To help prepare students from all disciplines for the analytical skills increasingly sought after in the job market, the National Hockey League (NHL), SAP and HEC Montréal are unveiling a free game powered by real professional hockey data: "The Hockey Analyst."
Developed by the ERPsim Lab team at HEC Montréal under the direction of Professor Pierre-Majorique Léger, the game is designed to equip higher-education teaching staff around the world. It offers students an immersive and intuitive learning experience that helps them naturally acquire skills expected in today's professional environments, such as data interpretation and visualization, decision-making, and critical thinking.
SAP has been collaborating with the NHL for over ten years and has played a key role in bringing the League into this project.
Learning through the passion of sport
Mathematics and data analysis often lie at the heart of sports discussions, even when people don't fully realize it. By tapping into the strong enthusiasm for sports, the game's pedagogical design turns that passion into a powerful and natural learning driver. Students step into a decision-making role such as team manager where the concrete and accessible nature of hockey, along with the passion it inspires for many, becomes a relevant lever for developing a key skill in today's economy: the ability to understand and leverage data.
"When the question feels meaningful, learners lean in, stay focused and keep pushing forward," says Pierre-Majorique Léger. This develops professional judgment, confidence in analytics, and the ability to communicate strategy and decisions clearly. These skills translate directly into real careers."
A learning environment built on real data
"Hockey is fast, dynamic, and full of rich data - a perfect environment for teaching critical thinking," says Brant Berglund, NHL Senior Director of Coaching / GM Applications. "By opening up its data to universities in the context of Business Builders, the NHL hopes to inspire a new generation of analysts, leaders and innovators."
Thanks to this collaboration with the NHL, instructors gain access to a platform that is full of authentic data students can relate to. The NHL generates just under 1.5 million data points per game, including about 120 shot attempts, 1,000 passes, and 5,000 puck touches, raw material for deep, practical analysis.
Students use SAP Analytics Cloud, a software solution widely used in industry, to analyze data, interpret visualizations based on real business scenarios, and strengthen their critical thinking.
They explore questions such as:
- What sets top scorers apart?
- Does shot angle affect scoring?
- Which players lead in goals scored, and from what distances?
- Which shot speeds and shot types yield the highest goal conversion rates?
For instructors, the platform supports large-scale active learning, assessment, and monitoring of student engagement, while making courses more dynamic and aligned with real-world professional expectations.
HEC Montréal develops innovative teaching solutions
Learner experience, learning context and innovation are at the heart of this game's design. HEC Montréal continues to position itself as an international center of excellence in research on innovative teaching solutions.
"Innovating in data analytics means going beyond traditional teaching methods," says Pierre-Majorique Léger. "Here, real sports data enrich the learning experience by adding context, complexity and constraints. Students learn to judge what truly matters, justify their decisions, and manage trade-offs."
The game is part of Business Builders, a free online learning platform developed by the ERPsim Lab for higher-education teaching staff. It enables exploration of real-world scenarios using SAP Analytics Cloud. To date, the platform is used across all levels and disciplines by 1,250+ instructors and 25,000+ students in 600+ institutions across 85 countries.
This platform also includes a research component that has received financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to advance knowledge in the field of learning analytics through gamification.
Business Builders with The Hockey Analyst is a central part of SAP's teaching portfolio available to educational institutions around the world. SAP has not only invited the NHL to join this initiative but also provides access to SAP Analytics Cloud free of charge to educators and students. In doing so, SAP connects students' passion for sports with analytical learning and brings real NHL game data into classrooms worldwide.
"Access to business software and real data is essential for preparing students for the future," says Dr. Katharina Schaefer, Global Head of Academic Partnerships at SAP. "With free learning platforms like Business Builders, we empower educators to bring enterprise-grade analytics into the classroom and help students develop the skills that are increasingly in demand across industries. In a world where data and AI define the competitive advantage, today's learners need more than conceptual understanding; they need practical experience with real software and real data to build confidence and readiness for work life."
