So now that you’ve had a look at where the top scorers in the AIHL come from, and been bored by the technical details – how do different leagues compare to each other?

As we saw in the piece on AIHL scoring, the “value” of a point differs across different hockey leagues. So how do we compare across these leagues? This piece uses the approach previously discussed (How to compare one hockey league to another) to compare across 47 different hockey leagues to see what a point-per-game player in one league is equivalent to in another league.

So which league is best?

Table 1 shows a ranking of how hard it is to score in a given league, all relative to the ECHL. The number (ECHL Point ratio) is what a player scoring at 1 point per game (P/G) in that league is equivalent to in the ECHL. This uses 3 decimal places mainly because leagues at the lower end are quite close together – so apologies for the avalanche of numbers. The ‘Games per point’ column takes this from another angle – and shows how many games it would take (on average) a point-per-game player in that league to score a point in the ECHL.

Table 1: Hockey Leagues by ECHL Point Ratio

	League	ECHL Point ratio	Games per point	Country	Tier
1	National Hockey League	8.101	0.1	US/Canada	1st
2	Kontinental Hockey League	4.199	0.2	Russia/Belarus/ Kazakhstan/ China	1st
3	Swedish Hockey League	3.884	0.3	Sweden	1st
4	Extraliga (CZE)	3.607	0.3	Czechia	1st
5	American Hockey League	3.005	0.3	US/Canada	2nd
6	National League (Sui)	2.751	0.4	Switzerland	1st
7	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	2.327	0.4	Germany	1st
8	Liiga	2.255	0.4	Finland	1st
9	Allsvenskan	1.591	0.6	Sweden	2nd
10	International Central European (ICE) Hockey League	1.534	0.7	Austria/Italy/ Hungary/Slovenia	1st
11	Vysshaya Hokkeinaya Liga	1.378	0.7	Russia	2nd
12	NCAA	1.076	0.9	US	College
13	Extraliga (SVK)	1.065	0.9	Slovakia	1st
14	ECHL	1.000	1.0	US/Canada	3rd
15	1. Liga (Cze)	0.918	1.1	Czechia	2nd
16	Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2	0.904	1.1	Germany	2nd
17	Metal Ligaen	0.862	1.2	Denmark	1st
18	Elite Ice Hockey League	0.830	1.2	UK	1st
19	EliteHockey Ligaen	0.798	1.3	Norway	1st
20	Asia League Ice Hockey	0.778	1.3	Japan/South Korea	1st
21	Swiss League	0.753	1.3	Switzerland	2nd
22	Mestis	0.686	1.5	Finland	2nd
23	Ligue Magnus	0.632	1.6	France	1st
24	United States Hockey League	0.559	1.8	US	Junior
25	Polska Hokej Liga	0.543	1.8	Poland	1st
26	Usports	0.511	2.0	Canada	College
27	Chinook Hockey League	0.484	2.1	Canada	4th*
28	HockeyEttan	0.478	2.1	Sweden	3rd
29	Erste Liga	0.453	2.2	Hungary/ Romania	2nd*
30	Southern Professional Hockey League	0.426	2.3	US	4th
31	Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey	0.405	2.5	Canada	4th*
32	Alps Hockey League	0.375	2.7	Austria/Italy/ Slovenia	2nd
33	Allan Cup Hockey	0.370	2.7	Canada	4th*
34	Oberliga	0.362	2.8	Germany	3rd
35	NCAA III	0.263	3.8	US	College
36	1. Liga (Svk)	0.259	3.9	Slovakia	2nd
37	FFHG Division 1 (Fra)	0.249	4.0	France	2nd
38	2. Liga (Cze)	0.246	4.1	Czechia	3rd
39	Romanian Hockey League	0.189	5.3	Romania	2nd*
40	Suomi-Sarja	0.182	5.5	Finland	3rd
41	Australian Ice Hockey League	0.145	6.9	Australia	1st
42	Division 2 (Swe)	0.129	7.8	Sweden	4th
43	BeNeLiga	0.127	7.9	Belgium/ Netherlands	1st
44	Regionaliga	0.123	8.1	Germany	4th
45	National Ice Hockey League	0.122	8.2	UK (England)	2nd
46	Federal Prospects Hockey League	0.113	8.9	US	5th
NR	New Zealand Ice Hockey League	0.030	33.5	NZ	1st

How about the AIHL?

