Sports, Mathematics and the Internet

Ice Hockey

by Leah McCoy, Wake Forest University, 1998

Hockey. Lesson 1. Team Standings.

To find the current NHL team standings, search for NHL or hockey, or goto http://www.nhl.com.

(GP= games played, W= wins, L=losses, T=ties, GF=goals for, GA=goals against, PTS=points, and PCTG= percentage)

  1. Look at the team statistics. Can you determine the formula for calculating PTS? (Hint: Use W and T.) Describe this relationship in your own words.
  2. Can you determine the formula for PCTG? Describe this relationship.
  3. If the following games occur today, how will the statistics change. (List complete statistics for each team affected.)

 

Hockey. Lesson 2. Player Statistics

The +/- (plus/minus) statistic means that when a goal is scored, each player on the ice on the scoring team gets +1 and each player on the ice on the defensive team gets -1. These "integers" are combined and the result is the +/- statistic.

Find the listing of top player statistics (http://www.nhl.com/stats/index.htm)

  • Plus/Minus
    •
      1. In today's game, while Jagr was playing, his team scored 1 time and their opponent scored 3 times. What is his +/- score now? (Don't forget to begin with his current score.)
      2. LeClair's team scored two times and their opponents scored 3 times. What is his +/- score now?
      3. Gretzky's team scores one time and their opponents scored 4 times. What is his +/- score now?
      1. Penalties
      1. Use the Penalties in minutes (PIM). Find the average for players on Canadian teams and those on US teams listed in the top 20. What are the average PIM's? Can you make a conclusion about US vs. Canadian players based on this?

        Hockey. Lesson 3. Winter Olympics

        Information about the Olympics may be found at (http://www.nhl.com/olympics/index.htm)

        The rink measurements for the olympics is slightly different than the NHL rink size. Find these measurements.

        1. What is the area of the NHL rink in square meters? In square feet? What is the area of the two official Olympic rinks in Nagano? What is the difference?
        2. 1998 is the first year that the Olympics include women's hockey. There are 20 members on the US Women's Hockey Team, what is their average height and weight.