As a group of fans, we have quite a bit of fun with Steve Simmons. It's hard not to when he is so aggressively ignorant and generally awful at his job. The fact that he won some dumb award speaks more to his colleagues' intelligence than to his quality as a sports writer. One area in particular that he has decided to focus his ignorance on is the area of statistics that go beyond goals and assists. Here's a gem from him:

That night, the Leafs' record was 9-4-0 and had the Leafs at the top of the Eastern Conference with 18 points. That was a 114 point pace over an 82 game season and the sun was shining a little brighter each day. How have the Leafs done since then? Their record has been 7-10-3 for 17 points. That stretch represents a 70 point pace over a full season. The Leafs current pace based on their full season thus far? 87 points.

That tweet came after a Leafs win over the juggernaut-in-waiting Oilers. The only wins in regulation since then have come against the following teams (current league ranks in parentheses):

Have the Leafs just been wildly unlucky? Friend of the blog Cam Charron points out that the team's PDO over this stretch has been 100.6 *sad trombone*. Is this a 70 point team? No more than it is a 114 point team. However, if I was to place my money on which one was closer to being the reality...Let's just say that I'm glad the Leafs don't play in the CORSI hockey league either because they'd be doing a lot worse but I think the good ship 'just fine in the NHL' has sailed.

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