Coaches look at all different aspects of the game - and you can too! The Champions Hockey League offers Advanced Statistics for each and every game and this season Advanced Statistics are better than ever giving you the unique chance to dive deep into the world of Expected Goals, Expected Wins, Game Flow and Game Impact charts, Heatmaps and much more!
We saw a total of 369 goals in 64 games across Game Days 1-4 and in this two-part series we take a closer look at each Group's games to see if they hide any surprising stats results!
Group A
We start off with Group A where Luleå Hockey have already secured their spot in the 2022/23 Playoffs. The Swedes have 12 points after the first four Game Days having won all four of their games so far, in large part thanks to their efforts in both offence and defence. Luleå have the fifth-best Expected Points total of all teams which further supports their good performances and mentality on the ice.
Despite that, the most interesting team of Group A from an analytics perspective is Finnish side Jukurit Mikkeli. They played many interesting games and currently have both the best offensive and best defensive in-game performance so far this season. In their home game against the Aalborg Pirates, the Finns generated an amazing 6,6 xGs in total which is the best performance we've seen throughout the first four Game Days.
One week later the Finns faced the Danes away and held Aalborg to just 0,6 xGs which is the best defensive performance we have seen yet!
Group B
Group B has been EV Zug’s show so far. The Swiss NL champions are probably the best offensive team in the CHL as they generated the best chances and also scored the most goals throughout the first four Game Days. Zug have a total of 16,8 xGs, have scored a whopping 19 goals and have lost only a single point resulting in them already securing their spot in the Round of 16.
Second place in Group B is a battle between Grizzlys Wolfsburg and TPS Turku who will face each two times in the remaining schedule. The underlying numbers are slightly in favour of the Germans, with Wolfsburg just about slipping into the postive side of the xG comparison slider, wheras Turku are in the negative, having struggled in both offence and defence.
Group C
In terms of Playoffs qualifications, Group C is done and dusted. Red Bull Munich and Tappara Tampere have run away and after four Game Days they are both qualified for the Round of 16. The Germans featured in the most offensive game we have seen so far this season, combining with Slovan Bratislava for a total of 8,2 xGs during their Game Day 4 matchup in Munich.
Overall, Munich are among the best offensive teams of Game Days 1-4 with 14,5 xGs over four games and their 18 goals scored rank them 3rd. On the other hand, Munich are probably the luckiest team so far as the difference between their Actual and Expected Points is the highest in the CHL. According to Expected Win values, they should have 7,4 points instead of 11.
Interestingly, Tappara Tampere aren’t far behind in that column. According to their Expected Win values, teams with similar performances would score 3,5 points less than Tappara actually have. The overachievement in Tappara’s case is due to very good finishing – the Finns scored 12 goals from 8,2 xGs which ranks them third in the league.
Group D
Reigning CHL Champions Rögle Ängelholm didn’t lose a single point in their first four games of this season and enter Game Days 5 & 6 already qualified for the Round of 16. Their biggest strength is the defensive side of their game as they conceded the least amount of xGs. Rögle held their opponents to just 6,3 xGs and their goalies performed almost on par with that. Also, the Swedes have proved extremely lethal in offense, scoring 19 goals which ties them in top spot.
The two upcoming games between Rögle and ZSC Lions Zurich should be a pretty good showdown. Zurich aren’t too far behind the Swedes, having lost only one point so far and are also qualified for the Playoffs. They are one of the best offensive teams in the league with 15,5 xGs created which resulted in 18 goals scored, just one shy of the very best.
Zurich also had pretty much the best in-game performances overall with the highest accumulated expected points with 9,1, based on their Expected Win values from each game. Don't miss these two games!
Be sure to return later this week for Part 2 of our Advanced Stats of Game Days 1-4 series!