Point Shares: A Metric for Measuring a Player’s Contribution to Team Success
In hockey, goals and assists are the most commonly used statistics to evaluate a player’s performance. However, these numbers do not always provide an accurate picture of a player’s value to their team. This is where Point Shares (PS) come in as a useful metric for measuring a player’s contribution to team success.
Point Shares were first introduced by hockey analyst Tom Awad in 2006. The concept behind PS is simple – it measures the number of team points that can be attributed to an individual player based on their offensive and defensive contributions. In other words, PS calculates how many wins a player added to their team during the season.
To calculate Point Shares, Awad uses two main components – Offensive Point Shares (OPS) and Defensive Point Shares (DPS). OPS measures a player’s contribution on offense while DPS measures their contribution on defense. These two components are then combined into Overall Point Shares (OPS + DPS), which provides an overall measure of a player’s value.
OPS is calculated by taking the percentage of total goals scored while the player was on the ice multiplied by the percentage of total assists they contributed while on-ice compared with all other players who played for that same team over that same period of time. Essentially, OPS assigns credit for any goal or assist earned during one’s shift with more weight given to primary assists than secondary ones.
On the other hand, DPS accounts for how well players help prevent opponents from scoring by calculating shot blocks made, takeaways achieved and faceoffs won whilst minimizing penalties committed; thus providing better protection against opposing teams scoring opportunities and enhancing his own teams’ possession rates through successful defending plays.
The result obtained from adding up both OPS & DPS gives us Overall Point Share (PS), which shows how much players contribute offensively as well as defensively towards winning games throughout each game played over time periods such as the regular season. This metric is useful for evaluating players who do not score as many goals or assists but still have a significant impact on their team’s success through strong defensive play.
One of the benefits of using Point Shares is that it provides a more accurate assessment of a player’s value to their team than just looking at goals and assists alone. For example, a player who scores 30 goals in a season may seem like an invaluable asset to their team. However, if they also allow 40 goals while on the ice, then their overall contribution could be considered less significant than someone with fewer goals but better defense.
Another benefit of PS is that it allows for comparisons between players regardless of position or role on the team. A defenseman who contributes significantly to his team’s offensive production may have similar OPS values compared to forwards which makes him/her stand out from other defenders in the league.
Point Shares also give us an opportunity to appreciate players whose contributions are typically underrated by traditional statistics; this includes those playing lower lines such as penalty killers and shot blockers. These “role” players’ contribution can be gauged through DPS which creates opportunities for them that accurately reflect how well they contribute towards winning games even when they aren’t scoring points themselves.
PS has become increasingly popular among hockey analysts and fans alike because it provides an objective measure of a player’s value beyond just basic statistics. Furthermore, it has been shown time and again that teams with higher PS are much more likely to make playoffs and win championships compared to those without them due largely due to how these metrics consider aspects such as special teams performance.
In conclusion, Point Shares provide us with a comprehensive analysis tool for understanding how each individual player contributes towards winning games in hockey beyond simple scoring metrics like goals & assists. By accounting both offensively (OPS) as well as defensively (DPS), we can now gauge how much each player enhances his own team’s chances against their opponents. With Point Shares becoming more well-known by the day, it’s easy to see why this metric is now an essential tool for hockey analysts and fans alike.