About

Research and analysis on how hockey organizations actually work.

WAR Sports Group publishes long-form work on hockey operations: roster construction, front office structure, player development, culture, and the decisions that separate organizations that win from organizations that wait.

Most hockey writing is produced from the outside, looking in. This is written from inside the day-to-day operation of the sport, by someone who runs a rink, evaluates players, and has to make operational decisions that are graded every week.

Who writes this

Portrait
1:1 · Desaturated

Matthew Meyer

Founder, WAR Sports Group

I am the Director of Hockey Operations at a four-sheet facility in Metro Detroit, and I scout Michigan 16U and 18U AAA and high school hockey as a regional scout at the junior level. The work here comes out of both jobs: one teaches you what it takes to actually run a hockey operation on a schedule, with real people, real ice, and real money, and the other teaches you how thin the margin is between a player who makes it and a player who does not.

I write about organizations because that is the layer where most hockey conversations stop short. Rosters get debated endlessly. Structure, accountability, and the systems behind the roster rarely do. My long-term goal is hockey operations work at the team level, and this site is the visible portion of that work.

Background

Current role	Director of Hockey Operations, four-sheet facility, Metro Detroit
Scouting	Regional scout, junior hockey. Territory: Michigan 16U/18U AAA and high school
Education	MA, Athletic Administration · BA, Business Management
Certification	USA Hockey Level 4
Focus areas	Hockey operations, roster construction, organizational culture, player development, amateur evaluation

What gets published here

EssayArgument-driven pieces on a specific organizational question, usually 2,000 to 5,000 words.

Organizational StudyFull examinations of a franchise or department, structured in sections, with supporting data.

ResearchShorter work on evaluation, development, and operational methods, often drawn from scouting or rink work.

Private ReportConfidential work prepared for a specific organization. Listed as a record of the work, available on request.

Also in progress

FictionExpected late 2026

Erie

A literary novel following a thirty-year-old first-year head coach through a junior season that does not go the way he planned. It is about non-linear growth, backsliding, and what accountability actually costs a person.

Contact

Open to conversations about hockey operations roles, private organizational reports, scouting work, and anything published here.

matthew@warsportsgroup.com