How to Calculate Plus Minus Rating in Ice Hockey

Figuring out a hockey player's plus-minus rating is pretty simple.

Hockey is a game of many statistics. Like most sports, players are ranked by their stats including number of goals, assists, penalty minutes and plus-minus. The concept of the plus-minus rating in hockey is a little hard to grasp at first, but once it is fully explained, can be an interesting way to tell who the best defensive players are in the league.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Hockey scoresheet

1. Take note of all players on the ice (except goalies) at one time. You need to know which home and away players are on the ice when a goal is scored in order to calculate plus-minus.

2. Give each player of the scoring team who are on the ice when the goal is scored +1. Give each player of the non-scoring team who are on the ice when the goal is scored -1. The players who are on the bench and the goalies do not get any plus-minus applied to their statistics.

3. Repeat Step 2 for each goal during the game. Make sure you only calculate plus-minus for even-strength goals or short-handed goals. Power play goals do not factor in to the plus-minus rating.

4. Calculate the total plus-minus for each player on each team by subtracting the minuses from the pluses and coming up with a total number. This total number could be either positive or negative, so be sure to mark a + or - next to the number when you record the final plus-minus rating for the game.

Tips & Warnings

• Subtract the minus from the plus to find the players' overall plus-minus.

• The higher a player's plus-minus statistic, the better of a defensive player he is.

• Don't count plus-minus statistics when there is a penalty shot or if a team scores on a power play.

• Your plus-minus rating is not effected if you are not on the ice when a goal is scored.

Resources

• Sports, Math and the Internet
• USA Today--Hockey