The Numbers Game: Phoenix Coyotes Edition

Mar 27, 2013; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Phoenix Coyotes defenseman Michael Stone (29) and Minnesota Wild forward Torrey Mitchell (17) battle for the puck in the first period at the Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Marilyn Indahl-USA TODAY Sports

In a  feature that I’ll be running here on Gone Puck Wild throughout the season, before each game, I will analyse the underlying numbers for both the Wild and their next opponent to see how they match-up. Tonight’s opponent is the Phoenix Coyotes.

(For more info about some of the stats and terms I use in these articles, check out this great stats introduction piece).

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-Here are the underlying numbers for both teams so far this year at 5v5 Close, along with some general statistics:

 

WILD

COYOTES

LEAGUE POSITION

8th 9th

HOME RECORD

10-1-2 9-1-2

ROAD RECORD

5-5-2 5-5-2

PP%

21.6%7th21.4%8th

PK%

78.6%25th76.1%28th

-5v5 CLOSE-

WILD

COYOTES

FF%

53.5%7th48.6%20th

Sh%

7.3%19th8.5%9th

Sv%

94.3%6th92.7%12th

PDO

101.69th101.211th

(GF%=Goals For %, CF%=Corsi For %, FF%=Fenwick For %, SF%=Shots For Percentage, Sh%=
Shooting Percentage, Sv%=Save Percentage)

  • The Wild and the Coyotes have had eerily similar seasons so far. Similar records, special teams and PDO. The one difference is the Wild’s better possession numbers.

-Here are the 3 Best and 3 Worst players from each team in terms of  Corsi For% (puck possession) and PDO (luck). This only counts players who have played 50% of their team’s games so far:

5v5 CLOSE

PLAYER #1

PLAYER #2

PLAYER #3

MIN CF% Top 3

KOIVU (60.3%)

PARISE (59.8%)

MITCHELL (57.9%)

MIN CF% Worst 3

BRODZIAK (44.6%)

COOKE (46.4%)

FONTAINE (46.5%)

MIN PDO Top 3

FONTAINE (107.8)

POMINVILLE (107.0)

GRANLUND (105.1)

MIN PDO Worst 3

DUMBA (92.8)

KONOPKA (92.9)

MITCHELL (94.1)

PHX CF% Top 3

SCHLEMKO (54.2%)

BISSONETTE (52.7%)

MOSS (51.8%)

PHX CF% Worst 3

HALPERN (37.4%)

CHIPCHURA (41.7%)

EKMAN-LARSSON (43.0%)

PHX PDO Top 3

KLINKHAMMER (105.9)

MORRIS (105.5)

DOAN (103.7)

PHX PDO Worst 3

HALPERN (88.6)

CHIPCHURA (92.8)

KLESLA (98.0)

-Here are the Player Usage Charts for both teams to illustrate which players are getting tough minutes and which players are being sheltered:

Minnesota Wild

  • Torrey Mitchell’s got the 3rd best CF% at 5v5 Close, but is a red dot on this chart because this is based on regular 5v5.

Phoenix Coyotes

(Click To Enlarge)  (Bubble Size=Corsi On Rating. Blue Bubble=Postive. Red Bubble=Negative)

  • David Schlemko is a surprise. His numbers are excellent.
  • Antoine Vermette and Rob Klinkhammer are doing okay in tough minutes.
  • “Rusty” Klesla is their best Corsi player on the defence…and they waived him. Dumb.

Okay, that’s all from me. Make sure you check-out the official Gone Puck Wild Game Preview before puck-drop where you’ll get some useful insight along with all the information you need about the game.

Follow me on Twitter for more hockey views/analysis.

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*Numbers in this article courtesy of:

Extra Skater

BehindTheNet.ca

Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com

SomeKindOfNinja.com

HockeyAbstract.com