After being a vital contributor to the behind-the-scene efforts of the Clarkson University Hockey team’s rise back to national prominence, Ryan Vinz has joined the growing ranks of former Golden Knights in the National Hockey League.
Although he never realized his aspirations of playing for Clarkson, trying out as a freshman walk-on in 2003, the former three-year starting goaltender at Lancaster, NY H.S. played an integral role in the Green and Gold’s success. Vinz served as the program’s video coordinator for four years from 2003 through the Knights’ ECAC Hockey Championship campaign of last season.
Vinz, who graduated this past May with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Media, is now the Pro Video Scout for his hometown Buffalo Sabres.
“I'm very happy to be able to work with the team that I grew up watching, and work with Jon Christiano (Sabres Pro Scout), who I have known since I was just a little kid,” said Vinz. “I think it’s interesting that the man who taught me how to skate is now going to teach me all I need to know about the NHL.”
As Pro Video Scout, Vinz will be responsible for all 2007-08 professional video scheduling and recording, and obtaining digital video of as many NHL games as possible. His goal this year is to have about 750 games archived and databased. “We use SportsCode Pro here and it allows us to take stats from the NHL website and import them into the program in order to organize the video clips,” remarked Vinz.
Vinz will be hiring, training and overseeing interns to help with the video "cleaning" 
process in which games are cut down to exactly 60 minutes - meaning all stoppages are cut out. “Once a game is broken down, we are able to see every possible thing that happened during the game,” said Vinz. “I will be databasing players after each game so when the GM wants to take a look at a player, he will be able to open his database file and watch that particular player’s shifts straight through. I will also be responsible for certain studies such as goaltenders, special teams, and where goals are most frequently scored.”
“As the trade deadline approaches, I will be generating a list of targeted players to see what players would be a good fit depending on the needs we have. Using video I will be able to make a case of why I like a player and give others a chance to see what I see. After watching a player's shifts I will be responsible for writing a report on that player's strengths/weaknesses.”
Because of his hockey background, Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier and Christiano have involved Vinz even more in scouting and pre-scouting for the team. His added responsibility of scouting on average two games per day will include making clips that he feels are relevant as well as putting clips into players’ individual folders. In addition, he will be adding notes to each clip with comments on why he included the clip.
Although there are no former Clarkson players currently on Buffalo’s roster, Vinz will have the opportunity to scout several former Golden Knights playing in the NHL. The Washington Capitals, led by captain Chris Clark, a former Clarkson all-star, will visit Buffalo’s HSBC Arena on Saturday, October 13.
One of eight former Knights currently playing in the NHL, Clark is joined in the world’s elite league by Kent Huskins (Anaheim) and Todd Marchant (Anaheim), Erik Cole (Carolina), Craig Conroy (Calgary), Randy Jones (Philadelphia), Willie Mitchell (Vancouver) and Todd White (Atlanta).
Clarkson alums holding down front-office positions in the NHL are Jarmo Kekalainen (Assistant General Manager/Director of Amateur Scouting, St. Louis Blues), Bill O’Flaherty (Director of Pro Scouting, Florida Panthers) and Dave Taylor (Director of Player Personnel, Dallas Stars).
Defending Stanley Cup Champions, the Anaheim Ducks, with Huskins and Marchant in the lineup, will open the 2007-08 NHL season when they faceoff against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, September 29 in London, England.
