Few sports move at the pace of professional ice hockey. Pro basketball may be close. For example, the starts and stops of an NFL game give the players and coaching staff plenty of time to check in, analyze recent plays, and adjust their strategies. And then there’s the sleepy summer pace of major league baseball, where the team can huddle up for half of each inning and review binders full of stats on the other team.

With the exception of its two intermissions, regulation time in a hockey game has very few breaks in play. The game runs at a relentless pace, requiring assistant coaches to run to the locker room and print out game sheets. Some of the more advanced teams might have screens to review. But by the time the Zamboni is off the ice, the players and coach are back to the bench without access to anything but a few clipboards.

What a Hockey Coach Needs

That lack of data was the inspiration behind the NHL Coaching Insights App—a collaboration between the NHL, SAP, and Apple. ASUG had the opportunity to hear about the project in detail from the NHL’s David Lehanski, SVP, business development and global partnerships. Coaches and general managers were voicing their desire to be able to use game analytics and player data during the game.