This summer of NHL team hiring hockey analytics gurus is coming to this: The Washington Post's Neil Greenberg revealed today that SportsVu tracking technology is very close to being ready for implementation in the NHL.
I have somewhat mixed feelings about this.
It's really cool from a technological point of view as there will be microchip emitter technology used. It won't be just video tracking, although that is part of the puzzle. I also think innovation is a good thing and the introduction of SportsVu will open up a whole array of new ways of tracking the game that go far beyond today's rather primitive (and, in my view, somewhat deceptive) "advanced" stats.
On the flip side, I am not really a huge "new-age stats" guy when it comes to hockey (apart from a love of playing some good old fashioned Strat-o-Matic). I agree totally with Flyers general manager Ron Hextall's view that, while analytics properly has a role in today's game and can be useful, they should NOT be the basis of decision making from a roster standpoint.
Hextall said that analytics are about five to seven percent of the puzzle. I think that's about right. The traditional methods used by hockey people should still remain the foundation of decision making.
But there is always a temptation to fall in love with the shiny new toy. I DO think that some teams might go overboard with it in the next few years, and then there will be a correction the other way until high-tech analytics finds its proper balance. Ultimately, though, there is no turning back the clock because the analytics age is here to stay.