I love statistics. To me, deciphering the numbers in any sport is almost as exciting as watching the games themselves.
I don’t think I’m the only one, either. My oldtimers’ hockey team, the Hasbeens, has a
statistician.
At the first game this year, he told me that I scored 29 goals last year, which was just over a goal per game.
Why does an oldtimers’ hockey team need a statistician? We don’t need one, but clearly he loves numbers as much as I do, as he writes down the goal scorers for any particular game in a little notebook he keeps in his hockey bag.
A better question might be, “How the heck did Tim Babcock score 29 goals?” but that is a column that I will tackle at a later date.
It always used to amaze me, listening to the colour commentators while watching an NHL game on TV.
They would pull stats out of the air that no normal human being should know or care about, such as which team has faced the most shots in the second period, or what is a team’s overall record when scoring first.
SJHL numbers
Ten years ago, I was happy that the SJHL provided power play and penalty-killing statistics, and league scoring leader statistics.
Now, all of the games are uploaded in real time to the SJHL website, and the computers do all the work sorting through the data. One click on the reports tab will give you pages and pages of numbers to sort through.
There is an attendance report that shows Flin Flon is in the middle of the pack, averaging 752 fans per game. La Ronge and Notre Dame are fighting it out for last spot, while Estevan and Yorkton are at the top, still averaging over 1,000 people per game.
You can break things down into home and away statistics, check out who is on a hot streak, or check on how your favourite player is doing in any give situation.
Right now, with only five games under their belt, there isn’t a lot to talk about. The further we get into the season, the more interesting the numbers will become.
If you are interested in numbers, or want to follow your team closer than ever before, I encourage you to check it out at www.sjhl.ca.
