1998 - 1999 Season Summary

The following table shows the rankings of the 19 players who were with the team a significant portion of the season with the exception of Robert Dome who played only 20 games, but will stay with the team through the playoffs.

The variables used to evaluate performance are Points per Game, Penalty Minutes per Game, Average Plus/Minus over the season, and Plus/Minus at the end of the season. The numbers represent ranks for each variable, so a lower number indicates a higher rank. For example, Brian Wiseman let the team in points per game and so is ranked "1". There were 14 players with fewer penalty minutes per game, so he is ranked "15". Following this method, Paul Dyck and Norm Mciver had higher average plus/minus ratings, and Paul Dyck's plus/minus at the end of the season was higher than Wiseman's.

Final rankings are simply the sum of the ranks for each of the four performance measures. There are a variety of caveats that go along with using ranks, as well as some pitfalls; but bearing this in mind, the method is easier and less subjective than a rating scale. Also, while any of a number of other vairables might be included, such as total goals, goals per game, assists, etc., these are the ones I've used in the past and are the ones I think are important in judging a season's performance.

 There are some interesting things that fall out of this type of analysis, I think. For instance, the two players who are on NHL teams for the balance of this season, Sven Butenschon and Blake Sloan, did not fare well in the above analysis. Clearly, the NHL teams involved were looking at something other than "the numbers". Just what that was may not be mysterious, but seems to be difficult to quantify. As is always the case, there are the intangibles that go into identifying the players that one wants on the ice, just as there are artifacts of measurement that confound the whole process of player selection. Recognition of these and their effective deployment seem to me to be the defining characteristics of a good coach. There is no question but that Dave Tippett has mastered these nuances during the regular season.

 PLUS -  MINUS - EVEN

Just for fun, here's another way to look at plus/minus ratings. For each game a player is in, he ends up at plus, minus, or even for that game. The table below is based on the number of games out of the total played that each player is plus, minus, or even; it shows player rankings based on the ratio of plus games to total games; minus games to total games, and even games to total games. A whole different perspective on a player's performance over the season falls out of this analysis.

For instance, Bill Huard played 38 games this season; David Oliver played 37. Huard had 3 games where he was minus; Oliver had 10. Huard had 9 games where he was plus; Oliver had 12. By the same token, both Sloan and Butenschon rank close to the top in number of minus games [i.e. they had a very low proportiom of minus games]. Hmmmmmmm!

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