Quote:
Originally Posted by transplant99
That is a very impressive stat.
No one plays more PK time per game than Travis Hamonic...yet many are trying to run him out of town....for "picks".
Maybe he actually contributes a bunch more than many of us think?
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I think defensive defensemen get a bad rap in the advanced stats era because it’s hard to quantify exactly what they bring.
You can reduce the dangerousness of a shot by doing the following:
1) Prevent screens by cross checking or shoving forwards out of in front of your goalie
2) Tying up forwards in front of the net to prevent them from cleanly getting to rebounds
These types of things don’t reduce shots but make shots less dangerous. Defensive defensemen often are strong at doing them. Corsi makes no distinction about these things. Fans who only watch the puck and never watch away from the puck may also underrate the importance of these things. To notice everything a defensive defensemen brings you have to watch him exclusively live for whole shifts.
Rubbing out forwards along the boards or hitting them can prevent cycling and therefore possession. This could show up in corsi.
Things aren’t as simple as some would like to boil it down to. There is value in having defensemen who can regularly outmuscle forwards in front of the net and along the boards. There are still physical battles in hockey that make/break plays even though the advanced stats struggle to quantify any of it
