Pittsburgh Penguins Hire Sam Ventura as Analytics Consultant
By Mike Necciai
As originally reported by Jason Mackey of the Trib, the Pittsburgh Penguins have hired Sam Ventura as a Consultant responsible for analytics.
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Ventura, who can be found on twitter at @Stat_Sam, is best known for being one of the creators of the popular hockey analytics website war-on-ice.com. War On ice has been a pioneer in the world of hockey analytics and has helped boost the popularity of using advanced stats in analyzing player and team performance for NHL writers and bloggers. A lot of the underlying numbers and statistical data that you read here stems from the amazing work that he does.
Sam is also a Pittsburgh native that holds a Phd from Carnegie Mellon University.
The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t the first team to hire a Consultant for analytics, as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers have also done so very recently as well. However, this hiring shows that Pittsburgh has an understanding of the importance of statistical analysis and the major role it will likely play in the future.
As you probably know, NHL.com has also updated their stats site with more in-depth data that allows fans to view items such as shot attempts, which is also known as corsi, among other information. While some haven’t yet accepted that advanced stats are a major part of the game and a great tool for performance evaluation, it’s clear that NHL owners and GMs are among those that are on board. Well, at least some of them.
Whether or not you’re completely on board with analytics in the hockey world or still wavering on your acceptance, it’s clear that things have taken flight and these numbers and data will be a huge part of the evaluation process in the future. We’ve only hit the surface and it’s exciting to see where this information can take us. Guys like Sam Ventura are sure to lead the way to wherever that destination is.
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