Coaches are hired to be fired. It shouldn't be concerning that he got an extension, many coaches have signed extensions while on the hot seat, only to be fired later. IF the team continues to fall in the standing, MSM and management will start to focus on his more perplexing decisions and strategies and he'll start to feel the heat.
Contrary to those stats, which are based on the flawed "shots attempted" stat, this is actual PUCK POSESSION time. The time that team X has the puck on their stick...but don't let facts get in the way of your rant...
Based on statistical analysis with relatively standardized data, shot attempt stats have shown to correlate to goals, goals against, shots, shots against and even wins.
I'm certainly not familiar with puck possession time, and it may correlate with those things to, but there are some pretty evident flaws:
1) Definition of puck possession. Habs are 4th, with 18:57. That means that for over a 3rd of a game, no team has possession. Even counting non-even strength play, that seems inexact. How is that determined? There a number of different ways to define possession, and without knowing the definition its hard to draw conclusions.
2) Zone. Where is Montreal possessing the puck? Montreal's high possession time and low shot attempts point to two things: a) They aren't shooting enough; and/or b) they aren't possessing the puck enough in the attacking zone. The vast majority of shot attempts are taken in the attacking zone.
3) Lack of historical data. It's new and hasn't really been proliferated, so there isn't much research into its importance. We know possession is importance, but we don't know if time is more or less important than other areas. What effect does score-effects play? Breakout strategies? We don't know that.
Still, its a positive stat, but its up to the team and coaching staff to convert that possession time into generating shots, chances and goals while minimizing opponents chances there. Because Montreal does not rate highly in many other statistical categories (or the eye test).
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=694629&catid=53
(Video linked in tweet)
People have the right to complain, it's their money.
