MYHockey Rankings (MHR), North America’s premier source for youth hockey rankings and information, and Athletic Performance Insight (API) are excited to announce a data-sharing partnership to advance the quality and availability of amateur hockey information.

“Youth hockey coaches in all age groups are always looking for creative ways to engage their players, track and evaluate performance and produce accurate statistics,” said MHR Director Ian Lodin. “Most youth hockey coaches are volunteers with work, family and other commitments, so finding the time to do all of that often can be nearly impossible. API makes it possible, and with our access to more than 20,000 youth and junior programs in North America, we feel this is a partnership where everyone wins. We can help API get the word out, and hopefully at the same time make life much easier for coaches everywhere.”

API President and Founder Erik Cagnina concurred with those sentiments.

“Of course, we want to promote our business, and there is no better way to reach our target audience than a partnership with MHR,” he said. “But our system was developed with the goal of helping coaches and providing a better experience for players, so we believe this partnership will have a positive impact on the sport across the board.”

After two long (but insightful) seasons of tracking statistics by hand and recording game video for a youth travel team, API was founded in 2017 with the mission of offering practical and affordable technology that allows every hockey team, coach, and player the opportunity to benefit from video and analytics. A couple key principles of the API system that allows it to serve such a wide range of teams are mobility and flexibility.

Cagnina expanded on those key principles.

“The typical amateur hockey team couldn’t possibly afford or maintain the fixed, specialized equipment required to power the video and analytics systems used by many teams with larger budgets. Any team with access to a computer, a tablet or two, and a video recording device can show up to any rink and fully utilize the API system. API’s easy-to-use app offers teams the option of tagging games live or from video, and most events can be tracked with different levels of detail that can be customized by each team. Finally, the video and analytics can be used independently or linked together to maximize the value of the system.” 

This flexibility is driven by API’s recognition that video and analytic requirements for youth, high school and college club teams can – and should – be different. Coaches for younger teams typically focus on high-level video review and possibly a few basic statistics, while older or more advanced teams may combine deeper analytics with video to identify and reinforce strengths or weaknesses. Teams using the API system with the video and analytics linked can quickly isolate very specific moments in a game using event type, team, player, game situation and other variables to filter from the video.

Despite most well-known systems relying on analysts or technology to tag events using video, API believes there are several advantages to tagging a game in real time. 

The person tagging typically has a full view of the ice surface, while the view using video can often be challenging due to the building limitations, camera placement or the camera operator. Also, real-time information is available for coaches to assess in-game strategy and can supplement broadcasters and social-media updates. Finally, anyone who has ever tagged a game from video knows how time consuming and tedious it can be, which often leads to delays in practice or game preparation for coaches and players. With the API system, teams can leave the rink with detailed information already available.

One final way API differentiates itself from the competition is the lack of tiered or “freemium” options; every available feature is included with a subscription. Teams expecting to use the system regularly can purchase a full-season subscription, while occasional users can purchase game credits that never expire. More users collecting more data helps with API’s goal of improving analytics by adding level-of-play and age-based context.

To learn more, please visit the API website https://www.athleticperformanceinsight.com/ or contact Erik Cagnina at erik@athleticperformanceinsight.com.