Monthly archives for April, 2014

Additional Thoughts on Special Teams and Playoff Success

In today’s article in the Toronto Star we looked at whether regular season special teams success translates into playoff success.   This is a very specific question that seemed highly relevant as we watch this season’s NHL playoffs unfold.   However, there are other questions, and we will be looking at them in the coming […]

Momentum Matters

By IJay Palansky and Phil Curry In sixteen NHL cities that aren’t Toronto, much of the talk over the past few weeks has been about the “momentum” each team carries into the playoffs. During lulls in the game when color commentators are desperate for something passably intelligent to say, they trot out the good ol’ […]

Coming in Hot: More on Momentum and the Playoffs

This week we looked at whether there was anything behind the common claim that teams need to go into the playoffs playing well. There are actually several ways one could examine this problem, some of which unfortunately suffered from a lack of data. Ideally, I think we would have liked to look at a team’s […]

The Mythical President's Trophy Curse

With NHL playoffs coming up next week, fans and players alike are ready to channel their nervous excitement in weird and interesting ways.   I’m not talking something boring like a standard-issue playoff beard. Or watching the game from your “lucky chair”.   I’m imagining something along the lines of former Ottawa Senator Bruce Gardiner, […]

Nonis' Clarkson Catastrophe

July 5, 2013:  The Toronto Maple Leafs sign David Clarkson to a 7 year, $36,750,000 contract. November 2013:  Dave Nonis comments that “people run with these [advanced hockey] stats like they’re something we should pay attention to and make decisions on, and as of right now, very few of them are worth anything to us.” […]