
Hockey Abstract
Rob Vollman is an author, speaker, consultant, and long-time pioneer in the field of hockey analytics. His popular innovations have helped win Stanley Cups and Gold medals, and have shaped the way that teams are built, and the way the game is covered.
Rob has co-authored all six Hockey Prospectus books, two McKeen's magazines, and has authored four books in his own Bill James-inspired Hockey Abstract series, including the highly popular 2016 book, Stat Shot.
While modern advanced statistical hockey analysis stands on a mountain of complexity, Rob's work is best known for being expressed in clear, focused, and applicable terms. His most popular innovations include player usage charts, quality starts, home-plate save percentage, goals versus salary (GVS), a history-based projection system, coaching metrics, the setup passes statistic, and advances in the field of league equivalencies (NHLe).
Rob's work can be found every week on NHL.com and ESPN Insider. In all, Rob has written 800 columns for a variety of hockey websites, and has been featured in the Hockey News, the Globe and Mail, the Washington Post, Forbes, and Rolling Stone.
Since his first guest appearances on Nashville Predators radio in the summer of 2011, Rob has become the field's most passionate and recognizable voice, having made over 300 appearances on 60 different radio programs, TV shows and podcasts in 20 NHL cities, including most notably NHL Game Day, Hockey Night in Canada radio, Sportsnet's Hockey Central, TSN's That's Hockey, ESPN's Sportscenter, CBC Radio, and Wharton Business Radio.
In 2014, Rob organized a grassroots hockey analytics conference in Calgary as a platform for the field's latest innovations, starting a movement that has since spread to eight other cities, including annual events in Ottawa, Rochester, and Vancouver.
Based in Calgary, Rob is one of the field's most trusted and entertaining voices, and has helped bring what was once a niche hobby into the mainstream.