The writer hits the nail on the head, but only does so in one obscure paragraph and then doesn't come back to this thought.
Quote:
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Possession stats treat all shots as equal, so in theory, a team with the right talent could play a style that relied on shot quality to buck the percentages. Did you ever think of that, stat guys?
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Bingo. Anyone who watches the Flames regularly can see how they play. Their forwards play at the far blueline waiting for the long stretch pass more than any other team in the NHL. This either creates a rush situation which the Flames score a TON of goals off, or the forwards simply tip the puck in the zone and give chase.
What this means is the Flames actually have the puck very little in a game. It's on and off their sticks in a flash. But their huge forecheck creates turnovers and grade-A chances from the slot, and their odd-man rushes of course create high percentage chances.
It's a tough way to play and this is why other teams don't do it. It requires defensemen who can make home run passes under heavy pressure without puck support, it requires skilled forwards who need to make those few 10-bell chances count, and it requires a tenacious, forechecking team that doggedly can wear the other team down and force mistakes.
This all tells you 2 things:
1) It's amazing how pathetic "advanced" stats actually are. They aren't advanced at all. Measuring all shot attempts as equal? Could you imagine a basketball team that decided that half-court heaves have the same odds as going in as a layup under the hoop? Laughable.
2) You can instantly tell which writers actually watch the Flames and which ones just read box scores. Anyone who watches this team should find it obvious why they skew the stats. Which is why it's hard to respect idiots like Ryan Lambert and Thomas Drance because it's obvious they don't watch what they write about. Either that or they don't understand what they watch which is even more damning.