What’s the connection between slicing and dicing hockey stats and technology consulting? Turns out, more than you’d think, according to 1996 Jepson School of Leadership Studies graduate, Alison Lukan.

Once a hockey blogger for the National Hockey League’s Blue Jackets, Lukan is now an on-air analyst for the Seattle Kraken, one of the NHL’s newest expansion teams. As part of the Emmy-winning Roots Sports Network crew, she dishes out expert pre-game, intermission, and post-game analyses, sprinkling in some data-driven facts to decode the game for viewers.

“Numbers helped me understand the game and find a way to talk about it differently,” said Lukan, who aims to make the sport’s deeper analysis accessible to fans.

She takes those numbers and tells data-driven stories. “If you are a fan who is interested in deeper analysis, I want to make it welcoming and accessible for you to learn about that,” she said.

Initially approached for writing, Lukan’s on-air journey began with a screen test, tapping into her consulting experience. She is widely considered the first female hockey broadcaster who’d never laced up skates or picked up a stick. She later hit the ice to gain a firsthand understanding.

“It’s so easy for all of us to sit and say, ‘Well, what if they had done that, or they could have done this,’” she said. “You need to have a well-rounded understanding of what’s being asked of a player in this game, in my opinion, to fairly represent a good piece of analysis.”

In hockey, data is in its infancy, compared to other sports. Leveraging those consulting years again, Lukan understands how to apply information responsibly to what she sees on the ice. 

“If I don’t trust it, I’m not going to use it,” she said. “Or if I see something in the game, and the numbers are so completely misaligned with what I actually saw, I’m going to wait to let those numbers sort out.”

Lukan also hosts the podcast Too Many Men, named after the hockey penalty. Along with her co-hosts, Shayna Goldman and Sara Civian, she’s showcasing strong, capable women in hockey journalism. “We talk hockey. We analyze hockey,” Lukan said, “and we also don’t shy away from talking about some of the more difficult issues that the sport faces in terms of diversity, inclusion, and treating people with respect.”

Everything builds on her time at Richmond.

“Jepson doesn’t prepare you for just one career,” she said. “It taught me so much about team and leadership — and the dynamics of inner workings with one another — that supersede what I think people think about when they hear the word ‘leadership.’ ”