News & Notes XLV: Simply Having A Wonderful Canesmastime

[Derailed75]

Absolutely. I thought we’d struggle to be on the right side of the playoff bubble. In October, we didn’t know we’d have Blake, or how Walker/Roslovic/Robinson/Carrier would fit in, or how Andersen would bounce back. For that matter, we did pretty well on the injury front too. A whole lot of things broke in the right direction for us to get here, and there are lots of timelines where this is like an 85 point team.

You could look at it that way, you could also look at it like we had 16 of Martin, Tokarski, and Perets in goal and still hit 99 points.

We easily left some points on the table with those 3 starting

 

[tarheelhockey]

You could look at it that way, you could also look at it like we had 16 of Martin, Tokarski, and Perets in goal and still hit 99 points.

We easily left some points on the table with those 3 starting

Most importantly, we were tanked by a complete and utter self inflicted lack of Demidov.

 

[chaz4hockey]

Anyone see this coming? Interesting move:

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

Anyone see this coming? Interesting move:

Interesting. I’d assume it’s a warm body that isn’t Tokarski or Martin because Chicago also has a playoff run they’re doing. If Andersen or Kochetkov get hurt I’m sure one of Tokarski or Martin will get swapped with him.

I think (but don’t know, someone check me on it) that in the playoffs they let you play the 3rd goalie instead of the EBUG, so that’s really what we’re talking about here.

 

[chaz4hockey]

Interesting. I’d assume it’s a warm body that isn’t Tokarski or Martin because Chicago also has a playoff run they’re doing. If Andersen or Kochetkov get hurt I’m sure one of Tokarski or Martin will get swapped with him.

I think (but don’t know, someone check me on it) that in the playoffs they let you play the 3rd goalie instead of the EBUG, so that’s really what we’re talking about here.

Agree. I think also an off ice buddy for Nikishin. It would help if he has learned English too

 

[HisIceness]

Lots of complaining about not wearing the 25th reds aka the OG reds.

I for one love the black and wish they'd make it and the double flag logo the primary. The old logo/jerseys in my opinion just don't look that great anymore and our young guys never wore them like Rod, Staal, Wesley etc did. I have also become a fan of the CANES diagonal road jersey.

If they want to wear it once a year or something, fine, but I really wish people would get over nostalgia and embrace the now.

 

[Stanky and Janky]

Lots of complaining about not wearing the 25th reds aka the OG reds.

I for one love the black and wish they'd make it and the double flag logo the primary. The old logo/jerseys in my opinion just don't look that great anymore and our young guys never wore them like Rod, Staal, Wesley etc did. I have also become a fan of the CANES diagonal road jersey.

If they want to wear it once a year or something, fine, but I really wish people would get over nostalgia and embrace the now.

I still like the reds but I like changing things up too. Some people think you should keep the same thing forever and never change and that's your identity. Some think you should change it up with different eras. I tend to fall in the latter. Like you, I'm fine with bringing in the old stuff occasionally but like seeing the new looks.

 

[cptjeff]

We can't run the 25th Anniversary reds because they're not part of our current jersey set.

But I still want those back, and back as the main jersey. Still the best look they've ever worn.

 

[AD Skinner]

Lots of complaining about not wearing the 25th reds aka the OG reds.

I for one love the black and wish they'd make it and the double flag logo the primary. The old logo/jerseys in my opinion just don't look that great anymore and our young guys never wore them like Rod, Staal, Wesley etc did. I have also become a fan of the CANES diagonal road jersey.

If they want to wear it once a year or something, fine, but I really wish people would get over nostalgia and embrace the now.

I feel the exact opposite of all this. The double flag is fine but give me the enormous hurricane crest and big fat nascar numbers all day every day. I don’t like the diagonal canes at all (although wearing red helmets with the whites has grown on me a ton)

 

[robbieberns]

If you ask me, I’d like a brand new primary logo and brand new home and aways, move the black jerseys back to alternates.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

The big fat numbers were so much better. Iconic, even. So much easier to see from the nosebleeds. I really wish they'd being them back for all jersey combos.

 

[Derailed75]

If you ask me, I’d like a brand new primary logo and brand new home and aways, move the black jerseys back to alternates.

Keep the blacks as primaries, reds as alternates and for God sakes let's go back to the early day whites that used to be the homes. We haven't had an even decent white since those.

