107 seasons of hockey
The dead-puck era ended.The slot-shot era is just beginning.
Goals per game by season, from the inaugural 1917–18 schedule through tonight. The shape of hockey has changed.
Goals per game · league average
From 9.58 to 2.92 and back.
Eight eras of hockey
Each one looks different on the rink.
1917–1941
Pre-modern
5.01
GOALS / GAME
3,707 games played
REGULAR SEASON
Nels Stewart
339 GOALS · ERA LEADER
Forward passing was illegal until 1929. Goalies stayed on their feet. The puck was offense; the rink, a duel.
1942–1966
Original Six
5.8
GOALS / GAME
4,920 games played
REGULAR SEASON
Gordie Howe
714 GOALS · ERA LEADER
Six teams played each other 14 times a year. Rivalries calcified. Howe and Richard set the template for the modern winger.
1967–1978
Expansion
6.45
GOALS / GAME
7,256 games played
REGULAR SEASON
Phil Esposito
659 GOALS · ERA LEADER
The league doubled, then doubled again. Goaltending was still nearly maskless. Goals followed the talent dilution.
1979–1992
Run-and-Gun
7.48
GOALS / GAME
11,968 games played
REGULAR SEASON
Wayne Gretzky
887 GOALS · ERA LEADER
The Edmonton dynasty rewired the league. Five future Hall of Famers on one power play. Gretzky scored 92 in 80 games.
1993–2003
Dead-puck
5.59
GOALS / GAME
12,089 games played
REGULAR SEASON
Jaromir Jagr
498 GOALS · ERA LEADER
Neutral-zone trap. Goalie equipment ballooned. Goals fell to a generational low — 5.1/GP at the trough.
2005–2011
Post-lockout
5.74
GOALS / GAME
8,610 games played
REGULAR SEASON
Alex Ovechkin
403 GOALS · ERA LEADER
Two-line pass, smaller pads, shootouts. Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin arrived together. Scoring rebounded.
2012–2019
Analytics
5.68
GOALS / GAME
9,264 games played
REGULAR SEASON
Alex Ovechkin
425 GOALS · ERA LEADER
Corsi, expected goals, line-matching. Defense-first systems compressed the slot. McDavid still played like the rules didn't apply.
2021–2025
Slot shot
6.24
GOALS / GAME
6,560 games played
REGULAR SEASON
Leon Draisaitl
287 GOALS · ERA LEADER
High-volume slot scoring is the new orthodoxy. Goalies stop more pucks than ever. The shots that count come from one place.
Spatial drift · 1994 → 2024
The rink is shrinking around the net.
Three snapshot seasons. Each shot location is binned into 4×4 ft cells, colored by density.
2009
300 bins · 62,070 shots
2024
300 bins · 56,153 shots
Peak seasons across decades
How does an MVP season compare?
69,712 games · 7.11M events · 8,660 players · 1.16M shot coords · 108 seasons ERAS · 107 seasons · indexed on (season, game_type)