Buffalo Sabres head coach Ted Nolan decries use of analytics

By Cory Buck | Sep 22, 2014

Sep 21, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Buffalo Sabres head coach Ted Nolan watches from behind the bench against the Washington Capitals in the second period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

The Buffalo Sabres were the worst team in the NHL last season, so they spent most of this summer trying to rebuild their reputation and bring in more veteran players to lead a rebuild that management hopes won’t take too long. If they’re going to get back to the playoffs some day, they’ll need to find the right players for their roster. To do that, GM Tim Murray has noted that he employs advanced analytics. Unfortunately head coach Ted Nolan won’t be on board with that as Teddy is strictly a heart-and-soul cat.

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“The information I’ve used is with my eyes and my soul and my heart,” Nolan said per WGR 550. “If I see someone who’s competing and I know he’s competing, that’s good enough for me. I don’t need a machine to tell me how hard he worked, I can see it for myself.”

Unfortunately advanced analytics aren’t used to measure work ethic. Teams use possession metrics to measure how much they keep the puck when one guy is on the ice versus how much they keep the puck when someone else is playing that same position. In fact, machines have little to do with it other than the whole, “Type numbers a human gathered into a calculator, organize them, then post them to the web” step.

“What we want to do is become a better team,” Nolan continued, “and you do that you get better players and it hasn’t changed since the 50’s and 60’s, you get better players, you have a better chance of winning.”

Yes, but how do you choose those players? Are you strictly using the eye test for an 18-year old you’re scouting for the draft? Because those have been known to not work. Granted, analytics aren’t a be-all end-all by any means, but it’s just another tool for the shed. In a competitive business like pro sports, such things can be helpful.

Fortunately for Sabres fans, this is a perfect situation. The Sabres need to lose basically every game this year so they can get a generational talent at the top of the 2015 NHL draft and Ted Nolan appears poised to be the coach to make them look good and hard-working while doing just that. Instead of playing the guys who drive goals and possession, Ted will simply play the plugs who play hardest. Celebrate now, Sabres fans, your coach is the perfect fit for a tanking season.

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