Welcome to the inaugural article from (simple) Stats Guy. These articles will focus on the CCHL and take the fun out of things but break everything down into statistics. Today we are looking at the unlikely rise of the Isotopes (aka Homers).
Currently, the Isotopes sit at the top of the Canosa conference with a 9-2 record. Given their recent history (ranked 18th overall in 2016-17 and 2015-16) it is something of a surprise. One could point to Springfield having a dominant goaltender who rode the pine last year in Bobrovsky and having three of the top five scorers in the league (all playing on the same line…..but still ok) as the likely reasons but I plan on looking deeper and seeing the other possible reasons.
One of the possible reasons the Isotopes were not tearing up the league in the past may be a result of injuries. In terms of games lost to injuries, Springfield has ranked 2nd in most games lost and that includes this year when the Isotopes have not had a single injury (knock on wood). Springfield ranked second in games lost last season (2016-17) and third in 2015-16 (see chart). The team has stayed remarkably healthy this season and the results may speak for themselves as they move their way to what is hopefully at least a playoff berth. However, the season is long and many things can happen but things are looking up for the first time in quite a while. The first year of the Isotopes (the Homers name was dropped in the offseason) may be the sign of things to come.
The chart shows the teams in the CCHL as sorted by the total number of lost games due to injury in the last 3 seasons (till day 20 of 2017-18). The team names have been updated to match up with the current organizations.
Stats Guy
Note: Springfield continues to look for help up front in order to make the team a bit stronger going into the meat of the season. They are hoping to move a couple of players (or picks) to make that improvement. The options are available to improve on the D as well.
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