AcademyGoaltending

How do you calculate goals against average (GAA)?

Goals against average (GAA) is the number of goals a goalie allows, normalized to a full game. It answers the question "how many goals does this goalie give up per game?".

Formula

GAA = (goals against × game length) ÷ minutes played

Example

In a league with 60-minute games, a goalie allows 8 goals over 240 minutes played: GAA = (8 × 60) ÷ 240 = 2.00. In youth hockey with shorter periods, use the league’s real game length.

GAA's limit: it depends heavily on the team in front of the goalie. A goalie behind a leaky defense faces 40 shots a game and can post a high GAA while playing very well. That is why GAA is always read TOGETHER with save percentage: SV% tells you the goalie's quality, GAA tells you the overall outcome.

RinkLog measures and computes this statistic automatically during your hockey, ball hockey and ringette games.

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