How to Calculate Plus Minus Rating in Ice Hockey

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.

Things You'll Need

  • Hockey scoresheet
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Instructions

    • 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.