The Wild West

I’m sure you’ve heard of the phrase “the numbers don’t lie”. If you’re a dedicated follower of my columns here at DobberHockey, then you’re probably well aware of how much I utilize stats to inform me during my decision-making process. For the past couple of seasons, I’ve been tracking baseline values into forecasting future stats. This week we’ll take a look at those values to help us better plan for the rest of this fantasy season.

Pending release of the MidSeason Guide later this week, I thought it would be a great idea to take a look back at thePre-Season guide and see where I stand in comparison to four months ago. It’s always good to take a look back atpast mistakes to help us prepare for the future. Plus it will give an insight to those who haven’t seen the content of theDobberHockey guides first hand.

We’ve all heard of the phrase “the numbers don’t lie”, but there is always room for statistical anomalies that make each and every one of us scratch our heads. This week we’ll take a look at a few statistical anomalies that have occurred so far this season and whether the numbers will re-align or are they set for the long run.

There have been three coaching terminations in the Western Conference so far this campaign, with two of them having enough evidence to quantitatively analyse the results. This week I’ll break down the winners and losers from each of the moves to help give you poolies an edge in your leagues.

Sifting through the players in the Western Conference, Ryan Ma comes up with some suggestions for hidden gems.

Plenty of “busts” so far this campaign. Let's discuss a few that have caught my attention and see if a deviation is expected or are things going to remain status quo to drive you further insane.

Taking a look the ice time, shot total and production of Western Conference pivots and giving a buy or sell recommendation in the final part of this month-long series.

Continuing with the fourth part of the series, this week we’ll take a closer look at the Western Conference left wingers.

The value of a winger can easily be identified by interpreting the same two stats used to identify the value of blue-liners, which is PP ice-time and SOG (shots on goal). The reasoning behind it is very simple. PP ice-time usually separates players who are offensive-minded from those that are defensive-oriented. Similarly with SOG, the more a winger shoots, the higher the chance it goes into the net or creates offensive chances.

The fantasy value of a blue-liner can easily be identified by interpreting two main stats: PP ice-time and SOG. The reasoning behind it is very simple. PP ice-time usually separates players who are offensive-minded from those that are defensive-oriented. The more PP time they receive usually equates to more opportunities they’ll have to score with an offensive advantage. On a similar note, SOG usually maintains a similar line of thought. The more a defenseman shoots, the higher the chance it goes into the net or creating offensive chances. The opposite also holds true, the less a defenseman shoots, the lower the chance that the puck has of going into the net and the lower point production. Now that we’ve established clear indicators on determining the fantasy value of defenseman, let’s take a closer look the defenseman from the Western Conference.