Rick Nash’s 96 goals and more fun with small sample sizes after NHL’s first two weeks

I once had a boss who loved to take early season statistics and project them over a full season. It was an embrace of improbability yet it captured an aspect of sports fandom: the belief that anything can happen. For fans, sport is a place of hope and not reason, of debate and not proof.

With that in mind, let us extrapolate the season in full from the season so far (all stats through Monday’s games), and enjoy the ephemera:

At this pace, Cody McLeod of the Colorado Avalanche will have 41 fights.

At this pace, the Carolina Hurricanes will win zero games.

At this pace, Sidney Crosby will win the scoring title with 184 points.

At this pace, Rick Nash will rack up 96 goals and 14 assists.

At this pace, there will be 234 shut-outs. (The rate so far of a shut-out every 5.2 games easily trumps last year’s rate of a shut-out every 7.5 games.)

At this pace, the Montreal Canadiens and Anaheim Ducks will rack up 137 points.

At this pace, no coach will be fired.

At this pace, Ryan Suter of the Minnesota Wild will lead the league in ice time at 28 minutes, 51 seconds per game. (This one could actually happen.)

At this pace, Jaromir Jagr will be the oldest player in the league at season’s end.

At this pace, they won’t get around to deciding the Stanley Cup until June.

It’s a long season. Anything can happen.

rmckenzie@thenational.ae

Rick Nash’s 96 goals and more fun with small sample sizes after NHL’s first two weeks

Rob McKenzie looks at the unlikely final totals some teams and players would finish with if they kept up their current pace.