Former NHL Panthers Managing Dir and current HockeyTech CEO Stu Siegel's vision for the company is to help "build the quantitative side of hockey to complement the traditional qualitative wing of scouting, coaching, and institutional knowledge," according to Fluto Shinzawa of the BOSTON GLOBE. Siegel, who sold his Panthers stake in '11, "is chasing cleaner data." The company's flagship RinkNet product is the scouting database "used by most NHL teams." HockeyTech also "includes ISS Hockey, the scouting service that includes the NHL, CHL, and NCAA among its chief clients, and NEXT Testing, which measures skating skills." Siegel "points to NEXT Testing, which uses radio frequency identification (RFID) chips to track player motion" as a way to use "richer data" to inform teams' decisions. The service "works with the OHL and minor midget teams to run players through a 14-test program." By using the RFID chips in conjunction with timing gates, NEXT Testing "captures more than 100 data points through the tests." Such info "would complement in-person viewings and video scouting." Stats LLC's SportsVU, "which tracks player movement in the NBA, could do the same for the NHL." This "would allow teams to precisely monitor variables such as shot location, shift length, and player speed." Siegel said of the new data, "That stuff’s coming real soon. What will come out of that information will surprise everybody. That’s when the advanced analytics and doctorate statistics guys are really going to go to town on it" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/30).
