Manitoba skip leads analytics revolution

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This article was published 04/03/2020 (2334 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KINGSTON, Ont. — Curling by the numbers hasn’t progressed to the point of hockey or baseball analytics — but where there’s a will there’s a way.

Jason Gunnlaugson maintains the appetite is definitely there.

The Manitoba skip has partnered with Curling Zone, considered by many as the sport’s pre-eminent website for stories, fan forums, bonspiel and championship results and statistics, to package analytics for teams from around the curling world.

Admittedly, it’s still fairly elemental information they produce for their clients, but Gunnlaugson expects to track far more specific data and distribute deeper insights as time goes on.

“We’re at the very beginning. The sport’s at the basic level in terms of analytics. It will progress steadily now for decades,” Gunnlaugson said Tuesday. “Things like how bad giving up a steal is, or the strategy of leads rocks and what teams should be doing. You could figure out what to do to induce an error, or the way to play to stay away from a team’s strengths.

“Analytics is a buzzword for a lot of different things. Teams are looking at a range of numbers and coming up with different conclusions. We’re just figuring out as the useful way to present it.”

Gunnlaugson has always been intrigued by games that challenge the mind. He’s been curling since he was a kid, and has also spent considerable time at the poker table.

“I love strategy games. So, it comes natural to me that any time you’re making a decision, you should try to use as much information as possible,” he said.

His first real foray into analytics occurred three years ago when he was asked to be the coach and fifth player for Edmonton’s Brendan Bottcher at the Canadian Olympic Trials in Ottawa. In an almost experimental way, he crunched some numbers, mostly situational things, for the talented team to consider during the tournament.

Bottcher finished 4-4 to narrowly miss the playoffs.

“That’s where I ramped it up. I was looking for ways to be of value. ‘How can I actually help these guys get better?,’” said Gunnlaugson. “It was still the four-rock rule at that time, and I just took a look at some numbers and I talked to Gerry Geurts (founder of Curling Zone). He’s such an integral part of the sport.

“I found pretty quickly I could pull some really useful things out. Team Bottcher had a great week. They’re so good at curling but they made a few adjustments due to some of this stuff, I think they would admit that. And they just took it up a notch.”

The client list is growing, although Gunnlaugson’s policy, most appropriately, is to keep private the identities of the teams that enlist his help.

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“It’s been fun to do consulting and work with some really cool athletes,” he said.

A top curler in Canada sung the praises of the work done by Gunnlaugson and Geurts.

“Every team is looking to get an edge on their opponents. Any stat could be a potential game-winning piece of information when used correctly,” the curler said. “The ice these days is so good and the skill level of the teams is so good that it often comes down to the nitty-gritty details to get that ‘W’.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell