Using Vic Ferrari’s timeonice.com scripts, I looked at data from here, here and here to determine Corsi and Fenwick numbers for the Vancouver Canucks this season. The Ferrari scripts will differ slightly from Behind the Net’s because BtN looks at 5-on-5 data while TOI, I do believe, registers all even strength situations.

Either way, both are solid resources and the charts below will offer us a glimpse into which Canucks were the best at controlling the play when they were on the ice.

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First off, here is how Corsi and Fenwick numbers are counted:



No NAME TOI GP GF GA SF SA MF MA BF BA 2 Dan Hamhuis 1528 82 74 46 703 679 297 232 394 258 3 Kevin Bieksa 1506.9 78 67 56 727 674 316 240 402 269 4 Keith Ballard 675.8 47 21 21 304 322 123 115 171 153 5 Marc-André Gragnani 193.7 14 5 9 107 94 44 22 52 46 6 Sami Salo 1060.4 69 40 37 466 501 197 144 268 216 7 David Booth 743.1 56 25 25 400 315 181 111 215 131 8 Chris Tanev 393.3 25 17 8 201 162 70 60 100 87 9.1 Cody Hodgson 686.2 63 33 25 281 303 125 107 160 141 9.2 Zack Kassian 174.7 17 5 6 78 87 34 30 46 35 14 Alex Burrows 1155.9 80 53 34 576 499 226 152 329 182 15 Marco Sturm 61 6 1 5 29 23 12 9 16 12 17 Ryan Kesler 1123.9 77 40 31 558 506 250 156 306 233 20 Chris Higgins 952.5 71 45 34 456 434 192 135 261 199 21 Mason Raymond 744.7 55 29 28 367 404 132 108 211 159 22 Daniel Sedin 1096.8 72 52 35 556 454 246 144 306 163 23 Alex Edler 1488.8 82 60 64 681 695 291 213 385 302 24 Mark Mancari 49.9 6 0 0 17 25 8 6 15 7 25 Andrew Ebbett 152.2 17 7 5 74 66 32 23 31 25 26.1 Mikael Samuelsson 66.3 6 2 3 36 24 10 7 19 11 26.2 Samuel Pahlsson 236.6 19 9 6 110 116 36 31 65 56 27 Manny Malhotra 769 78 24 38 251 393 89 152 146 192 29 Aaron Rome 602.1 43 16 21 281 260 102 99 141 148 32 Dale Wiese 549 68 13 13 200 271 86 100 104 122 33 Henrik Sedin 1257 82 65 40 637 544 272 171 339 201 34 Byron Bitz 104.3 10 4 2 36 42 12 14 20 25 36 Jannik Hansen 1033.9 82 49 33 431 484 195 154 281 232 38 Victor Oreskovich 5.9 1 0 0 1 7 0 1 0 2 40 Maxim Lapierre 821.4 82 24 28 317 391 117 156 164 179 41 Andrew Alberts 575.4 44 22 18 209 276 81 90 139 131 42 Bill Sweatt 10.2 2 0 0 4 2 1 3 1 4 52 Alexander Sulzer 180.9 12 9 3 72 96 31 35 40 28 54 Aaron Volpatti 203.9 23 5 6 68 88 34 41 44 55 79 Mike Duco 48.2 6 4 3 18 25 2 8 7 14



[ TOI = Even strength time on ice, GP = Games Played, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, SF = Shots For, SA = Shots Against, MF = Misses For, MA = Misses Against, BF = Blocks For, BA = Blocks Against ]

Corsi is calculated by adding up GF, SF, MF and BF and subtracting them by GA, SA, MA and BA. Shot attempts are a very good proxy for offensive zone time. Fenwick, a variant of Corsi, takes blocked shots out of the calculation and it is more indicative of scoring chances than overall puck possession.

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Anyhow, if you were total raw Corsi/Fenwick numbers, here would be your team leaders:



No NAME Corsi Fenwick 22 Daniel Sedin 364 221 33 Henrik Sedin 357 219 14 Alex Burrows 317 170 3 Kevin Bieksa 273 140 2 Dan Hamhuis 253 117 7 David Booth 239 155 17 Ryan Kesler 228 155 20 Chris Higgins 152 90 23 Alex Edler 143 60 6 Sami Salo 73 21 8 Chris Tanev 71 58 36 Jannik Hansen 53 4 21 Mason Raymond 40 -12 5 Marc-André Gragnani 37 31 25 Andrew Ebbett 25 19 9.1 Cody Hodgson 23 4 26.1 Mikael Samuelsson 22 14 29 Aaron Rome 12 19 26.2 Samuel Pahlsson 11 2 15 Marco Sturm 9 5 4 Keith Ballard 8 -10 9.2 Zack Kassian 5 -6 24 Mark Mancari 2 -6 42 Bill Sweatt -3 0 38 Victor Oreskovich -9 -7 52 Alexander Sulzer -10 -22 34 Byron Bitz -11 -6 79 Mike Duco -19 -12 54 Aaron Volpatti -39 -28 41 Andrew Alberts -64 -72 32 Dale Wiese -103 -85 40 Maxim Lapierre -132 -117 27 Manny Malhotra -265 -219



This isn’t the best measure to judge a hockey player, mind you. Corsi and Fenwick numbers, like goal totals, are somewhat reliant on overall offensive and defensive zone starts. Manny Malhotra and Maxim Lapierre are at a disadvantage because they usually start shifts in their own end, while the Sedins usually start them in the opposite end. The other caveat is the amount of time on ice each player gets.

