ent is such that there was considerable concern when the U.S. managed only a 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in the opening match.

If you polled thirty NHL general managers on what his respective team’s biggest need was going forward, I would estimate that about half would respond with ‘developing or acquiring a top-four defenceman’. It’s a fair request with the way the sport has progressed in recent years – the days of true defensive defencemen look to be in the past, with a premium placed on skating and high-end puck-moving ability to beat aggressive forechecking and attack through the neutral zone with control of the puck. Goaltending withstanding, I think disparities in blue-liner ability from team to team may be the most noticeable aspect of the sport today. The Chicago Blackhawks have made a living off of a highly-mobile defense that can flip the ice and complement the attack of their talented forward group. The Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils have their share of competent and talented forwards in the top-six, but simply don’t have the blue-line capabilities to consistently threaten as a five-man unit. Ultimately, it’s one of the big reasons why they struggle so mightily to score goals at even-strength. They spend too much time in the defensive zone, and they are impossibly slow relative to the rest of the league at getting up ice with pace and control. The increase in demand for this particular defenceman has created for a fascinating trade market, one that’s going to heat up over the next six weeks. More than half of the league reaches the playoffs already, and there are another handful of hopefuls who will still approach the trade deadline as buyers despite unfavorable odds. Consequently, if you are a seller holding one of these plus-skating, plus-puck moving defenders, you’re in a decent position. Two players in particular who should command decent returns as trade rentals are Jeff Petry of the Edmonton Oilers, and Andrej Sekera of the Carolina Hurricanes. Now, there’s a reasonable argument to be made that their respective teams should be seriously considering extensions – top-four guys don’t grow on trees, and these teams need all of the talent they can get. But, if you think the Petry/Sekera ships have sailed (and believe that the tank race is on), then you may consider shipping them out to the highest bidder. Let’s look at this from a buyer’s perspective. Why does Jeff Petry ($3-million expiring contract) and Andrej Sekera ($1.75-million expiring contract) make sense for the contenders in need of a defenceman? For one, it’s clear that they are both top-four defencemen. By grabbing the last four years of data and providing appropriate filters (3000+ minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time, and a RelativeCorsi% of at least +1.0), only 53-players make the cut. You’ll notice that our ice-time and RelativeCorsi% filters basically created a situation in which only first-pairing defenders and highly-productive second-pairing defenders qualified. You can fact check this by looking up your favorite NHL defenceman, and finding him on this graph. (Or, finding your least favorite defenceman, and noticing his omission.) It’s a nice way to stomp out potential biases and create comparables going forward. Here, Jeff Petry – who has toiled in Edmonton for years – sits right next to players like Johnny Boychuk and Ryan Suter. He hasn’t been as productive a scorer as many of the other defenders, but the Oilers have been more than two percentage points better in Corsi% with Petry on the ice. And, look at Andrej Sekera’s company! He’s bordered by talent in every direction, his production – at least on this graph – indiscernible from the likes of James Wisniewski, Nick Leddy, Keith Yandle, and Duncan Keith. RelativeCorsi% is clear on both Petry and Sekera – their teams control play favourably when they’re operating on the blue-line, less so when they change out for other defencemen. Those skeptical of the merits Corsi% may be interested in seeing how Edmonton and Buffalo/Carolina did with and without the player, but through the lens of another metric. Like, scoring chances. We know scoring chances pretty closely mirror Corsi%, but it’s an avenue worth traversing once more, if only to strengthen our theory. What I’ve done below is pulled out scoring chance with/without numbers for each player over the same timeframe courtesy War on Ice. We know Petry and Sekera’s teams were better territorially with them on the ice. But, were they better from a scoring chance aspect? First, Petry: The lockout season wasn’t kind to Jeff Petry – it was the only season we can see where Edmonton may have been better without him from a scoring chance perspective. Beyond that, this graph is convincing – especially over the last hundred games. Based on the consistent reports about his availability via trade, I worry that Edmonton doesn’t know what kind of player they have. Or, that they don’t know how bad things get when other defencemen are taking regular shifts. Now, Sekera: Sekera’s relative numbers were great in Buffalo, but have since skirted towards the team averages in Carolina. Still, for a guy carrying just a $1.75MM cap hit – one that would be paid out on a pro-rated basis if acquired at the trade