When computer science students Samuel Brownlee, Ayesha Khan and Barnaby Vanderzyl signed on for a research internship, they decided to look at Canada’s favourite pastime: hockey. The choice led to them winning Best Paper in the Big Data, Data Management and Analytics category at the 2024 IEEE Computing and Communication Workshop and Conference.

After responding to a call from Dr. Mohamad El-Hajj, whose main research interest is the application of data mining intelligent tools, the trio of student researchers dove into the world of sports analytics.

The paper, titled “Analysis of Hockey Forward Line Corsi,” deals with statistics generated by forward lines involving two players who regularly play at the same time.

“We looked at pairs like McDavid and Draisaitl,” says Brownlee. “Those two are very commonly played together, but the third player consistently changes. So we looked at the stats behind what's actually going on with those three players.”

Analyzing the recovery of rebounds from the team’s own net, how frequently the forward line was playing defensively and the number of passes between them revealed that the third player in the line does make a difference when it comes to goals. 

“If those three stats were high, the amount of goals they scored was also very high,” says Brownlee.

The time that those three players were on the ice together also mattered. If one player left the ice earlier than the other two, the performance of the remaining players suffered.

“Once one player got off, all three would have to get off for their performance to be higher,” says Brownlee. “So all of those determining factors ultimately meant that they were communicating, creating more of a cohesive line of three instead of just a line of two with a supporting player.”

Their research began last summer, and once they compiled their results and wrote their paper this fall, they submitted it to the conference. Khan was able to attend and present their work in Las Vegas, and accepted their award on stage.

“When we found out we got it, I was like, ‘is it actually ours, or is this a mix-up?’” says Khan. “It was really nice to get that recognition.”

The award was a great ending to both Khan and Brownlee’s MacEwan student careers – they wrapped up their studies in December, and will cross the stage at Spring Convocation.