The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Bruins will most likely win the Cup, and the Toronto Maple Leafs should feel pretty good about that. They are the better team after all, and have a much brighter future.
The Leafs may be done for the year, but that doesn’t mean we’re done talking hockey.
In fact, the Raptors were in the NBA conference final, but I still spend my Friday night watching the Blues and Sharks play. That’s because there is no ice in basketball.
As someone whose job affords him quite a bit more free time to study statistics than the average person, and who spends a ton of time talking to Leafs fans, I have an interesting vantage point. I get to see the distinctions between reality and perception.
I see some players are beloved, while others….not so much, and when comparing their stats, it just seems funny to me how actual hockey performance has the least to do with who the fans like and why.
So let’s do a little blind comparison, just to make this point. I will say only that Player B is a beloved team favorite, and player A takes specific criticism for “not showing up in the playoffs.”
Player A vs Player B: Battle of the Playas
This comparison is for the recent seven game playoff series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins. Both Players played in all seven games.
All stats 5v5 and from naturalstattrick.com
Player A: 52.74% CF 94 Minutes 49% Shots-For
Player B: 48.31% CF 105 Minutes 49% Shots-For
The edge so far goes to player A.
Player A: 80% Goals-for, Leafs outscored Bruins 4-1 when he was on the ice.
Player B: 37.5% Goals-for, Bruins outscored Leafs 5-3 when he was on the ice.
Player A continues to dominate Player B. But to be honest, Player B did start a lot more in the defensive zone, and he did play tougher shifts. However, research indicates that it’s more important who you play with, and he unquestionably got on the ice with better players.
Player A: 1 goal, 2 assists 14 shots (weird since he never hits the net, I heard). 5 give-aways, 9 take-aways, 9 hits. 4 blocked shots.
Player B: 1 goal, zero assists 12 shots. 8 give-aways, 9 take-aways, 6 hits. Zero Blocked shots.
This is crazy, because I heard that Player B was a playoff performer, but he doesn’t hit or block shots. Player A though, afraid of contact (so I heard) happens to more hits, more blocks and less take-aways.
Oh and he scored more.
So who had the better playoffs? Player A or Player B?