Do you monitor your own GAA?

[creasecollector]

Hey guys, 

First off, I know that many goalies do not put much stock in to their GAA as many now regard it as more of a team statistic rather than the individual goalie (which I do agree with), but I was just wondering if any goalies on here monitor their own Goals Against Average in comparison to other goalies in your league? 

The reason I ask this is because the stats were recently updated on my league's website, and before a recent game I admittedly found myself comparing myself to other goalies in the league in where I "stood" in regards to the GAA stats. I also caught myself thinking before the game that If I keep my Goals Aginst below this number and so-and-so lets in x number of goals tonight, then I could surpass a goalie or two on this list.

Normally I don't care about that stuff, as I know it doesn't define me as a goaltender, but (and I hate to admit it publicly) it did creep into my mind before a game a few nights ago once the league stats were recently updated. I should also note that this is a very competitive & invite-only rec league and It's my first full season in this league. I was lucky enough to be an emergency/injury sub late last season for roughly a dozen games or so and based on my level of play "made the cut" for this season to replace another goalie in their league. I guess this could have a lot to do with these numbers getting in my head more than usual, as this season I feel like I have to "prove something" or that I belong in this league at this level of play. Yes, it's silly, I know.   

Now, I should note that I've been playing goal for about 10 years now. So in no way do I let any stat usually dictate how I feel about my own game or how I stack up to other goalies in the league. I'd like to think that with my playing experience I can be honest with myself to know where I stand when comparing myself to others (whether better or worse) and can keep a good frame of mind when looking into this stuff so it doesn't creep into my on-ice perfermance. The biggest stat that I care about it games won, but I do feel the whole GAA stuff creep into my mind from time-to-time. 

So my question(s) is this: Have you ever found yourself (whether you're checking the league stats page very frequently or infrequently) comparing your GAA in relation to other goalies in your league to see where you "stack up"? How did you re-focus and not let those pointless numbers creep into your game? Have you ever felt any added pressure to keep that number as low as possible, even if you know at the end of the day it doesn't matter?

Just wondering where my other goalie friends are at when it comes to the statistical side of their game. My league's stats is very basic, so GAA is all I've got to go on. I wish it had other stats of course, but sadly that is not the case. I find because this position is so unique compared to other positions on the ice, I feel like us goalies can be very in our own heads at all times when it comes to our own game on the ice, which can be both a really good thing, but I feel like a lot of things can also have a negative impact on the mental side of our game as well if we don't keep this stuff in check. 

Cheers!

[seagoal]

Nice topic.

I absolutely do.  My league also tracks shots so we have Save % too. I can't say I ever think about stats during games though, so I don't share your concern about letting it get to your head.

Of the two, GAA and SV %, I personally put way more stock in GAA.  You can have a better SV% than the other goalie every game and still lose every game.  That's not possible for GAA.  I agree it's reflective of a team's play, but it's not a team stat.  Only a goalie is on the ice the whole time and only a goalie has some sort of chance to stop a puck.  Just my thoughts on it as a stat.

My goal right now is higher than 90% and less than 3.5 and I'm currently succeeding. So for me, I use them constructively and as a motivational metric.

I sub for teams a lot and unfortunately my team doesn't track goalie stats separately by team in a clear way. I make a point each week to check in on my stats for my specific team vs. my general league stats that include subbing.

[CJ Boiss]

I put way more stock in my Sv% than my GAA. And I temper those stats based on the team in front of me.

As a goalie, my job is to stop pucks. I can't score goals, and I can't stop guys from shooting at my net. If my team is newly made and way out of their depth then my Sv% and GAA may look something like this (.793 Sv% and 8.98 GAA); or, if my team has been together for years, plays a very structured game, and does a very good job of controlling the play in our zone, my stats may look something like this (.934 Sv% and 1.83 GAA - scroll way down).

Poor, sorely mismatched play in front of us will tank our stats. I just try to focus on going out and playing the best game I can.

[Punisher Goalie]

My league’s website calculates Goals Saved Above Average (GSAA) and my competitive nature makes me focus almost entirely on this stat. Explanation here: https://ingoalmag.com/analysis/gsaa-essential-statistic-evaluating-goaltenders/

Basically, it’s a plus/minus rating compared with the average number of goals a goalie in the division would surrender under the same volume of shots. You’re comparing your performance to all other goalies in the league over the course of the season.  

[ThatCarGuy]

Hahaha I have a .902 sv% last I checked and at least 7 GAA

What I'm trying to say here is, I couldn't care less about GAA

[seagoal]

1 hour ago, ThatCarGuy said:

Hahaha I have a .902 sv% last I checked and at least 7 GAA

What I'm trying to say here is, I couldn't care less about GAA

Ha, in 1 game to get 90% with 7 in the net you'd have to face 70 shots. 

