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BoC Gameday—Battle of the Thorntons Update

By Earl Sleek
Anaheim Ducks (22-3-6, 1st in west) at Tampa Bay Lightning (14-13-2, t-9th in east)
Colorado Avalanche (13-13-2, 10th in west) at Los Angeles Kings (10-16-4, t-11th in west)
Nashville Predators (18-7-3, 3rd in west) at San Jose Sharks (20-9-0, 2nd in west)

Not to mention 11 other games today, featuring everyone except the Stanley Cup Finalists Edmonton Oilboys and Carolina Candy Canes.

Anyway, I guess I’d better feature this now, while gloating is still possible.



Battle of the Thorntons


Oops. They must have given that Hart trophy to the wrong Thornton.

Shawn, incidentally, has yet to be on the ice for an Anaheim goal-against.

[EDIT: I ran some Shawn Thornton numbers on last night's game. I think this is the first time Shawn has faced some tough minutes, as he played nearly 6 1/2 minutes against Ovechkin (about 57% of his ice time vs. AO). In fact, here's the elements of his Gordie Howe hat trick:

Goal: scored 31 seconds into his first shift. In his first game since Nov. 12.
Fight: initiated 35 seconds into his second shift. A decisive victory.
Assist: 22 seconds into his ninth shift, before the game was to the halfway point.

And the commonality? Omunchkin was on the ice for all of 'em. Sweet mother of mercy.]

Prediction: BoC 10, Challengers 5.

Thornton

 Team GP EV min EV pts EV pts/hr +/- PIM

Shawn

ANA

8

68:18

1-3-4

3.51

+7

26

Joe

SJS

29

414:51

6-6-12

1.74

-7

12

Scott

LAK

29

287:02

4-1-5

1.05

-9

19