I would not venture any sort of guess as to when possession statistics and metrics became generally accepted within circles of hockey fans, analysts and personnel. However, #fancystats have so indubitably spread throughout the North American hockey world—at least, online—that one cannot dispute its presence. As a concept that has moved away from being hipster and toward being mainstream, the utilization of various stats in casual fan blogs such as this one has become commonplace, and, on occasion, even necessary to establish or maintain credibility.