Luke Schenn, better in front of Reimer

Cam Charron
August 10 2011 12:39PM

In Part I of this series, I explored whether Keith Aulie was better in his second call-up versus his first time up in the big leagues. The conclusion turned out to be symmetric with the hypothesis: Aulie played much better on both sides of the puck with Phaneuf in the second half of the season, his successes in offensive situations balancing out his defensive misgivings.

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JUNGLE B: ROAD TO THE NHL. PART TWO

Jason Gregor
August 10 2011 11:24AM

That's Mark Letestu directly to the right of Sidney Crosby. In part one of Jungle B: Road to the NHL, Letestu gave some insight into his incredible, and rare, ascent up the hockey chain. From a 17-year-old in Junior B in Alberta (Junior C in Ontario), to three years in the AJHL, followed by one year at Western Mighigan and then signing a two-year NHL entry-level contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins; Letestu's dream hit a snag in the AHL.

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JUNGLE B: THE ROAD TO THE NHL

Jason Gregor
August 09 2011 01:11AM

Guns N' Roses released their first album, Appetite for Destruction, on July 21, 1987. It contained one of the greatest dressing room/warm up songs you've ever heard, Welcome To The Jungle. Since 1988, many teams have psyched themselves up listening to Axl and the Boys, but one player actually used the "Jungle" as a springboard to an NHL career.

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Better Know a Bias: Cognitive Dissonance

Danny Gray
August 08 2011 09:35AM

Why do people get so angry about advanced statistics?

Kent Wilson posted an excellent article titled The Theory and Nature of Current Advanced Hockey Analysis. He eloquently describes the ultimate utility of advanced statistics as "aimed at teasing apart the variables that moderate possession at both the individual and team level". The variables include "quality of line mates, quality of opposition and starting position." With the overarching goal being "to isolate individual contributions to possession, be it from the players themselves, or coaching systems, face-off zones, playing-to-score effect, the nature of different positions, etc." If he only knew how wrong he is.

Unfortunately for Kent his entire post is discredited by the herculean mental effort of a one Sean Elekes. Mr. Elekes puts Mr. Wilson in his place by countering that he "put[s] too much science in the game of hockey. Goals and assists equal points. That's the difference between a Hall of Famer and NHLer."¹ This sentiment is a common response to articles and arguments that extol the benefits of advanced statistics. People make some ludicrous arguments in the face of well articulated arguments supported by sufficient and significant data. This is because people will say or believe anything in order to rationalize evidence that contradicts their established beliefs.

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NATION RADIO - AUGUST 6, 2011

NationRadio
August 07 2011 01:25PM

This week on NationRadio we have Dustin Nielson of Team 1260, Nation Network Scribe Cam Charron, Pat McLean from the awesome blog Black Dog Hates Skunks, Bob Ridley from the Medicine Hat Tigers and the recent RNH media scrum from World Juniors.

Enjoy!