We took a month off because, frankly, not much has happened and/or we all needed a long break away from hockey. But ... we're back in true and proper form. We discussed golf, coffee, offer sheets, our recently fantasy projections release, and the Minnesota State Fair all while kind of forgetting how to do a podcast episode. It's nice to be back. 

We took a few weeks off to recover from July 1st, but we're back in full force with this rambling excursion. In the first half we covered recent NHL news, discussed Byfield's contract, and pondered the Sabres' status. Later we answered listener questions and talked films! 

We're a few days late, but that's not our fault! The NHL decided to start the playoffs earlier than expected, so we're scrambling a bit to catch up. We spent the entire episode covering each of the first round series. In between there's some nonsense as usual. 

The All Time Hockey Twitter bracket is live, and we had plenty to say about it. We spent the first half chatting about some all-time hockey tweets, social media, and how much older we are than Shawn. In the second half, we get to actual hockey talk regarding the struggling Wild, the Western conference, and a little trade talk. 

We tried to do some planning, but this one ended up as chaotic as ever. Luke coded the entire time while we chatted about the Leafs/Red Wings four-goalie extravaganza, covered obscure icing stats, and attempted to review 2021 free agency. Chaos is fun. 

We recorded this before the USA/Canada gold medal game not really realizing that we should've just waited a day. However, we did cover some fun topics while getting caught in our usual rabbit holes. Tyler Toffoli was traded, Claude Giroux might be traded, we checked in on the Sabres once again, and learned that the Philadelphia Spectrum's roof blew off in 1968. 

We're extremely excited to welcome one of our absolute favorite people in hockey, Alison Lukan (@AlisonL), to the podcast! We discuss Alison's background in hockey and stats, talk about numerous topics related to and regarding the Seattle Kraken, and reminisce about hockey analytics conferences. This was a great time! 

We're very excited to have one of our dearest friends Dom Luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) on the podcast for a special episode. Burritos, Apple Numbers, Game Score, The Seattle Kraken, and Fortnite are the topics of conversation (among many others). This one was fun. 

We're a day later than usual (technical issues), but the extra day gave us time to be extra sharp. We spend the first segment discussing our favorite topics (Geography, the Sabres, and bad NHL teams), and then transition to our takes on potential trade deadline targets. 

Week 15 is over, and the Edmonton Media is at it again. We chat about the Oilers (they've been the biggest story in the NHL for weeks), the absurdly odd Arizona Coyotes, and spend the entire second half answering listener questions in a mailbag segment!

Week 14 (?) is in the books, but who's really counting at this point. We chat about the difficulty in projecting team performance (the Montreal Canadiens), All Star Game roster selections / general All Star Game nonsense, and discuss all of our good, bad, and ugly takes over the years.

Despite setbacks, the '21-22 NHL season rolls on in entertaining fashion. We discuss Marcus Foligno's "goal" via Carl Hagelin,  hockey Scorigamis, general goal scoring trends, the Calder race as it stands in our opinion right now, and the "generational" goaltenders of the last decade. This episode jumped around more than normal, but remember: chaos is good.

We took a week off, but we're back in full force. 2021 is in the rear-view mirror, and we spent a good deal of time covering the current state of the league (first part) along with our version of a 2021 year-end review (second part). Cold, the Winter Classic, and the importance of eradicating the emerald ash borer were also discussed.

It's been a few weeks, but we're back to discuss... Kyle Dubas in the twitter replies. Later (and before) we chat about the terrible Eastern Conference wild card race, potential changes to the NHL playoff structure, shooting talent, and eclipses. 

In part 2 of our Hockey Stats Glossary Series, we cover several of the "non-model" metrics for skater analysis in hockey statistics! Here we discuss zone starts, various relative metrics (relative to team, WOWY, relative to teammate), and quality of teammates/competition evaluation. This all leads into part 3, where we'll discuss the "model" based skater evaluation metrics (RAPM and GAR). 

Covid is shutting everything down (again). The Olympics are likely cancelled (again). Everything is bad right now, but we still managed to talk about the Sabres, breakout players, and some potentially spicy Olympic roster picks. Even if it's not going to happen, we can still hope and keep the dream alive. Right? 

