I asked ChatGPT to rate NHL goalies based on the prompt shown and got interesting results

 This prompt emphasizes that save percentage is backwards -- we should be thinking about percentage of shots not saved. I liked the results from this prompt:

I am drafting two hockey goalies for a fantasy NHL draft. For each goalie in the NHL, obtain their goaltending statistics from https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2025_goalies.html . Save percentage is worth 20%. For save percentage, we are actually evaluating the percentage of shots _not_ saved. Use this formula 20 - (((1 - save percentage) * 20) ^2). Any numbers below zero count as zero. Games played is worth 40%. Take the number of games played, divide by 82 games, and multiply by 40 to get the number of points for this criteria. Wins are worth 20%. Use this formula: (wins/82) * 20. Shutouts are worth 20%. Use this formula: (shutouts/8)*20. Deliver the results in table format, sorted by total points ranking: [goalie name] [team][games played points] [shutout points] [save percentage points] [wins points]. Provide a downloadable table. List the top 20.

ChatGPT noted: 

Notes & Observations

• Connor Hellebuyck leads by a wide margin—strong across all categories, especially shutouts and saves.

• Darcy Kuemper not in top initially, but strong SV % and good totals put him solidly in the top 5.

• Igor Shesterkin, Ilya Sorokin, Sam Montembeault hover in the high 60s with balanced performance.

• A few duplicates were removed to ensure unique goalie listings.

It gave me the top 18 becayse Vejmelka and Lankinen were listed twice (for different teams) in the data sent that I provided. 

Rank	Goalie	Team	GP	SO	SV%	GP_pts	SV%_pts	W	W_pts	SO_pts	Total
1	Connor Hellebuyck	WPG	63	8	0.925	30.73	17.75	47	11.46	20.00	79.94
2	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	63	6	0.921	30.73	17.50	38	9.27	15.00	72.50
3	Filip Gustavsson	MIN	58	5	0.914	28.29	17.04	31	7.56	12.50	65.39
4	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	61	6	0.905	29.76	16.39	27	6.59	15.00	67.74
5	Ilya Sorokin	NYI	61	4	0.907	29.76	16.54	30	7.32	10.00	63.62
6	Sam Montembeault	MTL	62	4	0.901	30.24	16.08	31	7.56	10.00	63.88
7	Adin Hill	VEG	50	4	0.906	24.39	16.48	32	7.80	10.00	58.67
8	Juuse Saros	NSH	58	4	0.895	28.29	15.19	20	4.88	10.00	58.36
9	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	58	4	0.892	28.29	14.75	22	5.37	10.00	58.41
10	Jordan Binnington	STL	56	3	0.900	27.32	16.00	28	6.83	7.50	57.65
11	Karel Vejmelka	UTA	58	1	0.904	28.29	16.31	26	6.34	2.50	53.44
12	Kevin Lankinen	VAN	51	4	0.902	24.85	16.00	25	6.10	10.00	56.95
13	Stuart Skinner	EDM	51	3	0.896	24.85	15.37	26	6.34	7.50	54.06
14	Jake Oettinger	DAL	58	2	0.909	28.29	16.69	36	8.78	5.00	58.76
15	Anthony Stolarz	TOR	34	4	0.926	16.59	17.90	21	5.12	10.00	49.61
16	Jake Allen	NJD	31	4	0.906	15.12	16.48	13	3.17	10.00	44.77
17	Scott Wedgewood	COL	19	2	0.917	9.27	17.03	13	3.17	5.00	34.47
18	Justus Annunen	NSH	23	0	0.888	11.22	13.11	9	2.20	0.00	26.53

Note that I forget to tell ChatGPT to rank by total points. The table should look like this:

