This Week In Corsi

by J.P. on Nov 9, 2008 12:35 PM EST

The Caps played three tight games this week and managed to snag five points along the way - we'll certainly take that. Let's take a look at the week what was in Corsi, but first, here's the year-to-date Corsi Rating for each skater on the team on a per game, per sixty minutes of even strength ice time rate (click to enlarge):

Still no change at the top or bottom from last week, with Sergei Fedorov and Boyd Gordon at the extremes for a fourth consecutive week, but thanks to a horrible showing against Ottawa on Tuesday, Donald Brashear has joined the trio of Caps previously on the wrong side of zero (it should be noted, however, that in the two subsequent games, the Brashear-Gordon-Matt Bradley fourth line has the same raw CR as the Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom/Sergei Fedorov-Alex Semin line in this metric, and has done so in significantly less even strength ice time).

In terms of raw numbers, the Caps best player, by far, was Tom Poti at plus-17. In fact, since returning from injury, Poti has led the Caps in this stat in three of the four games and has been positive in each game - it goes without saying that a healthy Poti is absolutely critical to the Caps success right now. Shaone Morrisonn (plus-seven in limited action), Nicklas Backstrom and Tyler Sloan (plus-six apiece, and in just one game for Sloan), and Brooks Laich and Viktor Kozlov (plus-five apiece) round out the top five.

Chris Clark's was the worst skater on the team at minus-12 (in just two games) for the week, but we can blame his *ahem* injury, right? A quartet of players at minus-11 completes the bottom five and consists of Jeff Schultz, Milan Jurcina, John Erskine and Brashear. Also of note, Mike Green was a team-best plus-ten on Thursday and a team-worst minus-nine last night.

So what jumps out at you? Is Tyler Sloan ready for top-six minutes? For that matter, how would you rank the Caps' defensemen overall (and no, Fedorov doesn't count)?

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Why does this thing hate Gordo?

by B19 on Nov 9, 2008 1:57 PM EST reply actions

Why does this thing hate Gordo?

In part because he takes a lot of defensive draws at even strength, meaning there's a better chance of shots heading towards the Caps goal than at the other end, and in part because he and his line create very little offense.

Last season, fwiw, Gordo was much better, though he did have some time on more offensive-minded lines.

by JP on Nov 9, 2008 2:30 PM EST reply actions

Gordo's been awesome all season, doing what he's supposed to, and was fantastic last night. 3rd Star of the game fantastic. The consistently low ratings of him really make me question the value this system.

by Mr. B on Nov 9, 2008 2:52 PM EST reply actions

@ Mr. B: It's not a "system." It's a stat that measures even strength chances created and allowed. It's just another analytical tool, similar to plus/minus, with which to evaluate players.

And I'd agree - Gordon was awesome last night.

by JP on Nov 9, 2008 3:27 PM EST reply actions

I was really p'oed that Henrik "Whiny Baby" Lunquist got the second star instead of Tom Poti. He really played well last night. Heck, I thought even Erskine wasn't terrible.

by Debcapsfan on Nov 9, 2008 3:39 PM EST reply actions

The Poti-Sloan pairing definately worked and Poti has been very good since his return.

Bring on Olie and the Lightning.

LETS GO CAPS!!!!

by Usually Frustrated Caps Fan on Nov 9, 2008 4:05 PM EST reply actions

Whoops, sorry.

And I agree that Poti-Sloan is a good pairing. Green-Schultz seems to be better than Green-Morrisonn this season as well.

by Mr. B on Nov 9, 2008 5:47 PM EST reply actions

1) Poti
2) Green
3) Everyone else. And green is only 2 cause he at least brings offense even though he's just as bad defensively this season to date.

And yeah, I think the corsi rating really isn't fair to some players like Gordon, simply because of how he is, as you said, often in the defensive zone for the face off and such. I think he's a really solid player, but the corsi rating would tell you otherwise to far more a degree than the normal +/- rating does. Corsi is good for getting a general idea, but without actually knowing WHY someone got that score, it could certainly mislead you easily.

by Hazardous on Nov 9, 2008 6:06 PM EST reply actions

"Also of note, Mike Green was a team-best plus-ten on Thursday and a team-worst minus-nine last night."

Mikey is killin' me. What on earth could be wrong with him?

Not only was he the team-worst minus last night, I believe he set the modern record for giveways in one game. Or so it sure as hell seemed.

by Mirabella on Nov 9, 2008 6:43 PM EST reply actions

"The consistently low ratings of him really make me question the value this system."

As Jasper said, its not a system, it's a stat, but it's a stat that measures nothing but itself, which makes it fairly worthless. People have criticized the +/- rating as a unreliable measure of a defenseman's worth, since it's not always that player's fault when the pucks goes into the net and that an offensive defenseman can boost his +/- by racking up points while abandoning his blueline duties. However, the Corsi rating is worse, because it applies a broader measure to overall play without accounting for dozens of variables. Which is a huge no-no in statistics and analysis.

by exwhaler on Nov 9, 2008 10:26 PM EST reply actions

Who the hell is Jasper?

by JP on Nov 10, 2008 6:35 AM EST reply actions

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