We're excited to have Shayna Goldman as our first guest on the podcast (skip to 30:54 if you're just interested in her)! We chat with Shayna about her recent endeavors, the public expected goals models, and her ability to incorporate data and hockey numbers into her work. Before the break we cover the Zegras/Milano connection (and discourse) and dive back into the NHL penalty debate.

We're back this week with a full-length episode. Just before we recorded, it was leaked that the Vancouver Canucks had potentially made some changes in their organization. We discuss their new move(s) and cover what coaching analysis in the NHL looks like (or doesn't). In the second half, we go all-in on our way-too-early NHL awards picks.

We're back with a special episode: Part 1 of our Hockey Stats Glossary Series. Our goal with this series is to cover every hockey stat we can think of, which happens to be almost everything that's available on evolving-hockey.com! In our first episode, we talk about the general terms in modern hockey stats and discuss history, definitions, and usage along the way. 

We're back with a slightly abridged version this week as we'll be releasing another episode in a few days (keep an eye out for it midweek)! We chat about recent trends among teams, discuss the age-old Thanksgiving standings positions in relation to our team projections, and haphazardly talk about hockey jerseys. 

Week 6 of the '21-22 NHL season is in the books, and we're back to discussing some nonsense: the battle for New York, irregular rink sizes, shorthanded defense, and various other strength state play. In the second half we talk about our new in-season fantasy projection tools that were released on Evolving Hockey this past week and more or less agree that the Kraken are getting goalied.

We're back for our 10th episode! We spend the first half chatting about various topics in the NHL (geography, Troy Terry & the Ducks, how bad are the Coyotes really, historically bad teams, and luck). In the second half, we talk almost entirely about the recent Connor McDavid discourse, penalties in the NHL, and whether they are real (they are). 

Jack Eichel was finally traded (to the Vegas Golden Knights), which more than fulfills our weekly Buffalo Sabres check-in requirement. We talk about the months-long saga and trade, discuss a few other notable aspects in the still early '21-22 NHL season, and spend the last half answering your questions! Since last week's episode was cut short, we added a little more to this one. Enjoy! 

We fought through technical issues to get this one recorded, and the results were a very minor success. We chat about Halloween, Frederik Andersen and the Hurricanes, cover how the Sabres are doing as always, and ramble about random statistical hockey bits until Josh's mic stopped working. Check it out! 

It's that time of year again: bad teams. We use the Sharks and Blackhawks as a jumping off point to talk historically bad teams (the '92-93 Senators and Sharks), and then cover the current playoff picture. In the middle, we chat about preseason expectations and models. 

Week 2 of the '21-22 NHL season is in the books! We chat about some early season player evaluation model results, unfortunate teams (cough Chicago cough), cover a few modeling topics, and banter about an interesting idea regarding players switching handedness. 

We're only 6 days into the '21-22 NHL regular season, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be impressed by the Buffalo Sabres or laugh at the Chicago Blackhawks. Shawn, Josh, and Luke chat about the first few games of this season, discuss our new game prediction model, and cover a few other pieces of way-too-early-in-the-season items along the way! 

Shawn, Josh, and Luke spend the entire episode mostly rambling about our recently finalized NHL team point projections. We talk about some interesting results, early reactions, and how the model works!

Shawn, Josh, and Luke banter about a few current events in the NHL and answer your questions ranging from contract value, dealing with age in modeling, preseason NHL award picks, vacation destinations, and much more! 

Shawn, Josh, and Luke are back for the 3rd episode. We cover a few bits and pieces from the leisurely NHL offseason, discuss the new Evolving Hockey fantasy projections and the ensuing discourse around their release, and take a look at some probably-too-early team projections heading into the '21-22 season! 

We're back for Episode #1 (it's the second episode). Shawn, Josh, and Luke chat about the Seattle Kraken's expansion draft, cover Evolving Hockey's skater similarity tool and how we can use it to find interesting comparable players in the league, and discuss overlooked players currently in the NHL!

Shawn, Josh, and Luke introduce the new show, talk a bit about our history and the site, chat about free agency and how our contract projection model has done this summer,  and answer some overdue mailbag questions! 

The NHL trade deadline came and went, but we had more important things on our minds: 4v3 strength states. In the first half, we talked twins, the Wild's bold 3v3 goalie pull, and scoring rates. Later, we did a full breakdown of the deadline! 

