I don't get how people can go this far off the results. I get leeway to the eye test and how numbers are not omniscient but some stuff is so far out of left field it's scary.
Maybe the interpretation of the data is flawed?
I'm being treated like I'm resisting indoctrination into some cult. I will continue to question these new stats until they align more with what I am seeing.
There is simple data which can't be questioned, but when people start taking that black and white data and crafting these new methods of calculation and interpreting measurement (and I'll add people who are most likely not scientists) and expect everyone to just fall in line and believe it's accurate and sound well sorry I am not going to just drink the koolaid, especially when these new metrics tell a story that is inconsistent to what I am seeing.
There have been lots of metrics, ideas and beliefs that we have adopted in our history that have been proven false later on, things that we thought were undeniable fact. Like the earth being flat for instance.
The amount of time we have been using these statistics (embryonic, really) coupled with the fact that hockey is an incredibly hard sport to measure and interpret throws more doubt into the validity of these new metrics. Everyday I see another fancy metric, chart or graph that has been produced to explain another scenario. I liken it to 'fake news' where we have a million websites and bloggers purporting to be journalists. When there is no vetting, you have no idea what you are really going to get.
'Eye test' has to be the biggest load of malarkey excuse to debunk peoples opinions I've ever seen around here. I understand the principles of bias, I'd even agree the casual or uneducated fan is more susceptible to it but to suggest that everyone is the same and no one has the ability to analyze in a fair way is hokum.
I am not an expert in measurement or metrics but in my line of work, we use them every day. I am not afraid of them and I realize what an incredible tool they can be. I just think in hockey we have totally gone off the rails with it.
I know you are making a living from this stuff garret, so you are not going to like this post but I feel like I need to defend myself. I don't like feeling insulted or disrespected just because I am not all in on something new that I feel, while is interesting and has a lot of potential, still has a long way to go to become a standard like the stats in baseball for instance.
