NHL seattle hires hockey analytics specialist Alexandra Mandrycky

SillyRabbit

Trix Are For Kids
Jan 3, 2006
7,525
6,308
Canucks fan here, pretty jealous of this pickup.

Looks like Seattle is well on their way to building a much more competent front office than the Canucks. Not that topping Benning is particularly difficult.
 

idiotGrin

Registered User
Nov 29, 2018
11
15
seattle
I really, really don't like the sound of this. A 28-year-old with no hockey background before being hired by the Wild? A degree in ENGINEERING, of all things? Come on. Whether you believe in the value of analytics in hockey or not, how on earth does this resume qualify someone to be involved with personnel decisions?

I hope I'm wrong and the rabbit above is right, but I find this very troubling.
 

idiotGrin

Registered User
Nov 29, 2018
11
15
seattle
Ever seen Moneyball?
What a great question. It makes so much sense as a response to what I said!

In case anyone else is confused, the concern I'm expressing here is that I don't think engineering is the ideal field of study to produce a good hockey analyst. I also think if someone wants to use data to analyze a sport or predict the likelihood of outcomes in it, it would help if they have a good understanding of the sport first.
 

gstommylee

Registered User
Jan 31, 2012
14,400
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What a great question. It makes so much sense as a response to what I said!

In case anyone else is confused, the concern I'm expressing here is that I don't think engineering is the ideal field of study to produce a good hockey analyst. I also think if someone wants to use data to analyze a sport or predict the likelihood of outcomes in it, it would help if they have a good understanding of the sport first.

Look at Vegas, how did Vegas had such a great start its first season cause they had someone that was good at Analytics and built such a team through expansion draft and side trades through. You can't just blindly pick some 30 players and make some random (make no sense) trades while hitting between the minimal and maximum of the salary cap and expect to pull off what Vegas did. It require a little understanding of the statistics of the players and seeing if they are worth what their salaries are and min-maxing things around to create said roster to be within the min and max of the total roster salary amount.
 

gstommylee

Registered User
Jan 31, 2012
14,400
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Mandrycky doesn't have full decision making (thats up to Tod Leiweke and the ownership group) but does have a say on who they hire for personnel but her job is to vet potential hires to make sure they are the right ones and eventually she'll be the one to help the team decide who to trade for (side trades if any) and who to pick in the expansion draft.
 
Feb 7, 2012
4,639
2,874
Seattle
I really, really don't like the sound of this. A 28-year-old with no hockey background before being hired by the Wild? A degree in ENGINEERING, of all things? Come on. Whether you believe in the value of analytics in hockey or not, how on earth does this resume qualify someone to be involved with personnel decisions?

I hope I'm wrong and the rabbit above is right, but I find this very troubling.

What do you know of her work with the Wild? I'm going to lean on Leiweke and his team and if they think she is the right hire, Nothing they have done has made me doubt their work so far.

edit: That is right, she changed her twitter name, but before the Wild she was the brains behind War on ICE, one of the best hockey analytics websites in the business.
 
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SillyRabbit

Trix Are For Kids
Jan 3, 2006
7,525
6,308
Statistically speaking, younger people have higher IQ scores, better reasoning, more patience, a greater ability to think outside of the box, are more likely to seek out help on topics they aren’t well versed in and more open to innovation and new ideas.

I’d sure as hell take a young person running my organization than some old dinosaur from the old boys club who doesn’t understand the modern NHL and treats player evaluation like its still 1980.

The Maple Leafs just put Dubas in charge because they recognize that a lot of these young analytics driven executives are the way of the future.
 

idiotGrin

Registered User
Nov 29, 2018
11
15
seattle
What do you know of her work with the Wild? I'm going to lean on Leiweke and his team and if they think she is the right hire, Nothing they have done has made me doubt their work so far.

edit: That is right, she changed her twitter name, but before the Wild she was the brains behind War on ICE, one of the best hockey analytics websites in the business.

I understand this person is respected in the world of hockey analytics. My concern is that it might be a pretty small world. There are a lot of brilliant mathematicians out there. If this one is really the best choice, great. I still say the academic qualifications (and amount of experience with hockey) cause some doubt about that, but of course others can disagree.

Rabbit, I can see age is a sensitive subject-- my point was more about how many years of college real math training involves, but if we're going to start the whole "dinosaurs" thing, maybe we could just pretend I never mentioned it.
 
Feb 7, 2012
4,639
2,874
Seattle
I understand this person is respected in the world of hockey analytics. My concern is that it might be a pretty small world. There are a lot of brilliant mathematicians out there. If this one is really the best choice, great. I still say the academic qualifications (and amount of experience with hockey) cause some doubt about that, but of course others can disagree.

