from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but the most galling aspect of this so-called analytical age of hockey information — so called by Slapshots, that is — is that there is so little actual information available to lay people who don’t worship at the altar of shot attempts.

But by the way, let’s start with shot attempts and shooting percentages. Wouldn’t you think shooting percentages should be calculated based on the number of attempts and not on the number of attempts that hit the net? Why not? Wouldn’t you like to know each player’s success ratio at getting attempts on net? Who has the greatest percentage of shots that are blocked?

Which point men get the highest percentage of shots through on the power play? Which team? Which team blocks the highest percentage of shots while a man down? Isn’t that fundamental material that would and should be available in an age of information?

What is the NHL doing with the data? How do goaltenders stack up on breakaways? Who knows? There is no data. Which skaters have the most breakaways? Who converts most? Who is the worst? Who knows? Which team creates the most breakaways? Which team yields the most? Who knows? There is no data. Why not? Who knows?

continued plus more hockey notes..