The Universal Cynic

Here's a comment I overheard in the press box on Thursday:

"Why does the NHL record hits? They should record posts instead."

You want the league to record the number of times a player hits the post? Granted, the NHL records everything else, but why would you want or need this as a stat? Do you want to know how well a certain player would favour at horseshoes? How often he was almost able to capitalize?

At least the hit count provides a measure of a player's grit and physicality. You know -- stats that actually matter.