Advanced Statistics Department: the CH is starting to look good in the NHL

When Jeff Gorton arrived in Montreal, he quickly identified an aspect of the organization he wanted to improve/modernize: the advanced statistics department. Clearly, it was becoming outdated in his eyes, and he wanted to improve it by hiring more people and going for quality.

As you’ll recall, Christopher Boucher was the CH’s major hire at this level, and he now assumes the role of head of the department. Basically, he seems to be working with all members of the organization to help them in their respective tasks.

On the other hand, a director doesn’t make a department: it takes meat off the bone. And when you look at what the CH’s meat looks like compared to that of other teams, you realize that the Tricolore is starting to place well, when there are only five teams with more (publicly disclosed) employees linked to advanced stats .

In addition to Boucher, the CH has John Sedgwick, Adam Douglas, Philippe Desaulniers and Miranda McMillan. Only the Blackhawks, Stars, Devils, Kraken and Maple Leafs have more than five employees.

What we do notice, however, is that the Habs are part of a solid contingent of teams that have five employees in the field. The Ducks, Bruins, Sabres, Avalanche, Kings, Islanders, Rangers, Flyers and Penguins are all part of this group.

That seems to be the “magic number”, basically.

You might suspect that there are more than five people in the Montreal organization who are involved in advanced statistics in one way or another, but we’re talking here about the people listed on the team’s official website. There may well be others whose names are not made public.

On its site, the CH lists Boucher, Desaulniers and McMillan in the “Advanced Statistics Department” section, but we know that Sedgwick is a great believer in advanced statistics and that Douglas incorporates them into his work, as Director of the Sport Science and Performance Department.

For these reasons, they are included in Shayna Goldman’s list.

In short, the Tricolore is slowly beginning to position itself well within the NHL when it comes to expertise in advanced statistics. Without being a miracle answer, it shows that the club is not hesitating to invest in trying to give itself the means to achieve its ambitions.

It remains to be seen whether this will eventually produce results.

In bursts

– He wasn’t about to say otherwise.

– John Tavares pays tribute to Rodion Amirov, who sadly passed away earlier today.

In the KHL, he was also honoured with a minute’s silence.

– Good old Jeffrey Loria, a Montreal favorite, is back in the news.

– This will be one to watch.