Noon Number (October 23rd): 72.9%

Clayton Stoner cops a lot of flak from Wild fans, and, up to this point, it has been well deserved. He has been a poor excuse for an NHL defenceman for the last few years, yet, bizarrely, gets top minutes. I felt that Justin Falk outplayed him last year, yet Falk got shipped-out while Stoner stuck around. I was hopeful that new faces like Dumba, Ballard and Blum would push Stoner onto the trading block or into the press box, but, when the new season began, he was still here and looked like he would be featuring reasonably regularly.

Somehow, Stoner has managed to reinvent himself this year and has performed very very well. He has passed the eye-test in every game except for the one in Buffalo, and has received praise from bloggers, writers and his coach. Now, those are just opinions, but at least it shows that he's not just putting-up good numbers while looking awful. This doesn't mean that people who were critical of him in the past were wrong, because he was terrible for years. This turn-around in encouraging, though I wonder how long it can go on before he reverts back to his old self. Hopefully he can maintain some kind of high level throughout the season because that would be huge for the Wild, almost like getting a totally new defenceman on the roster.

I think fans still have a knee-jerk hatred for Stoner based on past experiences. Go search his name on Twitter and you'll find dozens of Tweets about how terrible he is and how he needs to be sent to the press box. It's a shame that he has built up such a bad reputation, because he has been doing a good job this year.

It what world (other than Minnesota) is Clayton Stoner a NHL player? #BambiOnIce

— Jeremy Sayther (@jsayther) October 23, 2013

Clayton stoner is the biggest joke in the NHL.

— Cody Lewis (@Cody_lewis4) October 20, 2013

Oh and Minnesota Wild do yourself a favor and send Clayton Stoner back to the Peewee B team you got him from. #Duster

— Nick Regeimbal (@AirRegeimbal18) October 16, 2013

Jeez, what does the guy have to do to win these people over?

-Here's some basic info about him:

-Here are his underlying numbers this year in Close situations (Includes only players with 75% games played):

*CF=Corsi events for the team while Stoner is on the ice
*CA=Corsi events against the team while Stoner is on the ice
*CF%=Percentage of Corsi events for the team with Stoner on the ice
*Corsi Rel=Stoner's Corsi relative to his teammates
*FF/SF=Fenwick For/Shots For etc. (Same as above)

-In case you need a refresher:

• Fenwick = Goals + Shots On Goal + Missed shots while a player is on the ice
• Corsi = Fenwick + Blocked Shots while a player is on the ice.
• 5v5 Close = Counts only minutes where the game is within 1 goal in the 1st and 2nd period, and tied in the 3rd and overtime. This is to negate "score effects" which can interfere with regular 5v5 statistics. Close statistics have the strongest correlation with future success.
• Score Effects = When one team has a comfortable lead they often "take their foot off the gas" and play a more defensive system, allowing their opponents to control the puck, while attempting to prevent high quality shooting opportunities. When a team is behind in a game they are "playing desperate" in an attempt to tie up the game. They play a much more offensive system where they control the puck and may be susceptible to high quality scoring chances on the counter-attack.

More from Hockey Wilderness:

• Minnesota Wild vs Nashville Predators: WINNING! wrap up
• What Should the Minnesota Wild Do With Dany Heatley?
• Noon Number (October 22nd): 73
• Wild's Lackluster Start Leaves Fans With An Anxious Trigger Finger
• Is The Minnesota Wild's Low ES Sh% A Result Of Inaccurate Shooting?