Communication is a powerful tool.
And it’s a tool Kerry Huffman is eager to maximize in his new role as the Flames Director of Hockey Strategy.
The former defenceman spent last season on Calgary’s pro scouting staff, and he’s adding his new duties to that portfolio with a goal of optimizing communication between the club’s analytics and hockey operations departments.
“I’ve always had an interest, there’s so much information that the analytics department can present to the hockey people, and coming up with something that makes sense where all the departments can talk to each other, and utilize the information to make the best decisions,” Huffman explained when reached by phone Wednesday afternoon. “We talked about it for quite a bit this year, (Flames General Manager Craig Conroy) and the senior management group, and that’s an area where we have great people who are in the analytics department, and I feel like there is an opportunity to utilize my hockey experience with the analytics department to perfect the message throughout hockey operations.”
A conduit, so to speak.
And it’s a role he’s relishing with a brand-new season right around the corner.
On that level, Huffman’s an ideal fit. The former first-round pick laced up his skates in more than 400 NHL contests, patrolling bluelines with the Flyers, Nordiques and Senators; upon retirement he spent several seasons coaching with Philadelphia’s American Hockey League affiliate before moving into scouting three years ago.
The 56-year-old made the switch to the Flames last season after two campaigns on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ staff.
In addition to the hockey pedigree, he’s intrigued - and excited - by data and the possibilities it presents, an area of the game that is only getting more in-depth for hockey staffs, but also for fans through tools like NHL Edge, the public, League-operated data portal.
“It’s only going to increase more here as time goes on, with some of the player/puck tracking stuff that’s out there,” Huffman said. “I feel like there’s a real opportunity for organizations to figure out how to take information and pare it down to what’s pertinent to help those divisions do their job more effectively. If you can help the player development team just a little bit, the amateur scouts, the pro scouts, the coaching staff, every little bit in terms of just making it a little more streamlined.
“I think that’s the goal, that’s the discussions we’ve had and I think that’s where we’re really going to make some inroads.”
Huffman says he got a taste for the developmental side of analytics through his work with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, working especially with young Flyers defence prospects, and using data to help extract the best from his players.
That bodes well for the present - and future - especially given the number of blue-chip prospects Calgary has acquired in recent months.
“I feel where we are, in terms of the amount of picks that we’ve acquired and the amount of assets that we’re going to acquire through the Draft, and (Director of Amateur Scouting Tod Button’s) staff and what they’re going to do, if you can find some sort of resource that just helps to develop these players a fraction better than other teams, you’re doing what you’re set out to do, and it is exciting,” he said.
“There’s some people that get really afraid of that information, and turned off by it, but there’s also I think a group of people that can be open-minded and say ’there’s a big opportunity here’ to take some of this information,” he explained.
“A few years down the road, we’re going to see the effects of the work that we’re doing in this regard. If you improve each division by 5%, you’re making the Calgary Flames that much better, and that’s something I’m passionate about.”