[Max27]

Idk about save percentage cause my league doesn’t count goalie stats at all but I’ve kept track of my gaa and in 3 gp i have a 2.67 gaa 

[ThatCarGuy]

9 hours ago, seagoal said:

Ha, in 1 game to get 90% with 7 in the net you'd have to face 70 shots. 

Yeah and that’d be crazy 

[seagoal]

8 minutes ago, ThatCarGuy said:

Yeah and that’d be crazy 

Unreal.  Wow.

[breaklouis35]

This year, I actually decided to keep track of my GAA and SV% because the league I am in doesn't provide any of that. They don't even provide how many shots on goal. When I was in high school, my dad used to take count of the shots on a clipboard and show me where the shots were taken and where they scored from. It was interesting to look at and helped me the next time we played against that team.

Now I count the shots in my head during the game, it helps me stay focused. 

Last week was the first time I actually let the statistics creep into my brain while I was on the ice. It didn't help, I can say that. I agree with @CJ Boiss about having a good team in front of you as compared to a not so great team in front of you and how that can mess with your stats. 

I would try not to worry about it too much and just focus on the game at hand. Hope that helps.

[coopaloop1234]

15 hours ago, CJ Boiss said:

I put way more stock in my Sv% than my GAA. And I temper those stats based on the team in front of me.

As a goalie, my job is to stop pucks. I can't score goals, and I can't stop guys from shooting at my net. If my team is newly made and way out of their depth then my Sv% and GAA may look something like this (.793 Sv% and 8.98 GAA); or, if my team has been together for years, plays a very structured game, and does a very good job of controlling the play in our zone, my stats may look something like this (.934 Sv% and 1.83 GAA - scroll way down).

Poor, sorely mismatched play in front of us will tank our stats. I just try to focus on going out and playing the best game I can.

Bingo Bango. CJ Boss knows the tango.

My stats so far this year have been pretty poor. My two teams (Beavers and Brewers) have had their difficulties. Beavers are playing in too high of a div for the guys and 3 of the losses were games I wasn't there and they signed me in anyways. That's a team that heavily relies on me to drag them through games in div 7. So the subs have been tanking my performances.

My Brewers team has faced a similar situation where we've been getting just pummeled by teams that are younger and have guys that show up. I haven't had a game where I faced less than 35 shots. We just got moved down and killed our first game, so that will help. But a couple of those losses has DESTROYED my stats and there was very little I could do about it. Unfortunately I'm not @ThatCarGuy and can only let in 7 on 70 shots. It's more like 7 on 50. 

Long story short: my stats are tracked to some degree (there is a lot of errors on a game to game basis) and as much fun as it is to compare and track, they also only tell a portion of the story. A few years ago I weighed these stats heavily to my performance. Now I just track them for fun. I'd lose my brain trying to keep these high on the teams I play for.

[southpawtendy48]

I try not to focus on either. The scorekeepers in this league either don’t count shots or are horrible at it and hardly pay attention. 

[SaveByRichter35]

The league in which my team used to play tracked stats, kinda.  The scorekeepers were fucking awful at tracking shots.  There were games where the board would say 15 shots while I counted somewhere in the 40s.  Then you have one guy who counted literally EVERYTHING as a shot on goal.  The goalie stats were never right.  I did sometimes let that get in my head because I knew whatever goals I let in would compound even more negatively knowing I wasn't getting credit for the majority of the shots I faced.  Granted, this was the same for every goalie in the league so you take it with a grain of salt.  To add to that I have one actual dman on my team.  The other 3 are all forwards that line up as dmen on faceoffs...if you catch my drift lol.  So yea while we had the best team in the league the majority of the time our defense wasn't very good.  Lots of odd man rushes and back door crap.

The league in which my team currently plays doesn't keep track of anything at all so it has been much easier on my mental game haha.

[southpawtendy48]

1 hour ago, SaveByRichter35 said:

The league in which my team used to play tracked stats, kinda.  The scorekeepers were fucking awful at tracking shots.  There were games where the board would say 15 shots while I counted somewhere in the 40s.  Then you have one guy who counted literally EVERYTHING as a shot on goal.  The goalie stats were never right.  I did sometimes let that get in my head because I knew whatever goals I let in would compound even more negatively knowing I wasn't getting credit for the majority of the shots I faced.  Granted, this was the same for every goalie in the league so you take it with a grain of salt.  To add to that I have one actual dman on my team.  The other 3 are all forwards that line up as dmen on faceoffs...if you catch my drift lol.  So yea while we had the best team in the league the majority of the time our defense wasn't very good.  Lots of odd man rushes and back door crap.

The league in which my team currently plays doesn't keep track of anything at all so it has been much easier on my mental game haha.

Guess we’re on the same boat. In one of my games the guy didn’t even count the goals as shots.