An overarching use of analytics has revolutionized sports over the last 20 years. Popularized by 2011’s “Moneyball” and the 2001 Oakland Athletics, data-driven strategies have helped evaluate teams’ performances and make key decisions.

The analytical approach wasn’t adopted quickly, though. Penn State men’s hockey head coach Guy Gadowsky said data-driven approaches were virtually non-existent earlier in his career.

“Before I got to Penn State, I very much valued the eye test, and I believed in it,” Gadowsky said.

As Gadowsky began his transition from Princeton to Penn State, he had the chance to meet with a Penn State alumnus who was one of the top leaders in NHL analytics. After that discussion, Gadowsky began taking classes to better understand the meaning and use of analytics in sports and incorporate them into his coaching style.

Today, director of hockey operations Alex Dawes and volunteer assistant coach Andrew Magera lead analytics compiling for the team. They collect packages of information at the end of each series for the coaching staff to evaluate, which is then relayed to the players.

Those packages include statistics that aren’t the usual basic numbers, like shots on goal or the number of saves a goalie makes in a game. Instead, stats like face-off efficiency, high-chance creation zones on the power play, zones where the most turnovers occur, puck possession efficiency, and many other advanced stats are examined.

After evaluating the information, Gadowsky and his staff set objectives for the team to focus on down the road. The goals set are based on what the coaching staff thinks the team needs to achieve in order to win a game, going beyond simply scoring more goals than the other team.

However, even with the use of a wide range of advanced statistics, it’s not a fool-proof system.

“Some nights, you go out and hit all the objectives and lose, and other nights, you miss on all the objectives but win on the scoreboard,” Gadowsky said.

The analytical approach still continues to draw criticism from old school hockey personalities who value the eye test and refuse to believe analytics can tell the story of a game. Gadowsky generally sees the value of both sides of the argument.

“I don’t think by any means you can approach it one way or the other. I think both ideologies need to be in concert together in order to be effective,” Gadowsky said.

Sophomore forward Kevin Wall, for example, tries not to get tied up in the data. However, it’s hard for him to deny the value that they bring to the game.

“What the analytics show is what actually happened,” Wall said. “If we have a bad night and we create turnovers it’s going to show on the scoreboard. It’s something you try not to focus on, but it always proves to be right.”

As a series against the No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers approaches, Gadowsky and his staff have specifically focused on what went so poorly during the first series against the Badgers, when the Nittany Lions were swept convincingly.

“We break down care for the puck into three-zone and we failed in all three of those zones,” Gadowsky. “Also, our face-off wins were bad, our face-off losses were bad, and our defense of the rush was so poor. There was so much we did poorly in the series.”

Since that sweep at the hand of the Badgers, the Nittany Lions have won seven of the last ten games.

“If you compare us from last weekend to what we were in Wisconsin, we are a much, much, much different team,” Gadowsky said.

Cole Caufield, Linus Weissbach, and the No. 12 Wisconsin Badgers will face off against the Nittany Lions at Pegula Ice Arena on Thursday. Puck drop is scheduled for 6 p.m. on BTN+.