Learning the sport: What makes a good hockey player?

[eb31]

As I'm learning more about hocley I hope I don't offend anyone with my questions...there will be a few



My question today is, "What makes a good hockey player?" I don't mean the intangibles like leadership qualities...etc I mean in stats.

Do you look more towards Goals and Assists? Or is it Points? Or is it his +/- ratio?


Also, what exactly is "+/-"? and how is it determined?



Hope I'm making sense with my questions lol


Thanks,
Jay

 

[JohnnyDrama]

Welp, I'll attempt to give you my take here, Jay.

The easy one: +/- The easiest explanation is that a player earns a plus or minus everytime they are on the ice when a goal is scored (obviously, a plus for a goal for, minus against). Honestly, it's incredibly mis-leading. Good plus minus depends on the quality of teammates on the ice and style of play. Heavier defensive teams have players with better +/-'s.

As far as a "good" player, there are many types. I look to a guy who does a lot of things well and one thing very well. Ovechkin is a good player because he scores goals better than anyone else. Malkin is a good player because he's arguably the best playmaker in the game, with Crosby right on his heels.

A truly great player is someone who makes those around him better. Those are few and far between but you know them when they jump out.

Otherwise, you look for guys who bust their butt's and give you everything they got. You look for responsibility and smart hockey. Make the right plays and don't turn the puck over.

That's all I've got for now. Hope this helps.

Ryan

 

[es_19]

the original intent to use it to identify certain intangibles was good but plus/minus can be misleading especially for a player who gets a lot of ice time.

shots on goal (SOG) is another efficiency rating, it's calculated as follows: goals/shots

keep in mind, there are players who rack up a lot of points but have minus in the +/- column, especially if they are on a defensively porous team (ie. tampa)

the more you watch, the easier it will be to discern the better players (stars) from the pluggers, grinders, and role players - though it should be said that to make it to the NHL, you have to be pretty damn good to begin with.

 

[eb31]

Thanks Ryan & es 19.


So I won't pay much mind to +/-.




Edited by me

 

[timber09]

I don't push +/- away as much as some of the others here and I personally think that it is a very solid measurable...with a couple of qualifiers.

Obviously it is difficult to compare (speaking in 08/09 terms now) a player from the Bruins to a player from the Blues based solely on +/-. There is no common playing field but say hypothetically you are looking at the stats and trying to sign a defenseman in the offseason - plugging through numbers trying to find which one of two similar players you should sign.

Player #1 for the Bruins has a +13 rating - sounds great but that is the fourth highest total for defenseman on his team.

Player #2 for the Blues has a -6 rating - sounds like garbage but that is the highest rating for defenseman on the Blues.

Now in and of themselves no decision can be made but that is true of any stat - in my mind, you can compare +/- but it is more of a measurable within ones own team and situation and not a leaguewide number.

If that makes any sense at all.

Lets put it another way - there is no other player on the Bruins in 70/71 that was going to finish anywhere near +124 and that was no accident.

 

[BYOB]

Also you can't earn a + or a - on a Power Play/Penalty Kill. Thought I would throw that in there.

 

[bidds55]

As far as the hobby goals, the general rule is that goals are the most important stat, followed closely by points (goals and assists are both worth 1 point each, but goals are generally more "respected" for lack of a better term.
Hope that helps.

 

[penguinfan]

They(they being either VS or Pittsburgh's anouncers I believe) did segment on +/- and there were some exceptions....I mean you do earn them 5 on 5 but I thought you also earned 1 if you score shorthanded(Of course I mean when the team down a player scores)..At least I remember some stipulations

 

[GVKelly]

When you're reading a hockey hobby board, thing's are going to be skewed towards who they're favorite player/ team/ Book value/ is.
Thing to do is to watch a few certain players, of course these players are everyone like's to watch.
But , in my opinion, watch these player's, Sakic, Toews, Iginla, Morrow, Richards (phil), Datsyuk, Elias, Doan, and Gagne, if you want to see how hockey is played, watch these guy's

 

[99goals]

I pay a lot of attention to assists versus goals. Most playmakers have a pile of assists like Gretzky did and Malkin is up there in assists..he has 41 assists and 70 points this year.. that makes him a good player in my mind..

I love goal scoring but you need the guys who can have the eye to find you where you can put in a goal.. Malkin has proved me wrong this far...he is an exceptional player

 

[Tripredacus]

IRL: A good hockey player is one who understands what is possible and why things happen. They are team players and always do what they can, and also try to help out their teammates either in mental ways or with tips or in practice.

Fantasy: These ratings make your player: Goals, Points, Wins, GAA, Shutouts. Although it does depend on what stats you have available to you.

+/- is subjective. You can have "good" (aka goal scorers) with a high +/- which means they score a lot of goals and do well on defense. Or high goal scorers with low +/- which means they are bad on defense. Typically, you want your goal scorers to have a higher +/- than the other guys because this would mean they are a "more" complete player. +/- is purely a defensive rating only. It is the means to determine a defensive players worth, even tho it also applies to forwards. Not all forwards need to have a positive rating, as teams want goals, but all defensemen should have a positive rating.

Also, we can examine +/- in another way. You can have a forward who has a large amount of goals but a bad +/-. You need to look at what team he is on, what the defense is like, what the goalie is like. If it can be determined that this player would do better on a team with a better back-end then this player is fine as he is, except perhaps a change of scenery is needed. Also a player's +/- will also be affected by his teammates. For example, you have a team with 1 star forward and a bunch of other schmucks he gets to play with. This usually happens when some rookie comes up in a rebuilding team.