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Mike P

@mikepru

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Work hard and sleep less and live for the dream. ✈️🌎 Now building out @datainsports
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A lot of people still view VR headsets as gaming gadgets or toys. @mikeprusports included, until he spoke with @alex.sirard of @evoathletics.ca last week. But when you look under the hood, VR is actually becoming the ultimate delivery system for Artificial Intelligence in sports training. It’s not just about what you see inside the headset, it’s about how AI processes what you do. How AI-Driven VR is Changing the Game: *Intelligent Data Interpretation: It’s more than just tracking. The system builds 2D and 3D models from your movements, using AI to analyze your mechanics and give you instant, actionable feedback. *Virtual Coaching on Demand: Immersive environments can integrate AI-driven coaching prompts, guiding you through complex scenarios and adapting to your skill level in real-time. *Overcoming Physical Limitations: No ice? No shooters? No net? AI can procedurally replicate those exact conditions. Athletes can get high-fidelity cognitive reps and maintain situational awareness anywhere, anytime. The Takeaway: It’s not about replacing the physical grind of sports. It’s about using AI to maximize an athlete's cognitive load, decision-making, and muscle memory without adding extra wear and tear on the body. When you blend the immersive environment of VR with the analytical brain of AI, it stops being a toy and becomes an elite, data-driven training tool. #DataInSports #EvoAthletics #PodcastClip #VR #VRTraining #AI #Cognitive #Training #Hockey #HockeyGoalie #AthletePerformance #VirtualReality by @mikepru
Episode 17 of @datainsports with @alex.sirard of @evoathletics.ca is now live! Full episode link in the bio! It turns out that goaltending is a lot more than just angles and positioning - there's a ton of data and technology behind developing today's hockey goalies. In this episode, we learn about why Alex started Evo Athletics, which comes from his own playing experience as well as desire help others. Further insights include: 🏒 Dynamic data-driven tailoring is the future of athlete development: Effective athlete growth relies not on generic programs but on continuously assessing individual needs and adjusting training based on real-time data and layered analysis. 🏒 Intent is the unseen force that unlocks maximum physical and cognitive potential: Training effectiveness hinges less on the load and more on the athlete’s purposeful intent behind each movement or decision. 🏒 The complexity of elite goaltending underscores the importance of layered, context-aware analytics: Performance metrics like save percentage only scratch the surface; the deepest insights emerge from analyzing shot context, brain response, and biomechanics. 🏒 Technology should serve as an interpretative partner, not just data collector: : Gathering data is futile without the expertise to interpret it meaningfully - raw data is just noise without contextual understanding. 🏒 Long-term athlete development is moving toward fluid reassessment rather than static templates: Adaptive programming, guided by continuous re-evaluation, surpasses static routines, aligning training with evolving athlete profiles. #DataInSports #EVOAthletics #Goalie #Hockey #IceHockey #SportsTech #Podcast #HockeyGoalie #VRTraining #VBT #AthletePerformance #AthleteDevelopment #SportsScience #DataScience by @mikepru
Are we in a new era of Polish hockey? @mikeprusports really wishes this post was happening under different circumstances. Ben, of @polishpuck_, and Mike previewed last week's IIHF Div. 1A Men's Ice Hockey World Championships for @datainsports Episode 16. While they had high hopes for promotion, the team fell short in it's final game against Lithuania against Friday night. At a micro-level, the players still have to play, and they didn't deliver. But at a macro-level, is Polish hockey going in the right direction? Are we in a new era? Well that depends. Based on what Ben and Mike discussed, the trend seems to be positive, especially with the appointment of Krzysztof Woźniak last summer as PZHL President. Some other data, in terms of where national team players across levels are playing, results from this past season's championships, etc. may how otherwise. Regardless, they have high hopes for the new leadership, though let's see how the numbers play out in the next couple to few years. #DataInSports #PolishPuck #PZHL #PolskiHokej #Podcastclip #IIHF #Poland #Polska #IceHockey #Future #Leadership #Prediction by @mikepru
🇵🇱🏒 Special Episode 16 of @datainsports with Ben of @polishpuck_ is now live! Ben joined us again yesterday to give an update on the state of Polish hockey since we spoke 8 months ago in August 2025 on Episode 3. We spent most of the conversation previewing the IIHF 1A Men's Ice Hockey World Championships that begins tomorrow in Sosnowiec, Poland. Ben brought the data and the facts, while @mikeprusports brought his very biased emotion-based takes. On a personal note, this is Mike's 10th World Championships cheering for the White & Red, which is a wild milestone - and this is the first "away game" recording for Data in Sports, which was done in his hotel in Poland last night. Link to the full episode is in the bio! #DataInSports #PolishPuck #PodcastClip #StoryTime #Polska #Poland #IIHF #NHL #IceHockey by @mikepru
