Why does Hockey combine Goals and Assists together?

[Tyrus]

I would. There's no "secondary goals" measure. There are "Secondary assists" though. So yea, the guy that scored 50 goals contributed more than the guy that had 50 assists.

Even still, if we take secondary assists out of the equation, assists aren't a measure of anything. You could pass the puck to a guy from your blue line, he could enter the offensive zone, skate around for 30 seconds and then score... you get an assist... why?

This is why goal scoring is still king. It should carry twice the weight of an assist.

So I guess Cheechoo was a more valuable player than Thronton considering he got 56 goals to only 96 assists. Doesn't matter that a hell of a lot of those goals were tap-ins.

 

[Mickey Marner]

Baseball analysts realized that OPS was stupid because a point of OBP is more valuable than a point of SLG, so nobody really uses it anymore. The same will (or should) happen eventually with points in hockey.

Plus, OBP is on a 0-1.0 scale, while SLG is on a 0-4.0.

 

[Tyrus]

That was an example scenario, here are a few more.

Here are two more -
Hagelin randomly throws puck out of the zone, backstrom collects, Carlson scores. Hagelin gets an assist for clearing the zone.
Carlson puts his stick out to stop a cross-crease pass. puck deflects and goes to Ovechkin for the empty netter. Carlson gets an assist for no reason.

Where is the skill in either of those assists? As compared to the goal scorer who had to put the puck in net.

It happens quite a few times per game. Fact of the matter is, assists are not on the same level as goal scoring.

Which is why when I responded to the original post, I would take the guy that scores 50 goals over the guy that has 50 assists. Heck, I'd take 50 goalscorer over 100 assist man.

Wait so you think an open net goal is more valuable than a 6 on 5 valuable defensive play that leads to a zone exit which turns into a free goal ? You think the guy who simply throws the puck down the ice to the open net is somehow more valuable to that specific play than a defenceman who actually made the skillful play required to regained possession of the puck? Hell, you can't even score without the puck, clearly "puck possession retrieved" needs to tower over goals.

 

[daver]

I think you mistake my intention. I never said that we should do away with points or to determine that goals are worth more than assists. Points are here to stay, for better or worse.

But if there was never such thing as points, or if it wasn't used as the premier stat to determine player worth, there wouldn't even be a NEED to have arguments about the true value of a goal or an assist. It just wouldn't even be thought of much. Period. Each would just be thought of as different, like as in other sports. QBs can share stats with RBs such as rushing yards, and RBs can have passing stats. But you think of each as different, excelling in different areas.

It's not. At least by knowledgeable, objective fans who can apply context to all stats, not just point totals.

 

[inthewings]

I see it like this: I am an absolutely terrible hockey player. I almost never score goals. I do get assists from time to time, because I get the puck to skilled players who can actually shoot. It's just a lot easier to get the puck to my teammate than it is for my teammate to snipe a goal.

I've yet to experience a skilled teammate bouncing a puck off my hapless ass and into the net, but I look forward to that magical moment I hear so much about in these threads.

 

[Roksta]

Seems like nobody care except Ovechkin fans, wonder why

 

[ScaredStreit]

Care to guess when the last time the Art Ross winner had more goals than assists?

When the greatest goal scorer in the history of the league is dismissed as a top 10 player that certainly indicates that goals are not valued like assists are.

Who dismisses Gretzky as a top-10 player?

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

Who dismisses Gretzky as a top-10 player?

OV (14 seasons, so not including current season) vs Gretzky (20 seasons)

GPG leader: 9-3
Rockets: 8-5
Top 3: 10-5
Top 5: 12-8
Top 10: 12-9

OV surpassed Gretzky as a goal scorer years ago.

 

[Mr Positive]

if you prefer goals it's not like you are under represented

Goals are tracked as their own stat, and there is an award for the most goals, the Rocket Ricard trophy.

You seem to be upset that other people like assists as much as they do.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

I wrote this earlier on the Caps board and genuinely would really like to know.

Forget about goals and assists being of equal value or primary and secondary assists or whatever.

Why even combine goals and assists together in the first place? It just seems so counterintuitive if you take a step back from it all. No other sport in the world does that.

I understand that "its always been done this way", but does it make sense? You can get up to 3 points off of just one score. Why not just give the goal scorer a goal, and the people who assisted an assist, and that's that? You know exactly what they did - simple.

Basketball stats go 20 pts 6 assists 10 rebounds 3 blocks. You dont add them all together.

And you dont begrudge Michael Jordan because he doesn't have Magic Johnson's assist totals because of it. Its just... different. Different stats.

Soccer you go 3 goals 1 assist. You dont combine them. If you do, goals are worth 2 points and assists are worth 1 ( like MLS tried to do a point system once but abandoned it ). No other soccer league has even thought of combining.

I'm not saying it's a bad system.. but like.. why even do it?

It seems simple to me. I'm not being condescending, I just a weird thought process and need to spell it out to make sense.

Goals and assists are not combined, they're tracked distinct of each other.

They're both worth one point each and 100 points is 100 points even if there are only 17 goals.

I have no idea if I'm making sense.

Hockey doesnt track stats like most other sports because it's more fluid and vague, giving preference to certain types of players. The only hard stats you can really reference are points and whatnot.

Advanced stats are out of my league as well so no comment there.

 

[jimmysheva]

reminds me of this soccer goal



does number 46 get an assist for this goal? hardly deserved.

 

[barabas21]

Because it’s better than combining goals and penalty minutes together.

 

[JoVel]

I see it like this: I am an absolutely terrible hockey player. I almost never score goals. I do get assists from time to time, because I get the puck to skilled players who can actually shoot. It's just a lot easier to get the puck to my teammate than it is for my teammate to snipe a goal.

I've yet to experience a skilled teammate bouncing a puck off my hapless ass and into the net, but I look forward to that magical moment I hear so much about in these threads.

That's stupid. These guys are NHL players, each of them is capable of scoring goals and that only goes up with elite playmakers next to them. It's not like this is pond hockey where you have a guy just standing in one spot wondering why everyone is shouting at him. Yeah, that guy maybe wouldn't score goals but could have a lucky assist every now and then.

 

[BigEezyE22]

Why are linesmen responsible for every call involving the puck crossing a line except goals?

 

[inthewings]

That's stupid. These guys are NHL players, each of them is capable of scoring goals and that only goes up with elite playmakers next to them. It's not like this is pond hockey where you have a guy just standing in one spot wondering why everyone is shouting at him. Yeah, that guy maybe wouldn't score goals but could have a lucky assist every now and then.

The point remains the same whether you're talking about pond hockey or the NHL: it's generally harder to score a goal than pick up an assist.