Campbellnomics - Oct. 27

Alex Ovechkin remains the Campbellnomics leader with 16 points. (Getty Images)

Ken Campbell
2009-10-27 10:11:00

They don’t ask how, they ask how many. Here at THN.com we don’t ask how many, we ask how many of them mattered.

That’s the essence of Campbellnomics a statistic exclusive to THN.com that provides a tangible measure for meaningful goals and situational scoring.

Here’s how it works.

Points are scored in the Campbellnomics system only on goals that matter relative to the result and the time of the game. We’re not interested in the player who scores the fifth and sixth goals in a 6-2 victory, but we are interested in players who score in the following circumstances: the first goal of the game; a goal that puts a player’s team ahead in the game; a goal that pulls a player’s team into a tie; any goal that leads to a comeback; a game-winning goal; an overtime goal; and a shootout goal.

There are, however, a couple of other wrinkles in Campbellnomics that you won’t find in the NHL’s statistics. First, we believe a goal is worth more than an assist and that’s why goals are worth one point in Campbellnomics and assists are worth a half a point. We also have a different idea of what constitutes a game-winning goal. The NHL defines a game-winner as the goal that provided the margin of victory, but we define a game-winner as the goal that put the team ahead in the game to stay.

Therefore, if a player scores the all-important first goal of the game, he automatically receives two points, one for the first goal of the game and one for putting his team ahead. If he scores the overtime-winner or the deciding goal in a shootout, he receives three points – one for putting his team ahead, one for the game-winner and one for the overtime/shootout goal.

The ultimate Campbellnomics goal would be an overtime goal or shootout-deciding goal in a 1-0 victory. That would give the scorer four points – one for the first goal of the game, one for putting his team ahead, one for the game-winner and one for the overtime/shootout goal.

Obviously, there are some disparities with the NHL scoring list. For example, Anze Kopitar leads the NHL in scoring and Marian Gaborik is second, but neither is anywhere to be found in the top 20 of Campbellnomics. Conversely, Brian Gionta is tied for 121st in NHL scoring, but finds himself tied for 18th in Campbellnomics.

Campbellnomics
RANK	NHL RANK	PLAYER	TEAM	FIRST		AHEAD		TIED		COMEBACK		GWG		OT		SO	TOTAL
				G	A	G	A	G	A	G	A	G	A	G	A
1	3	Alex Ovechkin	Wash	2	2	4	2	2	3			3	1			1	16
2	T23	Ales Hemsky	Edm	1	3	3	4		3	1	2	1	2			1	14
3	T9	Ryan Smyth	LA	2	3	2	4	2	1			2	2				13
4	T56	Milan Hejduk	Colo	1	2	4	3					2	2			2	12.5
	T15	Zach Parise	NJ	2	1	3	4		1			1	3			2	12.5
6	T56	Ed Jovanovski	Pho	2	2	3	2		1			3	1	1			12
	T17	Mike Cammalleri	Mtl	1	2	2	4	2	1		1	1	1	1	1		12
8	T17	Ales Kotalik	NYR	1	2	3	3	2	1		1	1	2				11.5
	26	Sidney Crosby	Pit	1		3		1	1	1		2				3	11.5
10	T94	Marc Savard	Bos	2	1	3	1			1		3		1			11
	T34	Brenden Morrow	Dal	2	2	3	3	1	1			2					11
12	T104	Scott Gomez	Mtl	1	1	2	2	1	1		1	2	1		1	1	10.5
13	32	Ilya Kovalchuk	Atl	2		3		1		1		3					10
	T9	Rick Nash	Clb	2		2	3	1	2			1	3				10
	T60	Mikko Koivu	Min	1	1	2	2	1	1	1		1	1		1	1	10
	4	Joe Thornton	SJ	1	1	1	5		3		2	1	3				10
	T7	Dany Heatley	SJ	1	1	3	1	2			3	1	1				10
18	T37	Wojtek Wolski	Colo	1	1	3	3				1	2	2				9.5
	6	Vaclav Prospal	NYR	2		3	2		1		1	2	1				9.5
	T121	Brian Gionta	Mtl	2	1	3	1		1			1		1		1	9.5
	T42	Jeff Carter	Phi	2	1	2	2		2			2	1		1		9.5

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