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Fordyford · 03-12-2019, 01:24 PM

I have decided to rank the defenses by comparing almost all the stats, and can't be bothered to type out all of the analysis and comparisons I did, but I'll give an example of the analysis process of the top 2 below (I'll give a brief reasoning for each decision, but have considered many more statistics):

So, according to me arbitrarily comparing and weighing up stats the defenses currently rank as follows:

10:

Colorado are simply giving up too many shots, and it shows, with them currently sitting comfortably last

9:

Vancouver have struggled on the penalty kill, and also other than their top 2 seem to refuse to throw hits. It doesn't help that their defense isn't scoring well either

8:

Detroit have struggled defensively this season. They seem indisciplined, and most of them lack potency up front. Some of them are throwing a lot of hits, but end up spending too much time in the box.

7:

Lethbridge seem to be doing well for the most part defensively, but they have huge issues with discipline, which is why they gravitated down this list. If they can post fewer PIMs, they might find themselves more successful

6:

Again, Montreal have pretty large issues with discipline, struggling to keep themselves out of the box, and so couldn't get any higher on the list

5:

St Louis have really struggled defensively, and conceded more goals than anyone else. A large part of this is poor goaltending, but other than the scoring and decent discipline, none of the other stats are amazing, so they have to appear mid-table.

4:

Anaheim have had a fairly good season defensively, putting up decent scoring and other numbers, but I'd be concerned about some of the player's PIMs despite an apparent lack of physicality.

3:

Halifax's defense had a really good start, but Halifax have struggled of late. The numbers are, for the most part, however, quite good, and Halifax should be happy they're yet to drop down farther.

2:

Kelowna have had a great season so far, but as described below, a lot of their strengths rely on a strong forward group as well. Still they've done well enough to warrant second on the list.

1:

Anchorage had a tough start to the season but since then have really improved, both scoring well and putting up solid numbers defensively. The fact they're one of the most disciplined defense corps really helps. The only thing they've slightly struggled with is PK, but the fact their PP is so strong makes up for that.

Here is my analysis of the top 2 defenses on the list:

Anchorage Armada currently sit at 4th in the SMJHL, but currently are the only team other than Kelowna with a positive goal differential, and sit second in the league in GAA (also after Kelowna). Most would say this indicates that Kelowna clearly have the best defense in the league, but I would beg to differ.

First let's look at scoring. The Anchorage Armada top 6 currently combine for 81 points, while the Kelowna top 6 combine for 83. This looks like a loss for Anchorage, but let's look in more depth. Anchorage's defense has 28 of their points on the PP, while Kelowna has 26. Note that the Kelowna defense has 312 minutes vs Anchorage's 296 on the PP so this is 5.68 P/60 on the power play vs 5.00 P/60 on the PP. So it seems Anchorage are better on the power play, but that could very well be attributed to the Armada's general success on the power play, leading the league by a significant margin on PP%. Next let's compare how the points came. Anchorage gained 17 goals and 64 assists, while Kelowna got 13 goals and 70 assists. This indicates to me that the Kelowna defense has taken advantage of their lethal offensive lines to score the majority of their points, while Anchorage are more offensively strong in a vacuum, and the fact the shot counts are similar (166 vs 177) indicates that Anchorage's defense seems to be more consistent at scoring on their shots, while Kelowna rely more on passing to their leading forwards (which isn't necessarily bad for defensemen, just worth noting that with a worse offense, Anchorage's numbers would seemingly drop less than Kelowna's would)

Now let's look at the defensive stats: Kelowna currently have 163 hits for their top 6 defensemen, while Anchorage have 166 in their top 6, indicating that the two sets of d-men are both similar in physicality. However, Anchorage have 195 shots blocked total vs Kelowna's 170, and while this may in part be because less shots are attempted against Kelowna, almost a shot per game would indicate that the Anchorage defense are definitely better in this area.

Another consideration that we should consider is discipline, and here again Anchorage lead. Kelowna's top 6 have 116 minutes in the box between them, while the Armada's have just 98. This should combine with the fact that despite the brilliant season they are having Kelowna are sitting second last on PK% as a very concerning fact. They will lose games by giving away too many penalties, and it could cost them in the playoffs or later in the regular season.

Given that the goalie's stats seem almost identical, it seems that we can't really consider that as a factor. This leads me to the conclusion that Anchorage are better than Kelowna, and therefore the best in the league due to me creating this shortlist of two after considering statistics on all other teams.

***SDCore*** · 03-12-2019, 03:08 PM

Wow ground breaking stuff there... An Armada Defensive player ranks the Armada Defense number 1....

Fordyford · 03-12-2019, 03:12 PM

03-12-2019, 03:08 PMSDCore Wrote: Wow ground breaking stuff there... An Armada Defensive player ranks the Armada Defense number 1....

Not at all suspect Wink

SecondSucks22 · 03-12-2019, 03:16 PM

03-12-2019, 03:12 PMFordyford Wrote:
03-12-2019, 03:08 PMSDCore Wrote: Wow ground breaking stuff there... An Armada Defensive player ranks the Armada Defense number 1....

Not at all suspect

This is just as rigged as the prospect showcase finals...

Fordyford · 03-12-2019, 05:07 PM

03-12-2019, 03:16 PMSecondSucks22 Wrote:
03-12-2019, 03:12 PMFordyford Wrote: Not at all suspect

This is just as rigged as the prospect showcase finals...

Nothing could be that rigged...

karlssens · 03-12-2019, 05:35 PM

cool article. kelowna is better

SecondSucks22 · 03-12-2019, 06:30 PM

03-12-2019, 05:07 PMFordyford Wrote:
03-12-2019, 03:16 PMSecondSucks22 Wrote: This is just as rigged as the prospect showcase finals...

Nothing could be that rigged...

Don't bring it up near a blazer though cause they won on their "superior ability" LOL

daBenchwarmer · 03-12-2019, 07:12 PM

bruh

is this satire?

***hhh81*** · 03-12-2019, 07:18 PM

I'm hurt.

Well, next season I'll be on the best d-core in the SHL soooo *shrug*

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