I love examining data in these quadrant views; quickly filter the good from the bad and easily see the top and bottom-end outliers. Here we have Goals Against Average on the Y-axis (left), and Save Percentage on the X-axis (also with colour; green is better SV%). The closer to the top right, the better the combined performance of GAA & SV%. The size of the circle represents the number of wins. INTERACTIVE DATA VIZ IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS USING THE CHART; GO TO THE SOURCE LOCAT
This mini documentary is based on the research done on "Hockey's Slow Death in Traditional Markets" and other research done by Wave Intel. Video production by Lohm Media.
Is this evidence that teams tanked on purpose? There is a massive gap between the top and bottom teams in the Goals for/against Differential this year; unlike any other season in the recent past. This year the Panthers were +2 and the next team was the Blackhawks at -27!. A gap of 29 goals. A visual of the gap is evident in the graph below.
There is a strong correlation between team save percentage and winning. This year, only 2 teams with below-league-average SV% made the playoffs - Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. And only 3 teams with above-average SV% failed to make the playoffs - Florida, Dallas, NY Rangers and St. Louis. Be your own judge; navigate the interactive chart at bottom, including past years. Share your thoughts in the comments or on social media. Cheers! 2017-18 (Highlighted Teams = Made Playoffs
Which statement is more accurate? Defence wins, or offence wins? No one ever says "offence wins", so surely the numbers will show that defence is king, right? Ottawa Senator's coach Guy Boucher indicated in his season-ending presser that defence (lack of) was the number one issue in the teams demise. Do the numbers backed this statement up? The Sens were second last in the league at keeping the puck out of the net. But they were also poor at putting the puck in the net!
What is going on here? Earlier in the season I tweeted about Canadian-based NHL teams inferiority next to sunburned-Joe-Thornton-type teams. It's true. If you want to see good hockey, move south. Way down, south. Take a look at the 2017-18 NHL standings on a map. It looks like Canada is infected with a virus and contaminating the north-eastern American-based teams too. The traditional NHL markets are looking old. Somehow Winnipeg and Toronto are immune, and could hold