Sports Reference Blog

Player Comparison Finder Added to Hockey Reference

Posted by Mike Lynch on September 20, 2016

If you're an avid user of Pro Football Reference or Basketball Reference, you might be familiar with the Player Comparison tool in the Play Index. We're happy to announce that this popular tool has now been added to the Hockey Reference Play Index, as well.

With the Player Comparison Finder, you can choose anywhere from 2-6 players and compare single seasons, a selection of seasons, or their entire careers.

For instance, you can easily compare the rookie seasons of Alex Ovechkin and Mario Lemieux. Or you can compare their age-20 seasons. You can also compare spans of seasons. For instance, here's Wayne Gretzky's 1st 5 NHL seasons vs Lemieux's 1st 5 seasons.

You can also choose to compare entire careers. And, remember, you can select up to 6 players at a time:

Regular Season Comparison Table
Scoring Goals Per Game Point Shares
Player GP G A PTS +/- PIM EV PP SH GW G A PTS OPS DPS PS
Mike Bossy* 752 573 553 1126 381 210 384 181 8 82 0.76 0.74 1.50 93.1 17.8 110.9
Wayne Gretzky* 1567 917 2042 2959 505 611 633 210 74 94 0.59 1.30 1.89 231.5 27.8 259.3
Gordie Howe* 1767 801 1049 1850 87 1685 172 78 11 27 0.45 0.59 1.05 186.6 30.5 217.1
Mario Lemieux* 915 690 1033 1723 115 834 405 236 49 74 0.75 1.13 1.88 152.4 15.5 167.9
Eric Lindros* 760 372 493 865 215 1398 254 111 7 46 0.49 0.65 1.14 81.7 20.0 101.6
Mark Messier* 1756 694 1193 1887 210 1910 452 179 63 92 0.40 0.68 1.07 135.6 24.8 160.5
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/20/2016.

Posted in Announcement, Features, Hockey-Reference.com, Play Index | Comments Off on Player Comparison Finder Added to Hockey Reference

Does a QB’s Debut Really Tell Us Anything?

Posted by Jonah Gardner on September 15, 2016

We've reached what's perhaps the most fun sports week of the year, at least from a narrative perspective. That's right, it's the week after the start of the NFL season! With a small amount of information to go by, in a sport that can see wide variance in game-to-game performances, football fans, writers, and even coaches across the nation have no choice but to jump to wild conclusions, many of which are doomed to look foolish just weeks later. Read the rest of this entry

Posted in Announcement, Pro-Football-Reference.com | Comments Off on Does a QB’s Debut Really Tell Us Anything?

Why the Ads on Sports Reference Are Sometimes Terrible

Posted by sean on September 13, 2016

One of the things I pride myself on at Sports Reference is that our sites are fast and not annoying. We want to connect you with the data you want, as quickly as possible, every single time. We spend a lot of time trying to make this happen.

We have another important goal with our site, which is to make money. We have seven full-time employees maintaining our sites on a daily basis, so if we don't generate a significant amount of revenue, things will start to go south for us reasonably quickly. We spend a lot of time thinking about that as well, and for a small-to-medium-sized publisher like us, that means running advertisements on our site.

Unfortunately, sometimes the ads that come through our site cause serious problems for users. This is a constant source of frustration for us, so I wanted to take this moment to explain how this happens. I realize we are 100% responsible for what we put on our pages, and so any ad that is served on our page is ultimately our responsibility and the fault lies with us for any negative impacts from an ad.
Read the rest of this entry

Posted in Announcement, Bleg, History, Ridiculousness | 4 Comments »

Four Big Questions for the NFL Season

Posted by Jonah Gardner on September 9, 2016

It's going to be almost 90 degrees this weekend and the leaves haven't started changing color at all, so that can only mean one thing: football season is here! When we left off last season, an ascendant Carolina Panthers team struggled in Cam Newton's first Super Bowl against Von Miller and the Denver Broncos. And when we picked up this season, not too much had changed. With Game One in the books and an exciting slate of football ahead this Sunday, let's dig into some of this season's biggest questions.

Read the rest of this entry

Posted in Announcement, Pro-Football-Reference.com | Comments Off on Four Big Questions for the NFL Season

Breaking Down the Heisman Trophy Candidates

Posted by Jonah Gardner on September 2, 2016

There have been 33 grueling Saturdays since the Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Clemson Tigers in Glendale to claim the 2015 College Football Championship, each emptier than the last. Going to the movies? Hanging out with friends and family? Leaving the house? No thanks.

