Hunter is a hockey man, but like Dubas he searched for every edge. That included some work on analytics, which have in the past been derided by some as the sign of someone who doesn’t want to watch the game. A better interpretation would be that analytics are the sign of a hockey mind that wants to learn more about hockey, and in Hunter’s case that wants to discover something their competitors don’t have. Dubas did it in the Soo, and Hunter explored it in London with video, scoring chances per 60 minutes, zone starts.
“(He wanted) every edge,” said Misha Donskov, who was the assistant general manager in London from 2009-2012 and now manages Hockey Canada’s analytics and video. “Mark’s a 24/7 hockey guy. My cellphone would ring at 5 in the morning and again at 11:30 at night. He wanted every edge, and wanted to get better.”
