Hockey Analytics and Statistics

These days, youth hockey has gone “high tech.” More and more hockey coaches and other hockey professionals are tracking statistics and looking at analytics. That in and of itself is not new, but how they’re doing it is. Nowadays, hockey coaches aren’t tracking this information by hand; they’re relying on software programs to do it for them.   

One such coach is Christopher Hartsburg, the Head Coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters. Hartsburg explained in a recent interview how he’s using software to track zone entries and exits, penalties, and scoring chances. He claims the insight he’s gained has helped him see where his team needs improvement and how well current strategies are working.

The software Hartsburg uses is unique, he says, in how specific it is. Hartsburg can and does track everything from who has their puck on the stick the most frequently and in which situations to how well players are able to accomplish puck recovery.

He certainly sees the advantages in using software to track this type of information, and he says he would advise use of such software to other coaches. In fact, he suggests that all coaches utilize software to at least track their entries and exits since this can provide very valuable information.

The good news about all of this advice is that one doesn’t necessarily have to have Hartsburg’s elite software in order to reach these goals and follow this advice. There are actually a lot of different software programs specifically designed for hockey coaches, and many of them are very affordable.

So, if you think utilizing statistics software could be beneficial for you and your team, shop around, within your budget, and find the very best hockey software program to meet your needs. It will likely help you in a wide range of ways.