Nicklas Lidstrom co-authors scientific paper in Sweden

[roboturner 562]

New theories on game intelligence could change the world of team sports forever. Game intelligence is not necessarily something you are born with but something you can learn, according to the authors of the article "Game Intelligence in Team Sports". Co-author and former NHL player Nicklas Lidström embodies the evidence.

Through the use of mathematical statistics, individual players and teams can learn to prioritize during games to change the outcome. They can calculate how to act in given situations and, hence, improve their results - regardless of their physical capabilities.

Lidström - perhaps the greatest defence player the world of ice hockey has ever seen - has long been known to have that "extra something" that makes him stand out in comparison to others. Excellent players like him are often praised for how well they read the game. However, in their article "Game Intelligence in Team Sports", Lindberg and Lennartsson try to show that it's not just genes that made Lidström great - but statistics. And the living ice hockey legend agrees.

Lidström confirms that as an active player he always tried to position himself so the odds would be in his favour. He consistently analysed the situations as they occurred during a game, learning when to dribble, when to engage, and when to sit put.

So Lidstrom wasn't actually an author of the paper, but his part in the research was so valuable that they gave him like an honorary authorship.

Here's two articles:

http://phys.org/news/2015-05-game-intelligence.html

http://www.freep.com/story/sports/nhl/red-wings/2015/05/21/red-wings-lidstrom-scientific-paper/27721325/

And here's the actual paper:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125453

Edited May 21, 2015 by roboturner

[wings87 1,290]

It's like a producers credit.

[TheXym 2,606]

Neat read, thanks for the link.

[VM1138 1,921]

Blech. I feel like the focus on statistics and fancy stats is ruining sports for me. It's turning away from a competition of will, luck, opportunity and whatnot and turning into a predictable pseudo-science.

[Mckinley25 677]

Blech. I feel like the focus on statistics and fancy stats is ruining sports for me. It's turning away from a competition of will, luck, opportunity and whatnot and turning into a predictable pseudo-science.

If it's predictable it's hardly a pseudo-science, that's actually one of the staples of real science.

[Echolalia 2,961]

Blech. I feel like the focus on statistics and fancy stats is ruining sports for me. It's turning away from a competition of will, luck, opportunity and whatnot and turning into a predictable pseudo-science.

I disagree on the pseudo-science part, but why can't sports be all the above? Stats have been a tool for ages to help teams give themselves the best odds of success, but the game is played on the field/ice and not on a piece of paper, so exceptions to the trend and Cinderella stories that defy odds will always be around. At the root of most of those stories historically has been a combination of will, luck, and opportunity. I don't see that changing in the future.

[haroldsnepsts 4,826]

Blech. I feel like the focus on statistics and fancy stats is ruining sports for me. It's turning away from a competition of will, luck, opportunity and whatnot and turning into a predictable pseudo-science.

I'm not a huge fan of "advanced" stats because they're so often abused, but it doesn't sound like what this is about.

And I've always thought a big part of Lidstrom's success was his ability to make the right play so consistently. He put up a lot of points but played pretty conservatively. Then if the Wings were down in key games is when you'd suddenly see Lids jumping into the play on offense. He was a coach's dream because he played the percentages, and usually correctly.

[jimmyemeryhunter 2,747]

Lidstrom's body has more memory than most human brains.