League Scoring averages over 2 decades

[Telkster 550]

League scoring averages over 2 decades

 

This was a very interesting article to look at to see how the league scoring trends have played out over the last 2 decades. Once S71 is analyzed, I will give my opinion on if league scoring is currently too high, too low, or just about perfect. The past 20 VHL years will have a big influence on my opinion, but will not be the only deciding factor on my opinion. Included with each stat will be a short few sentences with my initial reaction on the GPG (goals per game average), as well as moving the story along up to the present. I have little to no knowledge on the GPG at all besides the last few seasons, so it will be a blind analysis/opinion from scratch. 

 

S52- 5.2 GPG

I guess it’s not the greatest average to start this trend analysis, 5.2 GPG is pretty low. Let's continue.

 

S53 -5.32 GPG

A slight increase in GPG, but the trend so far is still generally low. 

 

S54 4.66 GPG

Yikes. That is a big sudden drop off. The Bears even averaged less than 1 goal per game in this season. Hard to believe but let me repeat, 69 goals in 72 games, crazy!

 

S55- 4.76 GPG

I mean it is an increase, but any season that's under 5 GPG is certainly not fun for the suffering points across the board for players. 

 

S56- 5.16 GPG

Coming back to almost where we started. The Americans scored just 62 goals this season, even despite the small jump up in GPG

.

S57- 5 GPG

It really seems like a wild swinging pattern, but this is a fairly average number based on the previous 5 years. 

 

S58- 4.96 GPG

It has been low for a number of seasons in a row now. Hopefully it can come back up?

 

S59- 5.04 GPG

Yet another slight increase from the year prior, but not super close compared to the first 2 seasons.

 

S60- 5.63 GPG

Now these are levels that I am a bit more comfortable with, much better than the several years prior!

 

S61- 5.17 GPG

And right back down again, there is little consistency in the last decade with GPG being as high as 5.63, and as low as 4.66. 

 

S62- 6.27 GPG

This does make my ocd blood rush, however this is an example of a season that I would like to see the number around.

 

S63- 5.89 GPG

I think it's another alright season in terms of GPG, maybe a tad bit off my ideal number, but beggars can’t be choosers.

 

S64- 5.57 GPG

Well I mean I guess as long as it doesn’t drop lower next season right?

 

S65 5.92 GPG

Another fairly good season for the GPG average. Maybe I can have a quick conclusion if everything is fine and dandy from here on out?

 

S66- 5.96 GPG

Besides a small dip of 5.57 GPG back in S64, the last 5 years are looking pretty healthy.

 

S67- 6.08 GPG

The VHL seems to have smoothly transitioned GPG wise so far after adding 2 expansion teams recently 

 

S68- 5.87 GPG

This is the lowest GPG in the past 4 years, but a relatively healthy number after adding another 2 more expansion teams to a 12 team league. 

 

S69 5.23 GPG

Ouch, the league takes a fairly heavy scoring cut after 7 years of comfortable levels.

 

S70- 5.25 GPG

A barely noticeable increase from last season, but this is the second year in a row of low GPG. 

 

S71- 5.25 GPG

And this concludes the final full season finishing the same as S70. 

 

Below is a graph to show how league scoring has changed over the past 20 years.

A quick apology on the graph as it pushed everything back by one season, and left S71 empty. I tried fixing it but google sheets left me hung out to dry. I think that league scoring should always be in a higher range somewhere between 5.50 and 6.50. The graph really shows how some of the bigger hay days were in the 60’s in the VHL. I hope the that we never see another team with less then 1 GPG again, but yeah never know. Scoring is on the lower end in recent years. Hopefully there are some higher scoring seasons ahead!

Edited June 2, 2020 by Telkster

[Victor 10,940]

11 minutes ago, Telkster said:

S62- 6.27 GPG

This does make my ocd blood rush, however this is an example of a season that I would like to see the number around.

Oh yes please.

 

smh Cast retired and the league still hasn't recovered

[Beaviss 4,957]

2 minutes ago, Victor said:

Oh yes please.

 

smh Cast retired and the league still hasn't recovered

My first pro season soooooo

[Fire Tortorella 2,653]

My very brief reaction to this is that it furthers the point that league scoring is not down, only individual scoring, and that's because teams have more players than they did before.

[Telkster 550]

3 minutes ago, Beaviss said:

My first pro season soooooo

[Andre LeBastard 112]

I really liked this article and I wish there were more like this. It seems to be well researched and the graph is an excellent addition. For us statto's, it might have been nice to see how many of these goals were PPG vs Even Strength goals, for example and/or some analysis of playoff scoring over that time.

Perhaps though, that sort of detail was outside the scope of this particular study.

 

Overall a good read and a nice bit of information on scoring over time.

 

8/10

[Jubis 1,348]

@Telkster great work ! This is something I always wanted to see