Quote:
Originally Posted by Weitz
I wonder if you looked back last year what the thoughts were when Colorado and Toronto (before their cliff dive) were doing well in spite of the stats, what the thoughts were.
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People expected both teams to nosedive. Toronto did mid-season, Colorado did post-season. Though I do agree with others on the problems being more the attitudes of the people promoting them. There is something of a logical disconnect between people who called on the Avs to fall off a cliff during last year's regular season to point to a first round playoff loss and proclaim "I WAS RIGHT!".
That being said, the Flames are very clearly an exception to the general rule. Travis Yost's article for TSN yesterday noted that of all playoff teams since 2007-08, this year's Flames would have the second worst Corsi against/60 (ahead of Toronto in the lockout year) and about the 15th worst Corsi for/60. Now, it would be nice to claim that we hit upon a formula that beats Corsi, but that is what Toronto and Colorado fans said last year.
On the balance of probabilities, if we're always chasing the puck, we're less likely to succeed. But for now, and for who knows how long, the Flames are riding some magic that hockey analytics does not currently understand.