Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
Your cherrypicking is starting to border on the side of humour.
Here's another cherrypicked number for you:
Number of players under the age of 29:
2011: 3
2013: 1
Here's a few other stats for you:
Median age for that group:
2011: 31 years
2013: 30 years.
Average age removing outliers (smallest and largest):
2011: 30,6 years
2013: 30,5 years
Number of 30+ players:
2011: 7
2013: 7
Average age of our top 5 in ATOI:
2011: 30,0 (30,7 including Kipper)
2013: 31,4 (32,2 including Kipper)
Also, the important thing to remember is that our team is the second oldest team in the NHL. That alone should pretty much shut up any talk about how this team has become younger in any significant way.
Also, any talk about how our fourth line and scraps are pulling that number up is BS, as the truth is actually quite the opposite. On average our first line is older than our fourth line and our second line is older than our third line. Our oldest players are not Sarich and Begin (both 34), they are Iggy and Kipper.
Btw, many have also claimed that Jackman and McGrattan are old. Not really on this team, they are both 31. Their effect on the average age is minimal. Of course we could discuss the fact that for all that it matters we might as well be playing Jones (26), Horak (21) and Aliu (23), but it's just not the way this team rolls.
|
I did not cherry pick anything. I used the exact same data set you did but looked at it from a different angle. I am not changing the set by looking at the whole team, or the top 5 instead of the top 10 or anything. The only person cherry picking is you, I made very sure not to change anything about the data.
I am also not arguing that the team is old and needs to get younger. My point was that simply using average age didn't show the whole story. The fact that the bulk of the players have gotten younger. Not a lot younger because when we keep the same players they do get older. But in the set of players you used I was just demonstrating that although the average isn't a lot lower, the actual ages of the bulk of players did slide down.
I also didn't say one word about the fourth line bringing that number up. I know it isn't and I'm not claiming this team isn't old. I also think that McGratton has filled the role way better than Aliu or Horak or even Jones could, so he gets to play regardless of his age.I just disagree with the idea that management continues to ignore youth, and that simply looking at the average age change doesn't show the whole picture that some progess is being done. Just not enough.