A Beginner's Guide to Corsi and PDO

I tend to use a lot of so-called "advanced" numbers when discussing the Florida Panthers. Despite being generally referred to as "advanced", the numbers are pretty easy to understand and follow. So to help those of you as yet unfamiliar with the metrics I present a beginner's guide to Corsi and PDO.

Corsi

Invented by Buffalo Sabres goaltending coach Jim Corsi, Corsi in a nutshell is plus-minus for shot attempts. Notice it's shot attempts, not just shots on goal. A player gets a plus for a shot attempt, missed shot , goal, shot on net, and blocked shot, while receiving a minus for allowing a shot attempt. It's used as a proxy for possession.

Corsi Relative (Relative Corsi)

A player's Corsi in comparison to his teammates, or his Corsi minus the team Corsi. Positive is better than the team average, minus is worst than team average.

Corsi Rel QoC (Relative Corsi Quality of Competition)

Corsi that's measured by competition quality. It's weighted by ice time and Relative Corsi, so it gives you a better idea of who a team's best defensive players are. Of all the Corsi numbers, this is the one I tend to refer to most often.

Corsi QoC (Corsi Quality of Competition)

The average Corsi added in with ice time. Unlike like Corsi Rel QoC, it's harder to value because the quality of the teams faced isn't included.

On-Ice Sh% (On-Ice Team Shooting Percentage)

Kinda self-explanatory, the shooting percentage of the team when a player is on the ice.

On-Ice Sv% (On-Ice Team Save Percentage)

Also rather self-explanatory, team save percentage while a player is on-ice.

PDO

Created by Vic Ferrari, writer at the late hockey blog Irreverent Oiler Fans, PDO the sum of a player's on-ice shooting percentage and his on-ice save percentage. It's used mostly to measure a players luck during the season. A PDO above 1000 is considered good luck.

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