Don't Worry About Idaho's Record, They're Just Unlucky For Now

(Credit: Idaho Steelheads)

Just a short Monday afternoon blip on the Idaho Steelheads, who dropped two games in extra time this weekend. While their record sits at 2-2-3, it's not time to worry about that record quite yet. They are getting stymied regularly by excellent goaltending on the other side of the ice. And their own goaltending has been solid. Philippe Desrosiers has put up a .920 save percentage so far this year and has yet to lose in regulation.

The real reason you shouldn't worry is PDO. WIthout getting into it too much, PDO is an advanced hockey stat that is used to calculate 'luck' for teams by combining their shooting and save percentages. In short, anything below a 980 PDO shows that a team is unlucky and anything above 1020 indicates good luck so far. Teams tend to regress toward 1000 over the season. Now check out Idaho.

You'll see that their 952 PDO shows that they are not as bad off as things might seem in the standings. And further, some teams in their own division like Colorado (6-1) and Wichita (6-0) are flying a bit too close to the sun where luck is concerned.