Thankfully I have a white CCM in the closet

 

[chaz4hockey]

Superb Athletic Article on Tulsky. Archived version: https://archive.ph/EUHP9

 

[LakeLivin]

If you ask me, I’d like a brand new primary logo and brand new home and aways, move the black jerseys back to alternates.

Me too, not a fan of any of our hurricane swirls. But I have yet to see any proposed new logo that looks better than the flags, or even one that I'd consider close. Who'd a thunk it would be that difficult coming up with a logo representing a hurricane?

If I analyze the current Whites they have a lot going against them. But seeing them, they just look good to me, much better than the hurricane swirl. The letter dimensions give a very clean look, almost like a red sash across the chest. I know the Rags letter mark came first, but ours look way better to me.

 

[robbieberns]

Me too, not a fan of any of our hurricane swirls. But I have yet to see any proposed new logo that looks better than the flags, or even one that I'd consider close. Who'd a thunk it would be that difficult coming up with a logo representing a hurricane?

If I analyze the current Whites they have a lot going against them. But seeing them, they just look good to me, much better than the hurricane swirl. The letter dimensions give a very clean look, almost like a red sash across the chest. I know the Rags letter mark came first, but ours look way better to me.

I’m 100% where you’re at, ultimately more than happy keeping things as is unless there’s a home run of a re-design on the table.

 

[CandyCanes]

Give me the Stadium Series jerseys back. They were my all time favorite. I'd kill for them to be a fixture of the rotation, tho I know that will never happen.

 

[LakeLivin]

Superb Athletic Article on Tulsky. Archived version: https://archive.ph/EUHP9

The part about how Tulsky hired Jonathan Arsenault is fascinating. Not exactly listing a job and taking the best applicant, or even hiring a headhunter.
[I shortened the following by cutting out some parts but didn't change anything otherwise]

________________________________________
Because of what he saw in the tracking data, Tulsky believed his next addition needed to be someone who was working on autonomous vehicles and had an advanced mechanical engineering background.

“I knew that that was the kind of problem that put people thinking about the kinds of data that we had and the kinds of problems we faced,” Tulsky explained. So Tulsky began a deep search through universities’ mechanical engineering departments. He would scour the faculty listing and professors’ research interests to see if they might align with what he was looking for, then reach out to learn more about their work. He started with the top schools in Canada, reasoning that there was a greater chance he would find someone interested in working on a hockey problem.

And that was how an NHL team came to fund the PhD research of a young engineering student named Jonathan Arsenault at McGill University in Montreal. His thesis, the first to be backed by a professional hockey team? “Quantitative Analysis of Hockey Using Spatiotemporal Tracking Data.” When it was finished, Tulsky quickly hired Arsenault as a data scientist, adding another unique contributor to what’s quickly become the most interesting front office in the NHL.
________________________________________

That's some "3d chess" hiring shit, lol.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

Superb Athletic Article on Tulsky. Archived version: https://archive.ph/EUHP9

The way that Cunniff and Arsenault were hired is a really interesting look into the world of scientific academia. One underrated aspect of Eric Tulsky being at the top of the organization is that unlike almost any other team, he actually knows how to describe player analytics to extremely specialized groups of scientists. Because of Dundon and Tulsky's status as first-movers in this sphere, no amount of Toronto or NY Rangers money can buy that sort of credibility from people in those worlds.

 

[BadgerCane58]

If you ask me, I’d like a brand new primary logo and brand new home and aways, move the black jerseys back to alternates.

I cannot agree with you more!! A totally new designed logo would great. Move away from the blacks, but keep the “away game”diagonals.
Not Stormy as the primary logo either, (I’ve seen some of those ideas). Someone should be able to get an outstanding design put together with all of the collleges nearby.

 

[Discipline Daddy]

The way that Cunniff and Arsenault were hired is a really interesting look into the world of scientific academia. One underrated aspect of Eric Tulsky being at the top of the organization is that unlike almost any other team, he actually knows how to describe player analytics to extremely specialized groups of scientists. Because of Dundon and Tulsky's status as first-movers in this sphere, no amount of Toronto or NY Rangers money can buy that sort of credibility from people in those worlds.

Yeah. Shit is legitimately fascinating. I'm a physics teacher and am probably like many of you who love the numbers side of the game. Optimizing cap space, making prudent acquisitions, looking at shot quality vs quantity. I wonder if these analytics are what makes our pro scouting every year finding a couple of nobodies who play gangbusters for our system.

