Glossary and terms

Shot attempts

A shot attempt is any play where the attacking player clearly and deliberately made an attempt to shoot the puck on the other team’s net. Dump-ins that happen to reach the goaltender or shots that are put intentionally wide are omitted.

Shot attempts are further sectioned into one of five categories: goals, saves, misses, blocks, and disruptions. Disruptions are when a shot is attempted, but is spoiled for some reason (such as a cross seam pass to an open stick being blocked, a shot is fanned on, or a player is closed on and pokechecked before he can get the shot away)

My shot count will almost always differ from the NHL’s official shot count.

Shot locations:

I have segmented seven sections of the offensive zone, which looks somewhat like this:

I do not count bank attempts from behind the net, as they are rare. In the odd case one will result in the goal, I will mark it as an own goal, by means to say I will not mark a location.

I also count deliberate shots from the neutral or defensive zone as their own, separate location. If a goalie allows a 100-foot shot, that’s just as much of an issue to me as allowing a 200-foot shot.

Setup passes

A setup pass is a pass that facilitates a shot. It is not necessarily which player would get the primary assist if the player scored, but more like basketball’s definition of an assist. If the shooter deviates from his path to the net before taking his shot, no setup pass will be recorded.

Unfortunately, I do not record where the pass came from, only that a pass was made.

Shot pressure

If a defensive player makes a defensive move (usually a poke check) in a way that disrupts the player’s shot (forcing him to hurry or limiting the amount of net he has to shoot at), I will credit the defensive player with pressuring the shot.

I count this because this is something I’ve identified the Carolina Hurricanes as being very good at doing, which impacts the shooter’s ability to get a good shot away, which in turn helps the goalie make the save.

Rebounds and deflections

A rebound is a shot taken after another attempt by an attacking player, before most of the defence or goalie is able to react to the original shot. This usually comes within 3 seconds of another shot, but circumstances may lengthen or shorten this time based on what’s happening on the ice.

A deflection is a shot that is deflected by an attacking player on its way to the net, usually unintentionally. Intentional deflections (ie: slap passes) are recorded as their own shots, but most deflections will be recorded as if there was no deflection taking place. For example, a point shot is taken that is touched on the way to the net, I will record the shot with all the information of the original point shot (shooter, setupper, location, etc:) and note which player deflected the puck on the way through. This is difficult to do live, since usually only goals are looked at closely to determine deflections, so I listen for audio cues to determine deflections on non-goal shots.

Shot types

Based on information surrounding the shot, shots are categorized into different types based on the information available around the shot. The types are as follows:

  • Rush: a shot within 6 seconds of a controlled entry, and within 11 seconds of a controlled exit
  • Transition: a shot within 6 seconds of a controlled entry, but the team did not acquire the puck in the neutral zone by means of a recent controlled exit
  • Forecheck: a shot within 6 seconds of an uncontrolled entry, or within 2 seconds of a turnover
  • Faceoff: a shot within 10 seconds of an offensive zone faceoff, either won or lost
  • Cycle+: a shot that came after 6 seconds has elapsed following a zone entry, or 10 seconds has elapsed following a faceoff
  • Miscellaneous: a shot that was a result of some other situation which isn’t covered above

Scoring chances

A scoring chance is a shot that fits in the following categories:

  • Any shot from the area directly in front of the net
  • A shot from the centre of the ice from midrange provided at least one the following conditions are met:
    • The shot was a rebound
    • The shot was set up by a teammate
    • The shot was unpressured by an opposing defender
    • The shot was taken within 6 seconds of a controlled entry (rush or transition shot)
  • A shot from midrange (from either the middle of the ice or the flanks) where one of the following conditions are met:
    • The shot is both set up by a teammate AND unpressured by a defender
    • The shot came within 2 seconds of an opposing turnover

Entry attempts

Coming soon!

DZ touches and exits

Coming soon!