HHOF Methodology

Eras

  • Each player is assigned to the era where they earned the most career value

Positions

  • Forwards
  • Defencemen
  • Goaltenders
  • Each player is assigned the position in which they played the most career NHL games

[Read more about Eras and Positions here]

PPS System

#1. Career Value

  • Career adjusted Point Shares ÷ 1.5

#2. Pace Value

  • Skaters: [Career adjusted PS ÷ career adjusted GP x 82] x 10
  • Goaltenders: [Career adjusted PS ÷ career adjusted GP x 60] x 10

#3. Peak Value

  • Best pace value over 7 consecutive seasons
  • Minimum 3 adjusted seasons

#4. Timeline

  • [Career + pace + peak values] x [-10% x (102 – NHL Debut) ÷ 101]
  • NHL Debut: 1917-18 Season = 1 … 2022-23 Season = 105

#5. Bonus Value

  • A. Playoff; B. International; C. Award share

A. Playoff

  • Bonus system (below) based on Stanley Cup Score calibrated to era
  • Add or subtract 5-point increments based on individual impact
  • Maximum: Eras 1 & 2 = 40 points; Eras 3-5 = 30 points

Stanley Cup Score (SC+), Eras 2-5:

Stanley Cup ResultsEra 2 SC+Eras 3-5 SC+
5+ Cup Wins40
4 Cup Wins30
3+ Cup Wins30
3 Cup Wins25
2 Cup Wins2020
1 Cup Win1010
0 Cup Wins, 1+ Finals55
0 Cup Wins, 0 Finals00

Stanley Cup Score (SC+), Era 1: for each Cup-winning season:
[Number of NHL teams ÷ 8] x 10; rounded to nearest 5

+/- Individual impact

  • Manual adjustment for clear contributions above or below SC+ in increments of +/- 5
  • Only Conn Smythe Trophy wins (+5) may extend above maximum bonus

Note: For SC+ scoring, players must play in min. 50% of the team’s playoff GP, or make otherwise significant contribution


B. International

  • Bonus system (below) based on best-on-best event team results
    • ’72 Summit Series
    • ’76, ’81, ’84, ’87, ’91 Canada Cups
    • ’96, ’04, ’16 World Cups
    • ’98, ’02, ’06, ’10, ’14 Olympics
  • Bonus standards higher for Canadians vs. all other countries
  • Maximum: Eras 1 & 2 = n/a (no events); Eras 3-5 = 10 points

Eras 3-5:

International ResultsCanadian
Skaters
All Other
Skaters
Canadian
Goaltenders
All Other
Goaltenders
2+ Titles10
1 Title as key contributor, 2+ Events10
1 Title, 2+ Events10
1 Title as key contributor10
3+ Finals or Medals10
1 Title5
1 Final or Medal, 2+ Events5
1 Final or Medal as key contributor5
1 Title as Starter1010
2+ Finals or Medals as Starter10
1 Title as Backup55
1 Final or Medal as Starter55
1 Final or Medal as Backup, 2+ Events5
0 Finals or Medals, outstanding performance55
Skaters: Title, Event, Final or Medal = min. 50% of team’s GP; Goaltenders: Starter = most GP of the team’s goaltenders; Backup = min. 2 GP

C. Award Share

  • Career positional award shares x 5
  • Applicable trophies/honours for award shares below

Forwards:

  • 1923-24 to present:

Defencemen:

  • 1953-54 to present:
  • 1930-31 to 1952-53:
    • 1st All-Star x 0.4
    • 2nd All-Star x 0.15
  • 1923-24 to 1929-30:
    • Hart shares

Goaltenders:

  • 1981-82 to present:
  • 1930-31 to 1980-81:
    • 1st All-Star x 0.67
    • 2nd All-Star x 0.33
  • 1923-24 to 1929-30:
    • Hart shares
  • Bonus for Selke Trophy win (+2)
  • Bonus for Hart Trophy win by defenceman or goaltender (+5) — 1930-31 to present

[Read more about PPS System here]

Hall of Fame Standards

  1. There are six PPS standards based on era and position
  2. A player is tiered based on their PPS relative to the standard for their era and position
  3. The number of eligible NHL players that meet the PPS standards will always match the actual HHOF (i.e., 209 through the 2023 cycle)
    • Standards require annual adjusting once that year’s induction class is announced
  4. The standards are only intended to be a starting point for a player’s HHOF case
    • Treating a player’s position relative to the standard as an open-and-shut HHOF case is not the purpose of the methodology

[Read more about HHOF Standards here]


Era concepts, PPS System, Adjusted PS, Adjusted GP, Adjusted Seasons, NHL Award Shares from Adjusted Hockey;
League data information used herein was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by the Hockey Databank project. For more information about the Hockey Databank project, visit https://groups.io/g/hockey-databank/topics;
Points Shares and Adjusted Stats methodology from Hockey-Reference.com