Fortunately, our nightmare has come to an end and the 2016 college football season finally kicks off this weekend! Technically, it already kicked off last weekend, if you are a fan of the California Golden Bears, Hawaii Warriors, or games played 5,000 miles away from either of those campuses. And while there are a number of juicy storylines to follow, from Nick Saban's quest for his 5th title to Jim Harbaugh's attempt to follow-up his excellent debut season with the Michigan Wolverines, one of the most interesting ones is the race for this year's Heisman Trophy. Read the rest of this entry

Posted in Announcement, CFB at Sports Reference | 1 Comment »

What Would It Take For a Kicker or Punter To Be Worth the #1 Pick?

Posted by Jonah Gardner on August 25, 2016

I feel awful for Roberto Aguayo. In a decision that could be charitably described as "off-beat," the Tampa Bay Buccaneers took Aguayo, a kicker, with the 59th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Aguayo isn't the first kicker to be taken that high -- as recently as 2005, the New York Jets took Mike Nugent in the second round, while Sebastian Janikowski was drafted in the first round in 2000 -- but between the Internet, the rise of advanced statistics, and the proliferation of fantasy football, we know a lot more about kickers. Mainly, we know it's not worthwhile spending a lot of resources, in terms of salary cap space or draft capital, in order to get one, because you can usually find a decent one pretty easily and results can fluctuate widely from year-to-year because of the small sample size. Read the rest of this entry

Posted in Announcement, Pro-Football-Reference.com | Comments Off on What Would It Take For a Kicker or Punter To Be Worth the #1 Pick?

Find Your Own Dang Fantasy Football Sleepers!

Posted by Jonah Gardner on August 18, 2016

Have you heard about Kevin White? The 2nd-year wide receiver for the Chicago Bears who's basically a rookie? The 6'3, 210 lb physical pass catcher who's poised for a breakout in a Chicago offense that needs a second option besides Alshon Jeffery?

If you play fantasy football, the answer is probably yes. That's because just about every fantasy expert has cited Kevin White as one of this year's best fantasy football sleeper picks. The sleeper is a time-honored fantasy tradition; everyone who's played in a fantasy league has a story about a 15th round running back or waiver wire flyer who ended up swinging an entire season. Read the rest of this entry

Posted in Announcement, Fantasy, Pro-Football-Reference.com | Comments Off on Find Your Own Dang Fantasy Football Sleepers!

How Prince Fielder, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez Changed Baseball

Posted by Jonah Gardner on August 12, 2016

We like to think of it as slow and incremental, but change tends to happen pretty fast. The game may have been shifting over the last few years, but it's hard not to have whiplash from the events of the last seven days. In rapid succession, Mark Teixeira and Prince Fielder announced their retirement from baseball, while the Yankees cut Alex Rodriguez, in a transaction that also seemed like it could signal the end of A-Rod's career.

In their prime, all three players were superstars who came to define their era. And it's hard not to see this moment as something of a paradigm shift. Over the last few years, there's been a dramatic shift in our understanding of the game, and you'd have a hard time finding three players closer to the center of it than Fielder, Teixeira, and A-Rod. Read the rest of this entry

Posted in Announcement, Baseball-Reference.com | 10 Comments »

NHL Rookies of the Month Added Back to 1983-84

Posted by Mike Lynch on August 11, 2016

In January, we added NHL Rookies of the Month back to the 2005-06 season. We've recently made some additions and now have the award listed back to 1983-84.

There are a few holes in the data, however. If anyone has the October 1987, November 1989 or December 1990 winners, please let us know.

We hope you enjoy this addition to our NHL Awards section.

Posted in Announcement, Awards, Data, History, Hockey-Reference.com | Comments Off on NHL Rookies of the Month Added Back to 1983-84

Inside the (Underrated?) Hall of Fame Class of 2016

Posted by Jonah Gardner on August 4, 2016

There's no shortage of big names in the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Class, as legends like Brett Favre, Marvin Harrison, and Tony Dungy head to Canton. But despite the star power, statistically and historically, this year's crop of Hall of Famers can seem a little lacking.

Favre's best season was 60th all-time in passing yards, behind predecessors like Dan Marino, contemporaries like Drew Bledsoe, and, of course, the next generation of star quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Harrison's game lacked the electricity of Randy Moss or the showmanship of Terrell Owens. Dungy always seemed to be outfoxed by his rival, Bill Belichick. Since 1990, 40 defensive players have made more All-Pro First Teams than Kevin Greene.

The game has changed at such a rapid pace that it's diminished some of the raw statistics by this year's Hall of Fame class. But make no mistake, these are some of the greatest players of all-time. Perhaps even better than you remember. Let's take a look. Read the rest of this entry

Posted in Announcement, Hall of Fame, Pro-Football-Reference.com | Comments Off on Inside the (Underrated?) Hall of Fame Class of 2016