Number Chains - October 31, 2012 Links
Josh L.
October 31 2012 11:32AM
This new, regular feature on NHLNumbers will share interesting stats-related posts from around the web almost every day.
Welcome to edition number five of the rebooted Number Chains. In this space you will be able to find the best analytical hockey writing from around the internet on a close-to-daily basis. Subject matter will include statistical evaluation, financial analysis, contractual issues, and (sometimes) closely-related tangential works. If you have something you would like to submit for a future edition (your writing or that of someone else) feel free to send it to me via Twitter @JoshL1220 or leave a comment.
Happy Halloween. Our semi-daily look at analytical hockey writing begins with a week old piece from draglikepull at Pension Plan Puppets. The post analyzes the negotiating tactics of Gary Bettman in his negotiations with the CBC during the last Hockey Night In Canada negotiations and compares the situation to that of the current lockout. His ultimate conclusion is somewhat comforting, if not frustrating:
This is how Bettman negotiates: he always acts like he's prepared to walk away right until the final possible moment. Even if he knows he's prepared to make concessions he fights to gain more anyway because it's always worth the shot that the other side will cave. But in the HNIC negotiations with the CBC, Bettman came down on the asking price of the deal and gave in on most of the tertiary considerations. And that's a lot like what the NHL's CBA negotiations are looking like right now too. I think there will be a deal in place before November is done. We'll likely have NHL hockey by December.
The last part seems questionable at this point, but the meat of the article gives enlightening perspective to this entire charade. More lockout news, statistical analysis, and laughing at Houston after the jump.
NHLE Scoring Leaderboard 10/30
Josh L.
October 30 2012 03:24PM
The international scoring race is something to behold. The scoreboards are filling up internationally, and thanks to the work of Gabe Desjardins we can compare the scoring rates across leagues. Using Gabe's NHL equivalencies I've put together the top scorers in all of the hockey world. All Major Junior, AHL, KHL, SEL, DEL, SMLIGA, and Swiss league scorers are considered. The NCAA wasn't included this time due to how few games they've played, but if the lockout drags on they'll be included in the near future.
The current world leading scorer is, you guessed it, Martin Ruzicka. Ok, maybe you didn't guess it. The full top 50 is after the jump.
Number Chains - October 30, 2012 Links
Josh L.
October 30 2012 12:43PM
This new, regular feature on NHLNumbers will share interesting stats-related posts from around the web almost every day.
Welcome to edition number four of the rebooted Number Chains. In this space you will be able to find the best analytical hockey writing from around the internet on a close-to-daily basis. Subject matter will include statistical evaluation, financial analysis, contractual issues, and (sometimes) closely-related tangential works. If you have something you would like to submit for a future edition (your writing or that of someone else) feel free to send it to me via Twitter @JoshL1220 or leave a comment.
Ken Campbell's latest column for The Hockey News delves into an idea ex-NHLPA czar Paul Kelly suggested for bridging the gap between the two sides in the labor struggle. The idea Kelly floated was to expand the league by two teams into fertile markets to grow the pie for everyone.
Not that anybody is asking, since he was kicked to the curb by his own dysfunctional constituents three years ago, but former NHL Players’ Association executive director Paul Kelly has some thoughts on what might ease the logjam. And it has to do with expansion, specifically to suburban Toronto (Markham) and Quebec City. As Kelly sees it, making expansion a part of the conversation when it comes to the new collective bargaining agreement could bring both sides closer to realizing their goals.
“If the NHLPA hasn’t raised it as a potential part of the solution, then it ought to,” Kelly said. “Maybe they’ve tried and had the door slammed in their face from what we’re seeing, but it really makes a great deal of sense.”
As Campbell points out in the story, adding two expansion teams would require the NHL and NHLPA to change the definition of Hockey Related Revenue to include expansion fees. It would also require the NHL to annoy the Maple Leafs and Canadiens by putting teams in their backyards, but as Campbell also points out that doesn't seem to be a sticking point with the Islanders moving to the Barclays Center, six miles away from the Rangers. The idea is simple, but also radical at this stage of the negotiations. It's at least interesting to consider.
After the jump the latest from Corey Pronman, Eastern European racists, and even more lockout news.
Number Chains - October 29, 2012 Links
Josh L.
October 29 2012 12:58PM
This new, regular feature on NHLNumbers will share interesting stats-related posts from around the web almost every day.
Welcome to edition number three of the rebooted Number Chains. In this space you will be able to find the best analytical hockey writing from around the internet on a close-to-daily basis. Subject matter will include statistical evaluation, financial analysis, contractual issues, and (sometimes) closely-related tangential works. If you have something you would like to submit for a future edition (your writing or that of someone else) feel free to send it to me via Twitter @JoshL1220 or leave a comment.
We begin the week with a musing by Ken Campbell about what life in the NHL would be like if Bain Capital had successfully purchased the league during the last lockout.He brings up an interesting point:
For starters, the money it would have taken to purchase the NHL would have been chump change for a private equity company as large as Bain. It would have been a small part of something much bigger, which would mean that the owner would not have lived and died with every struggling franchise. And as the owner of a single entity with 30 subsidiaries, the NHL would have been in the same situation as a lot of other large businesses. Any company with that many tentacles have branches that do spectacularly well, others that break even and some that lose money. But as long as the business as a complete entity is making money, and we know that it is because every year the league trumpets its record revenues, things would be a lot more stable than they are now.
The entire fabric of the league would be markedly different today, but who is to say things would be better? It's an interesting thought, and the piece is certainly worth a read, but the ramifications of Bain actually being successful in their attempts to by the NHL don't seem particularly pleasant.
After the jump we get into some Ryan Suter back tracking and some goodies from Hockey Prospectus.
Number Chains - October 28, 2012 Links
Josh L.
October 28 2012 05:26PM
This new, regular feature on NHLNumbers will share interesting stats-related posts from around the web almost every day.
Welcome to edition number two of the rebooted Number Chains. In this space you will be able to find the best analytical hockey writing from around the internet on a close-to-daily basis. Subject matter will include statistical evaluation, financial analysis, contractual issues, and (sometimes) closely-related tangential works. If you have something you would like to submit for a future edition (your writing or that of someone else) feel free to send it to me via Twitter @JoshL1220 or leave a comment.
Happy Sunday. We begin today with a piece Tom Tango posted at his site insidethebook.com. Tom explored the question as to whether or not the owners should be obligated to honor player contracts signed with terms that extended past the current CBA. Tom's main point is one that has been reported some in the media, but not nearly enough when discussing the issue:
It’s important to note that even under the old CBA, these “dollar” contracts were really “monopoly dollars”. If these monopoly dollars totalled more than 57% of the revenues the league collected, the players would not be “made whole”.
So, why would the players necessarily be made whole under a new CBA where the players get 50%? Just because they signed a contract that went years beyond the previous CBA?
At the same time, if the teams don’t honor those contracts outside the original CBA years, then those contracts should therefore be declared null and void. That is, the teams have a choice: “make whole” on the contracts (out of their own pockets, not the players), or release the players from their contract altogether. The player has the option to either accept being released from their contract, or accept that they won’t be made whole.
More lockout coverage than you can shake a stick at after the jump.
