New Hockey Fan Here...

by NoCal-SteelCity on Nov 5, 2009 1:32 PM EST

...I was hoping that someone could explain the "+/-" stat to me. I'm going to the Pens v Sharks game on Saturday night in San Jose, and certainly don't want to be "that guy" that talks all game, but doesn't know his hockey jargon.

Any help is appreciated.

By the way, love the site. I'm a regular on the Steelers site, and I have to say, being a West Coaster, I'm really impressed with the support Pittsburgh fans show their teams (Kings and A's fans are pretty fair weathered out here, and the weather's been dismal the last couple seasons). Even the Pirates, inexplicably, get love.

Go Pens!

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When an even-strength or shorthanded goal is scored, every player on the ice for the team scoring the goal is credited with a “plus.” Every player on the ice for the team scored against gets a “minus.”

A player’s overall total is calculated by subtracting the minuses from the pluses. A high plus total is taken to mean that a guy is a good defensive player. But it’s a very broad measurement and there has always been disagreement over how useful a statistic it is.

Power play goals are not used in calculating plus-minus.
Shorthanded goals are used in calculating plus-minus.
Penalty shot goals are not used in calculating plus-minus.

All Penguins, All The Time!

by GhostWalker40 on Nov 5, 2009 2:13 PM EST reply actions

and also empty net goals are used in calculating plus-minus only when shorthanded

You have to see it for yourself...

by Bla Razor on Nov 5, 2009 3:07 PM EST reply actions

as soon as I posted I thought that I’m may be wrong… and yes… ENG at even strength also count for the plus-minus… shame on me…:(

You have to see it for yourself...

by Bla Razor on Nov 5, 2009 3:10 PM EST up reply actions

They explain it well. Plus/minus as a stat can be misleading, and (somewhat obviously) it’s more about the team than the player. A good player on a bad team is likely to have a bad +/-, might not mean he’s bad defensively.

Best bet is to compare to a player’s teammates. If a player has a relatively high (or low) +/- compared to the rest of his team, that may mean something.

And welcome to Pensburgh! Any more questions you might have, feel free to ask. We’ll have an open thread for tonight’s game around 7 (your time), feel free to stop in if you’d like

Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*

*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night

by Hooks Orpik on Nov 5, 2009 3:53 PM EST reply actions

Most people here are very friendly to newbies, which is a welcome change from other hockey forums. My signature is a statement about my own steep learning curve. (I am a lifelong NASCAR fan and have only been watching hockey since 2006.) There’s so much to learn about hockey, but I guess that’s true of any sport.

Anyway, welcome, and hope you enjoy the game Saturday night!

"Darling, you say Brooks Orpik 'checked' that guy. He did not 'get under him and put him into the wall'."--Beloved to me, Winter 2007

"Don't beat yourself!"--Darrell Waltrip

by GreenEyedLilo on Nov 6, 2009 3:57 PM EST reply actions