"New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy has never tried to sell himself as an analytics-driven coach. If anything, he's often portrayed as the opposite - an instinct-first competitor who trusts his eyes, his bench, and his feel for the game. But after Tuesday's 4-2 loss to Calgary, Roy showed that while he may not worship advanced metrics, he understands them well enough to challenge their shortcomings."
"Asked whether that move was driven by analytics or instinct, Roy was direct. "Sometimes you just go with your gut feeling and then try something different," Roy said. "That's all. Nothing really personal there." Pressed further on whether pulling the goalie early was influenced by data models or probability charts, Roy didn't flinch. "I believe that we're going to win the game," he said."
""And for analytics, I'll give you an example," Roy said. "Tonight, you're looking expected goals against. The first one - there's a tip they gave 20-something that never hit the net. I mean the wraparound they gave 17 that never hit the net." Roy's point wasn't that analytics are useless. It was that they are incomplete without context. Expected goals can suggest danger, but they don't always reflect reality."
Patrick Roy is often portrayed as an instinct-first coach who trusts his eyes, bench, and feel for the game. After a 4-2 loss to Calgary he pulled his goalie early while trailing by three, saying he went with his gut and believed the team could win. He described expected goals as incomplete, noting that tipped shots and wraparounds that never hit the net inflate danger on charts without reflecting real scoring opportunities. He said he does not care about analytics while demonstrating familiarity with their metrics. He argued that shots missing the net do not force saves and require contextual judgment.
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