Links - Cullen NHL Power Rankings Methodology - North River Minor Hockey Association

Cullen NHL Power Rankings Methodology LOGINREGISTERHELPYOU ARE NOT LOGGED IN NHLNBAMLBCFLNFLCurlingTennisGolfSoccerNASCARFormula OneIndyCar NASCAR Canadian Tire SeriesNationwideCamping WorldAuto RacingWorld JuniorsSpengler CupMenS WHCWomenS WHCHockey CanadaAHLBoxingCanada GamesCHLCISECHLFigure SkatingLacrosseMMANCAASkiingSummer SportsWinter SportsMoreOlympicsFantasyDaily LineShowsTSN TalentCommunityeotText SizeI have always been fascinated by numbers and how statistics apply to sports As a kid I memorized stats and was nearly as enamoured with the stats generated by sports as I was by playing the sports in the first placeThis fascination continued as I went to university where I studied Economics and Business Management at Wilfrid Laurier At the time I had begun following the Sagarin Ratings in USA Today and I found them very interesting yet something stood out to meIt was a time when the Colorado Avalanche were one of the dominant teams in the NHL led by Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg yet in the 19961997 season Sakic and Forsberg both missed significant time and I recalled looking at the Sagarin ratings and thinking that the flaw of any stastistical model that uses overall results is that it doesnt take into account who is actually playing and it matters who is playing or else were just evaluating the laundryAfter all the Avalanche minus Sakic and Forsberg were not the same team and shouldnt have been held to the same high standardIn any case it was this realization that prompted me to try and generate my own method for power rankings and it involved establishing ratings for every playerThe individual player ratings are generated using a weighted formula that includes the following statisticsGoals per game Assists per game PlusMinus Power Play Goals Shorthanded Goals Game Winning Goals Shots on Goal Blocked Shots Hits Giveaways Takeaways and FaceoffsGoaltenders are measured using goals against average save percentage wonloss differential and shutouts As more and more statistics have become readily available over the years and continue to evolve the ratings have been tweaked to reflect new and additional informationNaturally goals are most important (since there is a 100% correlation between scoring more goals and winning the game) and the scale decreases so that the more peripheral stats are virtually tiebreakers That is if you have a pair of 30goal scorers you would prefer the one that hits more frequently to the one that doesnt It wouldnt likely provide a decisive advantage but all other things being equal would indicate a preference for one player over anotherArriving at a single rating number for each player simply helps to synthesize an individuals contribution to the collective effort Player ratings generally fall between 55 and 100 give or take a few points with the very best players in the league pushing or occasionally surpa...