Understanding hockey statistics can enhance your enjoyment of the game, from grasping basic stats like goals scored to more complex metrics. The inclusion of shootout goals in hockey statistics is a topic of debate among fans, players, and analysts alike. Let's explore the nuances of how shootout goals are counted and their impact on player and team totals.
The Shootout Format in the NHL
The NHL introduced shootouts in the 2005-2006 season as an innovative tie-breaking method, replacing the previous practice of allowing games to end in a tie if neither team scored during overtime. In the NHL, shootout goals do count towards a player's overall statistics, contributing to their goal total for the season.
Players selected by the coaches showcase their skills in high-pressure situations, contributing to the entertainment value of the sport. However, the controversy surrounding shootouts lies in their departure from the team-oriented nature of hockey and the element of chance that heavily influences the outcome.
Despite counting toward personal statistics, shootout goals are viewed with a certain distinction compared to goals scored during regulation play. While shootout goals contribute to a player's overall goal tally, they are not factored into determining individual awards such as the Art Ross Trophy or the Rocket Richard Trophy.
However, they are recorded differently than regular goals, being categorized as "SOG" (shootout goals) in the player's stat sheet. Shootout goals indeed count in a player's stats in the NHL, but they come with a nuanced significance, acknowledged as a distinct event within the game.
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The Debate Over Including Shootout Goals
Many argue that shootout goals should not be included in player or team totals. The only statistical mark it should have is the end score. Counting Shoutout! goals in totals makes no sense.
Distinct new and separate stats for the shoot outs. Could be retroactive to the start since the data is available but not compiled publically. Teams use the data to pick shooters. Also track whether it was a shot including type, deke, etc.
If people really want to know shootout goals/saves, those numbers are already tracked separately. No player should have shootout goals included in his stats - ever. And I'm with everyone else who thinks that it shouldn't count as a goal in the standings, either. A 4-3 shootout win should be logged as 3GF and 3GA for both teams.
If a team wins a shootout 3-2, all three goals were equally important. It was a similar situation a few years ago when Thomas Vanek was credited with Buffalo's 10,000th goal, but only because they included shootouts.
So to clarify, would you be in favor of the NHL showing the score in the same way they would in soccer? Some leagues have that. For example Czech top league.
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Absolutely not! I hate the own goal rule in soccer, it just seems to embarrass the player who made the error and prevents the player who shot the ball from getting the credit.
The idea of a shootout win being the same value as a regulation win is just as silly to me as four on four overtime hockey being worth the same as a regulation win.
If the game goes to OT or SO, it ends up a wash (like most standings are today). But add in the major incentive to a regulation win and the major disappointment of losing out on all potential points?
The NHL then introduced the "overtime loss" when trying to break ties. That meant teams could tie for 60 minutes, receive a point for it, and then due to the new OT, a team could still earn that extra point from winning in overtime.
Alternative Point Systems
In Europe they work the three point system. Three points for a win, zero points for a loss. If the game goes to overtime or shootout, each team receives a point and is merely playing for the final point available. That allows a major incentive to end the game in regulation and a major incentive not to lose in regulation.
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Quebec Midget AAA is experimenting with the 3-2-1 point allottment system for non-regulation time RS games.
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Playoff Games and Overtime
In NHL playoff games, shootouts are not utilized to determine a winner. Instead, if a playoff game is tied after three regulation periods, teams engage in sudden-death overtime periods, each lasting 20 minutes. This format continues until a team scores, leading to an immediate conclusion of the game with the scoring team declaring the winner.
This approach ensures that playoff games have a clear winner, with no possibility of ending in a tie. The elimination-style nature of playoff hockey demands decisive outcomes for each game, fostering a team-oriented approach to determining winners rather than relying on individual skills showcased in shootouts.
IIHF and Shootout Statistics
The IIHF does a weird thing where they give the loser of a shootout an additional shot faced and goal against. I can understand the counting of shootout goals (I wouldn't agree with it, but I could understand it) that decide the game. But why not count the saves?