Quote:
Originally Posted by ricardodw
Stats... I was lead to believer that the Corsi / Shots attempted were indicative of possesion.
Carolina is 2nd in the league in USAT %
Lots of hits indicating that the other team has the puck and then out shooting the opposition by a lot indicating you have the puck a lot.
Go figure.
Hamilton has a USAT of 62.6 % to go along with his 2.2 hits game.
Jordan Staal has a USAT of 76.12 to go along with his 3.8 hits game
Last season Hamilton lead the Flames with a USAT of 57% and was at 1.0 hits/game.
I feel that hitting has more to do with compete level than puck possession.
The other team is going to have the puck at least 40% of the time. It is your option if you want to let them make a play with or without you bumping them.
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I think the Hurricanes have a mixture of elements, and you're right it may not be that they're chasing the game.
The Oilers finished second in hits last year though, a classic example of a team that didn't have the puck and was chasing the game all season.
The stat itself isn't indicative on it's own, and with what we've seen in the past (LA was hilarious for hits and shots for example) counts can be market specific.
Carolina wasn't high in the past few seasons though, so it's possible Brind'amour has them finishing checks.
To me though I don't see a lot of games where I think to myself "that team is scared". Zadorov took liberties with Bennett last night and he got after him. If you are worried about the lack of physicality on the team it's a good sign that Bennett seems to be moving up the roster.