John Tortorella Calls Most Analytics 'Trash' and Hardly Uses Them
Analytics have taken the world by storm as a product of the digital age. The ability to perform high-level statistical analysis and data collection has ushered in an era of quantification of areas previously believed as solely qualitative. Sports are a huge example of this, arguably the biggest.
Ever since Bill James published his revolutionary - and controversial - book titled 'The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract' in 1985, the sports world has undergone a transformation we are still witnessing today. James believed in using large sets of data to draw larger conclusions and believed that mathematics could play a major role in talent assessment.
James' theories were put to the test by Billy Beane, the GM of the MLB's Oakland Athletics, in 2002 when he assembled a team of 'misfits' and ended up taking a way under-budget team to a record of 103-59. They would fall in the American League Division Series to the Minnesota Twins, but it was clear James' ideas had merit.
Fast forward to 2022 and analytics are now a critical component to the front office of just about every professional sports team, to varying degrees. In the macro, analytics seek to identify patterns and make assessments based off of the data rather than going off whims.
In the NHL, many of the old school coaches and executives still are not sold that analytics are wholly encompassing. As you would expect, you can throw John Tortorella on that team. Today, he called most analytics 'trash' and admits that aside from a few, he doesn't utilize them.
Personally, I half-agree with Torts.
On one hand, using analytics as the sole basis of an argument ignores half of the data (anecdotal data) at one's disposal and can be described as ignorant.
All the same, however, only a fool would willingly ignore them in their entirety. The capabilities of compiling large volumes of data is immensely powerful and shan't be discounted.
*Fun fact: did you know that data is a more valuable sector than oil?*
With analytics ever-growing in popularity, I don't suspect Torts' comments will make any discernible difference in their relevance in hockey. But I do think people might think twice before being beholden to the numbers. I mean, just look at his Philadelphia Flyers. They currently own 41.69% of expected goals-percentage, yet they sit atop the Metropolitan Division with a 5-2 record.
If that doesn't tell you that analytics aren't enough, then I don't know what will.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 28 | 217 ANSWERS John Tortorella Calls Most Analytics 'Trash' and Hardly Uses Them How big of a role should analytics play in overall assessment? | ||
| 0% | 71 | 32.7 % |
| 1-24% | 56 | 25.8 % |
| 25-50% | 49 | 22.6 % |
| More than 50% | 41 | 18.9 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||