Hockey team embracing analytics

Post Reply
User avatar
Donn Beach
Posts: 13263
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 1:06 am

Hockey team embracing analytics

Post by Donn Beach » Fri Nov 29, 2019 2:29 pm

this is something that always bugged me about the Mariners. They represent one of the most data driven cities in the country but always seemed behind the eight ball when it came to analytics. The hockey team seems to at least be embracing the climate of the city its been born to and tapping into resources here. Francis did seem like a dinosaur to me, interesting he at least sees the value in data collection
Mining local talent is nothing new; the Vegas Golden Knights, for instance, tabbed longtime Cirque du Soleil trainer Jay Mellette as their director of sports performance before their inaugural season in 2017–18. But the resources available in Seattle might prove especially beneficial given the increased—and entirely overdue—emphasis put on data collection, analysis and R&D by NHL front offices. “Hopefully at the end of the day it gives us a competitive edge,” Seattle general manager Ron Francis says. “A lot of cities don’t have this tech base.”


The connections are already paying off. Not long ago, Mandrycky and Francis met for breakfast with Andy Jassy, a member of the Seattle Hockey Partners ownership group and CEO of Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary, AWS. “Just to pick his brain,” Mandrycky says. “When we talk about how do we want to build our team, who are the types of people that we should be hiring, what sort of technology should we be looking at?”

They also attended sessions of a monthly gathering of area tech executives, discussing the team’s plan to utilize data in the pursuit of a Stanley Cup. “Machine learning, artificial intelligence—every team in every league is looking at those,” says Todd Humphrey, senior VP of digital and fan experience for NHL Seattle, and a regular member of what he dubs the “innovation and efficiency” committee. “So how do we leverage new tech to make the best sense out of data? As the new kid on the block, a lot of people have been willing to help.”

At least part of the enthusiasm is thanks to the man in charge. “They’re sports fans,” Humphrey says, “so when they see Ron Francis in the room, their eyes light up.” A reliable two-way centerman whose 23-year Hall of Fame career ended in 2004, Francis refers to himself as an analytics “dinosaur, in the sense that it wasn’t around” during his playing days. But he always enjoyed math in school, aspiring to become an accountant or financial representative if hockey never panned out. “If I was going into a contract year, I’d calculate numbers to see what my case looked like against others,” Francis says.

Decades later, as GM of the Hurricanes, Francis created one of the NHL’s first full-time analytics positions in August ’15 by hiring Eric Tulsky, a nanotech chemist and popular hockey blogger who now works as Carolina’s vice president of hockey management and strategy. After leaving the Canes—and following a brief stint in commercial real estate—Francis popped onto Seattle’s radar as a forward-thinking candidate whose past fit their mission. Even so, though, the franchise needed to make sure. “I interviewed with eight different owners,” Francis says, “and it was fairly blunt. Like, ‘Where are you on analytics? What’s your interpretations?’”
https://www.si.com/nhl/2019/11/14/seatt ... on-francis

User avatar
Donn Beach
Posts: 13263
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 1:06 am

Re: Hockey team embracing analytics

Post by Donn Beach » Fri Nov 29, 2019 2:43 pm

Mandrycky is director of hockey strategy and research, and is a woman, she was hired before Francis

Mandrycky didn’t take to the sport until college, when she began attending Thrashers games while at Georgia Tech. After earning her industrial engineering degree in 2013, though, she accepted a travel-heavy gig as a software consultant, averaging two weeks out of each month on the road. “Instead of going out to the bar at night, I would sit in my hotel room and work on hockey stats,” Mandrycky says. “It was an easy vehicle to improve my programming and statistical method skills and enhance my non-hockey career.

“Then ironically it ended up turning into my career.”

User avatar
D-train
Posts: 67960
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:33 am
Location: Quincy, MA

Re: Hockey team embracing analytics

Post by D-train » Fri Nov 29, 2019 3:31 pm

Baker did a story on her on my birthday......in June.

https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/hoc ... that-call/
dt

Post Reply