from Allan Muir of Sports Illustrated,

Asked about the possibility of adding cap information as part of the NHL's future commitment to big data, Commissioner Gary Bettman told the the Boston media on Tuesday night that the league doesn't sense any demand for it.

“We’re not getting a lot of feedback on [a Capgeek-style site],” Bettman said. “It’s not something that seems to be driving fan interest as much as perhaps the interest of the people [in the media] in this room, and your colleagues.”

Which, of course, is a self-serving load of crap. Let's be honest: Was there really a lot of fan feedback demanding that the league provide shot attempt information? Or was the decision to provide “enhanced stats” motivated by a desire to reclaim ownership of its own data?

Demand has nothing to do with the NHL's position on cap data. Because here's the thing: Fans love this data. We obsess over it. We want to know how the latest call-ups, injuries and trades affect our favorite team's cap situation because that directly impacts our team's ability to make itself better. And our teams getting better matters to us a whole lot.

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