Data has changed hockey. It doesn’t make decisions for us.

No more graphs. Less noise. Better hockey decisions.

In 2003, we watched videos on VHS. Today, the NHL EDGE system transmits approximately 3,600 positional data points per second. That’s nearly 13 million data points per period. The puck can be tracked up to 60 times per second, and players up to 15 times per second.

That’s a huge technological leap. But the game still isn’t decided in a database. It’s decided in the split second a player has to make a pass, take a shot, engage in a battle, or get back into position. A sensor records the movement. Video shows the situation. A number identifies the trend. But none of these things alone makes a decision.

A coach doesn’t need 200 metrics during a game. He needs to know what’s happening repeatedly, why it’s happening, and what to change first. A scout needs to distinguish skill from chance. A player needs one clear correction that he can apply in his next shift.

Hockey isn’t played on a dashboard. It’s played in the moment when there’s no time left to think.

Two worlds that have been at odds for far too long

On one side is the world of data, video, tracking, and models. On the other side is the world of the bench, the locker room, pressure, and decisions that can’t be repeated. Both are powerful. The problem arises when they don’t speak the same language.

Data may show that a player stopped passing the puck through the middle in the third period. The hockey analysis must explain whether an opponent forced him out, whether support from teammates changed, whether fatigue set in, or whether the timing fell apart. And then it must say what to do about it.

Why CibakHockeyIQ Was Created

CibakHockeyIQ wasn’t created just to give hockey another screen. It was created to turn a vast amount of information into a concise, accurate, and actionable answer - one that coaches, scouts, and players can understand without having to become data analysts themselves.

Martin Cibák brings experience from the NHL locker room, the Stanley Cup, and decision-making under pressure. Karol Székely brings the ability to turn this hockey need into a functional product. What matters, however, isn’t our résumés. What matters is a shared rule: every output must answer three questions. What happened? Why did it happen? What should be done next?

CibakHockeyIQ isn’t created so that hockey has more numbers. It’s created so that people make better decisions.

The market already measures almost everything. The final step is missing.

Sportlogiq, Stathletes, Hudl, KINEXON, Sense Arena, and NHL EDGE have shown just how far sports technology has come. Following its merger with Teamworks, Sportlogiq reports the trust of 97 percent of NHL teams and more than 220 clients. Stathletes operates across dozens of leagues and countries. Video, tracking, event data, and virtual training have all become part of modern hockey.

This is not a weakness of the market. It is its success. However, one final step remains: transforming measurements into decisions that matter in hockey. CibakHockeyIQ does not aim to be a better sensor or a larger video archive. It aims to be a bridge between what technology records and what a player on the ice needs to understand.

Powerful technology reveals a signal. A powerful hockey system determines whether that signal is important.

One brand, three situations

CibakHockeyIQ must be useful where hockey decisions are actually made - not in a presentation. On the bench, during scouting video reviews, and in player development.

CibakHockeyIQ Coach CibakHockeyIQ Scout CibakHockeyIQ Player
For the coach: less noise, a clearer picture of the game, and one priority that can be adjusted before the game is over. For the scout: a tool to support the eye, not replace it. Faster filtering of players, situations, and recurring patterns. For players: quick feedback, video, and a specific task. Not a digital avalanche after every game.

In all three cases, the same principle applies: technology is not meant to replace people. It is meant to shorten the path to essential information and help them make decisions with greater confidence.

Data is only powerful when it changes the next substitution.

From an NHL club to a 14-year-old player

In the 2026-27 season, the NHL’s salary cap is set at $104 million per club. Every bad decision regarding a player, the lineup, or a player’s development can have both a sporting and a financial cost. That’s why major clubs aren’t just looking for more data. They’re looking for an edge in how quickly they can identify what to trust and what to change.

At the other end of the spectrum, the problem isn’t smaller - it’s just different. A 14-year-old player often receives a lot of advice but doesn’t know which piece is the most important. He watches video, knows the statistics, and goes through testing, but he lacks a clear connection between what he did in the game and what he should practice tomorrow.

That’s why we don’t build CibakHockeyIQ just for the wealthiest clubs. We build it on the same principle for every level: the right feedback, at the right time, in a language the person understands. The scope may vary. The essence does not.

The greatest advantage isn’t knowing more. It’s knowing sooner what’s important.

What CibakHockeyIQ Promises - and What It Doesn’t

CibakHockeyIQ does not promise that the algorithm will understand hockey better than a coach. It does not promise that numbers will replace a scout’s eye. It does not promise that a player’s talent can be reduced to a single score.

It promises something more practical: less unnecessary information, better-organized evidence, and a clearer answer. The coach remains the coach. The scout remains the scout. The player remains responsible for his own performance. CibakHockeyIQ is designed to help them see sooner what they would otherwise recognize too late.

When I played in Tampa, we didn’t have a tool like this. Today we have technology that can record almost everything. Our job is to make sure that hockey doesn’t lose its identity in the process.

Our Commitment

We’re building CibakHockeyIQ for clubs, coaches, scouts, agencies, academies, parents, and players who don’t want just another report to file away. They want answers that will help them take the next step.

I know the world of the NHL locker room, the pressure, and the decisions made on the ice. Karol knows the path from idea to product. But the CibakHockeyIQ brand must be bigger than just the two of us. It must stand for one clear value: hockey decisions backed by data, yet still understandable to people.

3,600 data points per second is impressive. One right decision is decisive. CibakHockeyIQ stands between them.

Martin Cibák
2004 Stanley Cup Champion, Tampa Bay Lightning
Co-founder & Chief Hockey Officer, CibakHockeyIQ

Karol Székely
Co-founder, CibakHockeyIQ

Sources and Verification

Numerical and market claims are based on the sources linked below. The assessment of the gap between measurement and practical hockey decision-making is the author’s perspective for CibakHockeyIQ.