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Leafs @ Pens 7:30 PM EST, TSN

It's also worth noting that, of all Leafs defencemen, Phaneuf has the 2nd best GA/60 at even strength (behind only Gunnarsson) and the best GA/60 on the PK.
 
Potvin29 said:
L K said:
Sigh.  The AHL goaltender beats the Leafs.

Because we have some great goaltending stats.

No, we certainly don't.  But the Leafs did a poor job of peppering a guy making his second career NHL start.  Instead they took shots from the outside and after going up 2-0 proceeded to take the foot of the gas and get dominated for the next 15 minutes.

Pittsburgh as a whole is a much better team (even without Crosby/Letang), but the Leafs made it too easy on a young goaltender.  On the flip side, they were relying on some pretty big saves from Gustavsson that kept them in the game (obviously the 3rd goal was stinky).  The Leafs aren't going to win with the goaltending they are getting, but they aren't making it difficult for their opponents, and for a team that should be playing desperation hockey, that is disappointing.
 
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
lc9 said:
Zee said:
Phaneuf I understand, how can anyone hate on Kessel?  He's the first Leafs player since Sundin to crack 70 points, is on pace for close to 40 goals and is top 10 in scoring.

Kessel is easy to understand.  He doesn't play any defense and teams score lots of goals when his line is on the ice.  40 goal scorers are great and all, but Kessel has to play some defense.  It is frustrating watching Kessel play zero defense and float on the blueline when the leafs are often hemmed into their own zone.

Kessel's line has been horrific defensively, but in terms of Corsi numbers, usually a decent or better indication of defensive acumen, he leads the team with Grabovski.

If there is a stat that says Kessel has good defensive acumen my initial thought is to reject that stat outright.  We all watch the games, Kessel plays with zero defensive acumen. 
 
lc9 said:
WhatIfGodWasALeaf said:
lc9 said:
Zee said:
Phaneuf I understand, how can anyone hate on Kessel?  He's the first Leafs player since Sundin to crack 70 points, is on pace for close to 40 goals and is top 10 in scoring.

Kessel is easy to understand.  He doesn't play any defense and teams score lots of goals when his line is on the ice.  40 goal scorers are great and all, but Kessel has to play some defense.  It is frustrating watching Kessel play zero defense and float on the blueline when the leafs are often hemmed into their own zone.

Kessel's line has been horrific defensively, but in terms of Corsi numbers, usually a decent or better indication of defensive acumen, he leads the team with Grabovski.

If there is a stat that says Kessel has good defensive acumen my initial thought is to reject that stat outright.  We all watch the games, Kessel plays with zero defensive acumen.

Phaneuf is fixable, with less time on ice and some coaching and above all....a goalie, we are in better shape.  With Kessel, he, imo, will always be a perimeter player with zero defensive skills. Trade him with whatever for a top six and continue the rebuild with extended visits to the playoffs. Maybe in 2 or three years, we contend for the ultimate prize. I just don?t see Mr. Kessel getting his hands dirty with two way play. until then he is a defensive liability.
 
lc9 said:
If there is a stat that says Kessel has good defensive acumen my initial thought is to reject that stat outright.  We all watch the games, Kessel plays with zero defensive acumen. 

Corsi is somewhat of a three part stat, you have your Corsi rel, Corsi off and Corsi on. In my opinion Corsi on is the most important of the three because this is the Corsi that the player can control, to a degree. Corsi is calculated by adding up the total amount of goals against, saves for, blocked shots for and missed shots against and subtracting it from the total amount of goals for, saves against, block shots against and missed shots for, while a certain player is on the ice.

What this statistic is saying is that any puck directed at your net is a negative whether it results in a save, a goal, a blocked shot or misses the net entirely, while any save, goal, blocked shot or missed shot directed at the oppositions net is a positive. So, if you're looking at a certain player's Corsi and it is a positive, what you can take away from that is when this player is on the ice the puck is going the right way more often then not, and if this is happening you will generally see good results for this player. From just looking at Corsi on, there is no way of knowing if this certain player is dictating the play, or riding the coattails of good line mates, one way of telling this is by looking at Corsi off.

Lets take a look at Phil Kessel's Corsi:

chart_1+%25281%2529.png


This chart is saying is that Kessel has a negative Corsi on, and while that is not a good thing, look at the teams Corsi when he is off the ice, it's over three times worse. This is saying that while the Leafs aren't great when Kessel is on the ice at controlling the play, they are even worse when he is off the ice. This brings me to Corsi rel. Corsi rel is a good way of comparing players to their teammates, as you can see it is the difference between Corsi on and Corsi off, showing how much better or worse the team is with said player. In this category Kessel is in the positive, this is, marginally, a good thing, as it means he is directing shots at the opposing net better then most of his teammates.
 

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