Brad Rossen (MBE \u201916) used to cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs as a kid. Now, the Brock University graduate is helping to build out the NHL team\u2019s analytics department as its new Vice-President, Research and Development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chance to be part of the Toronto Maple Leafs was too special to ignore,\u201d said Rossen. \u00a0\u00a0Announced in late July, his appointment is just one in a series of personnel changes made by new General Manager John Chayka as the organization continues to reshape its hockey operations.<\/p>\n
When Rossen chose Brock University for his Master of Business Economics, the avid hockey fan was hopeful it would help him land a role with a professional hockey organization, but he knew it wasn\u2019t a given.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to soak up as much knowledge as I could from my time at Brock so that I could be best prepared to hit the ground running and try to achieve my professional goals post-university,\u201d he said. \u201cI can say for sure I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today without the MBE program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Determined to carve out the career he wanted, the Port Hope native put things in motion while still a student. Through Brock\u2019s co-op program, Rossen started a work placement at Stathletes Inc., the sports analytics firm co-founded by Chayka and his sister Meghan Chayka (BBA \u201912), a fellow Brock grad. That led to a full-time role there as a statistics analyst.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been very fortunate to be able to be part of some special organizations with special people,\u201d said Rossen, reflecting on his career trajectory. \u201cEach individual opportunity has helped shape me both personally and professionally.\u201d<\/p>\n
When Chayka was named General Manager of the Arizona Coyotes in 2016, Rossen was handpicked for the role of Director of Statistical Analysis. After four seasons with the team, he shifted gears and spent four years as a National Hockey League Players\u2019 Association-certified agent working at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), a leading entertainment, sports and media talent agency.<\/p>\n
While Rossen enjoyed the experience, he couldn\u2019t turn down the opportunity to work for the organization he grew up cheering for.<\/p>\n
Rossen joins the Maple Leafs\u2019 front office during a time of transition. Through his role, he plans to integrate evidence-based decision making into the organization\u2019s existing structures and increase the volume and quality of relevant information available to better inform the process in a wide variety of areas, from amateur player evaluation through the draft alongside Assistant General Manager, Player Evaluation Judd Brackett to professional player evaluation with Director of Player Personnel Jeremiah Crowe.<\/p>\n
Beyond external player evaluation, Rossen said the department plans to work with the player development team for internal evaluation of their current group of players as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of different questions that, as a department, we hope we can help provide answers to throughout this season and beyond,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
From a research and development perspective, Rossen is excited about what the future will bring as advances in technology will allow for rapid and in-depth analysis of players and systems.<\/p>\n
While settling into his new role with the Maple Leafs, Rossen was happy to reflect on his time at Brock and the impact it\u2019s had on his life.<\/p>\n
The MBE program not only helped him to sharpen his technical skills, but it taught him \u201ca lot about what work ethic really means,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe program is incredibly challenging but equally rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n
He encouraged current MBE students interested in pursuing a career in sports to surround themselves with good people who bring positivity into their lives, pushing them to be the best version of themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Brad Rossen (MBE \u201916) used to cheer for the Toronto Maple Leafs as a kid. Now, the Brock University graduate is helping to build out the NHL team\u2019s analytics department as its new Vice-President, Research and Development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":111273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,7484,3319,1,38],"tags":[3333,2525,522,1414,2109],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111272"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111274,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111272\/revisions\/111274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}