SOG meaning in hockey

What Does SOG Mean in Hockey? (Shots on Goal)

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As Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, once said, “You miss 100 per cent of the shots you don’t take.” When it comes to hockey you typically aren’t going to score unless you shoot the puck and SOG is now a part of a player’s and team’s overall on-ice statistics as it represents shots on goal, both for and against.

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What Does SOG Mean In Hockey?

In ice hockey, SOG stands for “Shots on Goal”, meaning the number of shots on the opposing team’s net. Not all shots count as Shots on Goal; shots that hit the post or crossbar and do not go in do not count toward SOG stats, but a goal counts as a shot on goal.

When watching a hockey game. in person or on TV, you will often see the shots for each team listed. It is possible to see SOG during gameplay or the SOG stats between periods being discussed.

It is also possible to see SOG stats for an individual player as it is now a commonly recorded statistic for NHL players to have counted for them. It is also an important stat for goalies as the amount of shots on goal that they save will impact their save percentage statistics.

Do All Shots Count Towards SOG?

Not every shot that a player takes toward the net is recorded as a shot on goal as the attempt must be on target. This means that the puck would have entered the goal if the goaltender or a defender hadn’t been in position to save it as the last line of defence.

Therefore, a shot that hits one of the goalposts or the crossbar and doesn’t enter the net isn’t recorded as a shot on goal, as the puck wouldn’t have entered the net regardless of whether the shot was saved or not.

A shot on goal is either saved or the shot results in a goal as it has entered the net.

Shots that are blocked by a defending player anywhere other than on the goal line or as the last means of defence are not counted as a shot on goal. If a player deflects a teammate’s shot then the player who deflected the puck is credited with the shot on goal, not the player who took the original shot.

Any shots that are taken by players that are blocked or shot wide of the net are generally regarded as an attempted shot but not a shot on goal. A penalty shot is counted as a shot on goal for both the player taking the shot and the goaltender as long as the shot is on target.

When determining what constitutes a shot on goal, all shots are basically created equal as the NHL doesn’t take into consideration how hard the shot was and the position the shot was taken from. As long as the shot was on target it is counted as a shot on goal.

Read our related post “8 Types of Shots in Hockey (Each Type Explained)” here.

What NHL Players Take the Most Shots?

The NHL began including season shots on goal totals as a statistic in 1982/83 and started counting blocked shots by players in 2005/06. The league reportedly began counting the statistics for individual players in 1959/60.

Here are a some shots records in the NHL:

  • The leading shot taker in the 2022/23 season was forward David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins with 407, and he finished second in the league with 61 goals for a successful shooting ratio of 15 percent.
  • Centre Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers led the league with 64 goals on a third-best 352 shots for a success ratio of 18.2 percent.
  • Goaltender Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators faced the most shots on goal at 2,099 in 64 games and saved 1,928 of them for a 91.9 save percentage.
  • When it comes to NHL records for shots on goal, Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals holds the record for most shots in a career, with 6,355 in 1,347 games heading into the 2023/24 season.
  • Hall of Fame defenceman Ray Bourque holds the record for the most shots on net in a playoff career with 812.
  • Hall of Fame centre Phil Esposito holds the league mark for shots on goal during a season with 550 in 1970/71.
  • The most shots on goal in a single playoff season were taken by forward Henrik Zetterberg in 2007/08 with 116.
  • Bourque also holds the record for shots on goal in a regular-season game with 19 in 1990/91
  • while Daniel Briere holds the record for shots in a playoff game with 14 in 2005/06. The most shots on goal in one regular-season period were taken by forward Evander Kane with 10.
  • On the flip side of the coin, the most shots on goal a netminder has faced in a regular-season outing was 83 by Sam LoPresti in 1940/41.
  • Roberto Luongo faced the most shots in a season at 2,488 in 2005/06 while Normie Smith faced the most shots on goal in a playoff game at 92 in 1935/36.

Do More Shots Mean More Goals?

More shots on goal doesn’t necessarily mean more goals in the NHL. A team’s shooting percentage will determine how many goals it will score during a season. Shooting percentage in hockey means the percentage of shots that are goals.

For example, in 2022/23 the Edmonton Oilers led the league in goals per game with 3.96 for a league-high 325 goals. They took the sixth-most shots on goal with 2,754, which meant they led the league with an 11.8 shooting percentage.

The Florida Panthers led the league with shots on net in 2022/23 with 3,019 in 82 games for an average of 36.82 per game. The Panthers finished sixth in the league in goals per game with 3.51 for 290 on the season. The team’s shooting percentage was 9.5.

More shots don’t mean more goals in hockey, but it is important to note that one shot always has more of a chance of scoring than no shots at all.

How Many Shots Are There Per NHL Game?

On average, an NHL game will see about 60 shots on goal per game, with each team averaging approximately 30 per contest. The NHL record for most combined shots on goal in a regular-season game since 1959/60 is 104.

This occurred in 1976 when the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Rockies 4-2 at home. The Leafs were credited with with 51 shots and the Rockies with 54.

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