Using Data to Understand Hockey
David Johnson As a result of trading a number of core players the past several seasons, the Calgary Flames have accumulated a large number of draft picks in the 2026 NHL draft. We all know that more draft picks are better and higher draft picks are better, but realistically, to what extent could this draft be a … Read more
We know Carolina is a good puck possession team. They have been for years. They generate a lot of shots and they prevent shots against. However, their inability to dominate the inside game, at both ends of the rink, puts a cap on their playoff success. The Offense Using my shot zone analytics tool at … Read more
I have previously written about how teams with bigger defensemen have seen more success in the playoffs (here and here) but I haven’t posted anything about how they do this and specifically what statistics bigger defensemen impact. I plan to take a look at some of that in this post. Everything in this post is … Read more
The Ottawa Senators lost their first 3 games of the first round playoff series against the Leafs and looked all but dead. However they have managed to fight back, win two games, and make it a series against the Maple Leafs. How have they done it? By playing sound defensive hockey. Using the Shot Analytics … Read more
So, there is some strange stuff happening in the NHL in recent years and I am not quite sure what to make of it. Let me explain. This first chart shows the percentage of shot attempts that were blocked, missed the net or were on net. This is 5v5 regular season data only, as will … Read more
Back in January I posted on Bluesky that I thought that Travis Green deserved consideration for coach of the year. I was hoping to write a more in depth blog post about this I think Travis Green deserves consideration for coach of the year but won’t get to it this week. Ottawa has a very … Read more
The off-season rumours are now picking up steam and one going around the past couple days is that the Buffalo Sabres might buy out the remaining three years of Jeff Skinners contract. This I think would be a mistake and be an act of desperation on the part of Sabres management that would hinder their … Read more
Recently, Kent Wilson wrote about how the Calgary Flames should rebuild their team into a Stanley Cup contender. He dismissed the Dallas model of rebuilding and instead promoted the Edmonton model. I’ve heard a lot about the “Dallas model” since the Stars were mentioned during a year-end press conference. Of course, nobody should pretend that … Read more
I saw a Twitter post discussing how in Game 3 of the Panthers-Rangers series the Panthers dominated in terms of shot attempts and high danger shot attempts however they didn’t dominate near as much in terms of high danger shots on goal. In short, a lot of the high danger shot attempts the Panthers took … Read more
In November I wrote a couple of articles on whether teams with taller and heavier forwards or defensemen see more success in the playoffs. The conclusion was, over the past 5 or so years teams with bigger defensemen (taller and/or heavier) have gone deeper in the playoffs. Teams that have an average defenseman height 0.5″ … Read more