Rank	Goalie	Team	GP	SO	SV%	GP_pts	SV%_pts	W	W_pts	SO_pts	Total
1	Connor Hellebuyck	WPG	63	8	0.925	30.73	17.75	47	11.46	20.00	79.94
2	Andrei Vasilevskiy	TBL	63	6	0.921	30.73	17.50	38	9.27	15.00	72.50
4	Igor Shesterkin	NYR	61	6	0.905	29.76	16.39	27	6.59	15.00	67.74
3	Filip Gustavsson	MIN	58	5	0.914	28.29	17.04	31	7.56	12.50	65.39
6	Sam Montembeault	MTL	62	4	0.901	30.24	16.08	31	7.56	10.00	63.88
5	Ilya Sorokin	NYI	61	4	0.907	29.76	16.54	30	7.32	10.00	63.62
14	Jake Oettinger	DAL	58	2	0.909	28.29	16.69	36	8.78	5.00	58.76
7	Adin Hill	VEG	50	4	0.906	24.39	16.48	32	7.80	10.00	58.67
9	Jeremy Swayman	BOS	58	4	0.892	28.29	14.75	22	5.37	10.00	58.41
8	Juuse Saros	NSH	58	4	0.895	28.29	15.19	20	4.88	10.00	58.36
10	Jordan Binnington	STL	56	3	0.900	27.32	16.00	28	6.83	7.50	57.65
12	Kevin Lankinen	VAN	51	4	0.902	24.85	16.00	25	6.10	10.00	56.95
13	Stuart Skinner	EDM	51	3	0.896	24.85	15.37	26	6.34	7.50	54.06
11	Karel Vejmelka	UTA	58	1	0.904	28.29	16.31	26	6.34	2.50	53.44
15	Anthony Stolarz	TOR	34	4	0.926	16.59	17.90	21	5.12	10.00	49.61
16	Jake Allen	NJD	31	4	0.906	15.12	16.48	13	3.17	10.00	44.77
17	Scott Wedgewood	COL	19	2	0.917	9.27	17.03	13	3.17	5.00	34.47
18	Justus Annunen	NSH	23	0	0.888	11.22	13.11	9	2.20	0.00	26.53

Bobrovsky is -- notably -- missing, as are others (Wolf, Markstrom). The point here is that goalie performance drops fast. Darcy Kemper should be on the list but is not. 

NHL Schedule Will Be Rough on Superstars

 ESPN is reporting that the NHL has agreed on a conference format and 2021 season schedule: 56 games in 115 days. That means teams will play almost every other day, with perhaps an extra day off after back-to-back games. There will be many of those because teams will not play outside their division.

So the teams that have depth at every position will do better than those that rely on one or two superstars. The best goalie tandems, I believe, are in Las Vegas and Columbus. The most forward depth is in Tampa Bay and perhaps the Rangers. 

If you are picking fantasy hockey, your first round draft pick may be less important this year than in previous years. This will be a harsh schedule and if the top superstars don't get less ice time, they will be injured.

7 year old has a concussion

https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/an-eight-year-old-boy-was-suspended-five-games-for-this-hit-and-there-are-lessons-we-can-all-learn-from-that

When the London Knights hold their annual Teddy Bear Toss tonight, seven-year-old Brandon Jonkhans won’t be at the game, even though his family has season tickets and it’s his favorite game of the year. That’s because, under doctor’s orders, Brandon Jonkhans can’t be in a big, noisy crowd or in a place with a lot of lights. He also has a severe headache and dizziness and can’t do much of anything, including going to school for two weeks. “He truthfully is not doing very well,” said his mother, Meghan.

CONCACAF Corruption

Mexico wins one game with a controversial penalty call in the 123rd minute. Tonight, a strange red card decides the game. Clear corruption in Mexico's favor. Where's the money coming from? Coca Cola? Nike? El Chapo? Well, I'm glad I did not watch the rest of it. FIFA had to give Mexico two penalty kicks. Even the Panamanian players are calling FIFA corrupt thieves (presumably, their careers are at risk for their honesty).

