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.
While modern advanced statistical hockey analysis stands on a mountain of complexity, Rob's work is best known for being clear, focused, and applicable, often presented in a humourous and entertaining way. Rob's objective approach adds clear, cold facts to the discussion in a style that is undeniably engaging—and convincing!
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. He has also spoken on applying the principles of hockey analytics at other events, including the Colas Canada Annual Meeting, as well as at several schools on various topics including Building a Career in Math: Hockey Analytics.
Since his first guest spots on Nashville Predators radio in the summer of 2011 and throughout the subsequent season, Rob has 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 and 2015 Trade Deadline coverage, Boston Bruins NESN television, TSN's That's Hockey, ESPN's Sportscenter and Hockey Today, CBC Radio, and Wharton Business Radio.
Rob's work can be found every week on NHL.com and ESPN Insider, where he has been featured since the 2008-09 season. 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.
A former member of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, Rob was first published in the Fall 2001 issue of the Hockey Research Journal. He has since co-authored all six Hockey Prospectus books, two McKeen's magazines, and has authored three books in his own Bill James-inspired Hockey Abstract series, including the highly popular 2016 book, Stat Shot.
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.