Alberta Analytics Conference

[Anduril]

On September 13 at the Saddledome, there will be a conference for hockey analytics open to the public. Keynote speakers include Chris Snow who will be talking a bit about PUCK, the analytic system the Flames use, Rob Vollman and more.

http://www.hockeyabstract.com/conference

Who's ready to get their stats on?

[Robbob]

Listen to stats or watch the young stars. I know what I will be doing.

In all seriousness, I do think there might be some interesting talking points.

[Wastedyouth]

Robert Vollman is one of the best in the biz for statistical analysis. If I was in country that day I wouldn't miss it.

[MarkGio]

It would be interesting to hear what the Flames are doing in terms of statistical analysis. I hope to god Burke hasn't had his fingers on that part of the Flames.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

It would be interesting to hear what the Flames are doing in terms of statistical analysis. I hope to god Burke hasn't had his fingers on that part of the Flames.

I'm starting to buy in to the conspiracy theory that Burke actually keeps up with the leading edge of hockey analytics, but keeps it on the down-low by trash talking "fancy stats"... trash talking them when he is attending a fancy stats conference as an invited speaker... along with his daughter who IIRC is also employed in a fancy stays capacity.

[ah123]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

I'm starting to buy in to the conspiracy theory that Burke actually keeps up with the leading edge of hockey analytics, but keeps it on the down-low by trash talking "fancy stats"... trash talking them when he is attending a fancy stats conference as an invited speaker... along with his daughter who IIRC is also employed in a fancy stays capacity.

You might be right on that one...this is a post by someone on another flames board, but I found this interesting regardless (post #25 in this thread on FN)

The second was a conversation I had with one of the Flames scouts a month or two ago. We were talking, I asked what he did for work, and when he told me I showed interest in his process, beyond the obvious "he skates fast" and "he hits hard". I mentioned I was trying to educate myself on some advanced stats, and he nodded knowledgeably. I told him that I wasn't sure how big it was in his line of work, and he said that I would be surprised.

Then I said something to the effect of "Yeah, but with you scouting for the Flames, you probably don't get to apply it much. After all, your boss only cares how big and truculent someone is!"

He looked at me, and said "Have you ever noticed that every time there's one of those conferences, Brian Burke is there. Yeah, outwardly he's shooting down the concept, but he's always present, soaking it up". Then he gave me a wry smile. "Maybe this is one of those occasions where you should pay more attention to what Burke does, than what he says"

[Beatle17]

The following is a quote taken from an Elliot Friedman article yesterday. It was from an interview given by one of the first, if not first stats analysts (I would post the link but I am not computer literate enough to do so):

*He is a huge believer in NHL coaches. "They have a hell of a grasp on who is bringing what to their team." He admits some have "blind spots" when it comes to favourites or least favourite players, but "most are smart guys who spend all day working on it."

*"The next big thing (in hockey analytics) will be to define the context of ice time ... quality of competition. Who you play against matters a ton." Barnes said where current hockey executives need help is how to use this to determine salary value, but those execs are far better at "weighing" players than those who rely solely on analytics. "If a 'hockey guy' comes out and says, 'That player was always [hidden],' they tend to be right. If you were to give me five hockey analytics versus five GMs or vice-presidents of hockey operations or five coaches -- five coaches especially -- to weigh a player, I'd take [the latters'] opinion ... A lot of analytics would have very young teams that won't win."

*His thoughts on goaltending have changed. "Goalies are so good now, it's hard to justify a big, long-term deal for anyone. There are no bad goalies like there were in 1992. There were some terrible ones then. Now everyone is so close."

*The biggest mistake is separating offensive play from defensive play. "Madness. Both happen at the same time."

Some interesting stuff in the article. I believe stats have their place, but in the context of being used with experience.

[getbak]

^^^

Here's the link: http://www.cbc.ca/sports-content/hoc...c-ferrari.html

[lazypucker]

So how much does it cost to attend the conference? According to the website it costs $72 million over 8 years. I don't think I can afford that kind of coin...

[Matt Reeeeead]

Anyone else at this thing, pretty cool stuff.


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[FBI]

care to elaborate?

Originally Posted by Matt Reeeeead

Anyone else at this thing, pretty cool stuff.


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[Matt Reeeeead]

Some of the top analytic guys talking about their current projects and how it can become useful information. Very good presentations. Still a few more headliners to go, Sinclair, vollman, Schuckers.


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[cral12]

Any other highlights? Would have loved to attend, but family health issue prevented my attendance. Would love to hear more from those who attended.