As a way to measure which players in the NHL are carrying the heaviest loads and outperforming their competition, I created the Heavy Lifter Index on Hockey Prospectus.

The idea was largely inspired by some of Gabe's posts here at BTN and also by the work of Derek Zona over at Copper n' Blue.  My hope was to find some type of index that could show the relative rarity of a players situational stats and performance stats combined.

Part 1 - Explains the methodology

Part 2 - Refines my method and delves into HLI for forwards for the last 3 seasons

If you're interested in the topic, please give it a read.  Players like Mikko Koivu, Patrice Bergeron, Andrew Ladd and Brandon Dubinsky all show quite well in individual seasons while others like Martin Hanzal, Mike Richards and Alex Burrows showed very well across the 3 seasons total.  I'm sure you won't be surprised by the top player on the list.

Given the great statistical minds who read this blog, I'd love to hear your feedback in the comments section here or at HP.  Any insight into how to improve HLI or use it for further analysis would be great.