Hockey is one of the most exciting and fast-paced sports. Players use their skating speed, creativity and skill to create scoring opportunities while opposing defensive players and goaltenders try to keep the puck out of the net. Games are often low-scoring, and each goal usually has a great deal of meaning. Players who score and set up goals make a major contribution to their teams and are rewarded with scoring points.
Basic Scoring System
Hockey rewards the goal scorer and the players who set up the goal with scoring points. If a player takes the shot that ends up in the back of the net, that goal is worth one scoring point. If another player makes a pass that sets up the scoring shot, he gets an assist and that also is recorded as a scoring point. If another player was involved in the play by getting the puck to the player who made the pass prior to the goal, he also gets a scoring point. Two players can get assists on a goal. There cannot be a third assist on any goal.
Unassisted Goal
Assists are not always handed out as official scoring points. A player may block an opponent's shot and then take possession of the puck. As that player moves up ice, he gets past the defensive players on his own, and he ends up beating the goaltender. No other player assisted on that offensive play, and no assists are handed out. Unassisted goals happen frequently when a team is shorthanded.
Tap-in Goal
In some cases, the players who get the assists do almost all the work. A player with the puck may carry the puck past two or three defenders and pass to a teammate who takes a hard shot. The goaltender ends up blocking the shot, but the puck lands dangerously in the crease and a third teammate standing next to the goal taps it into the net. The shot that scored the goal was simple, but the player that tapped it in gets credit for a goal.
Scoring Championships
Amateur and professional leagues keep track of scoring statistics throughout the hockey season. The player who has the most scoring points wins the championship. A player can score an abundance of goals and rarely get assists, while other players excel at setting up teammates but rarely score themselves. Either type of player can win a scoring championship. Wayne Gretzky set the NHL scoring record when he scored 215 points during the 1985-86 season. Gretzky scored 52 goals and 163 assists playing for the Edmonton Oilers that season. In addition to setting the all-time scoring record that season, Gretzky also set the record for assists in a season. Gretzky scored an NHL record 92 goals in the 1981-82 season while wearing an Oilers uniform.
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