In 2004, the International Ice Hockey Federation launched the Hydra statistics system. The system is now used by the Champions Hockey League, and IIHF IT Director Martin Zöllner took some time to discuss the system, and how the first season of this partnership went.
by Andreas Reiner
You might have heard of it and you've definitely seen it if you've checked a game sheet once the game is over. Today, we'll try to bring the people behind Hydra, the Champions Hockey League's statistical system, a little closer to you. One might think that collecting some figures like goals, assists, penalty minutes seems like an easy task, but it takes more than just counting the numbers.
Before the start of the 2014–15 season, Szymon Szemberg, Chief Operating Officer for the Champions Hockey League (CHL), and his crew had to decide on a provider for all stats-related business.
Out of six to seven IT companies worldwide, Hydra was chosen. Martin Zöllner, IT Director at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and in charge of the Hydra program, now had the task of educating stats crews from all 44 participating teams.
Szemberg recalls that this was one of the more challenging tasks because the stats crews of each team had to be introduced to and instructed on Hydra. Those crews would normally utilize their own stats system of their respective leagues.
But Zöllner’s team managed and delivered. In early August 2014, all clubs were invited to Zurich, Switzerland. In three one-day education sessions (15 teams at a time) the teams were introduced to the new system and trained. So far, in 158 CHL games no problems have occurred, which speaks for Hydra and the team behind it.
“I must admit, at least as far as I am concerned, that I was worried about the extent of the challenge,” says Szemberg. “Just think, 44 different stats crews being introduced to a new system, a couple of weeks before the Champions Hockey League went underway and the crews came from 11 different leagues speaking nine different languages.
“And this huge piece of transfer of knowledge was delivered in three days. It was great work by the Hydra staff and also excellent absorbing of lots of new information by the clubs’ stats people.”
The Hydra system has been widely tested by the IIHF in all of their competitions which include the men's and women's World Championships, men’s and women’s Olympic tournaments and the World Junior Championships, just to mention the top events. Furthermore, all lower-level World Championships sanctioned by the IIHF use Hydra.
We had the chance to talk to the man behind Hydra, Martin Zöllner, IT Director of the IIHF.
Andreas Reiner: Mr Zöllner, please give us a short introduction to your work at the IIHF.
Martin Zöllner: I started as a programmer at a bank, made a self-career before coming to the IIHF, where they were looking for software for a player-transfer system. That was 1995. I was taking care of IT matters such as installing software, taking care of email installations, websites, etc., and that's how it all came to fruition.
At some point we asked ourselves if we wanted to take the risk of doing the statistics by ourselves. To that point, it had been up to the organizers of championship tournaments to supply a statistics crew. By 1998, the handling of statistics had been outsourced to an external company. By 2002 the IIHF realized that they had the possibilities to do this by themselves and we issued a tender for a software – that's how Hydra was born (all software programs at the IIHF carry Greek mythological names) and it was launched at the 2004 World Championships in the Czech Republic.
AR: Could you describe Hydra in a few words?
MZ: Hydra is basically the detachment of the typical game sheet. It has grown with the additions of other statistics like time on ice, speed of the puck, etc. We use our own servers at the locations so that we can work with Hydra should the Internet fail, which can happen.
AR: What makes Hydra different or better than other systems that you worked with previously?
MZ: With the IIHF behind Hydra, we have a huge advantage regarding the acceptance of the system. When we arrive at the tournaments, the organizers know the system and the crews need little introduction.
AR: What feedback have you received from the CHL teams, starting with the education phase until now?
MZ: What was appreciated by everyone was that we didn't just tell them how it's done but that we assisted the teams how to handle Hydra. We had a hot-line and we had a website offering information. This helped to reduce the questions on game days and it also gave the statistical crews the confidence to handle the workload.
AR: How many employees work for Hydra in connection with the CHL?
MZ: Right now 24. Twelve people who came in new, checking the website, the application, etc. The other four help out with scores and eight come in from time to time, assisting where help is needed.
AR: How is the working situation between you guys from the IIHF and the CHL?
MZ: Very good! For example, we created an online registration for all CHL teams and players and that was much appreciated, as every league has its own procedures on player registration. What the teams also liked was the output we provided them with (real-time statistics such as shots, plus-minus) because certain leagues don't provide that kind of information.
AR: Are there chances for improvements, or any new gadgets that the fan can expect in the near future regarding the statistical output?
MZ: I can't go into detail for obvious reasons as we are involved in contract negotiations but we have submitted a few new ideas. It's always also a question of availability of staff who provide extra information and that isn't always available in certain locations.
AR: What has been the most complex and time-consuming problem you've had to deal with so far?
MZ: Probably, the establishing of a consistent level of education on Hydra, no matter if you educate someone from Finland, Italy or Sweden. That definitely was a huge task. You don't want to lose those people along the line. Of course, a crew member from Finland might ask a very specific question right at the start while others might ask themselves if they have the hardware to even log all the data. Another issue was time. From my point of view, a month or two of extra time would have helped, as preparation time was short.
AR: Will you be able to add some new so-called "advanced statistics" to the output you've already created?
MZ: This should all be coming at some point. My biggest concern is that I want to have consistency on all levels when it comes to collecting and entering the data and that requires well educated stats personnel.
AR: Are there any efforts to collect more information from the player on ice, say with chip technology in the jersey or the puck?
MZ: We have it already. As you might know, we experimented with the chip sewn into the jersey at the Spengler Cup. Our goal is to present this fast-moving sport in an easier way, no matter what it takes. I think we've found a good balance of information that can be displayed – for example, the heart rate of a player or how he moves on the ice. Hopefully we can present this at the next Olympic Games in 2018 in Pyeongchang, but of course we'll be able to test all of these systems at World Championships and also the Champions Hockey League in the next few years.
AR: Have you been to any games during the current CHL campaign?
MZ: No, it hasn't been necessary so far. My goal was to avoid visiting the stadiums because sometimes people get nervous when someone from the main office shows up and that's something I didn't want. But it looks as if I'll be attending the Final.
AR: Have there been any kind of major challenges during the ongoing season?
MZ: No, nothing big, to be honest. We have to work on the CHL website – it should be reflecting the league a little better with the opportunities that we have. There's the stats crew, a blogger, and a representative from Infront (The CHL’s marketing partner) on site at games so I think we should use that potential, if you ask me.
AR: Thank you for your time!