Will I write about the Molson Cup every month? Maybe. Certainly if it keeps providing interesting story lines I will.
To start the season, the Habs entrusted the selection of the game's three stars to the wider fan population - well they thought it would be wide. Since that time, a few home truths have been reproven: the voting Montreal fans are tenderphiles (that is they have a goalie fetish) and most Montreal fans don't care enough to vote.
Last game, Carey Price was awarded with the Molson Cup for December. It is debatable whether he was the right choice, but the Molson Cup doesn't score bad games, only good ones. The award was accompanied by a press release announcing the feat and a dubious headline: "Carey Price earns Molson Cup in December".
Usually these press releases aren't worth reading, so I'm sure you may have all spent your time doing other things. But in not reading, you may have missed a very interesting tidbit - that is the number of votes.
Carey Price "earned" the Molson Cup by bringing in just over 3,000 votes in his 13 starts (or 235 votes a start). His biggest rivals were Cammalleri and Gionta who managed an embarrassing 165 and 120 votes per game, respectively.
The embarrassment doesn't lie with the players though. Rather it lies with the people that thought charging people to text in their choice for player of the game would catch on like wildfire.
Based on the published numbers, the absolute maximum number of people that could have voted last month (assuming some amount of reason) is about 30,000 - and that would require a 12 way tie for fourth one point behind Gionta. When I plugged in some generous guesswork, I came up with about 1,200 per game joining in this Bell promotion. A more realistic expectation is that less than 1,000 people care enough to vote.
This is less voters than some websites get comments during a game. Trust me, thousands care about these results, just not enough to go on the Habs own website and vote. Now this wouldn't matter in the least if this was a website to website affair. It isn't. The Canadiens still ceremoniously trot out the Cup and its "winner" on the first home game of the month and lavish on a ceremony. Personally, I think the ceremony embarrasses the team given the basis on which it is built this year.
Maybe it's just a matter of time and I'm jumping the gun here. What do you think?
Price has won the Molson Cup for the season
Looking through the votes, the history of this Cup and the trends, I feel I have enough evidence to say that Price will win this Cup for the season. He has taken it in three straight months now. His lead in absolute votes can be no less than 8,000. So unless he never gets a vote again and the forwards stop splitting the spoils (the highest possible forward total is 8,373 right now, and much more likely to be significantly lower than that), then there's no other possible result. This is especially true given that Price can win the month with a month like he just had.
Maybe the team should just get all the embarrassing ceremonies out of the way sooner rather than later. Next game, Cups for February, March, April and season?
This isn't a very bold prediction in my books. I made it nearly 3 months ago as well. He nearly won the Cup last year!
Showing posts with label Molson Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Molson Cup. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The Need For A New Cup
Today, we got the "surprise" news that Carey Price will be receiving the Molson Cup for the second consecutive time. It was even less of a surprise this year, because of the new system of voting.
Carey Price is very much deserving of the Award from November, and he'd have won it with any form of voting and tabulation. I have no issue with the award going to him this month, this year (he's probably got enough votes in the bank already with the new voting system!).
I do, however, take issue with the Molson Cup as a whole.
In reality, the award might as well be given on the basis of a vote on the final day of the season:
"Who should win the Cup? The goalie or the leading point getter?"
Cynical? Only because it's true.
Since Wikipedia records begin on this award, it has been given to 37 different Canadiens. 37 chances to honour the player of the year. In that time, the award has been given 16 times to a goalie and 20 times to a forward. 13 times the forward was the high scorer, 2 times the top goalscorer, 3 times second in scoring.
There were a total of 2 forwards who weren't at the very top, and a single defenceman honoured from a list of alumni that includes the Big Three (Robinson, Savard and Lapointe), Langway, Chelios and now Markov.
Around the Canadian teams, it's been largely the same story.
122 times a forward (85 high scorers, 10 high goal-getters, 15 second scorers), 78 times a goalie and a measly 7 times for defencemen. This group now includes guys like Housley, MacInnis, Coffey and Salming (he actually accounts for the majority of those), etc.
The age of the goaltender
Since the age of the goaltender began (I put this at around 1994), the stats are even more skewed. There's a single defenceman from across 6 teams with a Molson Cup (Kaberle last year) and 50 goalies.
The Habs are even more goalie happy (I think we knew that), and for them it's been 11 goalies in 16 chances to give the award. Sure Patrick Roy got it twice in there, but so did Hackett, Huet and price even in so-so years.
