Read the poll question, then vote. I just wanted to make this clear, once and for all. You can't say," oooh, I like this players hair, hes an all star!" or,"ahh, he blocked a shot! Amazing player!". You can't judge a player based on bias or "how you see them play"

Statistics are pulled out of how they play. They don't lie. Sure, watching a player gives you an idea of the dude. But you can't completely ignore stats and throw them out the window, like...certain people tend to do.

I will stop for now, until we see other (cough cough) peoples opinions on this matter

And I just released a big can of worms. Sorry y'all

Stats aren't the end all be all, but to someone who isn't a scout, GM, coach, etc. they have a 75/25 influence in how I evaluate players. I was a ton of hockey, games every night of the week, and the stats sometimes support what I see and I feel they sometime differ. However, the sample size included in most statistics will override one good game from a play and is the reason id never give a contract to Girardi or Russell

To clarify, stats lie. Let's examine Connor Sheary of the Pittsburg Penguins. He has played 697 minutes 5v5 with Sidney Crosby (http://hockeyviz.com/fixedImg/wowy/1617/PIT/shearco92/wrap) this past season. Sheary had a total of 53 points in the 2016-2017 season (23 goals, 30 assists). Some might say Connor Sheary is better than Nick Cousins for example. I mean, cmon, he has 53 points compared to 16. What I we were to hypothetically swap Sheary and Cousins? Wouldn't there be a reasonable expectation that, by playing alongside Sidney Crosby, your numbers might inflate? Or that by playing in the bottom-six in Philadelphia, might deflate your numbers? Connor Sheary is no better than Nick Cousins, except that Sheary has the luxury of playing with Sidney Crosby.

One of the reasons why I don't evaluate or compare Flyers to other players is because I have too much bias when evaluating them. If another individual were to ask me "Who's better; Werenski or Provorov?" Being the Flyers fan that I am, I am going to go with Provorov. I have seen Provorov take a blocked shot off the inside of the knee pad, and crawl to the slot to help block more shots. I saw that actually happen. But I don't intellectually debate on who's better, because I know damn well that I have too much bias in the question. I simply cannot give an accurate answer.

Advanced Analytics have been proven to work. Bill James, creator of Sabermetrics, most commonly used in baseball and used by Oakland GM, Billy Beane (Moneyball). Sam Hinkie, former GM of the Philadelphia 76ers, used advanced analytics and capologist strategies that will forever been known as part of "The Process". WAR, HERO, CORSI, etc. they all mean something that the naked eye cannot catch. There are somethings that just can't be quantified to my knowledge (success rate of back-check WOWYs) that make a player good. There are unsung heroes on every team (Zach Smith, Sean Couturier,etc.) that do not get the recognition that they deserve, yet are on-ice talented, but may lack statistical help.

Since we are not scouts, and don't get paid to analyze the game that we love, we have to turn to the next best thing : advanced analytics. Without them, contentions crumble. With them, contentions contend.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pniKHduqK88OAQ5Fb0erJFkULHUy8P3WZ46JZ8F4eTo/edit#heading=h.39jdzmn3taym

I will gracefully take the victory...

While there are things that don't show up in stats or advanced stats, they give a good baseline of a players performance. Are there some minor flaws in some advanced stats? ya, but its so small that it doesn't make a huge impact over a full season.

I'm not going to vote for either option because i'm in the middle. Stats do tell something, that's for sure, but they don't tell everything. I'll go with 'phillyandislesfan' on this one.

when have i said they mean 'nothing at all'?

fair enough on the second one. good point. but the first one was me saying that i get a good amount of my opinion on players by watching the game.

So just to clarify, you are accepting the fact that you are incorrect and have contradicting yourself more so than Skip Bayless has on LBJ?

Enough said why Karlsson is the best.

https://www.thescore.com/news/1282867

yep, i didn't really MEAN they mean nothing, but i guess i said that and every time i have used that wording i guess i've been wrong.

Do you now understand the importance of advanced analytics?

I feel as though this day would come around the same time humans could go live on Mars. Guess this day got fast forwarded...

yes. I think they tell something, but not everything.

if you were to weigh them like 50/50 of your evaluation, what percentage might advanced analytics be?

maybe around 20%?

Well it depends on the position. for d-men, maybe 20%, for forwards maybe 25%, and for goalies a lot more.

20%? Jesus thats low

it's better than 0.

it should be over 50%

Unless you're a professional scout, who have been around the game for years and are trained to look at players' games objectively, your stats-to-eyetest ratio should be at least 60:40.

For me around 50-60% percent advanced stats 25-30% basic stats, rest is other ways.

They don't always mean anything but a lot of times you have to keep your eye on it. Viktor Arvidsson, who came out of no where, had extremely high 5v5 shots per hour, which meant that despite his low TOI in 15/16 season, he still was shooting at an elite rate, so if someone who regularly checked advanced stats should have predicted that he was going to breakout

you asked for it!!! You and Raif are certainly 2 of a kind!!!