Quote:
Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache
*sigh*
The 2 biggest things that actually matter are not measured.
Shot placement, and defensive positioning
|
Shot placement is left out on purpose, because a metric that tries to measure two things is an accurate measure of neither. Generating scoring chances is one thing; finishing is another. Of course players differ greatly in their finishing ability. If you didn't have a metric to count how many scoring chances they had and of what quality, you wouldn't have anything but raw shooting percentage to determine how good they are at converting those chances to goals.
Defensive positioning is already baked into the stat. You get home-plate chances
because you eluded the other team's defence. There are other ways to evaluate defensive positioning
before it gives up a scoring chance, but those aren't simple counting stats because you are looking at the position and velocity of five skaters at once. So whatever metrics NHL teams have for that are not available to the public. ‘Advanced stats’ are not really all that advanced, except possibly in the confines of coaches' offices and video rooms.