Nate Silver Says: Take Teams from the South and Put Them in Toronto and Quebec

. . . for purely economical reasons.

The stats guy is right!

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/why-cant-canada-win-the-stanley-cup/

NHL Needs Postseason Suspensions

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/brendan-shanahan-nhl-inconsistancy-repeat-offenders-trending-topics-142315819.html


http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/2013-nhl-stanley-cup-playoffs-second-round-slideshow/york-rangers-left-wing-pyatt-stands-over-boston-photo-012313798.html

NHL MUST call these 5 minute majors

THANK YOU referees for calling a 5 minute major on that hit on Lyudman. The hit was legal as a hit, but carried an intent to injure that deserves a 5 minute major.

Thank you for protecting players against concussions.

A updated Three Conference Proposal

Six divisons

If we must keep six divisions, the easiest change is to move Winnipeg and Toronto to the West and move Dallas and Nashville to the South, which looks like this:

Atlantic: PHI, PIT, NYR, NJD, WAS
Northeast: NYI, BOS, MTL, OTT, BUF
South: DAL, NSH, TB, FLA, CAR

Central: TOR, DET, CHI, CLB, STL
Northwest: CALGARY, EDM, COL, WPG, MIN
Pacific: VAN, ANH, LA, SJ, PHX

If the Islanders then move to Kansas, bring Columbus East and you get

Atlantic: PHI, PIT, CLB, NJD, WAS
Northeast: NYR, BOS, MTL, OTT, BUF
South: DAL, NSH, TB, FLA, CAR

Central: TOR, DET, CHI, KANSAS Islanders, STL
Northwest: CALGARY, EDM, COL, WPG, MIN
Pacific: VAN, ANH, LA, SJ, PHX



I think that a three conference system would work well.

Here are my three conferences (feel free to suggest others): Northeast, West, and South. Each has 10 teams:

South

Carolina, Florida, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Dallas, St. Louis, Columbus, Colorado, Minnesota, and Phoenix

Northeast

Montreal, Ottawa, Buffalo, Boston, NY, NYI, NJ, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia

Northwest

Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Winnepeg

Playoff system:

Two possibilities: each conference winner ranked 1 2 3, followed by the remaining teams from any conference to 16.

Top 2, 3, or 4 teams in each conference make the playoffs. As long as there are matchups within a conference then teams match up within conference.

Examples:

If in round one, the three conferences provide 4 4 and 8 teams, round 2 they provide 2 2 and 4 teams in round three they provide 1 1 and 2 teams, and then the conference final is the winner of the deepest conference vs. the winner of the other playoff series.


In gets more complex if the three conferences provide 5 5 and 6 teams. The fifth ranked teams of two conferences play each other. In round 2, the conferences provide 3 2 and 3 teams. Again, the third ranked teams from two conferences play each other. In round 3, the conferences provide 2 1 and 1 teams, so then we're back at the situation above?).


Note that you could argue that giving the last placed team an opponent who is another last placed team benefits those last place teams. So you might, instead, pit the middle teams against each other. In the case of two conferences providing 5 teams each, each conference's third ranked team would play off against each other. In the case of two conferences with 3 teams each, the second ranked teams would play off against each other.

Change the number of games played in a season

I would advocate 76 games: each team plays 4 games against the 9 other teams in conference, and 2 games against each of the other 20 teams -- but if each team plays each conference team 4x plus every team in one other conference 2x plus every team in the third conference 1x you end up with 66 games a year, which would be better for our frequently injured players.

Thank you NHL, for Sending Colin Campbell Away

Hooray for Shanahan!

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/41593-New-sheriff-in-town-Shanahan-prepares-to-assume-new-role-as-NHL-disciplinarian.html

When Gregory Campbell Gets His Stanley Cup

Could Colin Campbell please retire?

He is corrupt. The NHL needs a new head of discipline so that it can finally establish a real rule to protect players against concussions.

