Official Sam Ventura Hired as VP of Hockey Strategy and Research

[French Collection]

10 hours ago, Brawndo said:

https://youtu.be/LhzxO3K5oX8

Great Interview with Sam Ventura 

I liked it, as I’ve said before I am old school eyeballs. I liked that 90% of his time is watching the games and not spreadsheets.

I understand his role better now.

[inkman]

Wasn’t Ventura hired because he is a world renowned statistician?  I’d prefer he look at spreadsheets than hockey games.   

[That Aud Smell]

22 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I liked it, as I’ve said before I am old school eyeballs. I liked that 90% of his time is watching the games and not spreadsheets.

I understand his role better now.

Maybe I haven't listened long enough, but what I just heard is that, when he's watching the games, he's "99%" focused on watching the game and is almost entirely not looking at his laptop or peripheral monitors. His discussion of how the data and the eye test work together is very smart, balanced, reasonable. One big takeaway: The data is a tool - it's not a religion.

[Thorner]

On 12/16/2021 at 9:08 AM, inkman said:

Wasn’t Ventura hired because he is a world renowned statistician?  I’d prefer he look at spreadsheets than hockey games.   

For someone pouring over the spreadsheets as much as he must, sparing 2 hours for the games and committing those to memory makes sense to me, before tackling the sheets 

[LGR4GM]

On 12/16/2021 at 10:08 AM, inkman said:

Wasn’t Ventura hired because he is a world renowned statistician?  I’d prefer he look at spreadsheets than hockey games.   

Can't understand your spreadsheet or improve upon it without watching hockey games. 

[Norcal]

On 12/15/2021 at 8:08 PM, Brawndo said:

https://youtu.be/LhzxO3K5oX8

Great Interview with Sam Ventura 

Yeah this didn't get enough attention imo. 

Everyone here and across the Sabres Fanbase Worldwide wants the organization to do better, be better.

Become a winning organization again in every sense.

This guy explaining how he does his job and how it fits with the rest of the executive team and their roles as well as working with Donny and the coaches is reason to believe that they are doing it right this time around, again IMO. 

Give it a listen and put it together with the overall big picture including who they brought in on the executive side and what their roles are and I can't help but hit the hopium pipe. 

The next couple years might be even better than expected. 

 

[Curt]

I was a good interview.  Ventura comes across as likable and a good communicator, things that have probably served him well in trying to interpret statistical analysis for NHL personnel.

Also, it really is a good listen for anyone wondering what this guy’s job actually is.

Edited December 17, 2021 by Curt

[dudacek]

Nothing groundbreaking, but Adams interview on GR yesterday offered a few nuggets about Sam's department

• The Sabres use both the numbers provided by the nhl's new tracking system and their own proprietary numbers.
• The analytics department is constantly working with the other departments in order to get to the "why" behind the numbers. Without citing specifics, Adams used the example of a recent meeting between Sam and the coaches, where Granato immediately identified the reason behind something the analytics department had observed as a coaching decision and could show with video the "why" behind what the numbers had caught.
• Adams said teams would be foolish not to pay attention to the numbers and his marching orders to Sam are to "sort through the noise and tell me what's important."

It really comes across as a healthy collision between the numbers and the eye test.

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by dudacek

[IKnowPhysics]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Nothing groundbreaking, but Adams interview on GR yesterday offered a few nuggets about Sam's department

• The Sabre use both the numbers provided by the nhl's new tracking system and their own proprietary numbers.
• The analytics department is constantly working with the other departments in order to get to the "why" behind the numbers. Without citing specifics, Adams used the example of a recent meeting between Sam and the coaches, where Granato immediately identified the reason behind something the analytics department had observed as a coaching decision and could show with video the "why" behind what the numbers had caught.
• Adams said teams would be foolish not to pay attention to the numbers and his marching orders to Sam are to "sort through the noise and tell me what's important."

It really comes across as a healthy collision between the numbers and the eye test.

 

Agreed.

I've recently befriended someone in analytics and had a number of good conversations with them on the topic.  This sounds healthier than a lot of arrangements they described in the front offices of professional sports.  They indicated that egos, personality differences, closed-mindedness, ultra-cut-throat internal competition, and general ***** management culture and/or player culture ruin many, many opportunities for positive data-driven growth within franchises.

KA and DG seem like they're committed to building culture first; hopefully a positive culture extends to and within the analytics department.

[Brawndo]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

Nothing groundbreaking, but Adams interview on GR yesterday offered a few nuggets about Sam's department

• The Sabres use both the numbers provided by the nhl's new tracking system and their own proprietary numbers.
• The analytics department is constantly working with the other departments in order to get to the "why" behind the numbers. Without citing specifics, Adams used the example of a recent meeting between Sam and the coaches, where Granato immediately identified the reason behind something the analytics department had observed as a coaching decision and could show with video the "why" behind what the numbers had caught.
• Adams said teams would be foolish not to pay attention to the numbers and his marching orders to Sam are to "sort through the noise and tell me what's important."

