Oilers hire advanced stats blogger Tyler Dellow to consult with hockey operations
Lawyer, blogger, Sportsnet.ca contributor, and researcher Tyler Dellow - known primarily for his data-heavy work at mc79hockey.com - was hired by the Edmonton Oilers front office on Tuesday.
The #Oilers have hired Tyler Dellow (@mc79hockey) to consult with Hockey Operations.
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) August 5, 2014
One of the oldest and most established voices in the hockey analytics on-line community, Dellow is probably best known for his work piecing together a series of awkward e-mails, the contents of which suggested that former NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell was compromised by the conflict of interest of having his son in the league as an active player.
In recent years, Dellow has been at the forefront of combining video analysis with underlying data in an attempt to better understand what types of tactics allow teams to outshoot and outscore their opponents. He's also sliced up basic shot metric data in new ways, and has long been operating with the use of "open play" and other situational data far beyond what you'll find available at sites like behindthenet.ca, extraskater.com, and stats.hockeyanalysis.com.
Dellow is the latest in a string of analytically informed hires by NHL clubs this summer. In addition to Dellow, SB Nation blogger Eric Tulsky was hired by an undisclosed club, former professional poker player Sonny Mehta was hired by the New Jersey Devils, and advanced statistics proponent and former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds general manager Kyle Dubas was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The battle is over, it would seem. The nerds have won.