Confirmed with Link: Penguins hire Sam Ventura as Director of Hockey Research

[Asuna]

https://www.nhl.com/penguins/news/p...ra-as-director-of-hockey-research/c-289961770

pretty cool for him. going from creator of WAR on ice, to Penguins consultant, to full time employee. he does good work!

Click to read more...

 

[mpp9]

Met Jesse Marshall and him at a conference at CMU. Really smart and nice guy. What a dream job.

 

[ncm7772]

Good for him. Seems to know what he's doing.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Younger than me.

*jumps off bridge*

 

[td_ice]

Excellent. Obviously his work has shown fruit to the FO to get a full time position.

 

[SEALBound]

Welcome aboard.

To be perfectly honest, Botterill is a major loss IMHO. We need to bring in another couple of good guys to fill the gap. Analytics are becoming way to important. The further ahead we are, the better.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Welcome aboard.

To be perfectly honest, Botterill is a major loss IMHO. We need to bring in another couple of good guys to fill the gap. Analytics are becoming way to important. The further ahead we are, the better.

Karmanos is the analytics guy, not Botterill. Great news, analytics is the present, not future. Ventura in 2015 when first hired wanted to form an entire department of analytics. It begins.

 

[Nakawick]

Nickname is Ace.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

This mother ****er right here, dropping a "Confirmed with Link" post in the midst of a pending hockey tsunami of player movement.

 

[Asuna]

This mother ****er right here, dropping a "Confirmed with Link" post in the midst of a pending hockey tsunami of player movement.

this is important stuff

 

[Kristopher Letang]

This mother ****er right here, dropping a "Confirmed with Link" post in the midst of a pending hockey tsunami of player movement.

Opened hfboards on my phone after a nap, for a sec I thought we acquired Sami Vatanen

 

[WayneSid9987]

I always believed with some of the moves they've made since Sam was brought in as a consultant when JR/Karmanos got here that they were valuing his input. This just solidifies that for me.

When all is said and done with this era of the Pens and Sam isn't an employee anymore i'd love to hear all of his stories about working with Karmanos and JR and the things he'd pass on/discuss with them. It would be an awesome read.

Sorta like how that MTL stats guy got fired and told about some of the inner workings(disgruntled'ly) but in reverse since Sam and the Pens have had nothing but success since he's joined.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Cool

 

[Darth Vitale]

Younger than me.

*jumps off bridge*

I know, right? CEO where I work has many millions. Started his company at 15... is 2 years younger than me. *hangs head*

If only I knew then what I know now, as they say.

 

[wgknestrick]

Younger than me.

*jumps off bridge*

Did you see his degrees? This is great news for the org and he certainly is at the pinnacle of analytics.

 

[gdsmack267]

Love seeing the Pens making smart moves. Hopefully Sam getting a larger role will only promote us getting more Matt Cullen esque depth moves and less Tanner Glass types.

 

[Asuna]

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...ytics-role-with-Penguins/stories/201706170093

a good article on the hire. some notable quotes:

“I think the biggest thing is just being around the organization every day, as opposed to just periodically, is going to allow me to have my finger on the pulse of everything that’s going on around the organization,” Ventura said. “It’s just going to allow me to do my job better. I think that’s probably the thing I’m most excited about, just being around and being able to be a little bit more hands-on in terms of what I’m able to do.”

But Ventura’s immediate future will be focused on the Penguins’ offseason. Player acquisition is part of his job description, and that became the front office’s number one concern as soon as the champagne dried from their Stanley Cup celebration.

Ventura’s shift to full-time also represents an increased commitment from the Penguins to the analytics side of the game, which has increased in scope and importance over the past few years.

Jason Karmanos, then vice president of hockey operations, played a large role in bringing Ventura aboard as a consultant in 2015. Karmanos was promoted to assistant general manager earlier this week, and will oversee Ventura’s department of hockey research.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/...ytics-role-with-Penguins/stories/201706170093

a good article on the hire. some notable quotes:

That was why I was so upset with the idea that it would be Billy G and Recchi. That would send the exact opposite signal. Thank God the nerd side beat out the old boy network on this.

 

[Cherpak]

A analytics and stats guy hired full time. The geek squad on here must be rejoicing.

 

[hagelin1381]

Seems like a very bright guy.. Sounds like a good hiring

 

[Crafton]

nice. it's really encouraging that they're fully committing to analytics by going from having a consultant to offering a full-time position with a department.

also, go tartans!!!

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Opened hfboards on my phone after a nap, for a sec I thought we acquired Sami Vatanen

lol me too, but I initially thought the Filip Gustaveson (sp) was that we "flipped" someone for someone else

 

[Whakahere]

Younger than me.

*jumps off bridge*

smarter than me ... seen where he has worked before

screw the bidge

 

[larueskee]

Too many teams and fans only use the eye test when evaluating players. For that reason teams over pay for players and overlook others. I invite you to view this clip from moneyball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpBcwGOvO80

 

[Shady Machine]

This is awesome news.