Goals Per Game at highest level since 1993-94

[Jets4Life]

I have noticed that goals per game has been increasing since 2015-16. This season, the average team scores 3.19 goals in a game. That is at the highest level since 1993-94, when teams were scoring 3.24 goals per game. This is a far cry from the peak GPG of the modern era, which was 1981-82, when teams scored 4.01 GPG. However, at the same time, it is much higher than in 2003-04, when teams were averaging 2.57 GPG.

It makes one wonder what Ovechkin would have done if he started his career at the same time Mike Bossy did in 1977. He could have conceivably broke the 1,000 goal mark. Maybe I am being premature, if scoring continues to rise for the next decade, could Connor Bedard hit 500 goals before any player not named Gretzky or Lemieux? Could we eventually see McDavid breaking the 200 point mark? Only time will tell.

 

[ozzie]

The age old question, wooden sticks, heavy skates, poor training and nutrition. I don't think it's that easy just to drop a player into a different era. Nevermind that someone like Ovechking would have had to defect from the CCCP. So chances are he comes over as an old man, older than Makarov and wins rookie of the year.

The bend on the sticks is one of the biggest difference makers.

 

[ijuka]

Data up to November 20th for each season is looking like:

2008 2.938628
2009 2.913183
2010 2.872014
2011 2.775087
2013 2.727692
2014 2.747423
2015 2.655822
2016 2.700000
2017 3.019048
2018 3.061514
2019 3.079819
2021 2.951852
2022 3.177586
2023 3.194245

So this season has been just about the same as the previous one. This small difference is probably just variance.

Keep in mind scoring is expected to go down as the season progresses so you can't really use the entire season's data and try to compare it to this season's October + November data.

 

[Jets4Life]

Data up to November 20th for each season is looking like:

2008 2.938628
2009 2.913183
2010 2.872014
2011 2.775087
2013 2.727692
2014 2.747423
2015 2.655822
2016 2.700000
2017 3.019048
2018 3.061514
2019 3.079819
2021 2.951852
2022 3.177586
2023 3.194245

So this season has been just about the same as the previous one. This small difference is probably just variance.

Keep in mind scoring is expected to go down as the season progresses so you can't really use the entire season's data and try to compare it to this season's October + November data.

How do you know scoring "is going to go down" as the season progresses? Just looking at the stats you provide, scoring last year finished at 3.18 goals per game, which is actually above what scoring was after 20 games last season.

 

[The Panther]

It makes one wonder what Ovechkin would have done if he started his career at the same time Mike Bossy did in 1977.

"What if's?" are silly.

What if Mike Bossy hadn't injured his back, and had been traded from the Isles to the Kings in about 1988, as Gretzky arrived? (Bruce McNall actually did try to get Bossy out of recent retirement to play with Gretzky in L.A. during 1988-89.)

When he retired, Bossy had 573 goals in 752 games played, or an average of 62 goals per every 82 games. So, he probably scores around 800 goals, if not more.

What if Bobby Hull hadn't gone to the WHA in 1972? He would have played maybe another 8 years in the NHL, so give him maybe 840 or more goals.

What if Gordie Howe had played in the NHL (not WHA) from 1973 to 1979? What if Mario hadn't had many injuries? Etc.

It it what is is.

 

[Freudian]

It's called the Skinner-Campbell factor.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

How do you know scoring "is going to go down" as the season progresses? Just looking at the stats you provide, scoring last year finished at 3.18 goals per game, which is actually above what scoring was after 20 games last season.

Good question, but I’m sure @ijuka already knew this before posting and has a great response.

I can’t wait to hear it!

 

[Jets4Life]

"What if's?" are silly.

What if Mike Bossy hadn't injured his back, and had been traded from the Isles to the Kings in about 1988, as Gretzky arrived? (Bruce McNall actually did try to get Bossy out of recent retirement to play with Gretzky in L.A. during 1988-89.)

When he retired, Bossy had 573 goals in 752 games played, or an average of 62 goals per every 82 games. So, he probably scores around 800 goals, if not more.

What if Bobby Hull hadn't gone to the WHA in 1972? He would have played maybe another 8 years in the NHL, so give him maybe 840 or more goals.

What if Gordie Howe had played in the NHL (not WHA) from 1973 to 1979? What if Mario hadn't had many injuries? Etc.

It it what is is.

Mike Bossy was notoriously jealous and bitter that during his best seasons (when the Islanders were a dynasty), Gretzky received nearly all of the attention, as he was destroying the points records. My theory is that if Bossy had played with Gretzky, he would have lured him to his home, butchered him to death, and went to prison for life.

So it is a good thing Bossy never accepted McNall's offer, as Gretzky would have died at 27, and Bossy would have spent his last 34 years in a padded prison cell.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Goddamn inflation.

 

[JianYang]

It seems to me that the gpg is usually higher at the start of the season. Maybe some stats guy can back that up here to see if it is true, but a better measure might be to compare the gpg today to other seasons at the same checkpoint.

 

[PocketNines]

Average save percentage has dropped all the way to .902.

The lag in perceiving this causes an incorrect assessment of individual goaltenders. The goaltender with a .915 from just eight years ago = a goaltender today with .902

 

[Prairie Habs]

Both in spite of the Sharks, and very much thanks to the Sharks