At the Quarter Mark

With six teams, the season is now up to 20 games; the teams play each other four times, twice at home and twice on the road. To date, each team has played the other five teams once, meaning we're at the one-quarter mark of the schedule. If the playoffs started today, the Victorias, Comets, Millionaires, and Bulldogs would snag the four spots in the expanded playoff format, while the Thistles and Bearcats would be out. These results aren't much of a surprise, nor is it surprising that Cyclone Taylor currently leads in points (10) and Frank McGee leads in goals (6). 

Nevertheless, Season 7 has provided a few interesting twists thus far. Bulldogs blueliner Frank Patrick finished as runner-up for Rookie of the Year and Defenseman MVP last season, but he's mired in a horrific sophomore slump (0 G, 2 A, -6) that's dragging down his team. This year's most heralded rookie, goalie Hap Holmes of the expansion Bearcats, has struggled tremendously, while winger Jack Darragh (2 G, 4 A, +1) of the Thistles has emerged as the leading candidate for the rookie crown. I thought Holmes might help the Bearcats stay competitive, but at 0-4-1, the Cats are having a historically awful season; they're last in goals per game (1.80), goals against per game (3.40), and goal differential (-8), and second-to-last in both power-play percentage and penalty killing. As for other interesting tidbits, we're seeing a remarkable disparity in penalty calls, as the Millionaires have been shorthanded only six times in five games, while the notoriously rowdy Thistles have sent 23 men to the box over that span. Finally, although I would have put my money on Harry Hyland, Rusty Crawford, and Fred Scanlan of the Bearcats to be the worst five-on-five line in the league (based purely on their stat cards), that dubious distinction goes to Oliver Seibert, Tom Hooper, and Scotty Davidson of the Bulldogs, who are each at -6 and have combined for a measly four points (three of them by Hooper).