re plus minus stat in article apr alchemy chem utoronto ca golchowy alchemy chem utoronto ca gerald olchowy writes it is meaningless to compare one player s plus minus statistic with another players out of the context of the role and the playing time of the players involved it s just as meaningless to compare goals assists pim and any other stat i can think of each player is asked to take a unique role for his team the contexts will never be the same from one player to another playing on the same team or different teams and yet awards are given and promotions received based in part on these meaningless stats the operative words are in part stats must be interpreted tempered with other information one has about the player to compare jagr s and francis s plus minus is ridiculous and absurd and comparing jagr s and francis s points is just as ridiculous and absurd but not more ridiculous and absurd as comparing goals assists points for selanne lindros juneau potvin and the other rookies in the league and yet how about looking at them for what they are and enjoy the game ron
