
   >
   >
   >>Jagr has a higher +/-, but Francis has had more points.  And take it from
   >>an informed observer, Ronnie Francis has had a *much* better season than
   >>Jaromir Jagr.  This is not to take anything away from Jaro, who had a 
   >>decent year (although it didn't live up to the expectations of some).
   >
   >Bowman tended to overplay Francis at times because he is a Bowman-style
   >player.  He plays hard at all times, doesn't disregard his defensive
   >responsibilities and is a good leader.  Bowman rewarded him be increasing his
   >ice time.
   >
   >Jagr can be very arrogant and juvenile and display a "me first" attitude.
   >This rubbed Bowman the wrong way and caused him to lose some ice time.
   >
   >Throughout the year, Francis consistently recieved more ice time than
   >Jagr.  Althouhg I have never seen stats on this subject, I am pretty
   >sure that Jagr had more points per minute played that Francis.  When
   >you add to that Jagr's better +/- rating, I think it becomes evident
   >that Jagr had a better season- not that Francis had a bad one.
   >

     Actually, what I think has become more evident, is that you are determined to
     flaunt your ignorance at all cost.  Jagr did not have a better season than
     Francis ... to suggest otherwise is an insult to those with a modicum of
     hockey knowledge.  Save your almost maniacal devotion to the almighty
     plus/minus ... it is the most misleading hockey stat available.

     Until the NHL publishes a more useful quantifiable statistic including ice
     time per game and some measure of its "quality" (i.e., is the player put out
     in key situations like protecting a lead late in the game; is he matched up
     against the other team's top one or two lines; short-handed, etc), I would
     much rather see the +/- disappear altogether instead of having its dubious
     merits trumpeted by those with little understanding of its implications.

Thank you for posting this.  As the person who first brought up the
fact that Jagr has a much higher +/- than Francis, I can assure you
that I brought it up as an example of the absurdity of +/-
comparisons, even on the same team.  I never, ever thought that anyone
would argue that Jagr's higher +/- actually reflected better two-way
play.

In my opinion, Francis's low +/- is purely a result of him being asked
to play against opponents top scorers at all times; the fact that he
can chip in 100 points while neutralizing the other team's top center
is a testament to how valuable he is, even if his +/- suffers.  On the
other hand, Jagr, for how big, fast and skilled he is, can't even get
90 points, no matter how inflated his +/- is.

(By the way, don't get me wrong -- I like Jagr.  He may be a lazy
floater, but he turns it on at exactly the right times -- like
overtime of playoff games).
