Richard M. Coleman, a Boca Raton, FL statistician, is originally from Stamford, CT. In 1979, he moved to San Francisco, California. In 2005, Coleman introduced analytics to the National Hockey League. In four weeks, he met with 23 NHL teams to discuss how general managers could use analytics to their teams’ advantage. Five of these initial teams became clients of Coleman Analytics. According to industry insiders, Richard’s hockey analytics have altered the industry, including procedures for recruiting potential new players.
Professional Experience and Skills
Coleman Analytics was founded in collaboration with Mike Smith, the former general manager of the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team. Together, they envisioned a new way of analyzing hockey statistics to provide teams and players in the NHL with in-depth information to help them improve their performances.
Before establishing Coleman Analytics, Richard is the founder of Coleman Consulting Group worked at Harvard University Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. He also worked at the medical school of Stanford University in Stanford, California.
Richard’s analytics for the NHL, introduced to the market in 2005, involve complex calculations. Among the most sophisticated metric counters are:
Corsi: This represents the number of times players attempts to score as opposed to the simple number of goals scored when the puck enters the net.
Expected goals: This statistic measures the threat posed by a team’s shots. For instance, if a team takes 12 shots toward the net and are relatively easy shots, their score may be lower than that of a team that takes five high-risk shots toward the net. This statistic measures unblocked shots on goal.
Fenwick: This metric is comparable to Corsi, except that blocked shots are not included. Only shots that enter the net or are blocked from entering the net are counted by Fenwick.
PDO: This metric brings the other metrics into sharper focus and measures real-world relevance. PDO computes the on-ice shooting percentage plus the save percentage in a game. This metric determines how “lucky” or “unlucky” a team is. If a team attempts a high-risk shot and the puck deflects off a stanchion before entering the net, the successful attempt is attributed to luck rather than skill.
To solve problems in the real world, statisticians collect, evaluate, and interpret data and apply statistical methods to it. Richard Coleman decided to concentrate his professional expertise on hockey. Coleman, in collaboration with Mike Smith, advanced software programming to collect a greater depth of data. This is illustrated by the layering of hockey games, making tracking player and team performance easier.
Nature of Hockey Analytics
Coleman Analytics has worked with general managers, coaches, professional scouts, and amateur scouts for hockey franchises for more than 17 years to help them make more informed decisions. Hockey analytics uses advanced statistical methods to predict outcomes.
Collecting data and analyzing its potential value are valuable processes that yield significant results. As a result, many NHL general managers and coaches speak less about how analytics is applied. Similarly, Richard and Mike Smith safeguard industry statistical data and methods for applying it to teams and players. Coleman limits the number of hockey franchises he retains as clients, increasing the metrics’ value because they are exclusive to a select few.
Advanced analytics uses mathematics to look for patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. These patterns, such as those described above, can add significant meaning to gathered data.
Coleman and the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League have collaborated for many years to predict outcomes and gradually alter the team’s approach to preparation and play. Hockey fans can gain a deeper understanding of the games with analytics. However, specific facets of the metrics should be more generally disclosed.
Richard Coleman Accomplishments
Richard Coleman has won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks and other hockey teams five times. This prestigious award is presented to the NHL team that prevails in the playoffs. Commissioned in 1892 by the Governor General of Canada, Lord Stanley of Preston, this trophy is the oldest awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America. Coleman has also published two books.
Hobbies
When Richard and the NHL are not analyzing team data, he engages in other sports for recreation. When he is skiing, he enjoys the sense of freedom he experiences. He also enjoys tennis, which provides a different kind of freedom. Unsurprisingly, Coleman’s life is also heavily influenced by hockey.
Baseball and soccer are two additional subjects that Coleman is particularly interested in. Coleman is a musician who plays the guitar and is an active person who has long enjoyed sports. Coleman discovered his passion for his interests as a child.
Richard Coleman 