This is something I'm going to try and do for every Hawks game, where I will try and provide some stats and numbers that you don't see very often in order to get a better picture of what went on and why it did.
Stick with me, it'll feel weird and nerdy at first. But things that at first feel weird can feel good, like handcuffs or flogging. Anyway, let's star with something easy.
This is simple, the normal boxscore you'd get from the Hawks website.
This is a stat I use a lot. In so many words, it measures how many shots Player A's team attempted while he was on the ice against how many the opponent attempted. This isn't just shots on net, it also counts ones that miss the net and ones that are blocked. Basically, it's a good indicator of where the action is taking place while a given player is on the ice. If you're plus in this, it means you're spending more time in the attacking zone, unless your team likes to fire shots from behind your own blue line, which wouldn't make a whole lot of sense. It's not a perfect stat, but it tells a story. It's also just measure at even-strength, no power play or penalty kill.
This is a cool tool to use along with the CORSI, because it tells you who was getting their rating against whom. It also allows you to see who the coaches are trying to match up against on the other team. So what can we learn from last night from these sheets?
- Coach Quenneville wanted to match top lines last night, as Jonathan Toews saw most of his ice time against the Stars' Brad Richards. Toews got the better of the CORSI battle at a +4, but he was a -1 in +/-, once due to a simply sick pass from Richards to Loui Eriksson for the Stars' third goal. If you only saw the plus-minus, you'd think Toews had a bad night. But with the CORSI, we can see that he actually had a pretty good game.
- Viktor Stalberg only saw eight minutes, being benched for the entire third. I really don't know why, but apparently there was some giveaway for the Stars second goal that didn't please Coach Q.
- Stars coach Marc Crawford unleashed his checking line including Adam Burish against Patrick Sharp. Checking lines usually get the worst of any CORSI matchup (Dave Bolland always does) because they're not asked to attack as much as keep the puck out of their net. At even-strength the Stars accomplished this against Sharp, even though they spent more time in their end.
