Leafs hiring ExtraSkater.com founder, creating analytics department

[GhostofPotvin29]

Ever since it debuted, the hockey stats site ExtraSkater.com has been a mandatory destination for fans seeking a user-friendly, easy-to-understand approach to advanced analytics like corsi ratings.

This season, its founder will bring that insight exclusively to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

According to multiple sources, Darryl Metcalf is one of three advanced stats analysts that are in the process of joining the Leafs to work in newly created positions dedicated to hockey metrics. Cam Charron, a blogger that most recently worked with Yahoo Sports Canada, is among that group as well.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/maple-leafs-hiring-extraskater-com-founder--creating-analytics-department-181332725.html

Well...it's a new day for sure.  And that explains what happened to the website.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Wow. They're certainly upping their analytics budget a tad.

 

[ZBBM]

How come the Leafs haven't hired someone from this site?  We analytic better than anybody.

 

[Kin]

How come the Leafs haven't hired someone from this site?  We analytic better than anybody.

They're currently interviewing nutman to head up their Kraft durch Freude division.

 

[bustaheims]

Well, this a complete reversal from the team's stance from before Shanahan was hired.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

How come the Leafs haven't hired someone from this site?  We analytic better than anybody.

I know you're joking, but in all seriousness these are a couple of the people who the vast majority of people relied on for their info on this stuff.  It's good even if for no other reason than they will be able to help present some data and do so in an understandable and logical way.

 

[louisstamos]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

 

[Deebo]

Rob Pettapiece appears to be the 3rd name in the new analytics department.

Charron, Metcalf and Pettapiece. These guys must be on top of the world right now.

 

[ZBBM]

How come the Leafs haven't hired someone from this site?  We analytic better than anybody.

I know you're joking, but in all seriousness these are a couple of the people who the vast majority of people relied on for their info on this stuff.  It's good even if for no other reason than they will be able to help present some data and do so in an understandable and logical way.

I was half-serious.  There are people on here who could really help the Leafs, if nothing else than with community relations with the fanbase.  There are some pretty smart cookies in our humble little jar.

 

[Fanatic]

Darryl Metcalf, Cam Charron, and Rob Pettapiece all to work in the Leafs new analytics department.

 

[ZBBM]

How come the Leafs haven't hired someone from this site?  We analytic better than anybody.

They're currently interviewing nutman to head up their Kraft durch Freude division.

The sun is always shining somewhere, mein Freund.  We might as well use it to advantage.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

And they're locking Cam Charron in a room so he can't trash them on TLN anymore.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

And they're locking Cam Charron in a room so he can't trash them on TLN anymore.

I think this is the best take:

@YakovMironov

What's funny is that lead @sportsnet insider @damospin has probably blocked most of the Leafs front office on twitter.

And Simmons has already called Charron a 'weasel who can't be trusted.'  So....he's taking these hires pretty well.

 

[Fanatic]

Whether any of this helps produce a better product on the ice is a long way from being seen yet, but for now at least we are certainly seeing one of the biggest turn arounds on an issue related to sports that I can recall. The Leafs appeared to be not the least bit interested in analytics just a few months ago and now they appear to be leading the charge in a big way.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

The bad news with all this of course is that extraskater.com is definitely dead. There's still sites like hockeyanalysis and behindthenet, and I'm sure one or two other sites will pop up trying to fill es's void, but I'd be pretty shocked to see anything surpass or even come close to how great extraskater was.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Whether any of this helps produce a better product on the ice is a long way from being seen yet, but for now at least we are certainly seeing one of the biggest turn arounds on an issue related to sports that I can recall. The Leafs appeared to be not the least bit interested in analytics just a few months ago and now they appear to be leading the charge in a big way.

Yep, the important thing is they are at least going to have a segment of their front office discussing this stuff and incorporating it into their more traditional processes.  Maybe it will have a positive impact, maybe it won't, but if the choice is having that viewpoint or not, you've got to at least have it IMO.  As people have pointed out, it's not about this stuff having some sweeping impact, but about trying to get that extra 1 or 2% on competition that is so tight.

 

[Deebo]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

And they're locking Cam Charron in a room so he can't trash them on TLN anymore.

I think this is the best take:

@YakovMironov

What's funny is that lead @sportsnet insider @damospin has probably blocked most of the Leafs front office on twitter.

And Simmons has already called Charron a 'weasel who can't be trusted.'  So....he's taking these hires pretty well.

context to the weasel comment from Simmons:

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  40m
I like the hiring of Darryl Metcalf. I dislike the hiring of Cam Charron, who from my experiences is a weasel who can't be trusted.

steve simmons ‏@simmonssteve  32m
Cam Charron and I exchanged private emails last season. He posted them online. You can think what you want. To me, that's a weasel.


Which prompted Mirtle to ask:

James Mirtle
‏@mirtle
@simmonssteve You and I had private conversations you put in the Sun. What's the difference?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Result: Everyone's a weasel!

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Maybe they could all put their heads together and start one big hockey analytical site, owned by the Leafs and the Leafs could increase their worth to 3 Billion.

If the Leafs wheels fall off again at the end of the season, at least we should know why now...

 

[Fanatic]

Maybe they hired him so extraskater.com could come down, so no one would be able to reference analytics anymore.

And they're locking Cam Charron in a room so he can't trash them on TLN anymore.

I think this is the best take:

@YakovMironov

What's funny is that lead @sportsnet insider @damospin has probably blocked most of the Leafs front office on twitter.

And Simmons has already called Charron a 'weasel who can't be trusted.'  So....he's taking these hires pretty well.

context to the weasel comment from Simmons:

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  40m
I like the hiring of Darryl Metcalf. I dislike the hiring of Cam Charron, who from my experiences is a weasel who can't be trusted.

steve simmons ‏@simmonssteve  32m
Cam Charron and I exchanged private emails last season. He posted them online. You can think what you want. To me, that's a weasel.


Which prompted Mirtle to ask:

James Mirtle
‏@mirtle
@simmonssteve You and I had private conversations you put in the Sun. What's the difference?

steve simmons @simmonssteve  ?  7m
When you find your name in my column @mirtle call me. Until then, go back to tweeting answers to questions you don't have the balls to ask.