Understanding Advanced Stats, Part Six: CorsiRelQoT, CorsiRelQoC, CorsiQoT and CorsiQoC

Advanced stats are not perfect and are mostly useless as evaluators of talent (like pretty much any other stat) without context, and the bigger the sample size the more accurate a stat will become-ideally, for hockey, this means at least an 82 game season.

I understand some people might have issues when we bring up things like PDO, GVT, CorsiREL and other non-traditional ways of evaluation. In my opinion, these stats add to the game, and I don’t want someone to be lost when they read an article here because they don’t know what the hell Zone Start is or how it impacts a player’s stature.

By no means am I an expert when it comes to these things: I, too, still have a lot to learn. These are my interpretations; if I have something wrong please bring it up and I’ll edit the article accordingly.

With those things in mind, I present to you the sixth and final part in a glossary of advanced stat terminology.

These four stats are all quite similar in that they use Corsi and they all compare players' situations. CRQoT and CRQoC are relative corsi ratings scaled based on ice time-one measures the relative corsi of the competition (CRQoC) while the other (CRQoT) measures the relative corsi of team mates. CQoT and CQoC are basically the same stats, but they use regular corsi rates when measuring the stats.

Now, like I said in the last paragraph-these stats are used to compare player's situations. A player with a "high" (>.75) CRQoC generally faces off against high quality players, or at least players who are able to drive the puck towards the net. Conversly, a "high" (>.75) CRQoT means a player has good possesion guys around him as well.

So why do these stats matter? Well, in my opinion, CRQoC is the best single stat we have for evaluating players-simply because of how much information is packed into the stat. Guys who have a high CRQoC rating and a decent CorsiRel aren't screwing around. They know how to take on the toughies and drive possesion, and they do it well.

Just by looking at the stats on BtN, you can appreciate how much Robyn Regehr did for the team last year (sob). He faced the best possession opponents (CRQoC, 1.452) and did it without much help from his teammates (CRQoT, -0.974) even though his CQoT was in the positives. Yes, he got murdered in CorsiRel but that’s because of who he was facing and his 49.9% ZS. Trust me when I say this guy had a massive impact on the game.

These stats are amalgamations of stats we've already covered, so I didn't really bother going over them in depth. They are great tools for determining who has impact on the game-impact that may not be seen while just watching it, and for me, that in and of itself is a validation of advanced stats.

(Check out Behind the Net, Time on Ice, Hockey Analysis, Hockey Prospectus and Arctic Ice Hockey for all your stat-nerd needs.)

by Richard Hammond