In recent years, the explosion of advanced stats has changed the way we understand the game of hockey. For the coming season, TSN has launched TSN Hockey Analytics, a team focused on employing a series of emerging stats (such as Corsi, Fenwick, zone starts, and many more) to analyze elements of the game that arena€?t always apparent to the naked eye. One of the principal contributors, Travis Yost, has been on the forefront of the advanced stat movement in hockey. We talked to Travis about how he first got into hockey analytics, how ita€?s changed his understanding of the game, and what the rest of us can learn from crunching some numbers on the leaguea€?s best players. How long have you been working in the field of hockey analytics? Ia€?ve been doing it for close to five years now. I started doing a lot of the stat stuff at HockeyBuzz.com. Once [hockey analytics] became popular and emerged out of these really small areas on the internet, thata€?s when I jumped from HockeyBuzz to NHL Numbers, which is part of the Nations Network. From there I started writing for The Sporting News and the Ottawa Citizen, and that got me to where I am now with TSN. As a hockey fan, what first drew you to working with advanced stats? Ia€?ve been a big sports fan my whole life, and I was familiar with how impactful statistical analysis was to sports like baseball. I [said to myself], a€?I watch a lot of sports, I know what Ia€?m talking about.a€? But your eyes lie to you so much, and in 2009 I really started getting into data stuff. I guess I was part of the second wave of people who got into hockey analytics. The first wave included writers like Vic Ferrari, Tyler Dellow, and Sunny Mehta, who was hired by the Devils this summer, along with a handful of people out of Edmonton called the Oilogosphere [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oilogosphere] who started back in 2006 or 2007. When sites like Vica€?s Hockey and Objective NHL started, hockey analytics sites were almost impossible to find. This was before the Twitter age. Youa€?d only come across really smart hockey analytics writing in the far corners of the internet. But their initial flushing out of ideas impressed me to the point where I said, a€?You know, I think a lot of this stuff matters.a€? So I just started working on it on my own. Obviously over the last two years ita€?s exploded, but people dona€?t realize ita€?s not a new thing. Wea€?re coming up on the ninth season this stuff has been happening, and ita€?s a massive thing, but it took a long time to get people on board. What do you think precipitated the massive growth of hockey analytics in recent years? There have been case studies every year, whether ita€?s the Dallas Stars, or the Minnesota Wild in 2012, or Toronto last year. And much more often than not, hockey analytics have [separated] the paper tiger teams from the teams who are ready to take that next step. People point to last yeara€?s Toronto Maple Leafs as the big reason hockey analytics exploded into the mainstream. Because everyone who had been looking the data said, a€?This team is doomed to fail.a€? And lo and behold, they missed the playoffs last year. Previously, the other big case study was the 2012 LA Kings. They came in as an 8th seed, but they were winning something like 59% of the shot share heading into the playoffs. Anyone who was reading smart analytics stuff at that time was hearing, a€?This team is a juggernaut and theya€?re going to explode at any moment.a€? And they rolled through the postseason, and that was big, because it sold a lot of people on how valuable this stuff is with respect to predictability. I think that was when people started assigning real value to it. What traditional hockey stat do you believe is the most misleading? It seems laborious to even talk about it, because I think everyone knows plus/minus is misleading now. Therea€?s no value in it. Goals are such a random occurrence, and the attribution of the stat is problematic to begin with. I dona€?t think plus/minus tells you anything about the player: maybe therea€?s a chance his linemates shot 57% that season, or maybe that his goaltender stopped 87% of shots when he was on the ice. To be honest, no one really uses it anymore, and the few people who do, I cana€?t imagine theya€?ll be using it much longer. Can you break down one advanced stat you use and explain it to us? I think one of the best metrics is Relative Corsi, or CorsiREL. We know that good players post good Corsis and bad players post bad ones, but team effects cana€?t be understated. For example, Phil Kessel, who is one of the best players in the world, cana€?t possibly breach 44% Corsi because Toronto as a team is so bad. Whereas very average players on elite teams like Los Angeles or Chicago are posting Corsis of 56 or 57%. The biggest misconception is that the Kings or Blackhawks player must therefore be better than Phil Kessel, and thata€?s not that case. What I like to use is Relative Corsi, which captures a playera€?s ability to drive play compared to his teammates. Last year, Kessel posted a +2.02%, suggestive of Torontos ability to control play at even-strength more favorably with him on the ice as opposed to off. Another perfect example of this is the Sedin twins, who for years have posted insane Relative Corsi rates. Regardless of whether Vancouver is good or bad, the Sedins still look exceptional. Last year, while the rest of their team was middling, Vancouvera€?s possession numbers dropped as a team. But the Sedins still posted exceptional numbers when they were on the ice. Theya€?re so elite at what they do in generating shots and generating control of the puck that wea€?re able to say, a€?These are elite players.a€? So thata€?s one metric we look at to capture cross-team player analysis. How have hockey analytics changed your understanding of the game? I watch hockey totally differently, and I dona€?t say that just to make a point. I used to spend so much time just watching the offensive zone, because thata€?s where the goals are scored, and thata€?s what we care about. When I first got into hockey analytics, I kept my focus on the offensive zone, because thata€?s where the shots happen, and shots are much more meaningful. Over the years, Ia€?ve realized that ita€?s not about the shots themselves, but how those shots are being generated. Now I spend a lot more of my energy watching the neutral zone. If youa€?re casually watching the game with your friends, the neutral zone seems to be where a lot of nothing happens. But really, much of what leads up to offensive success is how teams come through or defend the neutral zone. Because we know