Lamppost Hockey
goaltending numbers
A couple of things before you dive into the goaltending numbers:
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First, goaltending skill is difficult to quantify, which is why we're all looking for more ways to glean information about it. Goaltending is too heavily dependant on outside influence to truly nail down.
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Second, my numbers are designed merely to add context to other goaltending stats that are already easy to obtain from other sources.
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Lastly, if you want to gain full understanding of the goaltending stats as you see them on these charts, it is best to understand how I get them and why that matters.
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Picture an NBA player standing at the free throw line. The basket is the same size, height, and distance from the free throw line in an NBA arena as it is in a college arena, as it is in a high school gym.
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An average NBA players completes 73% of their free throws; the best of the best can just get up to 90%. For an uncontested shot from the same distance as any other basket in the world. Why isn't the average higher? Because context matters. Home vs Road; fresh vs tired; no pressure vs game on the line.
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The point is, context and skill of the shooter matters.
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Now, imagine an empty net with a shooter tutor on it. Imagine your average hockey player standing in the middle of the slot with 100 pucks at their feet. If you ask that player to shoot all 100 pucks, how many do you think he'd get in the net?
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For this example, lets say he scores 80 out of 100. Question: Did the Shooter Tutor make 20 saves or did the shooter miss 20 shots?
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Now, imagine a real goalie instead of the shooter tutor. The player shoots 100 more pucks, but the goaltender is instructed not to move or react to each shot. How many does the shooter score now?
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For argument, let's assume he scores the same 80 out of 100. But the question still remains: Did the goalie make 20 saves, or did the shooter miss 20 shots?
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The skill of the shooter matters. If we ran that drill one last time, but instructed the goalie to move and react to each shot, we'd expect a lot more saves. BUT, how could we truly determine exactly how many saves were made by the goalie vs. how many were just bad shot attempts by our shooter?
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Imagine you are behind the net at a game. A puck carrier is on the goalie's left and he passes it to a teammate on the goalie's right. Ordinarily, a goalie wants to move with the pass, get set and square with the new shooter, and then react to the shot.
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But in a play like this, the goalie can't. So instead, he stretches his leg out and into a split. He's not trying to make a save as a reaction to the shot; he's trying to play the odds and simply cover as much net as he can.
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The difference comes down to who is taking that shot. If it's a 4th line grinder, maybe that puck gets 10 inches off the ice. But the goalie's pad is 11 inches, so the puck bounces off the pad. But what if the shooter is a 1st line sniper? Because he's more accurate, he's able to get the puck 16 inches off the ice and he scores.
In that scenario, the goalie is doing the same thing; streching out for a desperation save. But 6 inches of height is the difference between a goal and a save. So, in the case of our 4th liner: Did the goalie make a fantastic save, or did the shooter take a bad shot?
That question is why I'm working backwards.
Because ultimately, a goalie is judged by how many pucks went in vs. how many stayed out. If the puck went in, then the team/goalie failed somewhere. If the team/goalie failed somewhere, we can try to figure out when and how they failed. And from there, we can start to isolate the things a goalie can and can't control. And finally, given the extra context, we can look at other stats and start to get a better, more complete picture of exactly what the goalies were dealing with.
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column keys
GOAL ORDER - Used to keep track of how many goals were scored. Also used as a way to reset the goals after being filtered or sorted.
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PLAYERS ON THE ICE - The number of skaters on the ice at the time the goal was scored. Keep in mind, there were situations where the scoring team was on a power play at the start of a play, but the goal was scored after the PP expired.
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ATTACK TYPE - Description of the zone entry that led to the goal being scored.
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HOW - The type of shot/play/situation that lead to the goal being scored.
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GOAL SCORED FROM - The general area of the ice where the puck was last affected before entering the net.
(eg.- if the puck was shot from the point but deflected in the slot, I counted the goal as being scored from the slot.)
PLAY TYPE - General descriptor of the type of play involved in scoring the goal. Not used for any statistical value.
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TRAFFIC DISRUPTION - Whether or not there was any member of the attacking team near the goaltender and whether or not their presence played a factor in the goal being scored.
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PROPER CHANCE - For goaltenders. Whether or not the goalie was in a position to make a reasonable effort to react to the shot taken AND make a good faith save attempt.
A 'yes' means that the goaltender was set on his feet (or knees), had a good line of vision on the puck, and had the ability to react in response to the initial shot.
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A 'yes' could also be used if the goaltender makes an initial save, gives up a controllable rebound, and/or has a reasonable chance to make a play on that immediate rebound.
(eg.- The goalie makes a save on a shot from the point. The rebound lands directly to his right. The goalie has the ability to track the rebound and react to it by sliding into proper position. Regardless of any other factor, the goaltender has put himself in a position to be able to react to the rebound shot.)
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A 'yes' could also be used if the goaltender is forced to move laterally from one position to another, but still maintains the ability to track the pass.
(eg.- On a 2v1 rush, the puck is passed from the goaltender's left to his right. If the goalie is able to read the play, see & track the pass, is able to move to the other side of the net, then the goalie had a chance to react regardless of the save difficulty.)
A 'no' means that the goaltender was not set on his feet (or knees), did not a continuous line of vision on the puck, and did not have the ability to react directly in response to the shot.
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A 'no' could also be used if the goaltender makes an initial save, gives up an uncontrollable rebound, and/or did not have a reasonable chance to make a play on that immediate rebound.
(eg.- The goalie makes a save, thru traffic, on a shot from the point. The puck lands directly to his right. The goalie tracks the rebound but before he can react to it, another player scores. In this event, the goaltender did not have a proper opportunity to react to the rebound.)
