Jason Lewis: Even If Doughty Doesn't Value Corsi, We Probably Should

People get worked up about CORSI and advanced stats, and that's strange. It is simply a different way and an attempt to look at a player's value in a more objective sense. It isn't the holy grail. It is a tool. That's it.

This isn't an unprecedented situation. As you cited, look at Bill James and baseball. The use of sabermetrics was derided for years as nerd culture and baseball speak for those that couldn't throw a ball more than 10 feet. But now it is widely accepted as a more useful metric in gauging player importance.

Same way with hockey. It will take time for it to have wide acceptance. That being said, any hockey GM and development staff that doesn't take into account advanced statistics should be considered derelict.

Nice win for the Kings yesterday. Poor fish.

People get worked up about CORSI and advanced stats, and that's strange. It is simply a different way and an attempt to look at a player's value in a more objective sense. It isn't the holy grail. It is a tool. That's it.

This isn't an unprecedented situation. As you cited, look at Bill James and baseball. The use of sabermetrics was derided for years as nerd culture and baseball speak for those that couldn't throw a ball more than 10 feet. But now it is widely accepted as a more useful metric in gauging player importance.

Same way with hockey. It will take time for it to have wide acceptance. That being said, any hockey GM and development staff that doesn't take into account advanced statistics should be considered derelict.

Nice win for the Kings yesterday. Poor fish.
- Only_A_Ladd

It's not exactly the same. Baseball is uniquely suited to in-depth statistical analysis. Hockey is too fluid of a game. Shots are neither as uniform in quality or in value as a stepping stone to scoring as bases are in baseball. Every base is 90 feet closer to home and advance the team's cause (with the exception of a walk with a RISP); shots on the other hand can actually kill momentum.

Also, those teams that are anomalous in those lists prove, to me, how a style of play can stack the PDO deck. Tortorella-coached teams notoriously fight a defensive war of attrition that the New Jersey Devils franchise practically invented, while the Avs are loaded with skilled forwards whose scoring chances tend to be more glorious than most. The same could go for the Penguins and Ducks, two other high-skill teams whose PDO is lower than its record might suggest.

It's funny seeing Doughty get all worked up about it.

Let's be honest here, Doughty is about as smart as a sack of hammers, you don't have to be intelligent to be a good player. Advanced stats have some value...period.

Let's be honest here, Doughty is about as smart as a sack of hammers, you don't have to be intelligent to be a good player. Advanced stats have some value...period.
- LeftCoaster

As a player, to worry about such things is stupid. Play your game and the numbers will take care of themselves.

Let's be honest here, Doughty is about as smart as a sack of hammers, you don't have to be intelligent to be a good player. Advanced stats have some value...period.
- LeftCoaster

A little harsh there on doughty. You have to be smart (at least in a hockey sense) to play the position of defense well.

I think he meant that, as a player, they dont get caught up in analyzing stats. Play your game, play it well, and the stats will only reinforce the perception that you're an effective player. Its not about "I have to take more shots than my opponent cuz of stats". Its about "I have to make the right plays. Get the puck out of my zone to limit opponent scoring, and get the puck to the opposing goal to help my team score and win the game". Doing that well will lead to positive stats.

The only thing that bugs me about possession as a measurement of success is just the idea that it's always so much easier to score off a turnover or an odd man rush created by risky plays which would not help your possession stats.

It's also a little weird that you posted the top 10 possession teams to point out how 8 of them made the playoffs, and yet only the bottom 6 team to say that only 1 of those made the playoffs.

I think success in the NHL these days is tied more to goaltender performance than any other advanced stat. It's usually the difference between finishing 3 points out of the playoffs or making it by 3 points.

Tampa and Colorado were lottery teams last summer and this year they are cup contenders to people who don't follow advanced stats...They are on opposite ends of the possession discussion, but what they do have in common was they both got exceptional goaltending last year.