The plus/minus statistic in the NHL has always been a bit of a controversial metric.
First employed in the 1950's by the Montreal Canadiens, the stat became officially tracked by the NHL in 1968.
As it tracks the amount of even strength or short-handed goals scored while a player is on the ice, the idea that simply stepping on the ice surface at the right, or wrong time, can change a player's rating, unfairly so, has always rubbed some the wrong way.
In the short-term, such instances are common, however, over the length of a season, a plus/minus rating, when compared with a player's ice-time, point totals and position can tell you something about their overall ability.
What the hell does all of this have to do with this slide show?
Well, instead of simply putting out a Top 5 Best/Worst list, I figured I'd get all hockey up in here and go with a plus/minus rating instead.
The following list will take a look at five good/better than expected/surprising performances so far this season, and five bad ones.
Both teams and individual players are subject to inclusion and will be awarded a 'plus' or 'minus' rating ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Matt Hutter
NHL Plus-Minus: The 5 Best and 5 Worst Performances So Far This Season
October 26th, 2010 by Matt Hutter Leave a reply »
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