A few days after his empty net goal in Los Angeles inspired him to sarcastically remark that “(The goal) probably had a lot to do with my Corsi (rating) on that shift. I really possessed that puck well, hung on to it in my own end. Good Corsi leads to good goals, you know. So it’s good stuff,” Mark Borowiecki reiterated his disdain for some statistical measures in an interview that ran in the Ottawa Citizen late last night.
According to Wayne Scanlan’s article, Mark Borowiecki encouraged the local media to run with that quote because he has taken issue with the way that a particular sect of the fan base repeatedly slags him on social media for his inefficient underlying numbers.
The human element is a thing that a number of fans seem to consider when they express their opinions on social for the world to see. And although Borowiecki didn’t have a social media presence of his own, he made it clear that the one’s reading the comments are members of his inner circle.
“I’m not on social media, I don’t go on social media. For me making those remarks – my friends are on social media, my wife is, my parents are, so that’s kind of where it comes from. You go ask the guys in that locker room what they think about analytics – you’ll probably either get punched in the face or they’ll laugh you out of there. There’s not too many guys who take it seriously.”
For an organization that has struggled with its possession proxy numbers this season and is outside the playoff picture, it’s no small wonder why Borowiecki or any of his teammates would be sensitive to their statistics because they simply don’t portray the organization or many of its players in a positive light. But to say that players aren’t interested or simply don’t buy into analytics is wrong however. Like the Travis Yost article that showed that Marc Methot historically does a good job of protecting the front of his team’s goal, players and people in general, respond more favourably when they’re being depicted as useful contributors to a team’s success.
Thanks to the emergence of hockey analytics and how prominently possession proxies are being displayed in the media and now during game broadcasts, Borowiecki’s comments will spark a great point of interest story in which analytics proponents will be pitted against its detractors. I mean, as others have pointed out online, nobody is going to pen a story in which Patrick Wiercioch speaks out against his online critics for labelling him as too soft or too slow.
Unfortunately for Borowiecki, he is often targeted as a player that the organization should easily be able to upgrade because of his underlying numbers. For example, out of all the defencemen who have played over 500-plus minutes at five-on-five hockey per War On Ice, Borowiecki (like Cody Ceci) ranks in the bottom 10 in the league in Corsi For Percentage (CF%), Scoring Chances For Percentage (SCF%), Shots For Percentage (SF%) and perhaps most importantly, Goals For Percentage (GF%).
These aren’t difficult numbers or concepts to grasp and in pointing them out, I don’t believe that I’m being mean spirited. I am only pointing out that for all of the positive contributions that Borowiecki makes on the ice, they are being outweighed by the simple fact that Borowiecki spends a disproportionate amount of time within his own end.
In mentioning this, I realize that I’m probably giving some ammunition to individuals out there who will slag Borowiecki. On social media, there are inevitably going to be some idiots out there who cross lines and boundaries. Case in point, just read the comment thread following last week’s announcement by the Senators’ Twitter account that they acquired Conor Allen in a minor league trade. The internet just provides a medium for a lot of people to act likes assholes.
A lot of people like Borowiecki however and wax poetic about his intangibles, grit, competitiveness, and his willingness to play through injury or stand up for his teammates. If you want to know how well liked Borowiecki is by his peers, you only have to look at their reactions to him scoring his first goal of the season, the empty netter, against Los Angeles.
Of course, arguably being the least talented player on this roster helps fuel: 1) the excitement over the rare times that Borowiecki is able to contribute offensively; or 2) overhype the rest of Borowiecki’s throwback game.
Whether it’s print or radio, the media love Borowiecki. He’s seemingly awarded the ‘Hardest Working Player’ award on TSN 1200 almost every game and Don Brennan even championed him for last year’s Canadian World Hockey Championship team and criticized Borowiecki’s detractors as people that ignore “heart, soul and just getting the job done.”
It’s fair to reason that these mainstream media plaudits are part of the reason why Borowiecki’s detractors are so vocal with their criticism(s). (And frankly, Borowiecki’s lucky to be playing hockey in Ottawa than baseball for the Yankees. In a small market, one-sport town where a relatively non-competitive sports media marketplace isn’t critical or looking to dissect every angle imaginable, the players have got it easy.)
To Don Brennan’s chagrin, Borowiecki’s contributions and unique skill set are outweighed by the fact that he simply doesn’t get the job done often enough. In fairness to Borowiecki, many of his teammates aren’t getting the job done either. He just happens to be low hanging fruit.
Any bottom-four combination of Wiercioch/Ceci/Methot/Cowen/Wideman/Borowiecki has not gotten the job done. Ottawa’s bottom six forwards also have not gotten the job done. Despite some unsustainably high shooting percentages during the first half, the Senators’ second line has not been good enough. If not for the play of the goaltenders in October and November and some whacky shooting percentages, the Senators would be in the NHL’s basement.
The thing is, I don’t really have a huge problem with Borowiecki’s inclusion on the roster because as a seventh or sixth defenceman, he does offer a team depth and a unique skill set without costing the team too much in terms of salary. From that perspective, there are far greater sources of inefficiency on this roster than Mark Borowiecki.
So whenever I point out his shortcomings on this site or on Twitter, it’s not a condemnation of the player so much as it is a reflection on how this coaching staff and management obtain and use their personnel.
In fact, the biggest takeaway from Scanlan’s article is that Borowiecki only cares about the feedback from his coaches and from those within the organization.
“Deep down, in my heart of hearts, I know when I’ve played well and I know when I’ve played bad. I base my success on feedback from myself and from my bosses. It’s no different from any other job. If your boss tells you you’re doing your job well, then you’re doing your job well. That’s the feedback I’ve been getting, so I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing.”
It’s not Mark Borowiecki’s job to be caught up in his possession numbers. That responsibility falls on the management and the coaching staff to analyze those numbers and focus on ways to insulate Borowiecki and identify ways in which their players can improve those numbers.
Borowiecki’s job is to please his superiors, so when the people in charge keep giving Borowiecki positive reinforcement and tell him to keep doing what he’s doing, his behaviour is not going to change. It’s not Borowiecki’s responsibility to care.
The onus is on the organization to embraces the value of analytics and use the information in a meaningful way to affect positive change. From identifying market inefficiencies to using the data to improve player personnel decisions and player usage, these responsibilities fall on the hockey operations department and the coaching staff.
Until they’re accepted and championed by those within the organization, hearing Borowiecki act defensively towards numbers that make him look bad shouldn’t come as a surprise. But, statistical analysis and hockey analytics aren’t going anywhere. As player and puck tracking technology arrives and is rolled out league-wide and teams pore through big data looking repeatable and predictable measures that correlates heavily with wins, the importance of analytics will only become bigger whether Mark Borowiecki likes it or not.
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