LadyStanley
Registered User
31 Thoughts: NHL opening night promises intrigue, fireworks - Sportsnet.ca
And some interesting comments on faceoffs and other stats.
What happened with Matthews has been discussed by other teams, especially by their security people. Obviously, the first discussion topic is how to avoid the situation happening in the first place — to always have someone around responsible for saying, “Hey, this is not a good idea, we’re putting an end to it,” especially if alcohol is involved. It appears that the Matthews family felt they could take care of the situation without involving the Maple Leafs, but, as one security person said, “Even if you think you’re doing the right thing by not bothering your team, you’re not. Things like this can be calmed down by people who know how to do it.”
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Every two summers, the NHL brings together its off-ice crew supervisors from each building for a seminar. For the first time, the league expanded the group, bringing three people from each market to Pittsburgh in August for an even bigger conference. Along with the overall supervisor came the lead official scorer and the manager responsible for overseeing the counting of statistics — hits, blocked shots, ice time, giveaways, etc. With puck-tracking coming, each arena was given new laptops allowing them to integrate with the new system. There are always debates about accuracy; everything from hits with the Islanders and shot numbers in several buildings, and the people who run the department are constantly auditing whenever there’s a complaint.
Funny story: A couple of years ago, one of our broadcasts was complaining about shot totals in Carolina (the Hurricanes were getting credit for invisible attempts, we thought), but when we counted them, our numbers backed up the stats-keepers, much to the NHL’s merriment. There are discrepancies, but what I didn’t know is that there’s a 200-plus page guidebook to counting these stats. It was put together years ago with the input of GMs and coaches.
And some interesting comments on faceoffs and other stats.
