That aside, your best bet for something like this is the Corsi rating, which is simpler but can be tracked much more easily. It’s the shots towards the net (doesn’t have to be a SoG) minus the shots towards your net while you’re on the ice, so if you shoot once and block a shot you have a +1 rating.

That puts Redden at a 7.9, for 10th on the Rangers. That compares to Gomez’s 16.2.
You might find this interesting:
http://www.behindthenet.ca/2008/basic_5_on_5.php?sort=9&mingp=&mintoi=&team=&pos=

Stuff like this already exists, it just takes knowing where it is.

Featured on Puck Daddy’s links and I linked to you on Mirtle yesterday.

The beauty of the baseball Sabremetric analysis is that there is a distinct separation between offence and defence so there is never a question as to statistical outcome. What one may view as an uncontested shot in hockey simply could be the goaltender screaming at a defenceman to move out of the way so he can see the shot clearly. A contested shot that results in a deflection for a goal-against could hurt a player big-time in the grand scheme of things, particularly if his team is eliminated from the playoffs because of it.

Penalties also have to be taken into account in this system. If you have a guy like Shane O’Brien who racks up stupid penalties all game, but the Canucks bails him out, he shouldn’t be rewarded for making the rest of his team work harder for his stupidity. But, on the other hand, if a guy like Lidstrom takes a holding penalty while tying up a guy with a wide-open net and the Wings kill off the penalty, Lidstrom should be rewarded for his penalty. He saved a goal whereas O’Brien’s penalty did nothing but handicap his team.

The variables in hockey are far different than the variables in baseball. I don’t think it’s anywhere as close to being “black-and-white” as baseball makes it to be. I am curious in hearing more theories, though. Great post! )