Quote:
Originally Posted by Bingo
That wouldn't be my conclusion.
Analytics matter because they track how a team plays. If you're getting 40% of the shot attempts and scoring chances you're just not a good hockey team, but may be getting bailed out by your goaltending and/or finishing.
The Oilers have high finish rates because of their star power, and their offensive lean (blowing the zone / employing defenders that don't defend).
That's likely sustainable because that's what they are.
The Flames under Sutter were a dominant analytics team without the finish, and without the save. When that happens the analytics aren't wrong, nor would I say they don't matter ... but the talent wasn't there to do the "average" job expected from what you created and what you gave up.
Not a rosy picture for the Flames unless you thought there was some bad puck luck etc factoring.
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It could be rosy if you look at the guys singled out and believe that
- Tkachuk’s finishing numbers (which were low for whatever reason) revert to the mean
- Monahan who was known to be injured rebounds
- Markstrom returns to form
- Andersson is somewhere between where he was last year and the previous
- that Darryl can help with some of the above