Crazy GD Stat.

[libertarian]

Crazy Goal Differentials by divisions as of Jan 11 2018.

Cen: +100
Met: -7
Atl: -44
Pac: -49

The Central is the only division with a positive GD stat and they are currently at +100. Miny is at zero and everyone else is positive.
The top 3 teams in the so called "bad" Atlantic division are in the top 8 in the league.
The best GD in the "good" Metro is Wash at 10th in the league and NYR at 13th
The Pac has 2 teams in the top 15 in the league.

Does this mean the Central is by far the best division in the league?
Is this just a abnormality that will correct itself by the end of the season?
Who gives a f***?
What do you think?

Click to read more...

 

[enthusiast]

Have the Sabres played the Central that often?

 

[Pez68]

Kind of ridiculous.....

 

[libertarian]

Kind of ridiculous.....

I am curious why you think it is ridiculous?
Ridiculous because this a nothing stat that means nothing or ridiculous that one division can be so dominant?

 

[PunkRockLocke]

Of course this stat is exaggerated due to the fact that teams play more games against their own division than non-division teams.

Still...this is a crazy stat. It is no surprise the Central is miles ahead. It is clearly the most competitive division. The Metro is overrated.

 

[Steerpike]

Of course this stat is exaggerated due to the fact that teams play more games against their own division than non-division teams.

huh

 

[PunkRockLocke]

huh

Good story right?!?

 

[ovikovy817]

The top 3 teams in the so called "bad" Atlantic division are in the top 8 in the league.

Because those 3 teams plays often against 5 afwul teams, that's why those 3 teams are in the top 8 of the league.
And those 3 teams are only teams in the division above .500

 

[libertarian]

Of course this stat is exaggerated due to the fact that teams play more games against their own division than non-division teams.

Still...this is a crazy stat. It is no surprise the Central is miles ahead. It is clearly the most competitive division. The Metro is overrated.

Actually when 2 divisional teams play each other they cancel each other out. When comparing GD by divisions the GD will only change if you are playing a team from out of your division.

Example: Team A beats team B from same division by a 6 to 3 score. Team A is +3 in GD but team B is -3 in GD so no mater the score of the game divisional teams will always cancel themselves out. GD between divisions only moves up or down when teams play teams from a different division. Which means that the central teams have out scored the other 3 divisions by 100 goals no matter how many goals are scored by central teams playing each other. It is this fact that I find so crazy.

 

[PunkRockLocke]

Actually when 2 divisional teams play each other they cancel each other out. When comparing GD by divisions the GD will only change if you are playing a team from out of your division.

Example: Team A beats team B from same division by a 6 to 3 score. Team A is +3 in GD but team B is -3 in GD so no mater the score of the game divisional teams will always cancel themselves out. GD between divisions only moves up or down when teams play teams from a different division. Which means that the central teams have out scored the other 3 divisions by 100 goals no matter how many goals are scored by central teams playing each other. It is this fact that I find so crazy.

Very good point, and well said.

On the main board people think the Metro is "a bloodbath".

 

[libertarian]

Because those 3 teams plays often against 5 afwul teams, that's why those 3 teams are in the top 8 of the league.
And those 3 teams are only teams in the division above .500

Or does it show that the Atlantic has 3 really good teams and the rest are bad? How do explain the difference between the Metro and Central?

 

[ovikovy817]

Or does it show that the Atlantic has 3 really good teams and the rest are bad?

That's what I'm saying.
BTW, if you think that Atlantic is a better division than metro, I would be happy to change the last 5 teams of metro division, against the last 5 teams of atlantic (and don't forget to give us Boston )


TOP 3 atlantic against METRO
9-6 (Tampa who's head and shoulders above everyone else in the league, are "only" 9-6 against metro)
7-7
7-7

TOP 3 metro against ATLANTIC.
9-4
10-7
8-5 (and NJ had at least 1 point in 11 of those 12 games)

 

[Pookie]

Of course this stat is exaggerated due to the fact that teams play more games against their own division than non-division teams.

Still...this is a crazy stat. It is no surprise the Central is miles ahead. It is clearly the most competitive division. The Metro is overrated.

Just a thought but to say the Central is the most competitive because it has a high GD seems like the wrong conclusion.

A big GD would suggest that good teams are pummelling bad teams. Meaning the Central may be the strongest. Not necessarily the most competitive.

A GD closer to 0 would suggest parity/competitive wouldn’t it?

 

[libertarian]

That's what I'm saying.
BTW, if you think that Atlantic is a better division than metro, I would be happy to change the last 5 teams of metro division, against the last 5 teams of atlantic (and don't forget to give us Boston )

Where did you get that idea? I never mentioned that the Atlantic is better then the Metro. I only mention that the top 3 teams in the Atlantic are good teams and not just because they are in a bad division. Where I challenged the Metro it was against the Central where no matter what numbers you want to use the Central comes out on top. That said the Metro is 2nd best by far and the GD show this. The Metro is -7 against all other divisions which is much better then the -44 and -49 of the Atlantic and Pacific but does not come close to the +100 of the central.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Montreal, 2-5-1, and -9
NYR, 1-4-1, and -9
Arizona, 2-7-1, and -13
Buffalo, 1-5-2, and -13
Pittsburgh, 2-6-2, and -17
Edmonton, 4-10-1, and -29

That's a 12-37-8 record, and a -90 goal differential, by those 6 teams against the Central. The only non-bottom 10 team there is NY. 3 of the 4 worst teams. 4 of the worst 6. Their collective records against the Central contribute to those teams being as bad as they are, especially Edmonton, but it's not like the Central teams are beating every other team in the league by 4 goals a game.

