Gordon addresses Leafs' analytics critics

Every so often, an interview comes along that transcends the boundaries of specific teams' fandoms and is simply a good read for any hockey enthusiast.

Tuesday, The Globe and Mail offers wide-ranging insight from fired Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Scott Gordon. Included with the article itself is an edited transcript.

Here's just a slice...

Q. One aspect of your year that became highly controversial was the analytics movement and its evaluation of your team. Were you aware of that at all and how do you weigh in on it?

“I don’t think anybody likes to get outshot. And no matter if we won the games, there was always this feeling [among the coaches] of what do we have to do to cut this down? That was obviously an ongoing conversation that we had throughout the year.

“But it doesn’t mean that you’re a good team or a bad team if you get outshot half the time. There are teams that get 20 shots in [some] games and they get outshot but they still win.

“The reason why teams get outshot is it’s not so much about defensive play as it is about offensive play. If you’re spending more time in the offensive zone, it’s harder for the other team to get more shots. It’s a simple concept but that’s the truth of it. The best team I ever coached in the American League, we led the league in shots for and shots against was probably top 10. It wasn’t because we were a great defensive team; we didn’t play in our zone.

“If you can commit yourself to being diligent in the neutral zone and making good decisions in the offensive zone, you’re going to get more offensive opportunities. When Dan Bylsma took over [in Pittsburgh], they were a perfect example of D up to the wing and chip and go get it. D to D, up to the wing and go get it. Obviously offensively we scored goals but there was an opportunity to score more goals if you’re consistently getting the puck in the offensive zone.”

[He adds that he liked to watch playoff games and track what good teams like St. Louis were doing, counting turnovers and how many times they got the puck deep into the offensive zone compared to their opponents.]

The follow-up question asked why the Leafs ultimately struggled to play that kind of game.

Source: James Mirtle, Globe and Mail