By dividing Corsi by time on ice and multiplying by 60, we get a “Corsi/ON” number, which is the rate of extra offensive shots fired per 60 minutes:

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No NAME Corsi/60 Fenwick/60 22 Daniel Sedin 19.9 12.1 26.1 Mikael Samuelsson 19.9 12.7 7 David Booth 19.3 12.5 33 Henrik Sedin 17.0 10.5 14 Alex Burrows 16.5 8.8 17 Ryan Kesler 12.2 8.3 5 Marc-André Gragnani 11.5 9.6 3 Kevin Bieksa 10.9 5.6 8 Chris Tanev 10.8 8.8 2 Dan Hamhuis 9.9 4.6 25 Andrew Ebbett 9.9 7.5 20 Chris Higgins 9.6 5.7 15 Marco Sturm 8.9 4.9 23 Alex Edler 5.8 2.4 6 Sami Salo 4.1 1.2 21 Mason Raymond 3.2 -1.0 36 Jannik Hansen 3.1 0.2 26.2 Samuel Pahlsson 2.8 0.5 24 Mark Mancari 2.4 -7.2 9.1 Cody Hodgson 2.0 0.3 9.2 Zack Kassian 1.7 -2.1 29 Aaron Rome 1.2 1.9 4 Keith Ballard 0.7 -0.9 52 Alexander Sulzer -3.3 -7.3 34 Byron Bitz -6.3 -3.5 41 Andrew Alberts -6.7 -7.5 40 Maxim Lapierre -9.6 -8.5 32 Dale Wiese -11.3 -9.3 54 Aaron Volpatti -11.5 -8.2 42 Bill Sweatt -17.6 0.0 27 Manny Malhotra -20.7 -17.1 79 Mike Duco -23.7 -14.9 38 Victor Oreskovich -91.5 -71.2



Poor Victor Oreskovich. He played six minutes of awful hockey this season.

Now, we adjust them for defensive zone starts. Each extra defensive zone start will add an extra 0.8 Corsi points to each player’s total, and 0.6 Fenwick points:

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No NAME Corsi/60 Fenwick/60 Adj Cor/60 Adj Fen/60 26.1 Mikael Samuelsson 19.9 12.7 21.4 13.8 25 Andrew Ebbett 9.9 7.5 16.8 12.7 7 David Booth 19.3 12.5 14.0 8.5 8 Chris Tanev 10.8 8.8 13.8 11.0 24 Mark Mancari 2.4 -7.2 12.0 0.0 17 Ryan Kesler 12.2 8.3 12.0 8.1 27 Manny Malhotra -20.7 -17.1 11.5 7.1 15 Marco Sturm 8.9 4.9 11.2 6.7 3 Kevin Bieksa 10.9 5.6 11.0 5.6 2 Dan Hamhuis 9.9 4.6 10.0 4.6 20 Chris Higgins 9.6 5.7 9.5 5.6 40 Maxim Lapierre -9.6 -8.5 8.6 5.1 5 Marc-André Gragnani 11.5 9.6 6.8 6.1 29 Aaron Rome 1.2 1.9 5.9 5.4 26.2 Samuel Pahlsson 2.8 0.5 5.8 2.8 36 Jannik Hansen 3.1 0.2 4.8 1.6 34 Byron Bitz -6.3 -3.5 4.7 4.8 22 Daniel Sedin 19.9 12.1 3.2 -0.5 4 Keith Ballard 0.7 -0.9 3.1 0.9 14 Alex Burrows 16.5 8.8 3.0 -1.3 33 Henrik Sedin 17.0 10.5 2.5 -0.5 32 Dale Wiese -11.3 -9.3 2.1 0.7 23 Alex Edler 5.8 2.4 1.3 -0.9 9.1 Cody Hodgson 2.0 0.3 1.0 -0.4 52 Alexander Sulzer -3.3 -7.3 0.4 -4.5 6 Sami Salo 4.1 1.2 -0.5 -2.3 54 Aaron Volpatti -11.5 -8.2 -0.9 -0.3 21 Mason Raymond 3.2 -1.0 -1.5 -4.5 41 Andrew Alberts -6.7 -7.5 -1.9 -3.9 9.2 Zack Kassian 1.7 -2.1 -3.8 -6.2 79 Mike Duco -23.7 -14.9 -5.7 -1.5 42 Bill Sweatt -17.6 0.0 -17.6 0.0 38 Victor Oreskovich -91.5 -71.2 -83.4 -65.1



Now we’re getting somewhere. Mikael Samuelsson had a great start possessionally before he was traded, and Andrew Ebbett thrived in his limited minutes, but the best Canucks were David Booth and Kevin Bieksa according to this measure. Chris Tanev again proves promising by adjusted statistics.

Caveat: this isn’t a measure of how good a player is, or at least isn’t the only measure. There are other factors, but generally, teams that hold onto the puck well tend to score more goals, and teams that score more goals tend to win more games. There are many other factors in play here. We refer to these numbers in absence of team scoring chance data, and we’ll show you why later this week when we begin to unveil Canucks scoring chances.

Since Corsi and Fenwick are a way of establishing who has the puck, they can be indicators of good two-way play. In this case, Canuck fans may be underestimating the positive impact of Marc-André Gragnani and Aaron Rome…





