Leafs hiring ExtraSkater.com founder, creating analytics department

[bustaheims]

Jeffler: Where are the critics of Dave Nonis now?

(Across the hall)

 

[bustaheims]

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  7m
When you find your name in my column @mirtle call me. Until then, go back to tweeting answers to questions you don't have the balls to ask.

So, the difference between being a weasel and a sportswriter is naming names?

 

[Kin]

Whether any of this helps produce a better product on the ice is a long way from being seen yet, but for now at least we are certainly seeing one of the biggest turn arounds on an issue related to sports that I can recall. The Leafs appeared to be not the least bit interested in analytics just a few months ago and now they appear to be leading the charge in a big way.

Which is probably a pretty good sign that the days of this being significant in terms of wins and losses are just about over. If everyone's looking at these things then you're back to the gap between just collecting data and actually implementing it in a way that yields any results and as we've seen in the NBA it's hard to see that anyone has cracked it.

 

[Boston Leaf]

man I miss when hockey was hockey and played on the ice... not professional strato-matic hockey

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

man I miss when hockey was hockey and played on the ice... not professional strato-matic hockey

1 hour and 34 minutes.  Improving TMLFans.ca, improving.

 

[hap_leaf]

Whether any of this helps produce a better product on the ice is a long way from being seen yet, but for now at least we are certainly seeing one of the biggest turn arounds on an issue related to sports that I can recall. The Leafs appeared to be not the least bit interested in analytics just a few months ago and now they appear to be leading the charge in a big way.

Which is probably a pretty good sign that the days of this being significant in terms of wins and losses are just about over. If everyone's looking at these things then you're back to the gap between just collecting data and actually implementing it in a way that yields any results and as we've seen in the NBA it's hard to see that anyone has cracked it.

I think that is key: how do you interpret the findings and what do you choose to do on ice to fix it?

I saw an interesting map displaying Crosby's "heat" all over the rink to show where he spends most of his time.  Which is amazing in itself just for that technology.  But then it becomes a matter of how you apply that knowledge.  This could all get over complicated in a hurry and it seems to me it will always come down to someone's gut feel on how to apply the empirical evidence. 

 

[Kin]

I think that is key: how do you interpret the findings and what do you choose to do on ice to fix it?

And more than that, it's how do you take the data and devise a gameplan around it that other teams can't also combat with their own strategy based on their analytics. Soon it becomes like coaching where it's really just a secondary element of minor importance.

 

[ZBBM]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

And they're locking Cam Charron in a room so he can't trash them on TLN anymore.

I think this is the best take:

@YakovMironov

What's funny is that lead @sportsnet insider @damospin has probably blocked most of the Leafs front office on twitter.

And Simmons has already called Charron a 'weasel who can't be trusted.'  So....he's taking these hires pretty well.

context to the weasel comment from Simmons:

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  40m
I like the hiring of Darryl Metcalf. I dislike the hiring of Cam Charron, who from my experiences is a weasel who can't be trusted.

steve simmons ‏@simmonssteve  32m
Cam Charron and I exchanged private emails last season. He posted them online. You can think what you want. To me, that's a weasel.


Which prompted Mirtle to ask:

James Mirtle
‏@mirtle
@simmonssteve You and I had private conversations you put in the Sun. What's the difference?

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  7m
When you find your name in my column @mirtle call me. Until then, go back to tweeting answers to questions you don't have the balls to ask.

The level of professionalism of these guys is truly inspiring.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

The level of professionalism of these guys is truly inspiring.

The Twitter age seems to have decreased the level of professionalism on the whole. I've never seen so much of this type of crap, certainly not before Twitter.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

The level of professionalism of these guys is truly inspiring.

The Twitter age seems to have decreased the level of professionalism on the whole. I've never seen so much of this type of crap, certainly not before Twitter.

They've always been this way, they just didn't have the platform of Twitter.

 

[MetalRaven]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

And they're locking Cam Charron in a room so he can't trash them on TLN anymore.

I think this is the best take:

@YakovMironov

What's funny is that lead @sportsnet insider @damospin has probably blocked most of the Leafs front office on twitter.

And Simmons has already called Charron a 'weasel who can't be trusted.'  So....he's taking these hires pretty well.

context to the weasel comment from Simmons:

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  40m
I like the hiring of Darryl Metcalf. I dislike the hiring of Cam Charron, who from my experiences is a weasel who can't be trusted.

steve simmons ‏@simmonssteve  32m
Cam Charron and I exchanged private emails last season. He posted them online. You can think what you want. To me, that's a weasel.