Rabbit, I can see age is a sensitive subject-- my point was more about how many years of college real math training involves, but if we're going to start the whole "dinosaurs" thing, maybe we could just pretend I never mentioned it.


It’s not really a small world, most NHL teams have analytic/data departments.

You make it seem she has zero experience, when everything I’ve read is that she was extremely capabale in player evaluations for the Wild.

Are you hung up on her youth? Or the fact that she only had one NHL stop? Let’s be honest here, it’s not like she was an intern for the Wild.
 

Interior Cascadian

Registered User
Apr 2, 2007
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Olympia, WA
I wouldn't get too myopic about her engineering background for the sake of professional stereotypes. All the academic background proves is that she's clearly intelligent and analytical. As Superdeluxe and others point out, her reputation from her time in Minnesota suggests she's an excellent hire, and I for one am enthusiastic about her joining the organization. I loved the Moneypuck style of management Gillis brought to the Canucks, and I'm excited if that's what will be replicated in Seattle.
 

GoJackets1

Someday.
Aug 21, 2008
6,771
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Montana
I really, really don't like the sound of this. A 28-year-old with no hockey background before being hired by the Wild? A degree in ENGINEERING, of all things? Come on. Whether you believe in the value of analytics in hockey or not, how on earth does this resume qualify someone to be involved with personnel decisions?

I hope I'm wrong and the rabbit above is right, but I find this very troubling.
Engineering requires a lot of data and analytics skills, as I'm sure you know. More than most degrees do.
 
Feb 7, 2012
4,639
2,874
Seattle
Mandrycky was in Elliotte Friedman's 31:

31 Thoughts: Could short-term deals break RFA stalemates? - Sportsnet.ca

On Sunday, The Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker reported that the city’s expansion franchise brought in Alexandra Mandrycky as director of hockey administration. Mandrycky, who officially starts July 1, comes from Minnesota, where she was hired by former Wild GM Chuck Fletcher in January 2016. She built an excellent reputation in that organization, and it wasn’t a surprise that Seattle would pursue her. (Mandrycky’s husband is a doctoral student at the University of Washington.)
What piqued interest across the NHL from Baker’s report was that Mandrycky will be involved in vetting GM candidates. “(Dave Tippett, who left to become coach in Edmonton) set up the parameters of what hockey operations needs, guiding ownership and management how to build and what to look for,” Mandrycky said Tuesday. “This is a unique opportunity. We’ve got two years to build our hockey operations…to innovate, to take what’s been done in the past and improve on that. We’re not just talking about analytics, but every element of hockey operations, scouting, team operations, locker room operations. How can we improve on things across the board? When we’re interviewing a person, you want to understand how they would fit…You can certainly use data to help you understand that. Contracts, trades, team construction, to just ask better questions and have a better understanding of the candidate.”

There is more at the link.
 
Feb 24, 2017
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I love this hire. My team, the Canucks, as currently constructed would never do this.
 
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RainyCityHockey

Registered User
Dec 24, 2019
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Germany


Paywall. Athletic looks at her background and experience and what she's bringing to the franchise.


Great article.
I really like what I read about our scouting department and it's going to be an exciting time about a year from now, with hopefully life going back to somewhat normal after this pandemic.
 

StreetHawk

Registered User
Sep 30, 2017
25,603
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So the goal is slightly better than average?
Baseball is the ideal Sport for analytics.

One on one which you can then break down everything. Type of pitch, the count, right or left handed pitcher, number of outs, runners on base, score of the game whether ahead, tied, or behind, etc.

so many other factors impact hockey.
 

goose1701

Registered User
Jul 26, 2020
2
0
Elma
I've been a baseball fan for over 25 years and in the sabermetrics scene since the early 2000's and I've always wonder how well statistics adapt to other sports. How prevalent is it in hockey as far as using it for player evaluation? I remember the sabermetrics podcast Effectively Wild doing a series talking to people involved in other sports statistics and hockey seemed to be in the middle ground between "New and/or not real integrated yet" and where baseball is at.

Would you guys agree with that?
 

Fistfullofbeer

Moderator
May 9, 2011
30,204
8,917
Whidbey Island, WA
I've been a baseball fan for over 25 years and in the sabermetrics scene since the early 2000's and I've always wonder how well statistics adapt to other sports. How prevalent is it in hockey as far as using it for player evaluation? I remember the sabermetrics podcast Effectively Wild doing a series talking to people involved in other sports statistics and hockey seemed to be in the middle ground between "New and/or not real integrated yet" and where baseball is at.

Would you guys agree with that?

I would agree with that.

I think a majority of hockey GM's' are old school and do not look at advanced stats as much as they probably should. But I know quite a few teams have started looking at it. The eye test and stats like Goals, Assists, etc. can only take you so far. Advanced stats give you a lot truer picture of how players are performing in relation to the competition they are facing and their own teams players on the ice.
 
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