On this edition of the In The Corners Podcast…minor league hockey analytics guru Sean O’Brien joins the show!

INTRODUCTION

C.C. asks Sean about his recent pandemic move from Macon, GA to Pennsylvania (3:00) and what NHL, AHL, and ECHL hockey markets he’ll now be close to (6:00)

HOCKEY ANALYTICS

Sean expounds on and details…

• How he got into hockey analytics (12:35)
• His current gig with Statstrack (16:15)
• A layman’s breakdown of some basic analytic measurements (18:40)
• How one should rely on both the eye test and advanced analytics (23:30)
• His favorite league to cover analytics-wise (27:20).
• Plus, Sean’s personal advice to coaches…pull the goalie earlier! (31:50)

SEAN’S SIDE PROJECT

C.C. introduces some of his own hypothetical projects (Potential Markets for ECHL Western Expansion and Possible AHL Teams for Vegas to Buy and Relocate) before asking Sean about his recent passion project: organizing each NHL, AHL, and ECHL affiliation by geographical proximity (44:40)

Sean’s spreadsheet is included below, as well as tables for his theoretical divisional layout for the AHL and ECHL.

SEAN’S NEW AHL DIVISIONAL LAYOUT
WEST	MIDWEST	NORTH	EAST
Abbotsford	Colorado	Cleveland	Bridgeport
Bakersfield	Chicago	Hartford	Charlotte
Henderson	Grand Rapids	Laval	Cincinnati
Ontario	Iowa	Providence	Florida
Palm Springs	Manitoba	Rochester	Hershey
San Diego	Milwaukee	Springfield	Jacksonville
San Jose	Regina	Syracuse	Lehigh Valley
Tucson	Texas	Toronto	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

 

SEAN’S NEW ECHL DIVISIONAL LAYOUT
WEST	MIDWEST	CENTRAL	NORTH	METRO	SOUTH
Idaho	Allen	Fort Wayne	Adirondack	Binghamton	Atlanta
Rapid City	Kansas City	Indy	Maine	Brampton	Greenville
Reno	Tulsa	Kalamazoo	Newfoundland	Reading	Norfolk
Utah	Wichita	Rockford	Worcester	Utica	Orlando
		Toledo		Wheeling	South Carolina

You can follow Sean and his analytics work on his personal page through Tableau, Twitter, and Instagram as he covers the AHL, ECHL, and SPHL! Don’t forget to give C.C. a follow on Twitter, and The Sin Bin on our Main Webpage, Twitter, and Facebook!

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