GP in hockey means games played, it is a statistic kept both for teams and individual players.
GP for players will help you determine how many games a player has played in his career or a specific season. While GP in the standings is going to show you how many games each team has played in the current season.
Understanding GP In The Standings
One of the places you are going to see the acronym GP in hockey is in the standings. In most cases, games played is going to be the first statistic shown in the standings.
The purpose of GP in the standings is to allow fans to understand how many games each team has played throughout the season. By looking at the number of games played you are able to tell if your team has had more or fewer opportunities than their opponents to earn points.
If a team is in front of yours in the standings but has played three more games this should not be a cause for concern. This is because your team is going to have three more games throughout the season to earn more points and catch up.
Additionally, having a lower gp than your opponents would help in the case of a tiebreaker during the season. If two teams have an equal number of points on the season the team with fewer games played is going to be placed higher in the standings.
Understanding GP In Player Statistics
Games played is also a stat you will see kept for each player in the league. If you were to look at just about any hockey you will notice this is one of the few statistics that is included.
Reading a player’s GP is going to give you insights into the player’s career as well as the rate the player was able to score points at.
A player’s total games played at the NHL level is a statistic that NHL players hold in high regard. If a player is able to reach a large milestone like 500 or even 1000 games this is quite a big deal.
The total number of games played throughout a career speaks to that player’s ability to continue playing in the best hockey league in the world. Many fans focus on a players point totals but to have a large number of games played is a feat in itself.
Hockey fans are also able to use the GP statistic as a way to determine how often a player scored or assisted goals.
Whether looking at a single season or career numbers the games played stat will give you a frame of reference to compare the rest of the stats. If a hockey card for example only had a players goals and assists it would be hard to tell how often that player scored.
After all scoring twenty goals in eighty-two games is very different from scoring twenty goals in fourty games.
By including this statistic in player stats fans will be able to quickly determine how often a player scored in a game.
Additionally, this statistic will show you whether or not the player you are looking into reached the goal of a point per game throughout his career. Something only fifty-six NHL players have ever done.
Looking to learn more? Check out our guides to understanding GAA or TOI.