How To Begin Tracking Stats

[duul]

I have a couple ideas for stats I'd like to track during games. They need to be tracked by hand.

I've got minimal (but currently working on) python and R and sql experience. What is the best method for tracking stats? The plan is to count a certain number of times a defenceman carries out a specific action during the game. Nothing to crazy. A few other ideas such as counting seconds a player is doing a particular action as well etc.

Is it best to set up spreadsheets before the game and use that to tally these actions? Or is there another method preferable? Any help in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

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[Kane One]

Which types of actions? You may be able to get what you’re looking for in the game logs.

 

[Peat]

I have a couple ideas for stats I'd like to track during games. They need to be tracked by hand.

I've got minimal (but currently working on) python and R and sql experience. What is the best method for tracking stats? The plan is to count a certain number of times a defenceman carries out a specific action during the game. Nothing to crazy. A few other ideas such as counting seconds a player is doing a particular action as well etc.

Is it best to set up spreadsheets before the game and use that to tally these actions? Or is there another method preferable? Any help in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

I just wrote them down in a notepad and put them in the spreadsheet later as easier not to go searching through the sheet for the right box, but that was using a laptop for both the sheet and the game. If you don't have to do that, probably setting up the sheet before hand is better.

 

[duul]

Which types of actions? You may be able to get what you’re looking for in the game logs.

I'd like to track my favourite team's defencemen on a few different metrics that I don't currently know would be valuable or not ... just a little project I'd like to undertake.

Time they have control of the puck in their own zone, amount of times they make a successful pass out of the zone, amount of times they successfully skate the puck out of their own zone, how many times they chip the puck out of the zone resulting in a turnover, how often they are 'deferred' the puck by their defensive partner, etc.

Again, I think some of those might be tracked already -- I'd have to take a look. Any sort of guides or tips etc you'd wished you'd known when starting out would be very appreciated.

 

[Peat]

Have you looked at what Corey Sznajder is doing? Because some of that already tracks with what he's got, I dunno if he's got notes on how he does it out there but if he does it would be useful.

 

[duul]

Have you looked at what Corey Sznajder is doing? Because some of that already tracks with what he's got, I dunno if he's got notes on how he does it out there but if he does it would be useful.

I have seen some of his work. It was interesting, but I noticed a few things I'd like to track that I hadn't seen him doing. His information that is publically available is hard for me personally to understand its context. For example, he lists zone exit info but he doesn't provide information about what he considers to be a zone exit, among other things. Perhaps I could just ask him to find out. I'd like to do my own stuff though, and sticking to one team should make it a lot easier than what he is doing, which is tracking every single team. Incredible dedication on his part.