While we are not officially at the halfway point of the NHL season yet, the Christmas break is a time to pause and take stock of how teams are performing. With that in mind I figured I’d return to my exploration of how the Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, and Washington Capitals are fairing in terms of generating scoring chances (and high-danger chances) for and limiting scoring chances (and high-danger chances) against. Continue reading “A Tale of Four Teams Part III”
Tag: Hockey Analytics
Some Words on Zone Starts
As a more analytical mindset pervades discussions about the great game of hockey it’s become increasingly common to defend some players poor possession numbers because they play tough minutes. “Tough minutes” are frequently defined as either playing against better competition (as measured by the average time on ice for the opposing skaters), because of a greater frequency of starting in the defensive zone, or a combination of the two. While I’d agree that playing against the other teams better players is definitely a component of playing tough minutes, there are reasons to consider the emphasis on zone starts dubious. Continue reading “Some Words on Zone Starts”
A Tale of 4 Teams Part I
We are already through a quarter of the 2015-16 NHL season. While 20 to 25 games is not a large sample I wanted to take a look at how some teams have been doing in terms of generating high-danger chances and scoring chances (see this post at war-on-ice for a quick explanation). What I’m interested in starting to explore here is the idea that it may be more valuable to generate scoring chances, and particularly high-danger chances, than simply generating a greater volume of shot attempts. In other words, my thinking is that good teams will more often than not generate more scoring chances and high-danger chances than their opponents. Continue reading “A Tale of 4 Teams Part I”
My Thoughts Were So Loud
Honestly, I’m not entirely sure what I want this blog/site to be. Of course, I have some general idea, but it’s not entirely clear. The name, Puck Theories, just seems cool, it was available, and in a rough sense I think it will capture what this site ultimately becomes. Broadly, I guess I want this to be a place where the game of hockey is analyzed and discussed critically, using all resources available. I’m aware that I’m not writing anything new when I make note of a growing divide over the use of newer statistics or analytics to evaluate team and player performance. However, this divide and the point about using all the resources we have to inform our analysis and discussion of the great game of hockey, is where I will begin. Continue reading “My Thoughts Were So Loud”
Puck Theories 