The Inferno Interview Analysis Technologies

When Devils fans think back to the world Record Breaking season of 2010/2011 what names do they recall of the team? Pelle, Matzka and of course Craig Weller. However one name that was part of the Devils team that year that some may not know about is Chris Benson.

Chris has been a sponsor of the Devils over a number of seasons through the IT Company Crystal IT who you will have seen their work as they produced the centre ice camera the Big Blue Tent used to have. But his other big project is called Analysis Technologies. A performance tracking bespoke system developed to give performance analysis for both individual players and the team at large.

The world record winning season saw Analysis Technology make its debut being present at all Cardiff Devils home games. Sadly after that season the sponsorship deal with the Devils had an enforced break, but this off season brought the exciting news that Analysis Technologies is back and will be assisting G and Franny on game nights to get the absolute best out of the guys this year. We caught up with Chris Benson to talk about the record breaking season and find out more about his system and what plans he has for the season ahead.

Firstly for those who don’t know, what is Analysis Technologies and what does it do?

We have produced a video analysis system for team sports that we have branded ATLAS (Supporting the world of Sport).

It’s basically a video replay system that takes in 3 different camera views and allows coaches to intelligently “tag” a set time of play or assign analysis functions to the video. The system allows for an accumulation of stats, typically for Ice hockey, time on ice, +/-, points etc., which are backed up by the video replays. It allows coaches to refine their subtle decisions “in play”. A single PC can keep a full season’s worth of data, so preparation for a forthcoming game is just a button push away.

How happy are you to be associated with the Devils again?

Yes, Definitely. One of our biggest questions when travelling around the country is “are you working with the Cardiff Devils”. Which now works for us, we are only 4 miles from the BBT, so support for the Devils and our future development plans are easily within reach. What has crept up on me personally is that we as a business have been involved in Ice Hockey for about 9 years now. The whole concept of what we do came from watching Devils games at the BBT so we have a certain affinity with the club and the coaching staff.

Can you give us a little insight into how the Devils used the system last time it was installed at the rink?

It was primarily used for replays to show the players how they were performing. This type of use is particularly useful if a team is leaking goals, or is struggling to clear their lines. But the positives for players are being able to gain confidence in being able to see what they are achieving. Goals and hits are always players favourite during period breaks. But importantly, from a coach’s perspective, being able to analyse face offs, either won or lost, and defensive zone turnovers is invaluable to facilitate a quick turnaround during a game.

Can the system be used for sports other than ice hockey?

It sure can. We are currently in working with a global electronics firm to supply a full video analysis suite to a Welsh College. This will allow them to analyse Rugby, Football and other sports such as Boxing, etc. The premise being that up to 80 students a year will have grounding in all aspects of sports management.

We are also working with a few clubs in both the English and Welsh premiership Rugby streams. But football is our biggest growth, which is where most of our off season demonstrations and enquiries are.

We have a referee / 4th official system for use in the sports we cover, which is able to give not just instant replays, but enable a pseudo war room, where other officials can re-assess events, or facilitate quick disciplinary decisions. That, coupled with a “Ref Cam” (inc audio) is very interesting.

We have a system that allows officials to video conference after a game and more or less decide the disciplinary matters within a few hours, rather than days.

So what has analysis technologies been up to since you left the Devils in 2011?

We have been working with at least 4 other Ice Hockey Clubs in the UK as well as trials and demonstrations in Latvia and France. We also covered the GB senior men’s warm up game in Sheffield as well as the whole of the GB Women’s U18 championships in Scotland.

We have always been involved with the England U15’s set up and hope to continue that support. We have a system installed in the Scottish School of Excellence, which is used very effectively by the Solway Sharks. We’d like to see an agreement for us to work with the full EIHA Coaching Programme. From a personal perspective, it’s really good to see junior development and how it has an impact on how the players then perform. Their enthusiasm for the game is infectious.