It really comes across as a healthy collision between the numbers and the eye test.

 

I wonder if Granato was referring to situations where He just let the team play to learn from Their Mistakes in different situations.

5 hours ago, IKnowPhysics said:

Agreed.

I've recently befriended someone in analytics and had a number of good conversations with them on the topic.  This sounds healthier than a lot of arrangements they described in the front offices of professional sports.  They indicated that egos, personality differences, closed-mindedness, ultra-cut-throat internal competition, and general ***** management culture and/or player culture ruin many, many opportunities for positive data-driven growth within franchises.

KA and DG seem like they're committed to building culture first; hopefully a positive culture extends to and within the analytics department.

It really helps that Adams was the driving force behind dramatically revamping the analytics department. It took multiple conversations with the Pegulas until they finally agreed. 
 

Jason Karmanos was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the Carolina Hurricanes Analytics Department and was the primary reason for Sam Ventura’s Hiring in Pittsburgh and ultimately with  Buffalo. 
 

Seemingly having the entire Hockey Department on the same page should be very beneficial. 
 

Jerry Forton mentioned that the Analytics Department has a big role in scouting as well. 

[gilbert11]

On 7/5/2021 at 9:19 AM, Sabres Fan in NS said:

Masters and Ph.D in Stastics.  Never knew there was such things.

Bet he's the life of the party.

I had a college Statistics class with a professor who had a PHD.   He would challenge us on exams with questions outside the class material.  Luckily he marked on a curve, where a 25 got an A.

[inkman]

19 hours ago, IKnowPhysics said:

Agreed.

I've recently befriended someone in analytics and had a number of good conversations with them on the topic.  This sounds healthier than a lot of arrangements they described in the front offices of professional sports.  They indicated that egos, personality differences, closed-mindedness, ultra-cut-throat internal competition, and general ***** management culture and/or player culture ruin many, many opportunities for positive data-driven growth within franchises.

KA and DG seem like they're committed to building culture first; hopefully a positive culture extends to and within the analytics department.

The bolder sounds exactly like what transpired under previous regimes 

[gilbert11]

On 5/10/2022 at 1:22 PM, IKnowPhysics said:

Agreed.

I've recently befriended someone in analytics and had a number of good conversations with them on the topic.  This sounds healthier than a lot of arrangements they described in the front offices of professional sports.  They indicated that egos, personality differences, closed-mindedness, ultra-cut-throat internal competition, and general ***** management culture and/or player culture ruin many, many opportunities for positive data-driven growth within franchises.

KA and DG seem like they're committed to building culture first; hopefully a positive culture extends to and within the analytics department.

Unfortunately, it seems that analytics has ruined baseball.  The hitters became focused on launch angles to hit home runs.  Prior to this season, it became a game of home runs and strikeouts.  Now, the change in the baseball has resulted in many of the recent big HR hitters just flying out but also still striking out a lot.  Zzzzzzz!

[MattPie]

6 hours ago, gilbert11 said:

Unfortunately, it seems that analytics has ruined baseball.  The hitters became focused on launch angles to hit home runs.  Prior to this season, it became a game of home runs and strikeouts.  Now, the change in the baseball has resulted in many of the recent big HR hitters just flying out but also still striking out a lot.  Zzzzzzz!

Was that not the case before? Didn't HR hitters often have rather low hit numbers, vs. players that could hit singles all day?

Also, Zzzzzzz has described almost every baseball game I've watched. 🙂

[ubkev]

8 hours ago, gilbert11 said:

Unfortunately, it seems that analytics has ruined baseball.  The hitters became focused on launch angles to hit home runs.  Prior to this season, it became a game of home runs and strikeouts.  Now, the change in the baseball has resulted in many of the recent big HR hitters just flying out but also still striking out a lot.  Zzzzzzz!

Right now league wide batting avg is about .04 points lower than it was in 1968. MLB decided that it was so embarrassed after the 1968 season that they lowered the pitchers mound 5 inches in 1969.

[That Aud Smell]

9 hours ago, gilbert11 said:

Unfortunately, it seems that analytics has ruined baseball.  The hitters became focused on launch angles to hit home runs.  Prior to this season, it became a game of home runs and strikeouts.  Now, the change in the baseball has resulted in many of the recent big HR hitters just flying out but also still striking out a lot.  Zzzzzzz!

I hear that a lot. I think that baseball - the nature of the game, how it's played (*so* many starts, stops - hundreds of unique, isolated events) - is uniquely susceptible to becoming competition-by-spreadsheet. As a casual fan of the game myself (I watched a ton of Yankee games on WPIX when cable first became a thing), I am still struck by how the fielders shift for certain batters --  at times, the 3rd baseman damn near standing over 2nd base.

[matter2003]

Is he going to gather up all the coaches and scouts in a room and be like "There are winners and losers. Lah-hoo-sers"

13 hours ago, ubkev said:

Right now league wide batting avg is about .04 points lower than it was in 1968. MLB decided that it was so embarrassed after the 1968 season that they lowered the pitchers mound 5 inches in 1969.

