Toronto Maple Leafs make puck possession a primary focus in 2014

By Cory Buck | Oct 8, 2014

Mar 22, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mason Raymond (12) and forward Joffrey Lupul (19) congratulate forward Nazem Kadri (43) on a goal against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price (31) during the third period at the Air Canada Centre. Montreal defeated Toronto 4-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

The Toronto Maple Leafs won’t look much different to the casual eye when they hit the ice for their regular season home opener against the Montreal Canadiens. However, a tumultuous summer in the team’s front office means things have changed drastically behind the curtains. While that hasn’t translated to a big shift in how players prepare, the terminology has altered some and as a result the team is focusing on different nuances within the game. How that translates on the ice will be seen in the coming months.

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Corsi became one of the most controversial words in hockey this summer, which is a pity because it’s simple, largely undeniable, and yet widely panned by those who claim to have eyes sharper than numbers on a spreadsheet. Just ask your average NHL player what Corsi is and you’ll get something like this Joffrey Lupul response.

“I couldn’t give you a definition of what it is,”Lupul said, per James Mirtle of the Toronto Globe & Mail. “I don’t know if anyone in the locker room could. They’ve hired people to look at that, but it’s not like at the end of the game it’s posted on the wall, the same as shots and ice time and things like that.”

It’s strange that shots are so easily referenced, but not Corsi, given that Corsi is simply a measurement of shots that includes all shot attempts instead of just those that hit the goalies. It’s a measurement that the Leafs were woeful in last year, which led many to correctly predict Toronto’s end-of-season collapse earlier this spring even as the dinosaurs atop MLSE operations clung to dying beliefs.

Not to fear though, Leafs fans. The team is planning a new approach based on these simple analytics.

“Obviously you want to [possess the puck] in the opposition’s end,” Lupul said. “But in our end, it’s not that old mentality of the defenceman gets it, and it’s just get it out of your end. Off the glass and out of the zone. We’re going to try and possess the puck in our own zone and exit as a unit and go with speed.”

Now we’re getting somewhere. The Leafs have playoff talent in a shallow Eastern Conference and with the right approach to the game, they could just very well be a sleeper to look out for as the season progresses.

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