The Vancouver Canucks have taken a thorough analytical approach to the game of hockey. This looks to be the reason behind their post-season ascendancy. Analytics is a topic of much debate in the NHL. Some find them a useful tool and the future of a franchise’s success in the NHL. More traditional folk believe the eye test is the only true measure of a player’s ability. Like most things, the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle.
Vancouver Canucks Give Attention to Analytics
The Immersion of Advanced Statistics
Nowadays terms such as Corsi, Expected Goals (xG), and Goal Score Value Added (GSVA) are used to analyze players. But all these terms are quite young. Corsi and Fenwick are similar and provided more advanced stats in the 2013-14 season. Bob McKenzie has a good article on how Corsi got its name.
Expected Goals (xG) has two models developed by Emmanuel Perry and DTM About Heart. There is still debate that xG is more advanced than Corsi as it weighs each shot based on the location it is taken on the ice. But both xG and Corsi should be used together.
Game Score Value Added (GSVA) uses past data weighed against present to create a Game Score (using box score stats plus on-ice stats) that results in a win value.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche were some of the front runners to use data for decision making throughout their organization. Carolina has a Data Engineer and Data Scientist whilst Colorado has Hockey Analysts. Some teams are more in-depth than others, using the statistics for the betterment of the franchise, whilst other franchises still prefer traditional game reports, pre-scout reports, and player reports based on the eye test and standard statistics.
Vancouver Canucks Approach
Travis Green and his coaching staff have taken the deep dive analytical approach on board. They use it daily to help improve the team and select line matchups for particular games, as Harman Dayal of The Athletic pointed out.
Amongst the Canucks’ analytical staff are a Senior Director of Hockey Operations and Analytics, Analyst, and Video Analyst. The video analyst is responsible for using video to manually record good plays and bad plays, producing a point score for each player which is used in the coaching assessments.
Analytics is a powerful but limited tool. The eye test is just as important. But for an NHL coach, analytics allow Travis Green to compare his bench view of the game against the numbers. Green gets a Corsi report during each intermission for analysis which explains some of the strange line combinations juggles seen this regular season.
Travis Green is sticking to his guns too, spending countless hours with his team and analyzing the data during and at the conclusion of each game. The pandemic pause gave Green and his team ample time to do a thorough analysis of the team that they would normally do during the off-season.
Canucks Analytical Ascendancy
It is hard to argue this approach is not paying off for the Vancouver Canucks. They had a great season at the top of the Pacific Division for some time. That was before falling off the wagon and fighting for a wild card spot prior to the suspension of the regular season. Yes, circumstances could have been different and the Canucks still could’ve missed the playoffs. Yet they took their chance afforded to them and ran with it.
Vancouver got an opportunity against the Minnesota Wild, who were also battling a wild card spot. They started the series poorly but quickly turned it around. Given Travis Green’s celebration on the bench with the Chris Tanev OT winner, you can see his elation that the work is paying off.
Fans argue the St. Louis Blues were not up for bubble life after winning the Stanley Cup last year. But after the Canucks got off to a quick start, the Blues woke up and tied the series. Then, after some line mix-ups plus deception from Green, the players stepped up and finished off the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Although unlikely against the Vegas Golden Knights, Vancouver finds itself now two wins away from the Western Conference Finals. The team has shown adversity throughout this post-season and exceeded expectations.
Conclusion
The analytical approach Travis Green has taken on is paying off for this Canucks team. Some odd decisions have bemused fans this season (take the Game 2 lineup against the Minnesota Wild as an example). But Green’s dedication to the use of analytics as a tool for line matchups. It cannot be argued that this is a big reason the Canucks now find themselves in the top four of the Western Conference.
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