from Mike Commito of Sportsnet,
Plus-minus is the most polarizing statistic in hockey. There’s no quicker way to draw battle lines in the hockey community than by starting a dialogue about plus-minus. Some still look to it as a way to measure a player’s defensive value, while others see it as the most useless number in the box score.
And it’s not just fans and writers who are dismissive of it. Plenty of players have gone on record over the years to voice their disdain for it. When asked about it this past March, Boston Bruins defenceman Torey Krug said that he personally hates it and finds it to be misleading.
While plus-minus has certainly come under fire in recent years with the advent of more sophisticated metrics, it has a much longer, complicated history that includes criticisms about its usefulness dating back to its inception.
Today, many argue that plus-minus is meaningless because it depends on far too many variables. These include quality of linemates, team systems, deployment, personal shooting percentage, team shooting percentage, team save percentage and sheer luck.
“[It is] the most useless statistic ever devised,” says Brian Burke, President of Hockey Operations for the Calgary Flames. “It’s pretty simple. If your team stinks, so does your plus-minus. And it’s compounded if you play against the opposition’s top players.”
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