AcademyThe RinkLog philosophy

Why goals are not everything

Every kid wants to score goals, and that is normal: it is the moment everyone applauds. But a hockey game contains roughly one goal for every few dozen won battles, completed passes, backchecks and faceoffs. Reducing success to goals is judging a book by its cover. It is also statistically cruel: even great scorers spend most of their shifts not scoring.

Progress, not pressure

The best proof comes from the highest level: the NHL created the Selke Trophy precisely because its own awards celebrated offense too much and the rest of the game too little. Patrice Bergeron won it six times, a record, and is considered one of the most valuable players of his generation, not for his goal totals, but for everything he did around them: dominant faceoffs, defensive presence, a complete 200-foot game.

For a young player, widening the definition of success starts with measurement: when shots attempted, ice time, faceoffs and +/- are tracked, every type of player gets a column to shine in and a curve to push upward. The scorer still gets celebrated, but so does the future Bergeron. That is what leaving no one behind means: giving every player a number that proves they matter.

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

Try it for free