Old school still rules

Computers have changed scouting, but nothing beats boots on the ground Computers haven’t changed scouting. That’s still done the old-fashioned way.

Night after night, scouts sit in chilly arenas around the world, hoping to find the next Sidney Crosby. It’s an exhausting slog across the frozen landscape.

However, as in everything else, computers have had a dramatic affect on the collection and distribution of information.

It wasn’t too many years ago that everything was done on paper, says Pierre Dorion, the Senators’ director of player personnel.

Schedules came in a thick binder from NHL Central Scouting.

Reports were filled out by hand, then stuffed in envelopes and mailed to the general manager.

Now the schedule is on the Internet for downloading, reports are done on a laptop or tablet on software that just about every NHL team uses, and reports are emailed.

“In the past, you might not see reports for two or three weeks, until you got back to the office and went through the mail,” said Dorion.

“Now we can be in touch all the time, and that makes the information a lot fresher.”

Also, with the proliferation of sports websites and the rise of social media, scouts have access to, from a variety of sources, up-to-date information on the players they’re watching, such as who is just coming off an injury or who is on a hot scoring streak.

Still, computers are no match for feet on the ground.

That’s where the battle is won, said Dorion, and it’s the reason the Senators have 12 full-time scouts and spend more on scouting than most teams.

That puts pressure on Dorion and his group, but since Murray took over as general manager in 2007 and set about rebuilding the team, they’ve succeeded, drafting such players as Erik Karlsson, Jared Cowen, Robin Lehner, Mika Zibanejad, Stefan Noesen, Mark Borowiecki, Zack Smith, Mark Stone, Matt Puempel, and a handful of others who appear destined to play in the NHL.

Some teams try to get by on the cheap with fewer dollars spent on fewer scouts, but that never works, said Dorion.

“You see it in their product five years down the road,” he said.