The acceleration of what we do has been phenomenal in other sports such as Rugby and Football, we are now on a mission to push our services and results back into Ice Hockey, at senior or junior levels, but we would also like to see a referee / officials version of the system working for the Elite League.

It was mentioned in the press release on the main Devils website that you will be helping with the match night this coming season. Can you shed any light on this? Will we be seeing the centre ice and behind the goal cameras returning?

Don’t really know the exact details on this as of yet, other than we will provide the technical platform to enable the game nights to move forward. There’s a lot of synergy between what we can do and what the Devils are trying to achieve this coming season. It’s certainly an exciting time. We have made similar proposals in the past to the Devils and we appreciate the chance to build on the reputation we gained beforehand.

We’re hopefully trying to provide some interesting camera angles, as we do still have all the equipment available from when we provided this service before, but it will be determined by the site and cabling constraints. 

The equipment allows for 4 cameras to go live onto the screens or to the streaming output, as well as instant replays from a total of 8 cameras, and a further stored 8 cameras, so there is plenty of scope for video output. We will be on site in the BBT soon to see what we can achieve with respect to camera angles, but there should be an opportunity to try a few interesting things. We know the centre ice camera was a big hit with some fans who previously bought DVDs and certainly adds an interesting aspect for the screens in the BBT during face offs.

What are your thoughts on the roster being put together this season?

I’ve genuinely been too busy to keep up to date in depth with the comings and goings so far this season and I’m not really qualified to comment on individual skills of players or quality of signings. I’m really happy that G and Franny have consolidated a strong Brit contingent. I am very passionate about home grown talent and think Cardiff is a really great place for that talent to be. “In G we trust” seems to be a very apt term. The recruiting skills of G and Franny has certainly brought entertaining Hockey to Cardiff over the past seasons and long may it continue. I really enjoy “passionate” hockey and the location and coaching staff seem to be able to attract that to the BBT, so for that I’m thankful.

If you could analyse one sportsman in the world using analysis technologies, who would it be and why?

That sounds more of a question for a psychologist than a video analyst …….. the serious answer is that the system is designed to report on how individuals operate within a team environment, therefore it’s not really used to give depth to individual performances, just their immediate effectiveness. It takes more time and attention to details to analyse a player over time. What it is good at is giving wide angle views of the Ice and letting coaches scrutinise an individual’s perception of a game.

It would be tempting to say Alex Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby as individuals, but that would be more to report back to the up and coming guys, that this is how it should be done. We analysed one of the England junior Netminders over 6 games, it proved as interesting as any of the senior players, and we were able to make game and career changes for him. That’s one of the positive aspects of what we do.

From a Cardiff Devils interest, 2 players spring to mind. Jay Latullipe and Mike Prpich. They’re good players with flashes of brilliance that drift in and out of games, but can make a difference in a heartbeat. Most fans follow the action (Puck), where we have the ability to see the periphery, which adds a new dimension to how we view the game. Watching Jay and Mike and how they interact with play is a good lesson in trying to watch everything at once, their minds are so busy it makes second guessing plays very difficult. We are able to go back and monitor how a player’s off puck movements and positioning makes a difference. Slight nuances in speed and movement signal a players thought process and effectiveness. That was very evident how we analysed games when Craig Weller was wearing a devils jersey.

What exciting new features are currently being worked on for the system that we might see the Devils using in the future? 

We have quite a lot of features on the prototype bench right now, which we are hoping to trial and further develop within our agreement with the Devils. Having access to a professional sports team for this type of development is invaluable for us. We conceive that we are about 30% into our product range and would very much like to get the future of our products ready by the end of this season. We are hoping to roll out further in depth monitoring of the individual players. At the moment we have the ability to give each individual player a memory stick containing their key aspects of a game, before they leave the rink at the end of the game. We want to further enhance the player development aspects, to enable a junior teams to benefit from our relatively inexpensive technology. We have identified that this type of facility can make significant and lasting improvements to a young players potential.

Thanks to Chris for taking the time to chat with us and we look forward to seeing how his efforts help out the team on the ice