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...

I'm a Leafs fan, and as a Leafs fan, I have a duty to be completely miserable all of the time. Now, I thought that was kind of an interesting idea for fancy stats. How can we chart the happiness of a fanbase? What criteria go into deciding whether a fanbase is happy or sad? Well, I chose some, and charted the happiness, over the course of a season for two separate teams. First up is the sky-high 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins, not to be confused with the sky-high 2017-18 Penguins. Yes, the amazing 2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins. Repeat Stanley Cup Champions led by Phil Kessel and some other guys. This is a team loaded with star players and high-octane offense. So, fans had plenty to be happy about. I was originally going to do the Edmonton Oilers, but then I remembered they blocked me from their subreddit, so fuck them! :) Anyways, let's look at the chart: There you have it, the literal ups-and-downs of an NHL season. Now, to understand what these numbers mean, we need to ...