Which prompted Mirtle to ask:

James Mirtle
‏@mirtle
@simmonssteve You and I had private conversations you put in the Sun. What's the difference?

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  7m
When you find your name in my column @mirtle call me. Until then, go back to tweeting answers to questions you don't have the balls to ask.

The level of professionalism of these guys is truly inspiring.

Simmons should never be mistaken for a professional.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

The level of professionalism of these guys is truly inspiring.

The Twitter age seems to have decreased the level of professionalism on the whole. I've never seen so much of this type of crap, certainly not before Twitter.

They've always been this way, they just didn't have the platform of Twitter.

Oh, could be, I hate that type of stuff so I probably didn't notice it before. You're right though, Twitter has made it front and center.

 

[Capn_Crunch]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

And they're locking Cam Charron in a room so he can't trash them on TLN anymore.

I think this is the best take:

@YakovMironov

What's funny is that lead @sportsnet insider @damospin has probably blocked most of the Leafs front office on twitter.

And Simmons has already called Charron a 'weasel who can't be trusted.'  So....he's taking these hires pretty well.

context to the weasel comment from Simmons:

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  40m
I like the hiring of Darryl Metcalf. I dislike the hiring of Cam Charron, who from my experiences is a weasel who can't be trusted.

steve simmons ‏@simmonssteve  32m
Cam Charron and I exchanged private emails last season. He posted them online. You can think what you want. To me, that's a weasel.


Which prompted Mirtle to ask:

James Mirtle
‏@mirtle
@simmonssteve You and I had private conversations you put in the Sun. What's the difference?

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  7m
When you find your name in my column @mirtle call me. Until then, go back to tweeting answers to questions you don't have the balls to ask.

The level of professionalism of these guys is truly inspiring.

It's sad how unprofessional these guys are for the most part. I hope real reporters look the other way when they pass them.

Throw in a couple more of them and you have a "The Real Douchebags of the Toronto Media" reality show. At least then they might have a reason to act like they do.

 

[2badknees]

I worry that the media is going to run with this theme and increase the use of stats during the in-game coverage to annoying levels.

 

[Rebel_1812]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

And they're locking Cam Charron in a room so he can't trash them on TLN anymore.

I think this is the best take:

@YakovMironov

What's funny is that lead @sportsnet insider @damospin has probably blocked most of the Leafs front office on twitter.

And Simmons has already called Charron a 'weasel who can't be trusted.'  So....he's taking these hires pretty well.

context to the weasel comment from Simmons:

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  40m
I like the hiring of Darryl Metcalf. I dislike the hiring of Cam Charron, who from my experiences is a weasel who can't be trusted.

steve simmons ‏@simmonssteve  32m
Cam Charron and I exchanged private emails last season. He posted them online. You can think what you want. To me, that's a weasel.


Which prompted Mirtle to ask:

James Mirtle
‏@mirtle
@simmonssteve You and I had private conversations you put in the Sun. What's the difference?

I think simmons just has alot to hide in his private emails.  Likely why cam felt the need to show the public what he is like.

 

[lamajama]

Sounds good but do dinosaurs have ears?

 

[KW Sluggo]

Weasels schmeasels...it could have been worse: they could have hired Eklund.

 

[moon111]

man I miss when hockey was hockey and played on the ice... not professional strato-matic hockey

Kessel is a 4/1/4.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Mirtle's story on the hirings: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/leafs-go-big-on-analytics-with-creation-of-stats-department/article20129261/

Not much new information there, although he does note that the more unknown guy, Rob Pettapiece, "worked in relative secrecy as Dubas?s right-hand stats man in the Soo the past year".

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

The bad news with all this of course is that extraskater.com is definitely dead. There's still sites like hockeyanalysis and behindthenet, and I'm sure one or two other sites will pop up trying to fill es's void, but I'd be pretty shocked to see anything surpass or even come close to how great extraskater was.

In 100% seriousness, why don't you try to fill that void?  It clearly will be a void, and there will certainly be enough demand for statistical insight from whoever can provide it.  You know the analyses these guys have used, very well, and have learned from a variety of sources.  You know the teams and the players, you're insightful, measured, and articulate.  And there's the potential for a payoff of an NHL job if you can build up a reputation as these guys did.  Just a thought.