Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella is old school. He'll be the first to admit it.
That doesn't mean he's unwilling to take stock of the advanced stats and analytics movement taking the NHL by storm over the last several years.
At their end of season press conference Monday, Blue Jacket general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and President of Hockey Operations John Davidson discussed why they were more optimistic about the club's future now than they were following the team's last trip to the playoffs, in 2014.
The reason: advanced stats.
“I mentioned the advanced stats and analytics,” Kekalainen said. ”Unfortunately they don't always produce your wins for you; therefore, we were out in five games but every single one of the games except one we out-possessed the opponent and outshot and out-chanced.”
Kekalainen emphasized the positive numbers the team was taking from the five-game series, while also acknowledging the sample size isn't substantial.
"So that's something we believe in the long run will produce results as well. When you look at the big picture if you can be a team that out-possesses, outshoots and out-chances the opponent, you're going to win a lot of hockey games. In the sample size of five games, it doesn't always happen and with the opponent having the top snipers in the game, it doesn't always happen. And at the end of the day it is about the result."
It's a notion that many latch onto when talking about hockey analytics, and up until now, the Blue Jackets have not been open about the use of these metrics, which until recently have been the focus of fans and stat aficionados.
As a follow up, Kekalainen and Davidson were asked about how head coach John Tortorella uses those type of stats. Both grinned. Kekalainen told of how Tortorella, famous for what some may call stubbornness, is coming around to the concepts.
“I think that he is seeing a lot more correlation between the analytics and the way we analyze the game, both on the team and individual level. Now that he has got familiarity, you know [Director of Hockey Administration Josh Flynn] always sends us the email of the analytics after every game, breaking down the lines, combinations and the match ups.
“You know, we joke about it after the games, ‘Oh, we won the Corsi but we lost the game’ or vice-versa. I'm hearing less and less of that from Torts lately, so I'm thinking that he's slowly starting – there is a true correlation between the advanced stats and winning. But again sample size of five games might not give you the true story.”
Asked if they possibly butt heads on the topic, Kekalainen said the head coach is enjoying the new deep dives.
“I think that is a big misconception about him that he is that hard-headed. He is not dumb, he is a smart man. He has an open mind.”
“He's very receptive and he will study and he will read. He has his own ways of barking about it, but he is a smart man. If he sees something and you can prove it to him. He'll always be willing to, talk and explore. He'll have an open mind. I think that is a big misconception about him that he is that hard-headed. He is not dumb, he is a smart man. He has an open mind.”
Tortorella is now even requesting additional data.
“I can honestly say that there have been times when Jarmo has had studies done on something to do with the game,” Davidson said. "Jarmo has come in and sat down and [Tortorella] read it and he'll go ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, I see it, I get you. By the way, can you do this for me, get this done?’ He's old school, but he's got an open mind. He's good that way."
Perhaps you can teach an old dog new tricks.
