Penguins' Rutherford: "I buy into analytics"
/Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford was on Toronto’s Sportsnet 590 on Wednesday evening.
On if he’s into the ‘new math’ of professional sports, and if he really buys into these new stats:
“I buy into analytics. Some people talk about puck possession, which is important, and we’re more a puck possession team this year than the Penguins have been in the past. But that’s not the key point we look at in analytics.
“But I don’t make my decisions based on it. It’s just another way of looking at players. My final decision is going to be made on what my own feeling is. What my gut feeling is.
“But I like analytics. I think it’s a great measuring stick. It’s a way to go back to your pro scouts and say, ‘This is what you’re saying, but this is what I see here. Explain to me why you feel this way.’
“And you can really open up great debates and great conversations with the guidance of analytics. So I like it a lot.”
Source: Sportsnet 590/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey
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