We manually track CHL, USHL, NCAA, and European games to further our understanding of junior hockey and prospects in general. The data not only helps describe players, but also can show which players are more effective. And maybe, it will help us better project players to the NHL.

What are microstats?

Drawing on the work of Eric Tulsky, Corey Sznajder, Ryan Stimson, and others, this project constitutes the only public junior hockey tracking data base to my knowledge. Among the statistics in the project are zone entries, zone exits/breakouts, zone entry defence, shot attempts, shot assists, Corsi, scoring chance data, and more.

The data can be easily compiled into broader categories to help us quickly compare players, or broken down into small pieces to figure out what exactly is occurring on the ice. For example, in the current project one-time shots from a cross-slot pass have a shooting percentage of over 40%, making it the most dangerous shot-pass combination, by far.

What are practical purposes of the data?

The data helps us see how players are doing relative to their peers within the sample. It provides descriptions of what a player does—if they're a playmaker or shooter, reliant on dump ins or controlled entries, and so on. The data can then tell us smaller details, too. What type of playmaker are they? Do they exceed at finding players in the slot? What about across the slot or from behind the net? Are they a shooter reliant on one-timers from their teammates? Or do they generate offence with individual rushes?

The goal, after building a much larger data set, is to start looking at case studies of how players translate to the NHL. Eventually, the data may provide value projecting prospects to the NHL.

Why are you tracking junior hockey, anyway?

The first time I saw the work of Eric Tulsky and Corey Sznajder, I was blown away. I wanted that type of data for junior hockey. After a couple years of wishing I had it, I decided to take some initiative and start tracking a couple teams for fun. It was a way to make easier comparisons in articles, sharing what I was seeing but in a graph or a chart.

Eventually, I started asking myself, "How does this player compare? And what about this player?" And suddenly, I had a database of over 20 teams and 200 games.

Now, I look to build upon that last year's database significantly. My goal is to have every single CHL team in the database, with an emphasis on teams with 2019 NHL Draft eligible players.