rental type. Holland isn't willing to overpay, and his patience in this regard over the last few years speaks to that.

Vezina finalists: Pekka Rinne, Carey Price, Roberto Luongo

I'll stand by it. I think the Capitals' success is more sustainable, but I'm willing to change my tune depending on how the Rangers do in their next three games against the Ducks, Kings and Sharks, all on the road. The Rangers have won 10 of 11, but my goodness, the teams they've beaten in that run.

Edmonton, New Jersey, Carolina twice, Buffalo and Calgary comprise six of the wins. Vancouver was in the midst of a five-game slide when the Rangers beat the Canucks, the epitome of the saying, "It's not who you play but when you play them." Washington was on the second half of a back-to-back. Pittsburgh was missing Olli Maatta, Patric Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis and Beau Bennett.

So the most convincing win in that stretch was a 5-2 victory in Florida on New Year's Eve. 

But hey, you can only beat the teams on the schedule, and very few compile 10 of 11 wins no matter who they are playing. 

If the Rangers acquit themselves well in these California games, it's fair to say they are a quality team.

When everyone is healthy, here are the Penguins' 12 forwards in no particular order:

Chris Kunitz — Sidney Crosby — Patric Hornqvist

David Perron — Evgeni Malkin — Blake Comeau

Beau Bennett — Brandon Sutter — Steve Downie

Nick Spaling — Marcel Goc — Craig Adams

That bottom-six still leaves something to be desired. Maybe general manager Jim Rutherford does some bolstering there. I see two-and-two-thirds lines here, which is about two-thirds more than they had last season. 

Last season, Carter Hutton was a .910 goaltender in 40 games with Pekka Rinne out. This season, he's at .899 in five games, all losses (0-3-2) on what is arguably a much better team than the one he backstopped last season.

So is Hutton suddenly a bad goaltender? Or is he one that is struggling because he's playing once every three weeks?

I lean toward the latter. I don't care what your profession is, but if you only do it once every three weeks, you're probably not going to be as good at it as someone who does it more often. That's not to say if Hutton played every game he's be a .930 goaltender like Rinne, but he'd probably be closer to the .910 he was at last year.

The problem is trust; how does head coach Peter Laviolette trust a young goaltender to play more often if he doesn't play well, and how does he get him to play well without playing him more often?

Maybe Laviolette needs to be inspired fear; Rinne is on pace to make 71 starts, and no team has won a Stanley Cup with a goaltender making more than 70 starts since 2003.

Re-sign him for six years and around $33 million and as time moves forward, things change, like the ownership of bars. One day we will all fade to dust and there will be nothing left of us but the echoes of our exhales in the wind.

All I know is if Pierre McGuire started telling players to wang chung out there, his pregame interviews would be way more tolerable. 

My bowl would be strictly filled with those candy cane mints. They are the best. Butterscotch? Get lost. You're gross. Minty fresh candy cane mints is all you get and you will like it.