Micah McCurdy isn’t your stereotypical Canadian hockey fan.
“When I was 15, I decided I wasn’t going to wear jeans, drink beer or watch hockey,” said McCurdy with a laugh. “I didn’t stick to any of that!”
The Halifax resident’s return to the sport was a happy accident while homesick and studying abroad for his doctorate in mathematics.
“I got curious about a specific Ottawa Senators road trip. I wondered how many points they were going to get, so I started writing some simulation code.”
However, even the Maritime mathematician found the NHL’s stats confusing to consume.
“There’s this stereotype about mathematicians that they’re obsessed with numbers, but I’m very bad with numbers,” he said. “I’m obsessed with pictures.”
McCurdy started writing code to retrieve the data which he could then convert into colourful charts – a visual representation of the analytics that even a novice fan could understand.
“A lot of my Canadian friends were very keen and asked if I could make something for the team they were cheering for,” he said.
McCurdy now produces thousands of graphics, shared on his website.
His twitter account, under the handle @IneffectiveMath, has a loyal following of over 40,000.
McCurdy has been compared to Jonah Hill’s character in the film adaptation of “Moneyball.”
“Very disappointedly, I haven’t seen this film... even though people talk about it constantly.”
The Halifax resident has worked for NHL teams the past, and completed a project directly for the league. He’s turned down other opportunities as it would prevent him from sharing his data with the common fan, said McCurdy.
“Even the teams that I really like, working for them is not a great appeal for me because it would move me away from the public.”
The popularity for data-driven decision-making has exploded in pro sports of all kinds. It’s trickling down to stat-savvy fans who are consuming more content than ever before.
“People are taking more shots, more dangerous shots, and they’re wasting their roster shots less. The game is becoming more efficient which usually means for fans, more exciting.”
Some fans aren’t always amused by his algorithms.
“Fans occasionally get angry. I get the long emails about how I’ve done some great disgrace to a person’s favourite player or something.”
Breaking down the numbers behind Canada’s favourite sport – for all to enjoy.
