The 2016-17 Vancouver Canucks are one of the worst NHL teams in just about every category. Goals, goals against, shots for, shots against… hits. But does the latter really matter?
Ben Kuzma of The Province thinks it does — and he is not alone. It seems like there are two camps now: the analytics community and traditional hockey fans. The former like to say hits do not correlate with wins and are therefore not an important part of hockey. The latter, on the other hand, argue physical play, grit and other intangibles can make or break a season.