Quote:
Originally Posted by FiveSeven
Not going to go into details in case of repercussions but I already have all of the current data on the entire site. Within two weeks me and my friend should have a near replica complete. Not exactly sure how they're getting their data, through some sort of NHL API, manual analysis, or whatnot. I was thinking of just using AI through X API to track an aggregate of trusted X sources to fill out the small number of required datasets like players, numbers, teams, trade conditions, etc, and doing a simple manual click approval so that one man can easily keep up. Not exactly sure but we will figure out the best way and will likely be quicker than the current method they use...which is probably manual input as they don't seem to be very fast. This was absolutely needless and pissed me off so we're going to go Robinhood on their ass. Good on the sellers, but F the caps. This is public information with no upside in the sense of having an advantage over another team.  - If the site ends up not being used and failing because of people already seeking an alternative then so be it, a few weeks of lost effort is of no worry when the potential upside is pissing off a bunch of elite asshat gatekeepers. |
My 2cents.
The Caps are buying the interface. The entire system is extremely easy to use and intuitive (GM mode is super fun), so much so that a 65year old Brian MacLellan could use it.
I'm going to guess that most NHL teams (the Caps for sure) don't have an internal tool that is as sophisticated as capfriendly hence the purchase. Wouldn't surprise me at all if most teams are still using excel for their salary cap related work - this is a massive upgrade. I think up until a few years ago the NHL central registry still used fax machines? The Caps now just have to plug this into the now hopefully digital NHL central registry which I think will give them a massive advantage during trade deadline time. The more I think about this, the more i'm shocked this didn't happen earlier.
Good on you for trying to create your own system. However, after reading the article, I would assert that relationships with NHL teams is equally as important as the interface when looking at this kind of tool. I always wondered how they were so accurate and fast in getting contract details - it actually explains a lot that they had relationships with NHL teams (probably all of them) to get information via APIs. These relationships probably took years to develop, I think this is the main hurdle to overcome.
In terms of the Capitals closing it down, it does make sense unfortunately. They get no benefit from keeping it open. They could keep it open publicly as is, but then they'd have to hire a team to maintain it and keep it updated. Not only would they likely lose money doing this, but their also not in the business of maintaining a salary cap website, so why bother.
Overall, sucks for probably everybody on this site and all of the hockey nerds out there. Hopefully we get an alternative soon. Puckpedia is good, but the interface isn't as good nor does it have a lot of the functionality that Capfriendly does.