Hockey blog providing critical analysis on trends and stats for the Calgary Flames, NHL, and more.
In hockey, expected goals (xG) are an advanced counting metric that uses past information of previous shots taken and gives context to derive shot quality of new shots. Using various inputs from previous shots such as shot location, events leading up to a shot, and league shooting averages spanning many seasons, every new shot taken … Continue reading Visualising how NHL players have performed in expected goals versus goals
It has now been just a little over a month since the NHL kicked off its 2020-21 season, and it's been a crazy one to say the least. Most teams that haven't had major delays due to COVID-19 protocols have now reached or passed their quarter-season mark of 14 games played, while other teams with … Continue reading Visualing team scoring in the NHL so far in the 2021 season
Evaluating pure NHL hockey talent comes in many forms and is a forever evolving field of work for teams and analysts alike. Here at TWC, we've worked on making a model for comparing the 5v5 offensive contributions of all NHL players. Introduction Heading into the new season, the TWC Player Offensive Evaluation Tool (POET) got … Continue reading Introducing TWC’s Player Offensive Evaluation Tool 2.0
Hockey is officially back. The NHL has kicked off its 2020-21 regular season and there will be hockey every single day for over 100 days, knock on wood. One part of The Win Column's offseason improvements was to generate automated plots with R to visualise Flames games. One of the plots depict shot locations, which … Continue reading R Tutorial: Creating an NHL rink using the Tidyverse
The NHL is set to return to competitive action this week. Teams are either winding down their training camps, or in some unfortunate cases are back in quarantine. Undoubtedly, there are many challenges associated with starting a regular season while the pandemic is yet to be under control. As spectators, we can only hope those … Continue reading NHL North Division 2021 travel breakdown
It was no secret that the Calgary Flames of 2019-20 were far, far away from what they were in 2018-19. A big part of that was due to their top players going from all posting career seasons to all simultaneously dropping off. Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm, Matthew Tkachuk, and Mark Giordano were just … Continue reading Why the Calgary Flames’ best players regressed last season and how they can rebound in 2020-21
In terms of their on-ice product, the Calgary Flames took a few steps back in the 2019-20 season after an all-around stellar performance in 2018-19. Despite both the on-ice and off-ice issues that they faced, they still competed in the 2020 postseason. After a first round exit to the Dallas Stars, the Flames sought to … Continue reading Visualising Calgary Flames shot attempts and goal distances from 2019-20
It's common knowledge that the NHL has full intention of bringing on the 2020-21 season. Navigating the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic for professional sports that include team-to-team contact and multi-city travel makes for a complex task. A part of the planning includes the idea of separating Canadian teams into an all-Canadian division and splitting … Continue reading Early Stanley Cup favourites based on divisional realignment proposals
The Calgary Flames have seen plenty of ups and downs in the past five years, both on and off the ice. In terms of their on-ice product, they've had one of their best franchise performances in 2018-19, just one season removed from missing the playoffs. This past season, they might have tended closer to what … Continue reading Visualising the luckiest Calgary Flames in the past five seasons using expected goals
The San Jose Sharks have one of the NHL's longest tenured general managers in Doug Wilson (only the Nashville Predators and David Poile have had a longer such executive relationship). Since being named the Sharks' GM in 2003, Wilson has seen the team win a Presidents' Trophy in 2008-09, make the Stanley Cup Finals in … Continue reading Visualising the development of San Jose Sharks draft picks made by Doug Wilson
