Hockey by the numbers | CTV News
Micah McCurdy is not your typical Canadian hockey fan.
“By the time I was 15 I decided not to wear jeans, drink beer or watch hockey,” McCurdy said, laughing. “I didn’t stick to any of that!”
The Halifax resident’s return to sports came as a happy accident when he was homesick and studying abroad for his PhD in mathematics.
“I became curious about a particular Ottawa Senators road trip. I wondered how many points they would get, so I started writing simulation code.”
However, even the marine mathematician found the NHL stats confusing to consume.
“There’s this cliché about mathematicians that they’re obsessed with numbers, but I’m very bad with numbers,” he said. “I’m obsessed with images.”
McCurdy began writing code to retrieve the data, which he could then turn into colorful charts – a visual representation of the analytics that even a novice fan could understand.
“A lot of my Canadian friends were very excited and asked if I could do something for the team that they were cheering for,” he said.
McCurdy now produces thousands of graphics that are shared on his website.
His Twitter account, under the handle @IneffectiveMathhas a loyal following of over 40,000.
McCurdy has been compared to Jonah Hill’s character in the film adaptation of Moneyball.
“Very disappointed I haven’t seen this film…although people talk about it all the time.”
The Halifax resident has worked for NHL teams in the past, completing a project directly for the league. He declined other options as it would prevent him from sharing his details with the mutual fan, McCurdy said.
“Even the teams, which I really like, don’t appeal to me to work there because it would remove me from the public eye.”
The popularity of data-driven decision-making has exploded in professional sports of all kinds. It’s trickling down to statistically savvy fans consuming more content than ever before.
“People are taking more shots, more dangerous shots, and they waste their shots less. The game becomes more efficient, which usually means more exciting for the fans.”
Some fans are not always amused by its algorithms.
“Fans occasionally get angry. I get the long emails about how I did a huge disgrace to someone’s favorite player or something.”
A breakdown of the numbers behind Canada’s favorite sport – for everyone.