Does this seem right?
I thought there was a reasonably good premise making the rounds that one built a team with defence. Give me a good defenceman and I'll give you a solid team for years.
When we talk about the 1970s dynasty, The Big Three are rarely omitted from conversation. When the 1980s come up, we probably look to Robinson and Chelios rather than Tremblay and Penney.
Yet, the Molson Cup as an award is almost completely unavailable to defencemen because of the way the stars are chosen.
It's easy to see how it happens. Not paying attention? need to get those stars in? Who scored? Who got more than 1 point? Does the goalie have a save percentage over 0.900?
Over a season, it's even easier. The goalie plays 60 minutes of each game, it's his star to lose it seems. A player scores, and it's almost certain it's an important goal. But a good defensive effort? Well that's nice, but we'll put that on file for a later time. Rinse, repeat.
I know the players probably don't put much stock in an award they know to be faulty. I know they still think Markov was their best player last season and the one before that, even though there are other names on the Molson Cup. Yet it seems a shame then that the only trophy publicly honouring a "player of the year" is this one.
That's why I ask whether there should be another trophy to award to the player who was the team's most valuable for the year. Perhaps not to replace the Molson Cup and the "wonderful" fan experience we get from paying Bell for the privelege to vote, perhaps to complement it.
At this point, Price would win the new one too, but at least he couldn't be doubted for simply winning an award by virtue of being a goaltender.
Carey Price is very much deserving of the Award from November, and he'd have won it with any form of voting and tabulation. I have no issue with the award going to him this month, this year (he's probably got enough votes in the bank already with the new voting system!).
I do, however, take issue with the Molson Cup as a whole.
In reality, the award might as well be given on the basis of a vote on the final day of the season:
"Who should win the Cup? The goalie or the leading point getter?"
Cynical? Only because it's true.
Since Wikipedia records begin on this award, it has been given to 37 different Canadiens. 37 chances to honour the player of the year. In that time, the award has been given 16 times to a goalie and 20 times to a forward. 13 times the forward was the high scorer, 2 times the top goalscorer, 3 times second in scoring.
There were a total of 2 forwards who weren't at the very top, and a single defenceman honoured from a list of alumni that includes the Big Three (Robinson, Savard and Lapointe), Langway, Chelios and now Markov.
Around the Canadian teams, it's been largely the same story.
122 times a forward (85 high scorers, 10 high goal-getters, 15 second scorers), 78 times a goalie and a measly 7 times for defencemen. This group now includes guys like Housley, MacInnis, Coffey and Salming (he actually accounts for the majority of those), etc.
The age of the goaltender
Since the age of the goaltender began (I put this at around 1994), the stats are even more skewed. There's a single defenceman from across 6 teams with a Molson Cup (Kaberle last year) and 50 goalies.
The Habs are even more goalie happy (I think we knew that), and for them it's been 11 goalies in 16 chances to give the award. Sure Patrick Roy got it twice in there, but so did Hackett, Huet and price even in so-so years.
Does this seem right?
I thought there was a reasonably good premise making the rounds that one built a team with defence. Give me a good defenceman and I'll give you a solid team for years.
When we talk about the 1970s dynasty, The Big Three are rarely omitted from conversation. When the 1980s come up, we probably look to Robinson and Chelios rather than Tremblay and Penney.
Yet, the Molson Cup as an award is almost completely unavailable to defencemen because of the way the stars are chosen.
It's easy to see how it happens. Not paying attention? need to get those stars in? Who scored? Who got more than 1 point? Does the goalie have a save percentage over 0.900?
Over a season, it's even easier. The goalie plays 60 minutes of each game, it's his star to lose it seems. A player scores, and it's almost certain it's an important goal. But a good defensive effort? Well that's nice, but we'll put that on file for a later time. Rinse, repeat.
I know the players probably don't put much stock in an award they know to be faulty. I know they still think Markov was their best player last season and the one before that, even though there are other names on the Molson Cup. Yet it seems a shame then that the only trophy publicly honouring a "player of the year" is this one.
That's why I ask whether there should be another trophy to award to the player who was the team's most valuable for the year. Perhaps not to replace the Molson Cup and the "wonderful" fan experience we get from paying Bell for the privelege to vote, perhaps to complement it.
At this point, Price would win the new one too, but at least he couldn't be doubted for simply winning an award by virtue of being a goaltender.
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