Friedman: Leafs Looked into Hiring Jen Lute Costella
By Jon Steitzer
8 years agoIt’s no secret that the Leafs love them some stats and are very comfortable looking to the internet community to staff their Research and Development department. Kyle Dubas has staffed the department with Rob Pettapiece, Darryl Metcalf, Bruce Peter, and of course TLN’s own Cam Charron so far, but the latest person they considered would have been a significant addition indeed.
Elliotte Friedman reports that pre Lou Lamoriello the Leafs reached out to Jennifer Lute Costello (@regressedPDO) about a position in the organization.
“With Hammon’s summer success and Welter’s hiring, I wondered if anyone in the NHL considered following this path — adding a woman to either its coaching staff or management.Turns out Toronto almost did, although the subject wouldn’t discuss it.”“Costella would not confirm Toronto’s interest or indicate what happened, only saying working for an NHL team is “something I’d like to do, and has been explored in the past.”
From what I understand, the conversations took place before Lou Lamoriello was hired. (Other club executives are off-limits, so I couldn’t check there, either.) The issue was timing.”
It goes without saying that this would have been an incredibly huge get for the Leafs as Jen is one of the most significant contributors to the analytics movement and with her new company LCG Analytics her contributions will only be increasing.
While it’s disappointing that it didn’t work out, we can still take comfort in the fact that Leafs are still at the forefront of this movement, and it’s entirely possible that the team is one of the first customers in line waiting to take advantage of LCG Analytics services.
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