With hockey becoming "more data-driven, building an analytics team is one of the Penguins' priorities," and they recently hired war-on-ice.com co-Founder Sam Ventura as a "consultant responsible for analytics only," according to Jason Mackey of the PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW. Penguins VP/Hockey Operations Jason Karmanos said, "My hope is that over time we can build an analytics team." Karmanos said that since his hiring in June '14 he has received "'hundreds' of letters from people interested in furthering the Penguins' analytics effort." Karmanos then became "familiar with Ventura throughout the season via social media" and on War On Ice, which he co-founded with Andrew Thomas. Karmanos said, "Given his skill set and how he handles himself, I think there's a very real possibility that he could be a full-time employee with the Penguins in the future." Karmanos and GM Jim Rutherford previously "retained an anonymous, outside firm to gather data." Ventura's hiring "doesn't erase that ... but it does push the Penguins further in the movement" (PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 7/23). THE HOCKEY NEWS' Jared Clinton noted the Penguins join the Maple Leafs, Devils and Oilers as teams that have "plucked some of the mainstream members of the hockey analytics community from their homes on the internet" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 7/23).