Because it's turned into a game of homeruns or strikeouts and not much in between. Teams value big HR numbers at the cost of batting average.

[ubkev]

4 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Is he going to gather up all the coaches and scouts in a room and be like "There are winners and losers. Lah-hoo-sers"

Because it's turned into a game of homeruns or strikeouts and not much in between. Teams value big HR numbers at the cost of batting average.

I struck out 7 times from sophomore to senior year. I hate this iteration of baseball.

[French Collection]

18 minutes ago, ubkev said:

I struck out 7 times from sophomore to senior year. I hate this iteration of baseball.

I hear you, I was a contact hitter, singles and doubles, place the ball in the gaps. I had some power but hated the walk to the dugout after striking out.

[Happy Days]

Sabres Analytics Dept:

Associate General Manager - Jason Karmanos

Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting-Jason Nightingale - https://es.coursera.org/lecture/data-analytics-in-sports-law-and-team-management/jason-nightingale-my-pathway-to-director-of-analytics-assistant-director-of-srJ6J

VP of Hockey Strategy and Research- Sam Ventura

Data Scientist-Domenic Galamini, Jr

Data Engineer - Matt Barlowe

Edited May 17, 2022 by Happy Days

[Drag0nDan]

On 5/12/2022 at 1:02 AM, gilbert11 said:

Unfortunately, it seems that analytics has ruined baseball.  The hitters became focused on launch angles to hit home runs.  Prior to this season, it became a game of home runs and strikeouts.  Now, the change in the baseball has resulted in many of the recent big HR hitters just flying out but also still striking out a lot.  Zzzzzzz!

Hey - i've notice the guardians seem to be leaning the opposite direction.  Grab players with some speed/athleticism, play to your platoon strengths, don't strike out, drive up pitch counts and get on base.  

On 5/12/2022 at 11:09 PM, French Collection said:

I hear you, I was a contact hitter, singles and doubles, place the ball in the gaps. I had some power but hated the walk to the dugout after striking out.

I was small growing up so i tended to be the same way.  Then around junior year i filled out a little and learned how to drive the ball into the gaps and definitely started getting more selective with what i'd swing at. I probably struck out more my junior and senior year than all the other years combined.  

Are there situations where you choke up a bit and try and just put it in play?  Sure.  But blasting a homer is a good all-situation play 🙂

[DarthEbriate]

On 5/12/2022 at 7:49 PM, ubkev said:

I struck out 7 times from sophomore to senior year. I hate this iteration of baseball.

True that.

Cue a TL;DR Ebriate flashback...

When I was a wee Ebriate I was one of those super short kids who was sneaky good at sports. So in my age-11 Little League year our team got a shiny new super light TPX bat. The entire team used it. You can imagine the diseases just floating on that thing. I didn't use it because I was rocking the 28" Easton that was in the team's regular equipment set. So one game we're facing a "the best pitcher in our division" type pitcher. The kid was one of those freaks who's already 6 feet tall at age 12. So I'm thinking... let's go ultralight. I swing the TPX. Late. Late. Late. That kid struck me out twice that day. I don't ever remember striking out before. I'm sure I had but I never remembered striking out before. I was flabbergasted. My manager (who was a very good kids coach) was like "what are you doing using the TPX? Go back to the 28". I did. I did not keep tabs that season but I probably batted .400-.500-ish. I was good and I loved baseball and was going to be a left-handed shortstop in the majors (but probably center fielder because the some would consider the mechanics of a lefty short to be... unnatural, but I made it work).

Fast forward to age 12. The final year of LL. I'm ready to be a rockstar again. And the 12 year-olds graduated (and with one of them, his dad the manager). So I was ready to be the bestest of the best for the new manager and young team. And then I took a baseball in the eye in the backyard playing catch. The ball went through a tree branch just like it'd done a thousand times. I froze. Time slowed. It hit me. That season I batted .000. .000! Every out I made was a strikeout. I went from batting leadoff to batting ninth. I went from an upright batting stance to one of those annoying super-short and crouched Craig Biggio types. The new manager stuck me on first base. The worst base! I used the TPX and the manager never told me to go back to the 28" Easton. Our team sucked. I hated playing baseball. My complete lack of plate confidence was my weakness.

But I did keep track of at-bats that year (limited appearances from a family vacation + maybe out sick a week + I definitely called in sick and skipped one game out of spite).... I batted .000, but my on-base percentage was  .714 between throwing/fielding errors and crouched-over walks. The rookie manager gave me one steal sign all season which I converted.

[MattPie]

1 hour ago, DarthEbriate said:

True that.

Cue a TL;DR Ebriate flashback...

Similar: I was OK, never fast or athletic but could kinda hit. Took a pop fly in the mouth practicing at 7 and knocked out a couple baby teeth. Never could bat again, always pulling away from every pitch because it was going to hit me. Won a couple local league championships at EMW being the token terrible kid on a stacked team. Quit not long after as I wasn't having any fun.