Using anthropometric variables and performance statistics to assess the effects of rule changes in the National Hockey League

Abstract

This study set out to determine whether or not rule changes imparted by the NHL in 2003 and 2005, have had an effect on the anthropometric profile of drafted NHL players. Primarily, this research aims to determine if there has been a change in the number of draftees who sign a Standard Player’s Contract (SPC) from the time of their draft, secondly, to determine if rule changes have affected how much player anthropometrics and performance variables correlate with TOI/GP, and lastly to compare correlations of draft height and weight versus the year drafted to the NHL. The first objective of this research, using a Chi-square analysis, is to determine if there is a statistically significant difference in the number of draftees who reach the 10+ game threshold in each of their first 3 seasons post draft at two time periods (2005 draft cohort and 2015 draft cohort), which indicates the signing of a Standard Player’s Contract. A Chi-square analysis was also used to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in the number of draftees who played any games in each of their first 3 season post draft at two time periods (2005 draft cohort and 2015 draft cohort). Lastly, an Independent Samples T-test was used to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between two draft cohorts (2005 and 2015) in the average number of games played by draftees in each of their first 3 NHL seasons post draft. The second objective utilizes in-season, anthropometric data and performance statistics to correlate time on ice/games played (TOI/GP) for the entire league for two different seasons (2003-2004 & 2015-2016). The correlations for each time period were compared for significant variables. The final objective used correlations between reported draft height and weight, and year drafted to the NHL between the 2003-2017 seasons