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During his post-game press conferences, Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter often references the team’s in-house analytics department and the work it does tracking player performance.

In the summer of 2021, Sutter and his coaching staff met with the department to talk about, among other things, player characteristics they valued. 

Sutter spoke with TSN about how he uses data and analytics, its value to players, and the important things that can’t yet be measured.

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

TSN: You’ve referenced data a few times in press conferences. What do you look for and how do you sell that to players?

Sutter: “I just think it’s an evolving process. We have new [analytics] staff and we spent a lot of time together this summer trying to connect it more with individual performance, team performance, opponent performance, back-to-back performance, home-road performance, a lot of those things and then to tie it in with management side. To be quite honest, analytics was started not for what’s on the ice, but more for use in negotiations, arbitration, things like that. When it first started, it wasn’t used for a coaching standpoint. The teams that do it properly tie it together. 

We built what we wanted in Los Angeles to help the locker room and players more. I think today’s player wants that information because it’s not a criticism. It shows them the performance based on something a computer’s kicking out about you. So, you can put in what you want, it can help players in so many different ways. It helps them keep a tighter focus, and it takes some of the emotion out of it from a coach-player standpoint, where it’s factual. Instead of your opinion, this is it. It helps a lot with these kids coming out, turning pro because they’re brought up in elite environments now and they’re given that sort of feedback when they’re young. This is just a continuation of it.”

TSN: During a game, are you conscious of that data? During intermissions, are you adjusting your personnel or forecheck based on that data?

Sutter: “We’re still not at the point here where we can get it during a game. Ours will all come days prior or after the game. It’s got nothing to do with personnel, a lot of it you have to remember, our building is not new. You need the capability of the electronics, wiring, all that. We’re not quite there, but it’s still very capable and works very well. We’ve got it to the point where we can give it to the players as an overview whenever we want. What we’ve tried to do is breakdowns of a road trip, homestand, that sort of thing, where it’s almost a report card.”

TSN: When you’re talking to management, are there circumstances where you’ll say that you need a certain type of player. Do you talk with management like, “The numbers tell me we need a right-shot centre?" How does that communication work?

Sutter: “I still go back to what the game is about now. You need that player. You need somebody who’s a possession player, who has a high IQ, prefer someone who is versatile. Analytics can tell you that. It’ll give you that. When you say, ‘Going to management,’ not really. It’s like a box and that’s what’s in the box. You’re trying to get as much of that in a box as you can.”

TSN: And that’s what the summer meetings are for, defining that box?

Sutter: “Yeah, and I think you’ve got to have a big picture. If the coach only has a “Now, now, now, now,” mentality, that’s not going to work. That means you’re going to be a playoff team one year and then the next year you’re not. What you’re trying to do is sustain it for a period of time and all that analytics and development is critical. 

It’s not just the players that are here. It’s the players that are coming, players that you’re drafting, players that you’re trading for. That’s how you build that. There are teams that probably have the perfect model for their needs. For example, Pittsburgh probably has the perfect guy, if you’re doing it by position. You just have Sidney Crosby, and he fits [analytics] to a tee. That could be the starting point for your analytics department. We’re going to build Sidney Crosby.”

TSN: So, that box…is there anything specific you and the Flames value? You mentioned checking an awful lot. Is that percentage of one-on-one battles won?

Sutter: “You’ll hear the very best organizations put it in place or an organization that’s rebuilding, they need more skill or size. Everyone will have that opinion. The number one thing, and it’s hard to evaluate it based on analytics, the number one thing everyone is looking for because of the way these kids are developed and from that elite status, is competitiveness. It’s the compete in their game. There’s a lot of really good players in the NHL and AHL where, if there was a way to measure compete, if that needle was higher for them, they’d go from just being a player to being a really good player or playing in a different league. That’s the biggest thing. 

We can go to a game, and we can evaluate Peter [Hanlon, Flames’ PR executive standing outside the room]’s skating, we know how much he weighs, his height, but unless you see him live, over and over, you don’t learn about his competitive spirit. At the end of the day, we are animals.”