So, my main goal in this was to see if there was any pattern
to how teams performed in the last 10 games. If some teams stepped it up while
others dropped the ball. I didn’t want individuals on teams to play a massive
role. IE just going off of one year might have played too much testament to the
players, and I wanted to try to distinguish it from organization to
organization.
It was a bit difficult and I am not sure how well I did it.
But what I went for was points earned in the last 10 games. Take that number
and divide it by 20, the total points possible. So a team that goes 3-3-4 earns
50% of points possible. I then take this number, and compare the teams points
over 72 games (So total season points – last 10 games). I divide this by 144
(82*2 = 164 (total points available in a season) – 20). This gives a % of
points earned throughout the season. Subtract %2 from %1 and we see how many
more or less points a team is earning in the last 10 games of a season. Make
sense? Kind of at least?
The graph below contains your favourite NHL team so you can
check them out. The top three most consistent are Chicago (.02 difference over
3 seasons), Vancouver (-.02) and Phoenix (.02).
Florida, Philadelphia and Colorado are the three least
clutch teams, dropping the most points in the last 10 games compared to the
season. The each earn 14, 17 and 21% less points (respectively) in the last 10
games compared to the season.
The winners in stepping it up for a playoff race (or ruining
a draft chance) are Anaheim, Carolina and St-Louis with a positive difference
of 15, 20 and 21% (respectively) in the last 10 games.
Make what you will of these stats. And feel free to discuss
what you think of the accuracy of my formula (s) (suggest a better one!?)