 

[libertarian]

Just a thought but to say the Central is the most competitive because it has a high GD seems like the wrong conclusion.

A big GD would suggest that good teams are pummelling bad teams. Meaning the Central may be the strongest. Not necessarily the most competitive.

A GD closer to 0 would suggest parity/competitive wouldn’t it?

Montreal, 2-5-1, and -9
NYR, 1-4-1, and -9
Arizona, 2-7-1, and -13
Buffalo, 1-5-2, and -13
Pittsburgh, 2-6-2, and -17
Edmonton, 4-10-1, and -29


That's a 12-37-8 record, and a -90 goal differential, by those 6 teams against the Central. The only non-bottom 10 team there is NY. 3 of the 4 worst teams. 4 of the worst 6. Their collective records against the Central contribute to those teams being as bad as they are, especially Edmonton, but it's not like the Central teams are beating every other team in the league by 4 goals a game.

Good point but no other division seem able to beat the bottom dwellers like the central. That said there is no way that the central is +100 compared to the next best division at -7 is because they are only beat bad teams badly. If the fact that the central is so successful against bad teams why aren't the Metro, Atlantic, and the Pacific good teams doing the same?

 

[rent free]

Because those 3 teams plays often against 5 afwul teams, that's why those 3 teams are in the top 8 of the league.
And those 3 teams are only teams in the division above .500

They've played more games against opponents outside their division than inside.

 

[Advanced stats]

Shouldn't goal differential add up zero?

Should be +1 or -1 for every goal scored..

My brain hurts too much right now... the answer is probably very obvious though. Help!

 

[Nizdizzle]

Shouldn't goal differential add up zero?

Should be +1 or -1 for every goal scored..

My brain hurts too much right now... the answer is probably very obvious though. Help!

I believe the NHL counts shootout goals in the GF column, which would explain why everything doesn't even out (One team wins shootout with 2 shooters scoring vs zero for opposing team). I couldn't find anything to back that up though, so maybe I'm wrong.

 

[Pookie]

So does m


Good point but no other division seem able to beat the bottom dwellers like the central. That said there is no way that the central is +100 compared to then next best division at -7 is because they are only beat bad teams badly. If the fact that the central is so successful against bad teams why aren't the Metro, Atlantic, and the Pacific good teams doing the same?

Well a look at the divisions may give us the answer.

The Central has all teams in a positive GD state (1 is at 0).

In all other divisions, the number of teams with a positive differential is at a max of 4.

Basically, half the league has a negative differential and those teams are parked in 3 divisions.

The Pacific, Atlantic and Metro teams aren’t beating up on the bad teams because by and large they are the bad teams.

 

[Advanced stats]

I believe the NHL counts shootout goals in the GF column, which would explain why everything doesn't even out (One team wins shootout with 2 shooters scoring vs zero for opposing team). I couldn't find anything to back that up though, so maybe I'm wrong.

Doesn't really make sense that they would count as a goal for, but not a goal against...
At the exact same moment that you score, someone else is getting scored on...

 

[Nizdizzle]

Doesn't really make sense that they would count as a goal for, but not a goal against...
At the exact same moment that you score, someone else is getting scored on...

Yeah, I'm not exactly sure. If you add up the goal scorers on the Leafs the total is 142, and the GF stat lists the Leafs as 146. I can't find anything on the NHL website that details the stats.

Edit:

Goals for, GF
Goals for is the total goals scored by a team, commonly paired with goals against to show a team’s goal differential. Note that on the Standings page, Goals For and Goals Against for a team include shootout game-winning goals for and against. Therefore, for teams that have been involved in shootouts, GF and GA will be slightly different than GF and GA shown on the Stats pages. See “Goals against” and “Goal differential”.

Goals against, GA
Goals against can refer to the total goals allowed by a team or by a goaltender. In the case of a team, goals against is commonly paired with goals for to show a team’s goal differential. See “Goal differential” and “Goals for”.

NHL.com - Stats

So, it doesn't state if game winning shootout goals are counted in the GA...

 

[libertarian]

They've played more games against opponents outside their division than inside.

Because the central has only 7 teams each team plays 56 games against other divisions while all other division teams plays 54 games. The central play more inter divisional games then any other so they cancel each other out 2 more time for every central teams which makes their +100 GD divisional play even more impressive. They play more games but they still have to out score the other divisions on most nights to beat them +100 to -7/-44/-49

 

[Noldo]

The stat shows that there isn’t a bad team in Central.

A goal scored against Edmonton or Arizona does not result in increase in GD in games between Pacific teams, but it does result in -1 when the opponent is from another division. The same applies in respect of Buffalo or Ottawa in Atlantic.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Shouldn't goal differential add up zero?

Should be +1 or -1 for every goal scored..

My brain hurts too much right now... the answer is probably very obvious though. Help!

For the entire league, the goal differential is always 0, for exactly that reason. There's no way for the system, as a whole, to ever become unbalanced. Now, if you look at individual teams, or divisions, and how they contribute to the overall balance, that's where things get wonky.