Press Begins to Argue for an End to Head Shots

Although Wyshynski is right that visors should be mandatory and seamless glass should be eliminated, he's on the wrong side of hockey history when he writes: "Not banning hits to the head across the board is, ultimately, a good thing, because it would severely limit the physicality with which the game is played. The NHL did the right thing by drawing a line in the sand and saying the cheap-shot plays that target a player's head gotta go."

Wyshynski's more recent posts have been counterproductive.

The truth is that it is wrong to ask the referee to decide about the player's intention in any particular hit. It's even worse to ask the corrupt Colin Campbell to make that judgment.

He does get some interesting posts (and a lot of profanity) when he asks readers if violence made them consider quitting the NHL.

Recognizing the need for change

Back in the real world, The Montreal Gazette says that hockey's management "isn't using its head": "No suspension for Boston's Zdeno Chara, nada. Once again the National Hockey League had a chance to send a strong message to protect its players, and once again it blew the call. It's a miracle this decision, or non-decision, didn't launch a modern day version of the 1955 Rocket Richard riot in Montreal. Then again, in a sense, it did."

This after hockey's general managers decided not to ban head shots -- but did call for longer suspensions.

One former general manager and current blogger for The Hockey News called for the league to recognize a distinction between the violent and the dangerous, saying that the league needs to eliminate danger, not violence. Dangerous hits -- those that can end careers -- include hits to the knee, ankle, and head. Player can come back from bruises and even broken arms but the league has recognized that head and knee injuries can end a career (the league has failed to crack down on ankle injuries).

Journalists outside of the profession are quicker to call for change. Bob Herbert of The New York Times said that the NFL needs to protect players' heads.

It seems possible that the NFL will act before the NHL does and if that happens -- the NHL general managers will take the blame for failing to crack down on danger and for failing to fire Colin Campbell.

Looking back at Matt Cooke

So, is Matt Cooke chicken excrement, as Roenick said? Was the suspension long enough?

Clearly, the short suspension of Matt Cooke sent the message that head shots are okay.

Colin Campbell is Killing the NHL

The NHL needs to enforce the rules consistently, and Colin Campbell will ensure that never happens. The hit by Chara on Pacioretty was deliberate and nasty. But the Boston Bruins had purchased several insurance policies.

First, they hired Campbell's son Gregory. After the hit on Savard, the Bruins knew that Campbell was for sale. Savard angered Campbell when Campbell was the incompetent manager of the NY Rangers. Campbell let many great players go, most of them Russian (such as Zubov), but none left with more rancor than Savard. Savard wanted more money and Campbell would not give it to him. Years later, Savard had proved Campbell wrong by becoming one of the game's best players, when Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke effectively ended his career with a deliberate concussion-causing hit.

Zubov was let go because he angered Campbell by insisting on not playing with a broken wrist.

Colin hated Savard because his son Gregory had hit Savard in the face with his hockey stick. In a note to referees, Campbell called Savard "a little fake artist," in effect calling open season on hits to Savard.

Cooke received no punishment for ending Savard's career in March of 2010. During the summer of 2010, the Bruins acquired superstar Nathan Horton and also Gregory Campbell from Florida in exchange for several valuable draft picks and underrated defenseman Dennis Wideman.

In Campbell, the Bruins acquired not only a fourth line player earning less than a million dollars per year. They also acquired a license to kill from Colin Campbell.

The Bruins increased their investment in Colin Campbell by helping him get a contract extension that's work $35 million over five years.

The NHL has to change.

Campbell's policies are a joke to some, but they cause real harm to the league, the players, and the sport.

Even journalists in Toronto, hockey's corporate HQ, are losing their patience. "The league did once kick out two players – both with the Bruins – for life. But that was for gambling back in the 1940s. In 2011, it is the league itself that is gambling. But not on games – on lives."

