The Contrarian – One More Way to Increase Scoring

Ian Gooding

2015-05-03

What else can be done that has not already been suggested to increase player point totals?

For this week's article, I was first looking into goalie point production. Interestingly enough, it is very hard to find on nhl.com these days. I know I had previously found the information a year or two ago and it was not simple to find, but it was there. Now it appears it is something that does not interest the NHL.

To finish off the idea, here is a table on the subject:

Season	Actual Player Points	Goalie Points	% of all Points
2014-15	17841	48	0.003
2013-14	17869	64	0.004
2012-13	10425	37	0.004
2011-12	17809	66	0.004
2010-11	18169	57	0.003
2009-10	18580	60	0.003
2008-09	19143	50	0.003
2007-08	18252	72	0.004
2006-07	19474	60	0.003
2005-06	20321	73	0.004
2003-04	17070	51	0.003
2002-03	17685	39	0.002
2001-02	17309	59	0.003
2000-01	18337	52	0.003
1999-00	16953	49	0.003
1998-99	15652	52	0.003
1997-98	14973	47	0.003
1996-97	16511	50	0.003
1995-96	17967	53	0.003
1994-95	9928	30	0.003
1993-94	18890	62	0.003
1992-93	19626	91	0.005
1991-92	16422	81	0.005
1990-91	15553	68	0.004
1989-90	16535	63	0.004

(All goalie point statistics were found on www.hockey-reference.com/ )

As you would imagine and can see, it is a rather small percentage of the total number of points earned by all players.

Where I am going with this is to find out if there was any relation between goalie points and the overall trend in player points recently heading downward. I do not believe that any relationship can be made simply because it is too small of a percentage.

This got me thinking about player points in general. Specifically, how efficient has player scoring been? Or in other words, how close to the maximum number of player points have the actual total of player points been?

Why would this even matter?

Before I show you the chart, I will draw a parallel to the discussion about three-point games. We have seen all the arguments about how it closes the gap between teams and fosters close playoff races. Well I wondered if something similar was happening with player points.

A goal scored can generate zero points if it is done in the shootout, obviously one point if it is unassisted, two points if it is assisted by one teammate, and three points if assisted by two teammates (this is the maximum). Hardly an earth shattering revelation, but I wanted to re-emphasize that a shootout goal earn a player no points.

Season	OT Goals	Max Points
2014-15	170	510
2013-14	178	534
2012-13	97	291
2011-12	181	543
2010-11	149	447
2009-10	184	552
2008-09	159	477
2007-08	156	468
2006-07	164	492
2005-06	145	435

(All stats calculated from www.sportingcharts.com/articles/nhl/how-often-do-nhl-games-end-in-a-shootout.aspx)

Now, this is just one aspect of how the league could possibly address increasing player scoring. There are other notions, like calling more penalties, expansion, doing away with the three-point game, etc.)

So let us see how efficient the players have been:

Season	Games Played	Goals	Max Player Points	Actual Player Points	Efficiency	+/-
2014-15	1230	6549	19647	17841	0.908	144
2013-14	1230	6573	19719	17869	0.906	110
2012-13	720	3822	11466	10425	0.909	96
2011-12	1230	6545	19635	17809	0.907	125
2010-11	1230	6721	20163	18169	0.901	20 📢 advertisement:
2009-10	1230	6803	20409	18580	0.910	193
2008-09	1230	7006	21018	19143	0.911	207
2007-08	1230	6691	20073	18252	0.909	169
2006-07	1230	7082	21246	19474	0.917	323
2005-06	1230	7443	22329	20321	0.910	205
2003-04	1230	6318	18954	17070	0.901	10
2002-03	1230	6530	19590	17685	0.903	49
2001-02	1230	6442	19326	17309	0.896	-76
2000-01	1230	6782	20346	18337	0.901	23
1999-00	1148	6306	18918	16953	0.896	-66
1998-99	1107	5830	17490	15652	0.895	-80
1997-98	1066	5624	16872	14973	0.887	-188
1996-97	1066	6216	18648	16511	0.885	-241
1995-96	1066	6701	20103	17967	0.894	-112
1994-95	624	3727	11181	9928	0.888	-120
1993-94	1092	7081	21243	18890	0.889	-203
1992-93	1088	7311	21933	19626	0.895	-102
1991-92	880	6123	18369	16422	0.894	-98
1990-91	840	5805	17415	15553	0.893	-108
1989-90	840	6189	18567	16535	0.891	-156

(All stats compiled from www.hockey-reference.com)

Not bad in recent years with an efficiency of over 90%. The +/- column indicates the number of points generated over or lost under the average which coincidentally is 90%. The maximum number of points is simply the number of goals multiplied by three.

At the same time I came across this article written in October of 2006 by the people at Hockey Analytics Devoted to the Scientific Exploration of the Game of Hockey. They write that the number of unassisted goals is about 5%, and single assist goals is about 15% of all goals.

Back to the stats found at Sportingcharts.com, Team Unassisted Goals and the notion given by Hockey Analytics seems to hold water. I could not find stats earlier than the 2005-06 season, but I have found a chart at quanthockey.com that kind of implies the second half of the Hockey Analytics idea.

Season	Unassisted Goals	% of all Goals
2014-15	395	0.060
2013-14	371	0.056
2012-13	203	0.053
2011-12	350	0.053
2010-11	428	0.064
2009-10	364	0.054
2008-09	420	0.060
2007-08	370	0.055
2006-07	360	0.051
2005-06	423	0.057

So we have seen an improved efficiency in point production, but we have not seen a huge surge of points since the 2005-06 season. What else can be done that has not already been suggested?

Why not have more than two assists on a goal?

Sure, if the league feels fine about giving no points for goals in a shootout, why not give more than two points on goals during any other time in a game.

I know, there are a few of you saying that it is tradition and that shouldn't change. From an excerpt in "Total Hockey – The Official Encyclopedia of the National Hockey League", 1998, Chapter 63 "The Evolution of NHL Statistics" by Ron Andrews, "In the league's first season, no assists were given on goals. And, for the next few seasons, assists were handed out sparingly. However, in 1935-36 for some inexplicable reason three assists could be awarded on a goal".

My educated guess is that it was too difficult to award more than two assists because there was only one referee (now there are two), the referee did not always have the best vantage point (now we have video replay), and off-ice game officials that can validate the chain of puck possession.

Going to a system that gives more than two assists on a goal is possible and easier to do now than it has even been done before.

The logic would still in essence be the same just removing the limitation of a maximum of two assists. Official NHL Rule Book, Section 33.2, instead would read "An assist is awarded to the player or players who touches the puck prior to the goal scorer, provided no defender plays or possesses the puck in between." Section 78.3 would change to "Crediting Assists – When a player scores a goal, an 'assist' shall be credited to the player or players who touch the puck prior to the goal scorer provided no defender plays or has control of the puck subsequently. Each 'assist' shall count one point in the player's record. Only one point can be credited to any one player on a goal."

Imagine the possibilities. Your team has a 5-on-3 power play. They pass the puck back and forth so all the players, including their goalie, touch the puck before someone shoots and scores. Whamo! Six points generated just like that.

If you don't like any of the other ideas being bounced around for increased scoring, maybe this is something that you could get behind.

The Contrarian – Roster Roosters

The Contrarian – Mon Dieux

The Contrarian – One Hundred Point Plan