Hard in the Corner

Amongst all the bullshit that Toronto Maple Leafs fans are rambling on about, one question has stuck out to me. Mostly in that, nobody is asking it.. No, it's not whether Jake Gardiner's dog should be kicked, or if Leo Komarov can be both uncle & lover, it's JVR . April 27th was locker clean out day for the Leafs and a few notable players were packing up their stuff for, presumably, the last time. At least the last time as Leafs. One of those players is James van Riemsdyk. This season, James van Riemsdyk was the team's leading goal scorer, had a 7.2 point share and a 55.6% corsi player - in admittedly sheltered starts (62.7% OZs). So, why does he HAVE to go? Well, one reason is his asking price. He will undoubtedly be a 6x6 free agent this summer, and the Leafs have other priorities. Auston Matthews early extension being the most obvious. Matthews will be a minimum $10 million player for the foreseeable future, and his prime , along with Marner and Nyland...

As a WHL guy, a Canadian and a sucker for the underdog, I'm a big fan of Cam Ward. I think he is (at least was) a good goalie, with some very bad luck. So, I am going to go back and watch a bunch of goals from his most recent seasons and skew the data to agree with my hot take. I will also take a look at Carey Price's current season as I think he is the closest there is to the consensus #1 goalie in the world. The perfect juxtaposition for Cam Ward. I've also included Corey Crawford (2017-2018) for those that take issue with Carey Price's inclusion in this report. My goal was originally to look at his best statistical season (2010-11) and his worst statistical seasons (2005-06, 2006-07), however due to the availability of game footage, that won't be possible at this time.  The determining factors in looking at these goals are: Deflection by teammate ( DxT ), Deflection by opponent ( DxO ), Own Goal by Teammate ( OGxT ), Breakaway/Defensive Failure ( DEF )...