how valuable neutral zone possession is, as opposed to dump and chase. So Ia€?ve started paying a lot of attention to tracking neutral zone performance, because while it seems like a dead area, ita€?s really the most important area on the ice. Boston Red Sox Store . Cammalleri suffered a concussion in the Flames 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. The 31-year-old forward did not travel with the team to Carolina. Matt Barnes Red Sox Jersey . Dancevic won his singles match on Friday, defeating Go Soeda 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-1, to even the best-of-five series at a game apiece. World No. 18 Kei Nishikori defeated Peter Polansky in the opening match, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. https://www.cheapredsox.com/1631z-ryan-w...ey-red-sox.html. Louis Cardinals continued their offensive tear with a 9-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series. Jackie Bradley Jr. Red Sox Jersey . - IndyCar racing officials expressed confidence on Monday that the NOLA Motorsports Park will be able to complete more $4. Luis Tiant Red Sox Jersey . Bayern led second-place Leverkusen by 10 points with a game in hand, while Dortmund was another four points off the pace. Freiburg midfielder Felix Klaus scored in the last minute as his side twice came from behind to climb provisionally out of the relegation zone.Q: You were an english-lit major at the University of Tennessee, whats your favourite fiction novel?R.A.: Fiction, oh man its hard to pick a favourite, Ill give you a couple ones that I really like. Ill give you a classic, that I really really enjoyed growing up, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is one I read early on and loved it. Im a big Ernest Hemingway fan, so anything written by him. And recently, more contemporary literature, probably The Power Of One by Bryce Courtenay. And I just, I love reading, so its hard for me to pick a favourite.Q: Another tough one here, if you could have dinner with 3 authors (alive or dead) who would they be?R.A.: Oh man, 3 authors? Ok well, one would be Hemingway, (thinking) one would be Robert Frost and probably another one would be Paul, who wrote a lot books in the Bible. He wrote a lot of the new testament.Q: I couldnt help but notice that you come out to the Game of Thrones theme song. Which character in Game of Thrones would you say best resembles yourself?R.A.: (WARNING: the following answer contains SPOILERS for those who are not through the first season or first book of the Game of Thrones series) You know Im certainly a family Stark proponent. I think you know, I dont want to give anything away, but hes not on the show anymore, but Eddard Stark was kinda my guy. I liked him a lot, I was so sad when he died.(image via HBO)Q: If you had to associate the Blue Jays with one family or group from the series, who would the Blue Jays be?R.A.: Oh man, you know, it might be (thinking), it might be House Targaryen. Kind of on the outskirts a little bit, nobodys really taking them very seriously, but maybe we got some dragons (laughs).Q: If you go online there are a bunch of articles that are titled "RA Dickey: The Most Interesting Man in the World". Youve climbed mt. kilimanjaro, youve authored books. Whats the next non-baseball achievement for you that you want to accomplish?R.A.: Well, apart from just trying to be a full-time dad, which I really enjoy, Ive got four kids, so that takes up the bulk of my time. Especially since I have a major league schedule that keeps me away from home so much, so thats a big deal. But if youre talking from a hobby standpoint, Im thinking about trying to go up another mountain, maybe its base camp at everest or maybe its a peak in South America, or one of the indies or something like that.Q: So if youre the most interesting man on the Blue Jays, who is the 2nd most interesting man?R.A.: (Laughs) Well I dont know if Im the most interesting, I just think I do things that the other guys dont do. But Jose Bautista is a pretty interesting guy and Josee Reyes too.dddddddddddd Jose Reyes, a lot of people might not know this, but hes a rapper. Hes put out a few songs, you can YouTube him. So, yeah, Jose Reyes is pretty interesting, but we got a lot of really interesting guys, just a great group of guys.(Warning: This song is NSFW)Q: Baseball players are known to have the best handshakes in sports. Over your career, who is the best handshake creator youve seen?R.A.: Ohhh, I gotta go with Jose Reyes. I played with him in New York on the Mets and I play with him here and hes got a different gyration for every guy. And some of its really creative, so hes my guy.Q: Does it ever get annoying? Are you ever thinking like cmon, lets just high five?R.A.: (Laughs) Ya, well Im kinda one of the older players, so sometimes Im kinda like an old curmudgeon. Im kinda like "Lets gooo, let me just sit down. I dont need to dance around." Q: Youre from Nashville, you gotta be a music guy. Whos the last musical artist or band youve heard that made you say, wow these guys are good?R.A.: Um (thinking), probably Mumford & Sons, I got a hold of them about a year ago for the first time for whatever reason. They have a really unique sound, but you get inundated with such great music in Nashville of every genre. And Im not necessarily a country guy, but Nashville is the country music capital of the world, so I hear great no name guys all the time. Youll just go into a local honkey-tonk somewhere in the city and youll see the next Garth Brooks. Its pretty neat.Q: Last concert you went to that wasnt for your kids?R.A.: Oh man, shoot (thinking). Last concert I went to was probably Natalie Merchant. Can you believe that? (laughs)Q: A couple of years ago, you put in your twitter bio, "ninja in training" can we get a status update on how thats going?R.A.: Oh yeah, if achieving ninjahood is like, lets say a black belt, Im about two belts underneath right now. So, Im making my way up.Q: Favourite place to eat in Toronto?R.A.: Oh man, thats tough. You know, Im a big fan of Gretzkys. Theyve got a great menu, the service is good and its like a museum in there, so Ill pick that. Ive got a lot of places that I really enjoy, but for every day dining, I like Gretzkys.Q: Have you ever gone BarDown?R.A.: Well, Ive only taken about three hockey shots my whole life. And I broke the stick on one of them because I didnt know what I was doing and the stick head flew off. And the other one, (laughing) I think I jammed my arm so hard I didnt want to pick up a hockey stick again. Mind you, I had no schooling. We have the Predators now, but you dont grow up in Nashville playing street hockey. ' ' '