New York Islanders General Manager Lou Lamoriello Questions Analytics

New York Islanders General Manager Lou Lamoriello questioned analytics in an interview with Sirius XM NHL on Friday afternoon.

Sports are becoming a numbers game. Not just the NHL but all four of the major sports are getting into analytics as a tool to judge players. New York Islanders General Manager, Lou Lamoriello, shared his worry about analytics in the game.

I myself don’t claim to be some analytics or advanced stat expert, but I understand the importance of using these stats as a tool to your advantage.

One of the criticisms of Lou Lamoriello is that he shy’s away from the new ways of the game, and this was proved by his free agent moves this offseason. Lou, at 75, is part of the old wave of hockey and he values players that thrived in the old way the game was played.

Take Leo Komarov for example. Last year he posted a 44.8 CF percentage and a -6.7 relative CF percentage. Analytically, that’s atrocious. Yet for some non-analytical reason, Lou inked him to a four year $12 million contract with the Islanders. He obviously sees something that analytics doesn’t.

Yesterday while on Sirius XM Lou had this to say when it came to analytics in the sport of hockey:

Get in the way how? I guess what he’s trying to say is the eye test still has value and sometimes numbers aren’t everything, which to an extent is true, I’m just worried about how far he’s willing to take it.

When evaluating players it’s usually a good idea to use something to back up your reasoning for playing them in certain situations or so on. If you’re just going by “he looks good” I’m not so sure how much I buy into that philosophy.

Live look at Lou Lamoriello trying to log onto Corsica:

via GIPHY

Granted, Lou Lamoriello has a storied history of winning championships, but his last one came in 2003. I still trust Lou and think he can do a good job changing the culture and getting this team in the right direction, but that doesn’t spare him from any criticisms that are warranted.

In sports, you have to show a way to adapt. My fear is that he doesn’t adapt and the Islanders are built like a Jack Capuano lead hockey club. I watched those teams for half a decade, it wasn’t all too much fun.

Yes, there has to be a balance between new ideology and older ideology, it’s just a matter of how much of the new school are we tossing out the window? It’s okay for you to still be confident in Lamoriello, yet dislike his take when it comes to analytics and worry about old school philosophies.