Goalie Stats 101: GAA and Save Percentage

Goaltender evaluation is harder than it looks. Two stats dominate the conversation: save percentage and goals against average. They measure overlapping but distinct things. Understanding the difference makes you a sharper reader of the goalie leaderboards.

Save percentage

Save percentage (SV%) is the fraction of shots a goalie stops. A goalie who faces 1,000 shots and allows 95 goals has a .905 SV%. The scale is compressed: .910 is good, .920 is excellent, .880 is struggling. Small differences in the decimal represent a meaningful gap in actual goals allowed over a full season.

SV% is the more informative of the two main goalie stats because it tells you how often a goalie stopped a shot, independent of how many shots they faced. A goalie on a bad defensive team faces more shots but is not penalized in their SV% for it, only for what they fail to stop.

Goals against average

GAA is the number of goals a goalie allows per 60 minutes of ice time. A goalie with 180 goals allowed in 2,700 minutes of play has a GAA of 4.00. Lower is better.

GAA is weaker than SV% as an evaluation tool because it conflates goalie performance with team defense. A goalie behind a leaky defense faces more shots per game, which mechanically raises their GAA even if they are stopping the same percentage of what they face. SV% is more team-neutral.

Shutouts

A shutout is awarded when a goalie allows zero goals in a full game (60 minutes plus overtime if it occurs). Shutouts are a reliable indicator of elite performance over a full season; they require both individual skill and some good fortune on the nights they happen. A goalie with 8 or more shutouts in a CHL season is having an outstanding year.