The Club | The Corsi, the Not Really World Series and… Understanding Tennis Ranking

To send your questions, it’s very simple:

What about Corsi?

I’ve always been skeptical of the Corsi indicator, which indicates a team’s puck possession time during a game. Based on the number of shots on target, off target and blocked, does it really represent, in your opinion, the actual time of puck possession?

Francois Racine

Response from Guillaume Lefrancois:

Let’s start with a nuance: the Corsi index establishes the possession of the puck in terms of ratio, not time. If a team gets 58 shot attempts, compared to 42 for the opponent, this team will be considered to have controlled the puck 58% of the time (because they generated 58 of the 100 shot attempts in the game).

It is indeed an imperfect measure and I have no recent memory of a coach who has mentioned this tool. Remember that it was originally an idea of ​​Jim Corsi, goalkeeping coach, who compiled this data to better assess the workload of his goalkeepers.

A comment often heard between the branches, which serves to discredit the Corsi: some players will voluntarily take long shots – for example, before returning to the bench – to artificially inflate their Corsi (because the index is also available individually for each player ). Match broadcasters now have two tools to measure actual time of possession. The NHL provides them with data, in particular thanks to the sensors present in the pucks and on the players. And the Sportlogiq firm also offers the service to broadcasters who have an agreement with them, such as RDS and TVA Sports.

The state or the city?

Why do we use the name of the American state where they are located to refer to the Avalanche (from Colorado), the Panthers (from Florida) or the Devils (from New Jersey), when we have never been tempted to talk about the Massachusetts Bruins, the Missouri Blues or… the Quebec Canadiens?

Rene St-Germain

Response from Alexander Pratt:

It’s just for marketing reasons. The original owners of these teams wanted as many fans in their area as possible to care about the success of their teams. It is true that the East Rutherford Devils, it would have sounded less inclusive. Note that it is possible to put the toothpaste in the tube even if it is out. In baseball, the Florida Marlins changed their name to the Miami Marlins.

Global, really?

Why is Major League Baseball’s final called the World Series, when all the teams are based in North America, and they only compete against each other?

steven adams

Response from Alexander Pratt:

You are not the first to ask us the question. As my colleague Simon Drouin explained last March, there are several theories, all related to marketing. Put yourself back in the context of the beginning of the XX^e century. Sports promoters had the easy superlative. Especially in the United States, a world power in all areas. Each champion was either “biggest”, “biggest” or “strongest”. When two champions clashed, as in the World Series, it was necessary to find words to match the situation! Note also that in the 1910s, The Press sometimes described the Stanley Cup Final as “the World Series” of hockey.

Understanding Tennis Rankings

Can you explain how the point system works in the ATP player rankings?

Francine Corbeil

Response from Nicholas Richard:

The standings are organized according to point defense. In a tournament, each victory gives points. The idea is never to do worse than the previous season to protect the accumulated points. For example, a player who wins the Masters 1000 in Montreal has 1000 points. However, his ranking will be at stake when he next comes to Canada. Pablo Carreño Busta earned 1000 ranking points by triumphing last summer in Montreal. So next year, if he doesn’t win the tournament, he will lose points; if he loses in the final, for example, he will score 600 points, so 400 ranking points will be deducted from him. It is for this reason that Eugenie Bouchard slipped in the standings after her exceptional year in 2014, as she was unable to defend her acquired points. On the contrary, Leylah Fernandez had a meteoric rise in the rankings in 2021 because she had never done so well, so she had almost no points to defend.

Why not a Guy-Lafleur trophy?

Can you make a special request to the NHL? I would like us to introduce a new trophy, the Guy-Lafleur trophy, which would be awarded to the most exciting player in the league!

Christian Collins

Response from Mathias Brunet:

In order to reach a younger, different audience, less attached to the old traditions of hockey, I find your idea very interesting. We could submit everything to a popular vote. I imagine McDavid, Makar, Kucherov and maybe even Caufield would have a head start. You have to adapt to the times and I find your suggestion very good from a marketing point of view.