HOW TO READ HOCKEY STATS:
Article Courtesy of Ryan Bennett
This page will show you how to read different types of hockey
statistics information that you may see when you watch on
television, look in a newspaper, or see on any hockey web site.
TEAM TERMINOLOGY: Team Stats
GP (Games Played): Number of games played in a given season
W-L-T (Wins-Losses-Ties): Number of wins, losses and ties a team has earned
PTS (Points): Amount of points a team has earned in a given season. Team gets 2 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and no points for a loss. This is the main factor the teams are ranked by. You'll see on the standings above that the teams are ranked from Colorado with 95 points at the top to Vancouver at the bottom with 64 points).
GF (Goals For): The amount of goals a team has scored on an opponent.
GA (Goals Against): The amount of goals the team has allowed opponents to score against them.
Home: The team's record when playing in its home building, given in Wins-Losses-Ties.
Away: The team's record when visiting an opponent's home building, given in Wins-Losses-Ties.
CONF: The team's record when playing a team in its own conference, given in Wins-Losses-Ties. The sample above shows each team's record against other teams in the NHL Western Conference.
Last 10: The team's record in the last ten games the team has played, given in Wins-Losses-Ties.
PLAYER TERMINOLOGY: Player Stats
Team: Team that the player played for. Occasionally players will come over to a team in a trade, so the statsistics will list the stats the player recorded for each team the player was on that season, and then finally a total. An example of this is Travis Green, who came to Anaheim from the New York Islanders in a trade at the end of the season. It lists his stats with Anaheim, his stats that season from the Islanders, and his total stats for that season.
GP (Games Played): Number of games the player has played this season
G (Goals): Amount of goals the player has scored
A (Assists): Amount of assists a player as earned. An assist is when a player that is attacking the opposing goal makes a play (usually a pass, occasionally it can be a shot the player takes that a teamate may redirect at the last second or just a puck that accidently kinda bumped off a player and to another teammate) that gives his teamate an opportunity to score a goal.
P (Points): Points are computed by the number of goals a player has scored plus the number of assists a player has made. Each goal counts as 1 point, and each assist counts as 1 point. Remember, these are not points that are used to determine who wins games! Only goals are used to determine who wins a game, points are simply the total of goals and assists players make.
+/- ("Plus/Minus"): This is a rating that is typically used to meausre a players defensive skill. When a player is on the ice when a goal is scored by their team, the player gets a +1 added. When a player is on the ice when a goal is scored by the opposing team, the player gets a -1 added (in other words they lose 1).
PIM (Penalties in Minutes): Amount of minutes in the penalty box a player was awarded for being called for penalties.
PP (Power Play Goals): Amount of goals the player has scored when their team has had a one-man or two-man advantage (power play) over an opposing team due to a penalty (or penalties) called on an opposing player (or players) .
SH (Shorthanded Goals): Amount of goals the player has scored while their team has been shorthanded due to a penalty (or penalties) called on a teammate (or teammates), giving the opposing team a power play.
GW (Game Winning Goals): Number of times the player has scored a goal to overcome a tie with an opposing team, thus giving his team the win.
GT (Game Tying Goals): Number of times the player has scored a goal when the opposing team was leading, so that the game ends in a tie.
S (Shots on Goal): Sometimes also seen as SG. Amount of shots that a player has taken that have either been blocked by an opposing player/goalie or that have gone in to score a goal.
Pctg (Goal Scoring Percentage): Percent of shots a player has taken that has gone in to score a goal (found by using the formula (Goals [G] / Shots on Goal [S]) x 100 = Pctg) .
GOALIE TERMINOLOGY: Goaltender Stats
Team: Team goalie played for
GPI (Games Played in): Number of games the goalie played in
Min: Number of minutes the goalie has played
W-L-T (Wins-Losses-Ties): Amount of games a goalie has played in which their team won, lost or tied.
ENGA (Empty Net Goals Against): Amount of goals the opposing team has scored when a goaltender has been pulled in favor of an extra attacker.
SO (Shutouts): Number of games played in which the goaltender kept the opposing team from scoring any goals at all, which is called a "shutout.".
GA (Goals Against): Amount of goals scored against the goalie by an opposing team
SA (Shots Against): Amount of shots on goal the goaltender faced from players on an opposing team.
GAA (Goals Against Average): Average amount of goals a goalie allows to be scored against them each game.
Pctg (Save Percentage): Percentage of shots that were saved from going into the net.