I'd much rather our GM be on the lookout for data engineers to find the secret sauce than searching for "truculence".

 

[CanesFanBudMan]

Yeah. Shit is legitimately fascinating. I'm a physics teacher and am probably like many of you who love the numbers side of the game. Optimizing cap space, making prudent acquisitions, looking at shot quality vs quantity. I wonder if these analytics are what makes our pro scouting every year finding a couple of nobodies who play gangbusters for our system.

I'd much rather our GM be on the lookout for data engineers to find the secret sauce than searching for "truculence".

Yeah I am sure they have some sort of multivariate model they use in conjunction with traditional scouting (both amateur and pro scouting). Would love to see how that is set up

 

[SlavinAway]

Yeah. Shit is legitimately fascinating. I'm a physics teacher and am probably like many of you who love the numbers side of the game. Optimizing cap space, making prudent acquisitions, looking at shot quality vs quantity. I wonder if these analytics are what makes our pro scouting every year finding a couple of nobodies who play gangbusters for our system.

I'd much rather our GM be on the lookout for data engineers to find the secret sauce than searching for "truculence".

Yeah I am sure they have some sort of multivariate model they use in conjunction with traditional scouting (both amateur and pro scouting). Would love to see how that is set up

I really want access to their intranet where they combine all of the stats/scouting/data.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

The part about how Tulsky hired Jonathan Arsenault is fascinating. Not exactly listing a job and taking the best applicant, or even hiring a headhunter.
[I shortened the following by cutting out some parts but didn't change anything otherwise]

________________________________________
Because of what he saw in the tracking data, Tulsky believed his next addition needed to be someone who was working on autonomous vehicles and had an advanced mechanical engineering background.

“I knew that that was the kind of problem that put people thinking about the kinds of data that we had and the kinds of problems we faced,” Tulsky explained. So Tulsky began a deep search through universities’ mechanical engineering departments. He would scour the faculty listing and professors’ research interests to see if they might align with what he was looking for, then reach out to learn more about their work. He started with the top schools in Canada, reasoning that there was a greater chance he would find someone interested in working on a hockey problem.

And that was how an NHL team came to fund the PhD research of a young engineering student named Jonathan Arsenault at McGill University in Montreal. His thesis, the first to be backed by a professional hockey team? “Quantitative Analysis of Hockey Using Spatiotemporal Tracking Data.” When it was finished, Tulsky quickly hired Arsenault as a data scientist, adding another unique contributor to what’s quickly become the most interesting front office in the NHL.
________________________________________

That's some "3d chess" hiring shit, lol.

"Hey, nerdy hockey kid. Want your name on the Stanley Cup?"

Candidate A: "I think you need more size in front on your power play."

Candidate B: "I think you need to find a better PPQB."

Candidate C: "Special teams (i.e. power play and penalty kill) situations play an outsized role in determining the outcome of ice hockey games. Yet, quantitative methods for characterizing special teams tactics are limited. This work focuses on team structure and player deployment during in-zone special teams possessions. Leveraging player and puck tracking data from the National Hockey League (NHL), a framework is developed for describing player positioning during 5-on-4 power play and 4-on-5 penalty kill possessions. More specifically, player roles are defined directly from the player tracking data using non-negative matrix factorization, and every player is allocated a unique role at every frame of tracking data by solving a linear assignment problem. Team formations naturally arise through the combination of roles occupied in a frame. Roles that vary on a per-frame basis allow for a fine-grained analysis of team structure. This property of the roles-based representation is used to group together similar power play possessions using latent Dirichlet allocation, a topic modelling technique. The concept of assignments, which remain constant over an entire possession, is also introduced. Assignments provide a more stable measure of player positioning, which may be preferable when assessing deployment over longer periods of time."

 

[Chrispy]

I really want access to their intranet where they combine all of the stats/scouting/data.

The stats are probably nothing novel. It's finding the data and putting it together that is incredibly complicated. Once you have the player speed and movement data accessible with traditional NHL stats, the modeling isn't a bad process.

Getting all that together in a coherent set? I'm impressed.

 

[MinJaBen]

"Hey, nerdy hockey kid. Want your name on the Stanley Cup?"

So they lied to the kid?