[News] Capfriendly sold, has gone offline. RIP CapFriendly.

[getbak]

Looks like they finally went offline sometime tonight.

[FlamesAddiction]

I literally just noticed that too. I was hoping for one last look at something, but it's officially dead now.

So is Puckpedia the next best thing? It's probably just a matter of getting used to it, but I find their website a bit of a dog's breakfast.

[Goriders]

Why would anybody buy a website and shut it down?

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Goriders

Why would anybody buy a website and shut it down?

To be the sole user of the data. I'm sure the owners who sold it will already have them up to speed on how to constantly update it.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by dammage79

To be the sole user of the data. I'm sure the owners who sold it will already have them up to speed on how to constantly update it.

I was wondering about that. Is it possible that they are still updating the data as usual, but it's just on a private server now? Getting paid by the Caps for their time of course.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by dammage79

To be the sole user of the data.

None of the data is proprietary. They get it all from public sources.

The Capitals bought the APIs and the algorithms behind the analytical tools.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

None of the data is proprietary. They get it all from public sources.

The Capitals bought the APIs and the algorithms behind the analytical tools.

They way it's compiled and displayed is. Either way. They wanted that specific design and bought it.

[Goriders]

Bunch of knobs though. Fans used the website and they took that away from them. I now I used it out of curiousity a number of times.

[Roof-Daddy]

Idiots

Way to take a big fat #### on the fan experience

[Coach]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I was wondering about that. Is it possible that they are still updating the data as usual, but it's just on a private server now? Getting paid by the Caps for their time of course.

Originally Posted by Jay Random

None of the data is proprietary. They get it all from public sources.

The Capitals bought the APIs and the algorithms behind the analytical tools.

Whether the data is proprietary or not, the actual mining and inputing of that data, compiling it and putting into a readable and easily searchable format is a huge amount of legwork that it sounds like most NHL teams were happy to outsource to this free site. 100% they are still maintaining it on their own. I wouldn't be surprised if they hired people who worked for Capfriendly (did the guy do it all himself? That's got to be impossible).

I'm actually surprised it took a team this long to do it. Or maybe they've been getting offers all along and we're turning them down. Didn't the person who started it get very ill at one point?

Also that Benning article is so hilarious. "If he says I don't have wingers I can look at my fancy chart of names here to see in fact that he DOES have wingers. Benning'd."

[devo22]

I still find it fascinating that a site like CapFriendly has so much value to a team. I've always thought teams had their own, more sophisticated tools for cap purposes, but maybe I've overestimated the professionalism with which these teams operate.

oh well. Everybody was pissed when CapGeek went offline, then CapFriendly stepped up and CapGeek was forgotten pretty quickly. I'd imagine PuckPedia or somebody else will fill the void in a similar fashion.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Idiots

Way to take a big fat #### on the fan experience

I actually think stuff like Capfriendly makes the fan experience worse.

But I agree with others that something will fill the void is fairly short order, so there’s little to get upset about.

[gvitaly]

Originally Posted by devo22

I still find it fascinating that a site like CapFriendly has so much value to a team. I've always thought teams had their own, more sophisticated tools for cap purposes, but maybe I've overestimated the professionalism with which these teams operate.

oh well. Everybody was pissed when CapGeek went offline, then CapFriendly stepped up and CapGeek was forgotten pretty quickly. I'd imagine PuckPedia or somebody else will fill the void in a similar fashion.

Conroy actually talked about it. The Flames have their own system, some of the things it did better, other things worse. The team was making changes in their software to fill those gaps.

The two things that Conroy mentioned were how quickly Capfriendly updated the contract information. It was much quicker than the league updated their own servers. I think Conroy said they could take up to a week longer. The other thing was ease of access, the fact that you could open capfriendly from everywhere and at any time, and have all the information quickly.

PS: I was using nhlnumbers at first.

[Oil Stain]

Originally Posted by devo22

I still find it fascinating that a site like CapFriendly has so much value to a team. I've always thought teams had their own, more sophisticated tools for cap purposes, but maybe I've overestimated the professionalism with which these teams operate.

oh well. Everybody was pissed when CapGeek went offline, then CapFriendly stepped up and CapGeek was forgotten pretty quickly. I'd imagine PuckPedia or somebody else will fill the void in a similar fashion.

Apparently the NHL provides all the same info to teams, and I'm sure they have guys crunching the numbers, but the info from the NHL would lack the same format.

What made capfriendly so great was how easy to navigate it was.

If a GM is looking to make a trade with another team, capfriendly made it super user friendly for that GM to view all their contracted players in one spot, even laid out in a depth chart with current lines, and also get available draft picks and cap space all in one spot for every team in the league.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Goriders

Why would anybody buy a website and shut it down?

Competitive advantage, insiders were saying some team's don't have this type of data within their organization and used "Cap Friendly"

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I actually think stuff like Capfriendly makes the fan experience worse.

But I agree with others that something will fill the void is fairly short order, so there’s little to get upset about.

I can somewhat agree that it can make the fan experience worse if a guy uses it like he thinks he's an NHL gm and just rigs up armchair gm roster after armchair gm roster.

I hardly used it anymore but it was a heck of a tool for when a question popped into your head. You just go there in instantly have an answer with all the finite details.

Like right now I'm wondering because I can't remember, if Konecny is still set to be a UFA next summer or if he signed an extension in Philly.

I look forward to someone launching a replacement ASAP

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Like right now I'm wondering because I can't remember, if Konecny is still set to be a UFA next summer or if he signed an extension in Philly.

I look forward to someone launching a replacement ASAP

https://puckpedia.com/player/travis-konecny

[Leeman4Gilmour]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I literally just noticed that too. I was hoping for one last look at something, but it's officially dead now.

So is Puckpedia the next best thing? It's probably just a matter of getting used to it, but I find their website a bit of a dog's breakfast.

Dog's breakfast was exactly my first thought, but it is just a matter of getting used to it. I was pretty sad to see CapFriendly go, but I've endured the transition to PuckPedia which has alleviated my sadness.

[devo22]

it all depends on how you're using it as a fan. If you use it to build unrealistic armchair GM rosters to prove a point or something like that, yeah, that makes the fan experience worse. But if you're a somewhat casual fan, it was a heck of a thing. "Does player X have an NTC?" "How long does player X have left on his contract, and will he be UFA or RFA?" "How much cap space can this team or that team take on?" "Which picks do the Flames own in the next few drafts, and what are the conditions on some of them?" "If player X were to get bought out, what would be the cap implications?"

CapFriendly had answers to all of those questions, in a user-friendly and well-arranged manner. I would argue it enhanced the fan experience for the vast majority of hockey fans.

[BigThief]

Puckpedia is a mess.