An Email Interview with Hockey Scouting and Consulting Analyst Shane McCoy

There is a lot that goes into winning hockey games.

From management, to coaches, to the players, all parts must come together on a nightly and yearly basis to find a winning formula. Some teams are great at it while others struggle year in and year out.

This is why I am proud to present to you an email interview that I conducted with hockey scouting and consulting analyst, Shane McCoy. McCoy was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to tell us about how he got into hockey, how he became a scout/consultant, and more.

I hope you enjoy reading his responses as much as I did!

PH: Growing up, how did you get into hockey?
SM: My family is from Minnesota, and my paternal grandfather was one of the early greats from the vintage era in Minnesota! He was out of The Twin Cities, as a player with a career in the 1920s into the 1930s.

One team which he played for was the Saint Paul Saints, who were extremely successful in their day, even earning a spot inside the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. I remember when I was really young, my grandpa attending a ceremony there for those seasons as his son (my father) played a part in the 1960s when the NHL expansion era brought the Saint Louis Blues to town.

I grew up looking at scrapbooks and clippings of newspaper articles, about both my family and so many others. That was a beginning for me with a real passion for the game.

As I got older, I played all sports, but nothing can compare like hockey. I think my love for math as a subject really perked analytical interest.

PH: Growing up, who was your favorite team (s) and player (s)? What team (s) and player (s) do you like to watch now?
SM: I would say my early favorites were the Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars, and Florida Panthers of the NHL. Of course, when Craig Brush brought the Florida Everblades in as a new franchise in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), that had a huge impact on me.

Players I enjoyed seeing were Brett Hull and Pavel Bure and skaters like Mike Modano and Sergei Fedorov really impressed me. Their skills were insane.

The teams I root for now and their players are all the ones I have worked with and helped win. I think what goaltenders Hunter Shepard and Cam Johnson have accomplished with their successive championships (AHL/ECHL) is a really incredible feat.

I also enjoy helping the coaches I once watched as players, such as Jared Bednar, Bruce Cassidy, Brad Ralph, and Sean Burke. It is like we are growing up together!

PH: At what point in your life did you realize that you wanted to work in hockey?
SM: In college, I was a sportswriter for an ACHA team, where the future head coach recently had coached me on a championship club a few years before. I played for him as a teen then.

Soon thereafter, I had the opportunity to do minor league scouting at the level of the ECHL. I focused on getting to know many faces, names, and personalities.

I enjoyed writing about games and critiquing players. My work was well-received and during my grad school years, a new opportunity soon came in the form of NHL assignments for scouting and reviews of players.

This was such an awesome way to network too. It is highly recommended to hone a game craft.

PH: What was your first job in hockey? Tell us about what the role entailed, what you did, etc.
SM: The first job I had as a teen was security for a set of locker rooms inside an ECHL facility and its rinks. It taught me responsibility, punctuality, and attention to detail, and I also had the opportunity to learn how a locker room gets run on an everyday basis.

In addition, I did a lot of skating, practicing, plus playing as well. I learned the game inside out and I think this training led me to eventual sports writing and scouting with assignments and reporting.

One thing leads to another, if done well and thoroughly. So, success truly does start out young as you are growing up.

PH: Your LinkedIn profile says that you are a scouting analyst/consultant. What exactly does a scouting analyst/consultant do?
SM: I pick apart games based on position and its individual performance. The goalies are the premium focus for me on the twin ends of the rink.

I work on systems that help blend everything together in a right way! Teams are always looking for a winning edge, so I like to emphasize strengths all while improving and eliminating weakness qualities.

I pride myself on making a great team even better, a mediocre team really viable as an outside contender, and maybe any weaker team a work in progress as a project with improvements. I provide input to hockey coaches and operations roles with a wide range of feedback on everything from last night’s game performance to depth charts systemwide to trade deadline to draft day, and beyond.

I have my own formulas for statistics and analytics (NeoGeoMetrics). The numbers with findings generated are how I translate a battle plan to execution, benefiting a roster and how players can play their best!

PH: What teams and leagues are you currently going scouting-analyzing/consulting for?
SM: Since the 2021-22 season, I have done work for or with mainly the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL; the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) ; the Florida Everblades of the ECHL; and a number of hockey operations personalities inside the ranks of professional and international hockey. All the relationships that I built through the Capitals and Panthers (among others) helped lead me big things.

