Enhance Your Experience: Bring Back the Shift Chart

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 5, 2010 8:00 AM MDT in Enhance Your Experience

As you may remember, MHH has completely sold its soul and is taking part in some sponsored posts with the theme "Enhance Your Experience". Last week, I r ecommended simplifying some of the more convoluted rules on the ice. This week, I'm stepping onto the soapbox to bang a drum about a topic that's near and dear to many of our hearts: Bring back the shift charts!

Don't remember shift charts? Shift charts were a report the NHL used to put out for each game showing a graphical representation of each player's ice time (example). Simple. Useful. Effective. For some reason, the NHL quietly stopped publishing these after the 2006-2007 season and that's a darn shame. Why did they get rid of them? I don't believe there's been any published explanation, but I wonder if it has to do with the fact that they changed the format for their TOI data at that time as well. Check out the 2006-2007 TOI report and compare it to one from 2007-2008. Could it be just a matter of not having the resources to update their shift chart generator?

Since the NHL still publishes their shift-by-shift statistical data, it's possible to to "roll your own" shift charts, like Vic Ferrari does at TimeOnIce.com. Those of you who remember me from my previous home know that I wrote a program to generate shift charts as well. But after one season, I ran into some technical difficulties and I haven't had the time to coax my limited technical know-how to fix the damn thing. Until then, I'll continue to plead with the NHL to bring the shift chart back. Please!

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How much did MHH get for its soul? I offered mine for a fifth of bourbon a while back, but apparently the asking price was too high.

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by MalachiConstant on Nov 5, 2010 8:13 AM MDT reply actions

one million dollars! I’m rich, suckers!

I am the most humble blogger of all time

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 5, 2010 8:25 AM MDT up reply actions

What are the taxes on a million dollars? Two million dollars?

The Avs defense is "air tight"....so air tight it's gasping for air and turning purple.

by Americanario on Nov 5, 2010 9:33 AM MDT up reply actions

that’s what I’m told

I am the most humble blogger of all time

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 5, 2010 11:22 AM MDT up reply actions

your accountant sucks

by MalachiConstant on Nov 5, 2010 12:12 PM MDT up reply actions

If he’s so bad, why is the accountant so rich?

Detroit is peopled entirely by slovenly ill-informed troglodytes, excepting of course the few Avalanche fans who are victims of unfortunate circumstance.

by Busted Twigg on Nov 5, 2010 5:32 PM MDT up reply actions

Completely agree on the shift charts. I miss them on a regular basis. The redesign of game stats in general sucked hard. It is already hard enough to get decent stats on this sport.

"I’m predicting 50pts in the NHL for Hensick next season. Anyone want to put $20 on it?" - DetAvs, Jun 18, 2010 3:45 AM EDT

by Hardshell_Taco_del_Lowayne on Nov 5, 2010 9:50 AM MDT reply actions

Totally misread this. Thought you said we needed shift carts. I was wondering how go-carts would fit into hockey statistics for a fair amount of time.

Holøs - Norwegian for "Bench Kyle".

by Randy Time on Nov 5, 2010 9:58 AM MDT reply actions

I did the same thing. Even kept on reading b/c I thought “shift carts” were so intriguing.

by MalachiConstant on Nov 5, 2010 10:13 AM MDT up reply actions

Yeah. Talk about a let down.

Holøs - Norwegian for "Bench Kyle".

by Randy Time on Nov 5, 2010 10:25 AM MDT up reply actions

Go-carts make everything better.

"I'm gonna fix that last joke by taking out all the words and adding new ones." - MH

by Dixomatic on Nov 5, 2010 10:48 AM MDT up reply actions

With bacon!

Detroit is peopled entirely by slovenly ill-informed troglodytes, excepting of course the few Avalanche fans who are victims of unfortunate circumstance.

by Busted Twigg on Nov 5, 2010 5:33 PM MDT up reply actions

and beer!

2010-2011 Colorado Avalanche: pretty good at hockey since they can't get into the bars yet.

by Hopfenkopf on Nov 5, 2010 8:29 PM MDT up reply actions

Enhancing the Experience

this sounds like a little bit of work. Can’t I just buy one of those sweet new TV’s from Samsung and enhance my experience that way?

"I just had a chicken finger and it was terrific." Gary Bettman

by Rapierwhitt on Nov 5, 2010 12:03 PM MDT reply actions 3 recs

that is an EXCELLENT idea, sir

I am the most humble blogger of all time

by David Driscoll-Carignan on Nov 5, 2010 12:08 PM MDT up reply actions

Rec'd

for exceptional avarice.

2010-2011 Colorado Avalanche: pretty good at hockey since they can't get into the bars yet.

by Hopfenkopf on Nov 5, 2010 1:32 PM MDT up reply actions

I think Samsung owes us each one of those TVs for free, since we’re now their whores.

Mile High Hockey: Significantly better than the experts predicted, just like the Avalanche.

by Joe Dunman on Nov 8, 2010 2:38 PM MST up reply actions

Just an obvious question:

Why can’t you just borrow Vic Ferrari’s shift charts after each game?

by HugoAgogo on Nov 5, 2010 2:53 PM MDT reply actions 1 recs

Loved shift charts.

Wish you could find a software dweeb to help you resurrect yours, DDC

Hockey- goddamn it's cool.

by TheRed on Nov 5, 2010 4:09 PM MDT reply actions

I really like how you directly linked to this post inside this post. Keep ‘em guessin’, Dave.

"All NHL officials dread running into commissioner Gary Bettman since they inevitably end up having to spend an hour explaining why they don't call traveling more often." - DGB

by wtnelson on Nov 5, 2010 5:00 PM MDT reply actions