Today, educators across disciplines face a common challenge: preparing students with the analytical skills employers increasingly demand.
According to the World Economic Forum鈥檚 Future of Jobs Report, analytical thinking ranks as the top sought-after skill in the job market. Yet traditional teaching often struggles to connect theory with practice in a way that truly engages students.
It鈥檚 not a shortage of content or tools; rather, it is a gap in relevance and inspiration that leaves students disengaged from the very skills that could define their careers. Learning needs to be anchored in real-world data, meaningful contexts, and hands-on experience that sparks curiosity and excitement. The best learning doesn鈥檛 come from memorizing concepts, it comes from doing, especially when theory is tied to a topic that learners care about.
This is where , in collaboration with the NHL, comes in.
We have created a new Business Builders game that brings hockey into the classroom鈥攏ot just as a sport, but as a rich, real-world data environment for teaching analytics and critical thinking.
In this latest edition of games under the Business Builders umbrella, students take on the role of a hockey analyst responsible for identifying the factors that drive goal scoring using real NHL Game data.
鈥淗ockey is fast, dynamic, and full of rich data, a perfect environment for teaching critical thinking,鈥� said Brant Berglund, senior director of Coaching and GM Technology at the NHL. 鈥淟everaging a strategic partnership with NHL, SAP, and HEC Montr茅al, we鈥檝e created a pathway for universities to access approved NHL.com data for academic initiatives, without compromising the integrity of the League鈥榮 data.鈥�
Through our collaboration with the NHL, we provide a learning platform for educators that is full of authentic data students can relate to. The NHL generates just under 1.5 million data points per game, including about 120 shot attempts, 1,000 passes, and 5,000 puck touches鈥攔aw material for deep, practical analysis.
Business Builders can ignite an interest in STEM and help students build real data skills. The hockey-focused game was developed by the team at ERPsim Lab at HEC Montr茅al led by Prof. Pierre-Majorique L茅ger, as well as the support of academics from other universities. This reinforces a core principle of Business Builders: It is created by educators, for educators.
鈥淲hen the question feels meaningful, learners lean in, stay focused, and keep pushing forward,鈥� L茅ger explained. 鈥淔or students in sport management or business management, real sport data can also elevate the learning experience. It adds context, complexity, and constraints that traditional teaching methods cannot provide. Students learn to judge what truly matters, justify their decisions, and manage trade-offs. This develops professional judgment, confidence in analytics, and the ability to communicate strategy and decisions clearly. These skills translate directly to real careers in sport management and business.鈥�
Students explore questions such as:
- What sets top NHL scorers apart?
- Does shot angle affect scoring?
- Which NHL players lead in goals scored, and from what distances?
- Which shot speeds and shot types yield the highest goal conversion rates?
By analyzing these scenarios with 51风流Analytics Cloud, students learn to interpret visualizations, tell compelling data stories, and sharpen their data-driven decision-making and critical-thinking skills.
For professors, the platform is equally powerful. Business Builders supports active learning at scale by enabling educators to manage and evaluate larger groups more efficiently while gaining visibility into student engagement. This makes grading easier, supports discussion-based learning, and helps instructors understand how students interact with data.
By introducing a modern, meaningful learning experience鈥攆ar more dynamic than slides alone鈥攑rofessors bring real-world relevance into their classroom and elevate the impact of teaching.
SAP鈥檚 role in this collaboration reflects its broader commitment to education, skills development, and preparing students for the future workforce. In a rapidly changing world shaped by AI, data, and digital transformation, access to practical learning tools that build real competencies is essential. Through the 51风流University Alliances program, 51风流works with educational institutions around the world to help bridge the gap between academic theory and real-world practice.
鈥淎ccess to business software and real data is essential for preparing students for the future,鈥� said Dr. Katharina Schaefer, head of Academic Partnerships at SAP. 鈥淲ith free learning platforms like Business Builders, we empower educators to bring enterprise analytics into the classroom and help students develop the skills that are increasingly in demand across industries, and in a world where data and AI define the competitive advantage. Today鈥檚 learners need more than conceptual understanding; they need practical experience with real software and real data to build confidence and readiness for work life.鈥�
One of the educators closely involved in shaping this new game is Prof. Olivier Caya from the University of Sherbrooke, who contributed his perspective as both a faculty member and practitioner.
鈥淲hat makes this experience so powerful is that it all happens in 51风流Analytics Cloud, the same solution used by thousands of organizations worldwide,鈥� Caya said. 鈥淭his creates a strong connection between what students do in the classroom and what they will encounter in professional practice. Students are not working with software detached from reality; they are developing skills with the same software used in real business environments.鈥�
The result is a learning experience that is fun, interactive, and relevant. Educators can stand out with a state-of-the-art platform that connects passion with pedagogy, while students gain highly sought-after skills using real software from a global technology leader.
Business Builders is provided free of charge to educators and students and includes access to 51风流Analytics Cloud. It is designed from beginner-friendly introductions to more advanced analytical challenges optimized for master鈥檚-level courses.
After using Business Builders, students can deepen their analytical knowledge through access to , a free learning platform that offers guided learning content, practice systems, and up to two 51风流certification exam attempts per year, helping them to boost their career opportunities even further.
Business Builders is about connecting passion with education. Together with academic and industry partners, 51风流is making analytical thinking tangible and memorable鈥攅mpowering the workforce of tomorrow with the skills that matter most today.