The game is getting ridiculous and Campbell's part of the problem. "If it wasn't embarrassing, it was at least another extremely awkward moment for the NHL, vis-à-vis its Director of Hockey Operations, Colin Campbell, and the involvement of his son, Gregory, in Thursday night's WWE-style game between Boston and Dallas. It had to be awkward for Commissioner Gary Bettman to see his chief of discipline forced to recuse himself from meting out punishments for a game that had several fights -- three within the first four seconds -- and one cheap, blindside hit that earned its perpetrator a four-game suspension."

Mario Lemieux has threatened to leave. "If the events relating to Friday night reflect the state of the league, I need to rethink whether I want to be a part of it."

Lemieux needs to stay, Campbell needs to leave, and someone in hockey journalism or among hockey's owners needs to call out Colin Campbell.

In Football and Hockey, Players Fear Concussions

Terribly sad stories recently. Two football suicides have been connected to brain injuries, that of 21 year old Penn State player Owen Thomas and of retired Chicago Bears pro player Dave Duerson.

"Duerson sent text messages to his family before he shot himself specifically requesting that his brain be examined for damage, two people aware of the messages said. Another person close to Duerson, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Duerson had commented to him in recent months that he might have C.T.E., an incurable disease linked to depression, impaired impulse control and cognitive decline."

"Owen Thomas was in the early stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a disease that has been linked to depression and impulse control, primarily among NFL players."

The NFL has donated $1 million -- which is pocket change for the league -- to Boston University School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy.

The NHL should match the donation, because it has the same problems. NHL professional fighter Bob Probert died at 45. "Hockey's enduring tolerance for and celebration of fighting will almost certainly be tested anew now that Probert, more pugilist than playmaker, has become the first contemporary hockey player to show C.T.E. after death."

Probert knew that something was wrong. "Probert, however, knew the 16 seasons of pounding he absorbed as one of the league's foremost pugilists as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings had taken a toll. Before he died of a massive heart attack, Probert asked family members to forward his brain to researchers known best for studying concussions in football players."

The NHL needs to act. Clearly, appeals based on the health of the players and of the sport won't work, so journalists who care are pointing out that the NHL should act in order to preserve its own financial health.

The first thing that the NHL should do is to enforce the rules clearly and consistently, and to fire the man who's currently in charge of enforcement, the corrupt Colin Campbell.

Head Shots are Killing the NHL

Too many great players have concussions. Unlike broken bones and teeth, these head injuries may never heal. Every new injury carries with it the risk of permanent paralysis or even death.

The NHL All Star game was harmed by the absence of Sidney Crosby. "Crosby is far from the only player to miss time or even the all-star game because of a concussion - according to team releases and media reports, more than 30 players have suffered concussions this season, including Edmonton all-star Ales Hemsky - but the Penguins star's injury has sparked greater debate about how the NHL regulates hits to the head and handles a growing need for concussion awareness."

Players are critical of NHL policy. Florida Panthers star David Booth said, "over time, I think they'll get more strict because there are still a lot of injuries now, the best player in the game is affected."

So many players have had concussions this year that you could create an All Star team with them:

Centre: Sidney Crosby, Brad Richards, Marc Savard, David Krejci, John Tavares, Bryan Little

Left wing: Johan Franzen, Andy McDonald, David Perron, Max Pacioretty, Rene Bourque

Right wing: Marian Gaborik, Ales Hemsky, Jason Pominville, Mike Knuble

Defence: Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Brad Stuart, Toni Lydman, Dan Hamhuis, Andrej Meszaros, Nick Schultz

Goal: Jonas Hiller, Ondrej Pavelec

But the NHL believes instead that violence should be encouraged. "Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn't hockey. It was a travesty," Lemieux said. "It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that."

Kudos to those hockey journalists who are tackling this important issue. The solution is simple: "legislate it out."

Detroit Fans Are Okay

It's okay to boo sometimes.

Detroit's fans are the most supportive I've seen. I've seen them rock the house when their team scored a goal to make it 3-1 againt.