Hockey Stats Glossary
Every abbreviation you will meet on an ECHL standings or stats table, explained in plain English. These are the exact columns used across this site.
Standings columns
These are the columns on a team standings table, in the order they usually appear.
- GP: Games played. Every team plays 72 in a full ECHL regular season.
- W: Wins. Counts wins in regulation, overtime and the shootout alike. Each is worth 2 points.
- L: Losses in regulation. Worth zero points, and the only kind of loss that is.
- OTL: Overtime losses. On this site the column also includes shootout losses, because both are worth exactly 1 point in the standings.
- SOL: Shootout losses. Tracked separately by the league, worth the same 1 point as an overtime loss.
- PTS: Points. The number that actually orders the standings. Two for a win, one for a loss past regulation, none for a regulation loss.
- PCT: Points percentage. Points earned divided by points available, so a team on a .600 pace has banked 60 percent of what it could have. Useful when teams have played a different number of games.
- RW: Regulation wins. Wins earned inside 60 minutes. The first tiebreaker most people reach for, since it ignores anything decided by a gimmick.
- ROW: Regulation plus overtime wins. Everything except shootout wins. Sits between PTS and RW as a tiebreaker.
- GF: Goals for. Total goals the team has scored.
- GA: Goals against. Total goals the team has allowed.
- DIFF: Goal differential, GF minus GA. A rough measure of whether a record is earned or lucky.
- HOME / ROAD: Record split by venue, written as wins-losses-overtime losses.
- L10: Record over the last ten games. A short-term form indicator.
- STRK: Current streak, such as W3 for three straight wins or L2 for two straight losses.
- M#: Magic number. How many points a team still needs to clinch a playoff spot, counting both its own wins and losses by the team chasing it. Shown only late in the season, when it starts to mean something.
Skater statistics
The columns on a player or league-leaders table.
- G: Goals.
- A: Assists. Up to two are awarded on a goal.
- P or PTS: Points, goals plus assists. The standard measure of a forward's production.
- +/-: Plus-minus. Goals scored by the player's team while he is on the ice at even strength, minus goals allowed in the same situation. Heavily dependent on teammates, so treat it as context rather than a verdict.
- PIM: Penalties in minutes. Two for a minor, five for a major.
- PPG / PPA / PPP: Power-play goals, assists and points, earned while the team has a man advantage.
- SHG / SHA / SHP: Short-handed goals, assists and points, earned while the team is a man down.
- GWG: Game-winning goal. The goal that put a team one ahead of the eventual final score of the losing side.
- S: Shots on goal. Attempts that would have gone in without a save.
- S% or Shooting %: Shooting percentage, goals divided by shots on goal.
- SOG (shootout goals): Goals scored in a shootout attempt. These do not count toward a player's regular goal total.
- Hat trick: Three goals by the same player in one game.
Goaltending statistics
Goalie numbers work differently from skater numbers, and two of them do most of the work.
- GAA: Goals against average. Goals allowed per 60 minutes played. Lower is better, and it depends partly on how much shooting the team in front of the goalie allows.
- SV%: Save percentage. Saves divided by shots faced, written as a decimal such as .915. The better single measure of a goaltender, because it is far less affected by team defense than GAA.
- SO: Shutouts. A game in which the goaltender allowed no goals and played the full game.
- W-L-OTL: A goaltender's own record in games he was credited with the decision.
- MIN: Minutes played. Used to check whether a rate stat is backed by real volume, since a strong save percentage over a few hundred minutes means much less than the same figure over a season.
- SA: Shots against, the total number of shots the goaltender faced.
Playoff and roster terms
Terms specific to the ECHL rather than to hockey generally.
- X: Clinched a playoff spot. Shown on our standings once a team can no longer be caught for a top-four place in its division.
- E: Eliminated from playoff contention.
- IR: Injured reserve. A player on IR is on the roster but unavailable.
- Reserve: A roster designation for a player who is temporarily inactive but not injured.
- Loaned: A player sent to another club, most often called up to an AHL team. He remains on the ECHL club's list while away.
- Rookie: A first-year professional. The ECHL tracks rookie scoring leaders separately.
- Veteran: A player above a defined threshold of professional games played. ECHL rosters are limited in how many veterans they may carry, which is why experienced players move between clubs so often.
Frequently asked questions
What does OTL mean in hockey?
OTL stands for overtime loss. A team that loses after regulation still earns 1 point in the standings instead of nothing, which is why the column exists at all. Shootout losses (SOL) are worth the same 1 point, and this site groups them into the same OTL column.
What is the difference between ROW and RW?
RW counts only wins earned in regulation. ROW counts wins in regulation plus wins in overtime, excluding the shootout. Both exist to break ties between teams level on points, on the principle that a win decided by a shootout should not carry the same weight as one earned in play.
Is GAA or save percentage the better goalie stat?
Save percentage, in most cases. Goals against average measures goals allowed per 60 minutes, so a goaltender behind a leaky defense is punished for facing more and better chances. Save percentage measures what the goaltender did with the shots he actually faced, which isolates his performance far better.
What does a magic number mean in the standings?
It is how many points a team still needs to guarantee a playoff spot, combining points it earns itself with points dropped by the team chasing it. When the number hits zero the spot is clinched. We only display it late in the season, because a magic number in November is a meaningless figure in the hundreds.
Why is plus-minus considered unreliable?
Because it credits or blames every skater on the ice equally, regardless of who created or conceded the chance. A defensively sound player on a weak team can post a bad number, and a limited player on a strong line can post a good one. It is worth glancing at and not worth arguing over.
How many points is a win worth in the ECHL?
Two, whether it came in regulation, overtime or the shootout. The losing team gets 1 point if the game went past regulation and none if it did not.