With the trade deadline fast approaching, we first explained to Luke why everyone is talking about Matt Rempe and then cover the very recent Devils coaching change. Later we reminisce about Wikipedia-while-working and chat about the ongoing deadline happenings.

We just published our '23-24 NHL trade deadline targets article on the site and spent well over an hour talking about our targets, the Evolving Tanev deal, and contending vs. non-contending teams. This one was a blast. 

Article can be found here

We're back after a long holiday weekend to chat about Jarmo Kekäläinen's firing, the Blue Jackets, and the tank race. Later we cover some Jágr trivia, trade deadline (non-) targets, and music composition. 

It's time for some data discussion! The NHL recently announced that they completed a season-long audit of their tracking methods, and we took this as an on-brand opportunity to spend the first half chatting about it. Later we discussed the awesome Greig empty-net slapshot, empty net goals in general, geography, and vacuums.

We're back - at our proper time! In the first half we discussed the All Star game, Lindholm & Monahan, the Canucks, and regional pronunciation. Later we talked NHL players in recital, expansion cities, and team predictions for the rest of the '23-24 season. 

It's our pleasure to welcome our first returning guest! Charlie, one of our favorite people in hockey, stopped by to chat about the Flyers' surprise season, the coaching and organizational overhaul, interesting players, Tyson Foerster, and some of our favorite albums from 2023.

Charlie O'Connor can be found here:
PHLY Sports
Twitter

In light of the recent 2018 Hockey Canada sexual assault charges, we are encouraging those who are able to support and donate to the following organizations:

WOAR Philadelphia Center Against Sexual Violence
RAINN
National Sexual Violence Resource Center

Even though it's only been two days, the NHL decided to spend a Billion dollars already. We spent the entire episode covering free agent signings, our contract model's performance, team evaluation, and winners/losers. This was chaos, just like Monday. 

We're halfway through the season, and it's a perfect time to discuss some exceptionally bad teams. In the first half we chat about Fleury's recent climb among goalie greats and goalie stats this season. Later, we debate terrible rosters, fuel economy metrics, and historical stats. 

In rare form for this season, we've had some actual big news over the last week! In the first half, we chat about the early success of the PWHL and the unique Flyers / Ducks trade. In the second half, we discuss Nylander's extension, aging curves, and great hockey names. 

New Year, Same Us. We spent the first half discussing the Winter Classic, language stack exchanges, and airports. In the second half we chatted about public models, team performance relative to preseason expectations, and the state of public data/tracking in 2024. 

It's Christmas Eve in podcast form, so we took a prompt from Shawn and spent the first half discussing our individually-defined naughty & nice lists for the NHL this season. In the second half we chatted about GRIT and stumbled into 2026 Olympic hockey roster speculation. 

Last week we discussed a few others' award picks. This week, we used our own picks as a means to discuss player evaluation philosophy, under-looked players this season, and Connor Bedard. Later we talked Ohtani's new contract and NHL parallels. 

We're quite late, and that's the twins' fault. We spent the first half rambling about the crazy Pacific teams, handwriting, and some important geography. In the second half, however, we got serious: The Buffalo Sabres and Awards talk. 

We're back after a week break for Thanksgiving. This  one made it seem like we really missed doing this podcast (we did). First we discussed the Wild, their recent coaching change, and struggles. In the second half we attempted to talk the current playoff picture. In between we covered DST, our vague understanding of the CBA, Randy Newman, and New Foundland. 

It feels like the only thing happening in the league has to do with the Oilers. So of course we discussed Edmonton's woes along with one of the more entertaining games of the last year. In the second half we chatted about early rookie standouts and made time for some geography trivia! 

Shawn has been dealing with jury duty, so we're once again a day late - our apologies. We spent a good portion of the first half discussing the Canucks, the erratic Pacific division, and expectations. In the second half we pat ourselves on the back re: the Leafs and chat about the important new Minnesota top line. 

As is (now) tradition here at the podcast, we're recording on Halloween, once again. We chat about the surprising Anaheim Ducks, discuss the recently released GAR et al. data for the '23-24 season, quiz each other on D-men shooting trivia, and share some spooky stories!