Rejoice, advanced stat fanatics! The NHL is going to officially recognize some of the most beloved “fancy stats” and will be adding categories such as Corsi, Fenwick and a host of others to NHL.com. The league demonstrated their willingness to embrace some advanced tracking and metrics during the All-Star Game and they then revealed that this trend will be continuing.
From Puck Daddy, here’s a brief look at the 30ish new stats coming to NHL.com:
Corsi, which estimates puck possession by totaling shots on goal, missed shots and blocked shots
Fenwick, which does the same minus the blocked shots
PDO, a combination of shooting and save percentage while on the ice at even strength
Zone starts, which designate what percentage of a player’s shifts begin and end in each zone.
Average shot distance
Goals and assists per 20 minutes and 60 minutes
Penalties drawn and taken per 20 minutes and 60 minutes
The new statistics will include data as far back as the 2010-11 season, so hockey fans can immediately start making comparisons about zone starts, shooting percentages across different distances and many more.
If you’re not familiar or perhaps not interested in the new advanced stats, there are a few things to keep in mind. For starters, they’re not as intimidating as you might think. Several are even extremely basic once you ditch the official titles and read the explanation. Next, fancy stats reveal a lot of areas of the game most fans have ignored. Unless you’re specifically watching where the puck is when a player’s shift begins or ends, you probably have no idea what a player’s zone starts look like. The stats will also (or should) help eliminate the tired arguments based on grit when analyzing players.
Get ready – advanced stats are officially coming to the NHL.