Good people make quite a major determination and difference in outcomes in my own estimation. There are reasons why winners win and keep on winning afterward.

PH: How do you scout/consult? Do you go to games? Do you ask for videos of games? What is your setup like?
SM: I scout and do consults in a variety of ways, as rapidly-evolving technology has brought us so far in these last 15 years. I can tell you that the NHL did not even do a tabulation on blocked shots until the 2005-06 regular season, so it is incredible to see all the technology now as the AI world swings into gear.

I have a hybrid set-up where I am working everywhere, or anywhere, specific. When I first started NHL work in 2008, I was used to the traditional way of report writing, and using shorthand for abbreviations as I would use a memo pad and pen at games while also doing a lot of typing.

Those means are still used, but the software advances have come really far. What was decent or good way back then is rather great today.

Information can get recorded a lot quicker, generating much faster real-time stats and analytics, and execution feedback! It is this next level now of understanding, on data which goes deeper, than ever.

Even the advances with live tagging are staggering as Catapult and HUDL have come so far as well to present day and performance evaluation! Over at RinkNet, Jonathan Hou is growing by leaps and bounds fully incorporating a vision for the AI to come.

Personally, video is nice as a tool, but I do put a lot of good faith in eye tests, from original work I performed via the New Jersey Devils. It is that training which is so very fundamental for the role of scouting games and teams.

An eye test will take a first impression, as a mental picture. Before anything and everything else, scouts like me must interpret and act on what we may think, all based on the sights. This is without a doubt indispensable.

With a video viewing, I enjoy watching things in terms of “Frames” (with goalies, surely). The frames can distinguish net minders to classify their body of work. Where will they end up being most effective? It is for their benefit and ours.

PH: When you are watching players, what are you looking for in terms of each position?
SM: I look for speed, skill, agility, strength, and a real vision for the rink. How someone really processes or thinks the game is a big thing for the real-time player on the ice as this is a major factor in decision-making whether he or she is with or without puck possession.

I believe communication to be a vital tool for locker room chalk talk all the way to the ice and bench. I love to measure players for a number of very pertinent results, like shot release, pass accuracy, and game tempo!

Other measurements might include quick transitional play and overall ability to finish on a check or offensive cycle. I tell players that working on their skating and edges is most important at all levels, and ages. The game is highly technical today, so the main ingredient of skating prowess is paramount.

With goalies I look for all of the above, but I focus more on their reactions and recovery time, before, during, and after a shot or a sequence of action in front of their crease. The two most critical elements of tending evolve as stance, and angling and then, all intangibles come into play as footwork, blocker positioning, glove speed, and trapezoid control, among so many of the others like proper flex or flexion and lateral slide mobility.

On my end, I grade and also rate to project every piece of performance information. What is their upside, and for how long into the future? And where are individual as well as organizational interests best served so that they fit in and then play at their best?

I answer these questions a lot!

PH: Who do you credit for helping you to become the scout/consultant you are today?
SM: I would like to give a special thanks to Bryan Lewis, Lou Lamoriello, Brian Burke, and Mitch Korn, for their mentoring many years back. It was quite the honor to learn their craft, create work reports, and carry on their knowledge.

I want to also thank Craig Brush for introducing the ECHL to Southwest Florida in 1998, where it started as a dream, and was realized for many!

PH: I hear that when you work in a sport, you sometimes lose the love for it. Where do you stand on that?
SM: Personally, I think my love for hockey has grown exponentially through all my years and experience working in it. Enjoying the process is the key ingredient to success.

Putting an emphasis on connecting and networking with others is so important as I believe building personal friendships and working relationships is priceless. Being well-liked also goes a long way in this world, especially when the goal in the game is to win something as one team by going far together.

The more you love a sport and express your passion, the more people around you will share that sentiment. It is about your good vibes being contagious!

PH: Is there anything else that you would like to share with hockey fans?
SM: Fans are the life blood of the sport and each organization. They are why we do what we do!

In some ways, we are all fans of our friends and family members who play the game of hockey. Growing up, we started as fans and that is the beginning of any dream for a career in the sport.

Many years back, while still at the New Jersey Devils, Lou Lamoriello told me what he still tells everyone to this day: There is always the light at the end of the tunnel when you chase the dream long enough. So I extend the same exact advice to all reading here!