Stu Hackel Week on Arctic Ice Hockey: Posts Hit aka "Stats the NHL ought to keep"

Stu Hackel wonders: "Hit posts. The stats now include shots on goal, blocked shots and shots that miss the net. But what about the ones that hit the post? They are noted in the real time play-by-play, but aren’t compiled anywhere. Wouldn’t it be informative to learn which players hit the post most often, or which team leads the league in that unfortunate category?"

As ridiculous as it sounds, the NHL stopped recording missed shots for several years because of a labor dispute. But that's water under the bridge - since the lockout, we've been getting this data. As with many NHL stats, there's general disagreement on what constitutes hitting the post or the crossbar. Madison Square Garden, as usual, has no clue:

As for individuals, here are the players with the most crossbars and posts hit - with a 60% delta between Pittsburgh and Colorado in terms of recording hit posts, some players will find it very difficult to make this list:

And, as a percentage of shots taken:

Chris Simon scored only 19 goals after the lockout - another nine goals instead of posts would certainly have extended his career by a year or two!

Verdict: the NHL needs to standardize recording of posts and crossbars across rinks before they report this stat. And even if they do, I don't find this list particularly informative. It's the kind of thing that has zero statistical significance and no predictive value.