deadline – the data’s pretty encouraging. We know Sekera’s one of fifty or so regular defenders who have carried positive possession numbers for a long period of time. The scoring chance data may have looked better in Buffalo than it did in Carolina, but that doesn’t mean he’s underwater. The Oilers and Hurricanes are in a tricky spot here. They need to retain as much NHL-talent as possible, but there’s always the possibility that Petry and Sekera just want to play out their contracts and sign with better teams in the off-season. You can’t risk losing quality players for nothing. To that extent, Craig MacTavish and Ron Francis are in a simple position: sell these players to the highest bidders over the next six weeks. Ecco Shoes Wholesale . -- Billy Donovans bench came up big, bailing out top-seeded Florida in a tight game against what was supposed to be an overmatched opponent. Discount Ecco Shoes Online . Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday. http://www.cheapecco.us/. Needing to bulk up on both sides of the line, the Falcons agreed to terms with guard Jon Asamoah, defensive end Tyson Jackson and defensive tackle Paul Soliai. Asamoah and Jackson played last season with Kansas City, where Asamoah lost his starting job. Discount Ecco Shoes Sale . Kelli Stack and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who avoided a repeat of Finlands upset at the Four Nations Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. Finnish goalie Noora Raty made 58 saves in that one, but the three-time Olympian could stop just 40 of 43 U. Ecco Shoes Sale Outlet . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta.WASHINGTON - The U.S womens soccer team is winning in a no-win situation. Of course, the Americans should beat Haiti by a bunch of goals. And, of course, the Haitians are going to park themselves in front of their own net to keep the score as respectable as possible.But the games must take place, part of the mandated ritual to qualify for next summers World Cup. The United States completed Part I on Monday night with a predictable 6-0 win over underfunded, awe-struck Haiti to finish unbeaten — and unscored upon — in group play in the CONCACAF championship.Often times, after tournaments like this, you might want to put these videos in a box and send them off, said Abby Wambach, who scored twice, because this is not indicative of the team that we are.Wambach increased her world-record tally to 173 international goals. Carli Lloyd, Meghan Klingenberg, Christen Press and Morgan Brian also scored for the Americans, who advanced to the semifinals to be played Friday at the Philadelphia Unions stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The top three teams qualify for next years World Cup in Canada, while the fourth-place team will face Ecuador in a playoff.The Americans are the overwhelming favourite to win the tournament, facing mostly small countries where womens soccer is a low priority. Canada, the other North American powerhouse, isnt participating because it automatically qualifies for the World Cup as the host nation.As soon as we figure out how to play against some of these teams that are going to sit back and bunker against us, the tournament will be over, Wambach said. It doesnt even look pretty.The loss eliminated Haiti, which put together a valiant qualifying effort while training in months-long spurts in Indiana. The Haitians are 0-4 overall against the U.S., having lost 10-0 in 1991, 8-0 in 2004 and 5-00 in 2010.ddddddddddddWere amateur part-timers competing against full-time pros, Haiti coach Shek Borkowski said.And, as if finding quality talent wasnt challenging enough, Borkowski found his players unprepared for the big stage after their humble preparation.Coming here and staying in good hotels and flying everywhere, for them it was just like a big Christmas party, Borkowski said. We lack that professional approach to tournaments such as this.The talent gap in the tournament is such that there was considerable concern when the U.S. managed only a 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in the opening match. That was followed by a more comfortable 5-0 rout of Guatemala. In each game — and again on Monday — the Americans controlled the action against an underdog that packed the box and hoped to somehow score on a counterattack.The U.S. outshot the Haitians 20-1, including 12-0 in shots on goal. Ashlyn Harris, getting a rare start in place of Hope Solo, got the shutout without having to make a save — just as Solo did against Guatemala.The biggest hiccup along the way has been the sprained ankle for forward Alex Morgan against Guatemala, ruling her out for the rest of the tournament.World powers such as Japan or Germany will give the U.S. plenty of stiff competition next summer. Meanwhile, its best games might come when the Americans starters play the American reserves. In fact, both teams could probably qualify for the World Cup.In practice, when we play 11-a-side, its two of the very best teams in the world going at each other for 90 minutes, Wambach said. Its actually really fun soccer to watch. And so from a spectator point of view, I feel bad (about the games in this tournament) because I want people to enjoy what they see.___Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP ' ' '