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A 'no' could also be used if the goaltender is forced to move laterally from one position to another, but cannot maintain the ability to track the pass, NOR has the ability to react to the resulting shot.
(eg.- On a 2v1 rush, the puck carrier attempts to pass the puck to the goalie's right, but it bounces off the defender's stick and back to the original shooter. The goalie is moving in reaction to the initial pass, but the play has been broken. The goalie is forced to move back in the other direction while the puck carrier takes a shot. This is NOT a reasonable situation for a goaltender to make a save attempt.
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BAD GOAL - The expected level of chance for the goaltender to make a save on that specific shot in that specific situation.
glossary
ATTACK TYPES
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Breakaway - An umimpeded attack towards the goaltender.
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1 on 1 Rush - An attack towards the net with one puck carrier vs one defender.
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2 on 1 Rush - An attack towards the net with two attackers vs
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2 on 2 Rush - An attack towards the net with two attackers vs two defenders.
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3 on 1 Rush - An attack towards the net with three attackers vs one defender.
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3 on 2 Rush - An attack towards the net with three attackers vs two defenders.
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3 on 3 Rush - An attack towards the net with three attackers vs three defenders.
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Zone Rush - An attack towards the net where there are more defenders than attackers.
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Controlled Entry - Any entry where the puck/play is not headed directly and continuously towards the net. Or, any other situation that did not neatly fit with any of the other descriptors.
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OZ Face-Off - The attacking team wins a face-off that started in the offensive zone.
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Turnover (OZ) - Any time a defending player (in his own zone) has the puck on his stick and the "opportunity to make a hockey play". Instead, the puck goes back to the attacking team, who immediately goes back on offense.
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Turnover (NZ) - Any time a defending team exits their zone but loses the puck before they can cross center ice. The attacking team immediately re-enters the offensive zone to attack. This includes any stretch passes started in the Defensive Zone, but picked off in the Neutral Zone and immediately leads to a counter attack.
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NZ Chip In - Any entry where the a player in the Neutral Zone attempts to self-pass or tip the puck past a defender with the intent to retrieve it.
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NZ Dump In - Any entry where the a player in the Neutral Zone attempts to move the puck deep behind the goal line in Offensive Zone, with the intent to retrieve it.
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Loose Puck - Any entry where the puck finds its way from then the Neutral Zone into the Offensive Zone without one team or the other maintaining possession of the puck.
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HOW
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Direct Shot - A goal scored via an attacking player taking an unimpeded shot towards the goal.
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Tip - A goal scored on a purposefully tipped shot by an offensive player.
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Deflection - A goal scored off of an indirect tip or deflection from any player on ice.
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Deke - A goal scored as the result of an attacking player faking out the goalie, then taking a direct shot.
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One-Timer - A goal scored as the result of a shot taken without stopping the initial pass from a teammate.
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1 Rebound - A goal scored on the immediate second shot after the initial shot is stopped by the goaltender.
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2+ Rebounds - After the initial shot is stopped, a goal scored any time during the immediate attack sequence.
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Loose Puck - A goal scored when the puck is free and the goalie doesn't know where it's at.
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Throw On Net - A goal scored by shooting the puck on net with no real target or intent to score.
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Redirect - A goal scored by purposefully changing the direction of the puck after the initial shot. Usually via stick or skate being directly on the ice.
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Tap-In - Goal scored down low on a loose puck (usually off a backdoor play or goalmouth scramble).
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Wraparound - Goal scored by a player who goes behind the net on one side, and comes around to the other side.
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GOAL SCORED FROM
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Behind the net - Anywhere from the goal line down to the boards.
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Slot - Area in the dead center of the zone, right between the face-off circles.-
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Garbage - The area immediately around the goalcrease area.
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High Slot - Area in the center of the zone - between the face-off circles, but ABOVE the face-off circles.
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Left Corner - Facing the from blue line, the bottom left corner of the offensive zone below the goal line.
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Left Point - Area to the left of the shooter, from the blue line to the top of the face-off circle.
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Left Side - Area to the left of the shooter; from the area just below the face-off cross to the top of the face-off circle.
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Low Left - The area to the left of the shooter; from area at the bottom of the face-off circle to the goal line.
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Low Right - The area to the right of the shooter; from the bottom area of the face-off circle to the goal line.
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Right Corner - Facing the from blue line, the bottom right corner of the offensive zone below the goal line.
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Right Point - Area to the right of the shooter, from the blue line to the top of the face-off circle.
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Right Side - Area to the right of the shooter; from the area just below the face-off cross to the top of the face-off circle.
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Outside the Zone - Any area outside of the Offensive Zone, beyond the blue line.
PLAY TYPE
Don't worry about it.
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TRAFFIC DISRUPTION
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Direct - Opposing players were immediately near the goalie and directly affected his ability to make the save.
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Indirect - Opposing players were immediately near the goalie, but did not inhibit his ability to stop the puck.
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No Traffic - The goalie had ample room to see, read, and react to the play in front him.
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PROPER CHANCE
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Yes - The goalie had a legit chance to see and react to the shot/play. In case of rebounds, goalie had a legit chance to control the rebound and/or prevent the rebound from happening.
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No - The goalie did not have a reasonable chance to see (or react) to the shot/play being taken.
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BAD GOAL
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Can't blame - Can't blame the goalie for this one. He had no reasonable chance to make a clean save on this shot.
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Iffy - Debatable goal against. Not a bad goal to give up given the circumstances.
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Bad - This was a reasonably preventable goal that should NOT have gone in.