Many people don’t know the definition of these two terms, so here’s a quick primer. Gf is an abbreviation for gender fairing, which is a way of ensuring women get a fair share of ice time in hockey. Ga stands for goal averaging, which is a stat that measures how well a team performs compared to the amount of goals they score. While the general idea behind these metrics is to level the playing field for women’s hockey, these terms have also been linked to the underrepresentation of women in certain positions in hockey.
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Why Are Women’s Hockey Stats Important?
First off, let’s discuss why stats in general are important in hockey. It’s a constantly evolving game where players are constantly coming and going, but overall, the scoring volume remains fairly similar year after year. This makes for dull games and a rather shallow understanding of what actually happens on the ice. Moreover, stats tell a story, which can sometimes be more interesting than what actually takes place on the ice. For example, take a look at the 2016 Sochi Olympics. You’d think given the history of host countries and the highly competitive nature of the games, they would’ve wrapped up the gold medal as soon as the opening ceremony was over.
But that’s not what happened. In fact, the U.S. women’s hockey team had to wait until the final minutes of the game to clinch the gold. And even then, their opponents had the last laugh as they scored a goal in the last 30 seconds to make it a 3-2 victory.
To be fair, American women have now won 16 straight gold medals at the Olympics, dating back to 2006. It’s quite an accomplishment. But the point is that stats can be pretty manipulative. By looking at the numbers alone, one could easily conclude that this year’s U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams were evenly matched in terms of skill; the women just didn’t have the benefit of a few more minutes of ice time during the season. And that might very well be true. But with the benefit of hindsight, it’s also clear that the U.S. women’s team was the better of the two, and the numbers don’t lie either.
What Is Gf In Women’s Hockey?
Now that we’ve covered the general importance of stats in hockey, let’s discuss gf in women’s hockey specifically. As mentioned above, gf stands for gender fairing, and is used in ice hockey and other sports to ensure women get a fair share of the ice time. The concept behind gf is rather simple: instead of the coaches of each team picking the players for the game at random, the on-ice personnel should be comprised of an equal number of men and women. This ensures that the games will be competitive and interesting. In theory, at least. In practice, it can be a bit more complicated.
How Is Gf Handled In The Nhl?
The National Hockey League is the highest stage of play in the world, and is sometimes mistakenly referred to as the NHL just because it’s the most popular league in North America. The NHL is actually the longest continually played professional sports league, and it was founded back in 1917. It’s currently made up of 30 teams split between the US and Canada, with the host of the World Cup of Hockey each year. There are 16 Canadian teams and 14 American teams. And just like that, we’ve covered the most important attributes of the NHL. Now let’s get into how gf is handled in the NHL.
In the NHL, gf is usually handled in one of two ways. The first is formalized rules that dictate how coaches must split ice time between the men and the women. The second is a set of guidelines that each team and league will use to self-govern how they want to approach gf.
The Coaches’ Split
Many people are under the misconception that gf is absolutely governed by the rules, and that coaches have no choice but to split the teams 50-50. But that’s far from the case. Coaches are given a great deal of autonomy when it comes to deciding how to handle gf, and can make use of several approaches to ensure their female players get the same opportunity as their male counterparts. The most popular method is something that’s been known as the French press technique, named after its developer, former NHL coach and general manager, Jacques Demers.
Under the French press technique, coaches will split their players on the basis of talent and not on the basis of sex. They’ll then match the skilled players with the most suitable partners, with the understanding that eventually, the teams will be combined. This ensures that the least skilled players get the least amount of ice time, as well as providing the coach with the flexibility to move around talent-wise during the game. The most recent example of the French press technique in action is the Anaheim Ducks and their head coach, Bob Boughner. Boughner was at a loss when asked about gf at the start of the 2016-17 season, noting that his team was built around skill and not gender and that he saw no issue with providing the same opportunity to his female players:
“I think it’s a great thing for women’s hockey and for women in general. I think it really brings the game to the next level. I think it makes the game more entertaining. I think it makes the fans interested in the game a little bit more. So, from an entertainment standpoint, I think it’s a positive.”
This type of forward-thinking is exactly what the NHL and its member teams should be doing, and they’re making a serious impact already. Just look at how many women now play in the sport. Back in 2011, there were only 82 female players in the entire league. That number now stands at 173, with 13 more NHL teams having entered the league since then. Moreover, there are now more than 70,000 registered female players in the NHL, and that’s a number that’s likely to keep increasing with the formalization and awareness of gf around the league.
The Individual Responsibility Of Each Team
One of the other ways gf is handled in the NHL is individually, by each team. Each team will self-govern how they want to approach gf in the team’s locker room, using various methods and approaches to ensure their female players get the same opportunity as their male counterparts. Some teams will have a specific ratio they want their men and women to be represented as. For instance, the St. Louis Blues want to have at least four women for every five men on the ice. But that’s not the norm, and far from it. A large number of teams will simply use their best judgment when deciding how to split their players.
Whatever method or approach a team uses to formalize how they want to handle gf, they must do so for all of their players. The onus is on each team to ensure that gf is applied fairly and consistently. Moreover, if a team does a bad job of handling gf, it could cause significant controversy and backlash, leading to possible team sanctions from the league. Just ask the Chicago Blackhawks about their 2016 tournament berth.
What About Ga?
Now that we’ve discussed gf, let’s quickly discuss the related term, ga. Like gf, ga stands for goal averaging, but this term is used in reference to a team’s overall performance, rather than its gender distribution. Also like gf, the goal-averaging stat is used to level the playing field for women’s hockey. For example, consider the 2016 Olympics mentioned above. The United States women’s hockey team’s goal average was 0.97, which was better than the 0.95 of the team they defeated in the gold-medal game.
The NHL and its member teams are moving in the right direction by implementing gf, and they’re doing so for the right reasons. Not only will these stats provide a better understanding of the sport, they’ll also bring more interest and intrigue from fans, and could very well lead to an increased audience for women’s hockey. There’s a reason why the Olympics continue to expand and include more teams each and every year: because increased interest in the game will inevitably lead to an increase in the number of people playing it. It’s just a matter of time before the number of female players in the NHL and internationally surpasses the number of men.