Advanced stats are certainly interesting, and more often than not I find they more meet what I think I'm seeing then the average view on the player. I'm sure many of you feel the same.
Backlund looked good well before he starting scoring last year ... I remember that Pinder/Boomer scrap that I got involved in where Boomer was saying he'd be out of the league in a few years.
I saw a guy that was forcing the play, and doing solid but little things all over the ice. Advanced stats support that.
But I agree .... just because a spreadsheet says something doesn't mean it's 100% fact, and all challengers are trogolodytes. Ones mind has to be open.
I think a lot of this came from the Leafs collapse last year ... those guys were all over it before it happened. True the same could have been gleemed from simple shots on goal, but the leafs were the worst possession team and they paid for it.
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