Ok Stat Geeks – Enlighten Us

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Are the Hurricanes a 500 team?

They have played 26 games and they have 26 points.

They have won 12 games, lost 12 games and lost two games in OT so they are 12-12-2. Or are they 12-14 and they are under 500 even though they have garnered 26 points in 26 games?

Since we have no ax to grind and it is another team’s stats, have at it with your comments on standing points.

12 thoughts on “Ok Stat Geeks – Enlighten Us”

  1. I believe its called WINNING PERCENTAGE for a reason. If you play 26 games and you win 12, you have a .462 WINNING PERCENTAGE. Not .500. I believe you should add the L and OTL columns together. Carolina has lost 14 and won 12 in my opinion.

  2. The “Loser’s Point” may justifiably help a team in the standings. But this skewed method of representing a team’s record artificially inflates a team’s season performance.

    It comes down to simple math: in general, a .500 record indicates average performance. The NFL, for instance, finished its 2006 season with 12 teams under .500, 8 teams at exactly .500, and 12 teams over .500. Those statistics form a neat (and mathmatically sound) bell curve. In 2005-06, the NBA finished with 13 teams over .500, 3 at .500, and 14 under .500. Again, nicely balanced.

    The NHL, however, throws the law of averages to the wind with its current system. Last season, fully 21 teams claim to be over .500 at the end; only nine couldn’t make the same claim. The year before was the same: 21 teams alleged they had “winning” records.

    For a deeper analysis (it’s fun to play with numbers), read on:

    http://www.onfrozenblog.com/2007/04/25/when-is-a-loss-not-a-loss/

  3. Ted, as should be obvious from these comments, it is _imperative_ that the next realignment of scoring in the league give the same number of total standings points for _every_ game played. Whether it’s 3-0 reg and 2-1 OT/SO or (my favorite) 5-0 reg, 4-1 OT, 3-2 SO, _every_ game must award the same total points between the two teams. It’s the only way this “.500″ argument will _ever_ make any sense. -JW

  4. They have won 50% of the points available to them (now a little more) so, yes, they are a .500 team.

  5. In the marginally ridiculous era we’re in where points are awarded more generously than ever- .500 means you’ve redeemed half of the points that’re offered to you. Yes, they are .500.

  6. Of course they are under .500. They have “won” 12 times in 26 games. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking Carolina or the Caps. If we determine which teams are .500 by points rather than wins, then right now only SEVEN on the NHL’s THIRTY teams are “under .500″… Ottawa has won 10 of 24 games, yet they’re a “winning” team? Please. The NHL awarding points for losses is like teachers giving kids who fail gold stars for participating.

  7. or are they 12-12-1-1? an overtime loss and a shoot-out loss. I think the question is will they be better than .500 with Maurice? Yes, I say.

    …good luck against my Leafs tonight.

  8. I would not call them a .500 team with that record. The NHL, however, doesn’t seem to get it that A) A team should never be able to climb the standings with a loss of any kind and B) Why is a regulation game 2 points but an OT/SO game 3 points? It should be 3 points for a regulation win, 2 for an OT win, and 1 for a SO win with no points for a loss in any of those.

  9. OT loss points are one of the dumbest things in sports. It should be one winner, one loser. Not one winner, and one kinda-sorta winner. If team A has two wins and two losses, and team B has four losses that were in overtime, the team that has a .000 winning percentage is considered equal to the team with a .500 winning percentage. Yeah, that makes sense.

    Technically, since points determine the standings and not wins, “points percentage” would be a more accurate indicator than “winning percentage”. But since every hockey fan with a triple digit IQ recognizes the stupidity that is talked about in the first paragraph, many of them go with winning percentage, myself included.

  10. It’s like grade inflation; .550 is the new “average”, not .500. In terms of discussing which teams are good and which are bad, I prefer the simple W/L view, but the rules being what they are, the OT/SO loser point lets (almost) everyone feel good about their team’s chances for the playoffs. Sorry, Atlanta and Tampa!

  11. It’s simple –

    The Hurricanes have a .500 points percentage (they have secured half the points that have been available to them) and a .462 winning percentage (they have won 12 of their 26 games).