"Never say never." Perhaps a cliche quote you hear in movies, but learn from my mistakes and take this advice. Two short and regrettable times when I said "I'll never do that" or "...never again," and I'm telling you it's not worth it. 🇵🇱 I was about 6 years old and told my mom I wanted to stop going to Polish School because I didn't need to know the language. Actually, I was held back in kindergarten and because I didn't communicate in English well enough and thought I had to focus on just learning one language to not get held back again. My mom said that if I didn't know Polish I couldn't go to Poland to meet family, speak with people, and understand where my parents came from. I didn't care and said "I'll never go to Poland anyways so who cares." A few of you know how that story went based on my moving to Poland as an adult in 2015. And mostly from the lens of being a fanatic when it comes to Polish hockey. 🏒 Over 11 years ago, I stopped playing hockey and told myself "never again." I don't really know why other than I had lost my interest in the sport, my body was beat up, and just stopped. I wanted to focus on my professional career and travel and didn't think I had the time to keep up with it and didn't really have the desire to do it. That was until my college coach persuaded me to play in the Alumni game this last February and I pulled a complete 180 - looking for ice time anywhere it's available. The two stories - and examples - collided this weekend when I played in the 1st Pulaski Classic, which was tied to the @njdevils Polish Heritage Night hosted by @polishnightusa. I spent the 4 hour drive from Newark back to Boston thinking about "what if" scenarios until I concluded that I'll never say "never" again. If you do, you risk missing out on future meaningful opportunities. This is more of a PSA... just stay open minded. #StoryTime #InstaGood #Latergram #Polish #Poland #Polska #Hockey #IceHockey #Family #Rodzina #PolishBoy #njdevils by @mikepru
The discussion of the Olympic Men's Hockey Gold Medal game - in terms of who deserved to win based on how they played - had me thinking. It reminded me of @datainsports Episode 13 when @kevinneeld discussed the take aways from @_annieduke's "Thinking in Bets." We should separate the decisions (actions) from the outcomes and am wondering if what happened on Sunday was a good example of this lesson. I'd of course love to get Annie's take on this, though what do you think? PS the photo is from USA's first game verse Latvia - shout out to the two Golden @nhlbruins 🥇 🐻 @cmcavoy25 & @jswayman1 #DataInSports #Data #Sports #PodcastClip #MilanoCortina2026 #WinterOlympics #Latergram #InstaGood #InstaTravel #Question #Lesson #Milano #Milan #NeeldPerformance #EvolvingPerformance #Italy #Olympics @usahockey by @mikepru
Does the American POV around conveniently being able to drive / Uber everywhere need to change when abroad, especially in Europe? A lot of the complaining in Milan - mostly from Americans, as I experienced it - was that there was too much walking and that the hockey arenas were built "in the middle of nowhere." Though I averaged close to 30k steps a day, the walking wasn't that bad relative to other sporting events I've been to in Europe. The public transport, especially with free shuttle buses to-from the metro, was also very efficient. A data point from The Economist in 2025 (and related studies), is that Milan, Italy ranked #1 for its high accessibility, with an average walking time of 6 minutes and 24 seconds to amenities. Not bad if you ask me. Lastly, if you're driving everywhere, how will you have such serendipitous moments like the one in the video where you see the Latvian fans taking over the road and marching to the arena? 🤷🏻‍♂️ #MilanoCortina2026 #WinterOlympics #Milano #Milan #Italy #storytime #sports #latergram #Latvia #USA #usahockey #instatravel #instagood @latvijashokejs @olimpiadelv by @mikepru
An area of sports performance that can get overlooked is the people behind the athletes, and I'm not referring to the coaches or staff that helped them get to the elite level. I'm talking about the athletes' first coaches - their parents and family members. One of the better parts of the #MilanoCortina2026 experience was seeing the hockey players' family members around the arenas from their children to partners, parents, siblings, and extended family... seeing the pride they had for their athlete competing in the Olympics. It wasn't just seeing it, examples like: 🏒 @nigelgro1979 having a conversation with the father of a French player who plays in Finland. 🏒 Jumping around and singing with the mother and brother of one of the most likeable Czechia players. 🏒 We were also luckily sat next to the aunt and uncle of the best player in the world. His aunt gave insight into what he's like as a person, how much he enjoys playing with his linemates, and what he was like like growing up. It reminds you that these athletes are people like you and I - they aren't machines. It's all about the people at the end of the day. PS here's @marknotton, @nigelgro1979, and I in the outdoor plaza of the Santa Giulia arena I referenced in yesterday's post... so much empty space. #MilanoCortina2026 #WinterOlympics #IceHockey #Milan #Milano #Italy #SantaGiulia #Olympics #StoryTime by @mikepru
En route to #milanocortina2026 tonight - what data in sports stories do you want to hear about? #milano #winter #winterolympics #winterolympics2026 #icehockey #italy #italia #datainsports #question #instatravel by @mikepru
@datainsports x @polishpuck_ live in Hockeytown! by @mikepru
The @datainsports "train" is rolling into Milano for the @milanocortina2026 Winter Olympics in just 3 weeks! #datainsports #winterolympics #olympics #milanocortina2026 #data #storytime #podcast by @mikepru
More coming for @datainsports in 2026. If there's someone you want to see on as a guest then tag them in the comments or send them our way! #DataInSports #Podcast #Data #Insights #Sports #StoryTime #SportsScience #DataScience by @mikepru

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