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NHL analytics are here to stay.

Early on, NHL.com was forced to navigate the inevitable hiccups that come with a major online rollout.

Is anyone else having problems with http://t.co/qlDpMOrDOz? The stats dropdown menus are gone. You can't search by position, yr, etc anymore — steve simmons (@simmonssteve) March 4, 2015

But, after an apparent system update, and the relocation of some stat categories, NHL.com’s enhanced stats remain online and ready to use.

So, how can new-to-intermediate analytics fans plunge deeper into the world of hockey data?

An (Incomplete) Who’s Who of NHL Fancy Stats Pt. 1 http://t.co/rOeWVNrVHW via @TodaysSlapshot #analytics #nhl #hockey #Leafs #Habs #Sens — Sean Tierney (@SeanTierneyTss) March 2, 2015

Last week, I outlined five outlets to help average NHL fans sort out, understand, and engage with NHL analytics:

1. HockeyAbstract.com – Rob Vollman’s players usage charts are key to understand the role and values of players.

2. HockeyAnalysis.com and Puckalytics.com – David Johnson’s all-encompassing player-by-player enhanced stats databases are infinitely sortable and include WOWY data.

3. Spotrac.com and HockeyBuzz’s NHLcapspace.com – two sites that provide salary cap/player salary info in the wake of CapGeek.com’s cease of operations.

4. War-On-Ice.com – houses analytics data for NHL players and goalies, including customized visualizations and deep data on goalie performance.

5. Somekindofninja.com – in-depth, sortable shot tracking data for all players with easy-to-customize visualizations.

These resources are a great place to start. But, five analytics sites barely scratches the surface of the wealth of analytics data and commentary available on the Web.

Here’s a look at five more sites that new-to-intermediate hockey analytics fans should explore.

1. HockeyProspectus.com

New post: HP Radio: Vollman, Seppa, Awad talk NHL's 'enhanced stats' and trade deadline http://t.co/6iSm0kKTla — Hockey Prospectus (@HProspectus) February 25, 2015

Hockey Prospectus’ is home to analytics writing by Tom Awad, Timo Seppa, Arik Parness, Micah Blake McCurdy, and Ryan Wagman.

While there is much to see on the site, the key feature is HP’s “Goals Versus Threshold” metric. GVT is the NHL’s take on WAR (wins above replacement) which is popular in evaluating individual player value in baseball.

The easy-to-use, hover-over visualizations are sortable by team and provide player-by-player GVT values, showing which players provide the most production relative to a replacement level player.

These stats are sure to excite Leafs fans – Daniel Winnik, Mike Santorelli, and Cody Franson are three of Toronto’s top-four GVT earners. The fourth? The much-maligned Phil Kessel.

A variety of free articles and pay-for material is available here as well.

2. HockeyReference.com

Most prolific scorer of all-time? Todd Bergen had 11 goals in 14 GMs for the @NHLFlyers, then never played NHL again http://t.co/k9hnBGr8OU — Hockey Reference (@hockey_ref) March 5, 2015

Hockey Reference is essentially an online encyclopedia for every type of standard stat a fan can imagine. Need to know Pat Falloon’s shooting percentage in his second season with the San Jose Sharks? HR has you covered. The site also boasts stats on teams, coaches, awards, playoffs, the draft, and the Olympics.

But these aren’t analytics.

HR joins the fancy stats fray in two ways.

First, the site provides enhanced stats listing for every player for every available season. Still using “Corsi,” “Fenwick,” and “PDO,” the site has wide-ranging individual analytics.

However, the most interesting feature available on the site is HR’s “point shares.” By calculating every player’s contribution to his team’s points, every player can be ranked by their defensive, offensive, or total point shares. These analytics give a player a rating, which the site compares across time to show historical players that compare with any searched player.

Alex Ovechkin, ranging between 8.0-17.2 yearly point share scores during his career, is shown to have PS values comparable with Howie Morenz, Mike Bossy, Teemu Selanne, and Sidney Crosby.

This feature is unique in the analytics world and is worth a long look when evaluating player performance.

3. LeftWingLock.com

Need to set your roster? Here are tonight's starting goalies: http://t.co/jBzpK5zVi6 #nhl #fantasyhockey — Left Wing Lock (@Left_Wing_Lock) March 6, 2015

Left Wing Lock is a staple of the fantasy hockey universe, providing daily, up-to-the-minute notes on starting goalies. The site even offers player rankings and a “roster maximizer” tool to help intense poolies (like me) gain an edge, especially in head-to-head formats.

Beyond fantasy, LWL makes two key analytics contributions to the enhanced stats universe.

First, LWL offers in-depth line combinations information.

The site tracks the percentage of ice time that every forward line plays together and all the minutes each defenseman logs with a different partner. These ice time percentages can be viewed by even strength, power play, and penalty kill and by game day, most recent game, last three games, last ten games, or all season.

The most intense contribution by LWL is its line matching data. Stats are sortable for every line that has been matched up against any player for any game this season.

For example, the site allows the user to dig up that the Edmonton Oilers relied most heavily on Benoit Pouliot, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to check Ryan Getzlaf during their February 21st matchup.

This type of deep matchup data is useful to evaluate team defensive strategies, which players play together most often, and which line combos are most heavily leaned on during the season.

4. stats.NHLnumbers.com

Bruins sign Krug to a 1-year extension worth $3.4 million and Reilly Smith for 2 years at $3.425 million per year. — NHLnumbers (@NHLnumbers) March 6, 2015

After CapGeek ceased operations this season, fans have been left to scramble for reliable salary information for players and teams.

While no website has yet to match CapGeek’s functionality (especially the “Armchair GM” feature) a number of sites have stepped up to fill parts of the void.

At NHLnumbers, fans have access to articles by Thomas Drance and Jonathan Willis. Available statistics include sortable player stats, a free agent listing, salary info broken down by cap hit per year, and more.

The most interesting statistics/analytics generated by NHLnumbers is the “spending efficiency” feature. Breaking down player stats relative to the player’s cap hit, the site can provide a cost-per-goal/assist/point metric.

Dives into this data reveal that Senators forward Mike Hoffman leads the NHL in goal scoring efficiency (30.667 goals/$1 mil), Scott Gomez leads NHL regulars in assists efficiency (48.678 assists/$1 mil) and Tim Gleason is awful.

5. HockeyGraphs.com

Friday Quick Graph: Player Career Charting by Percentage of Team Shots, 1967-68 to 2012-13 http://t.co/tn6Gxq0v3f | http://t.co/aFgwsnoBWK — Hockey Graphs (@HockeyGraphs) March 6, 2015

Using a simple, clean interface, Hockey Graphs is somewhat unorthodox. This isn’t the site for sortable, standard fare lists or examinations of analytics.

Instead, editors Benjamin Wendorf, Garret Hohl, and Garik and writers Jared Sexton, Micah Blake McCurdy, and Andrew Hirsch produce original looks at NHL data. Current pieces include looks at percentage of team shots for individual players during their careers, relationships/comparisons for height and weight between forwards and defensemen, and regular season hit differentials and the impact on playoff success.

For fans looking to push their analytics knowledge and interest a little deeper, Hockey Graphs has much to offer.

For beginner to intermediate hockey stats fans, these fives sites offer a way to understand, engage, and go deeper into the analytics movement that is sweeping the NHL.

Soon, sites like these will be required reading for understanding the fastest game on ice…that is, unless all of these authors are snatched up and silenced by NHL clubs (we’re looking at you, Toronto Maple Leafs).

What do you think? Are analytics becoming necessary knowledge for hockey fans? Or are fancy stats just a passing fad for the NHL?