Finally, An Advanced Stat To Measure Hockey Fighters

The statistical revolution has officially arrived, upside your head.

If you're not familiar with Corsi, one of the most basic of hockey's advanced metrics ( here's a good entry-level explainer), it's basically plus-minus, but for shots (including blocked and missed shots) instead of points. It seems a much more effective measure of possession.

Well, here's Punch Corsi. Instead of trying to determine who "wins" fights, Scott Lewis of Backhand Shelf has come up with a metric to determine the most effective fighters.

Punch Corsi Number = (Punches on Target For + Missed Punches For + Blocked Punches Against ) – (Punches on Target Against + Missed Punches Against + Blocked Punches For)

Edmonton's Mike Brown comes out tops among the most active fighters this season, with a Punch Corsi of 48, in eight fights. If the true measure of a stat is how easily it can be understood, Punch Corsi passes with flying colors: dance with Mike Brown, and you're going to get hit six times more than you're going to hit him.

Krys Barch comes in dead last, with a Punch Corsi number of -51 in six fights. This kind of makes sense, as Barch isn't the guy who challenges the other team's goon—he's the guy who hits someone semi-dirtily, then gets challenged.

[ Backhand Shelf]