To put an AIHL lens on this, these numbers suggest a point-per-game player in the AIHL would pick up a point approximately once every 7 games (6.9 to be pedantic about it) in the ECHL. Some players with a career record around this mark who have recently featured are:

• Ethan Hawes
• Kenny Hayashi
• Cam Todd
• Vadim Virjassov
• Matt Monaghan

Which is a collection of some very solid AIHL players – showing the difficulty of scoring in a league like the ECHL.

And some examples from the 2023 season:

• Tyler Kubara
• Riley Langille
• Arum Rapchuk
• Jake Pappalardo
• Rob Haselhurst

Similarly, if we took a point-per-game player in the NHL (across the whole 2022-23 season this includes John Tavares, Nico Hischier and Jack Eichel) and put them into the ECHL, this analysis would expect them to put up 8.101 points per game. In reality, we know that isn’t really the case (as maintaining that many points is almost impossible) – but there is also a reason guys like Tavares aren’t getting sent down to Newfoundland in the ECHL.

How strong is this conclusion?

So now all the nerdy crap about how it is done is covered, does it mean we can tell definitively that players from my team are going to lift the Cup – and which league is best?[i]

All caveats aside, it is always reassuring when you get an expected result at the top – and the NHL rates as far and away the hardest league to score in, which it should. Table 3 shows the ECHL point ratio for each of the leagues, as well as the standard error around this average estimate. In short, the standard error shows how ‘precise’ the estimate is – the bigger the range of the standard error, the more ‘rubbery’ the estimate is. This is a way of showing the uncertainty around things.

Table 3: Hockey Leagues with ECHL Point equivalent and standard errors

	League	ECHL Point ratio	Less 1SE	Plus 1SE
1	National Hockey League	8.101	7.301	8.902
2	Kontinental Hockey League	4.199	3.675	4.724
3	Swedish Hockey League	3.884	2.811	4.958
4	Extraliga (CZE)	3.607	2.566	4.648
5	American Hockey League	3.005	2.699	3.311
6	National League (Sui)	2.751	2.318	3.183
7	Deutsche Eishockey Liga	2.327	1.458	3.197
8	Liiga	2.255	2.001	2.508
9	Allsvenskan	1.591	1.215	1.966
10	ICEHL	1.534	1.167	1.902
11	Vysshaya Hokkeinaya Liga	1.378	0.805	1.952
12	NCAA	1.076	0.964	1.188
13	Extraliga (SVK)	1.065	0.937	1.192
14	ECHL	1.000	1.000	1.000
15	1. Liga (Cze)	0.918	0.676	1.161
16	Deutsche Eishockey Liga 2	0.904	0.749	1.058
17	Metal Ligaen	0.862	0.759	0.965
18	Elite Ice Hockey League	0.830	0.707	0.954
19	EliteHockey Ligaen	0.798	0.683	0.914
20	Asia League Ice Hockey	0.778	0.308	1.248
21	Swiss League	0.753	0.225	1.280
22	Mestis	0.686	0.377	0.994
23	Ligue Magnus	0.632	0.559	0.705
24	United States Hockey League	0.559	0.398	0.720
25	Polska Hokej Liga	0.543	0.291	0.795
26	Usports	0.511	0.440	0.582
27	Chinook Hockey League	0.484	0.320	0.647
28	HockeyEttan	0.478	0.054	0.901
29	Erste Liga	0.453	0.391	0.514
30	Southern Professional Hockey League	0.426	0.364	0.489
31	Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey	0.405	0.209	0.601
32	Alps Hockey League	0.375	-0.030	0.780
33	Allan Cup Hockey	0.370	0.181	0.559
34	Oberliga	0.362	0.145	0.580
35	NCAA III	0.263	0.093	0.432
36	1. Liga (Svk)	0.259	0.148	0.370
37	FFHG Division 1 (Fra)	0.249	0.115	0.383
38	2. Liga (Cze)	0.246	-0.040	0.532
39	Romanian Hockey League	0.189	0.087	0.290
40	Suomi-Sarja	0.182	-0.188	0.552
41	Australian Ice Hockey League	0.145	0.111	0.180
42	Division 2 (Swe)	0.129	-0.344	0.601
43	BeNeLiga	0.127	-0.266	0.519
44	Regionaliga	0.123	-0.193	0.440
45	National Ice Hockey League	0.122	-0.034	0.278
46	Federal Prospects Hockey League	0.113	0.011	0.215
NR	New Zealand Ice Hockey League	0.030	0.030	0.030

Firstly, I include the NZIHL here more for interest than any science – as there are a number of leagues around the world which would be included if we wanted a more fulsome look at leagues to the same level. Similarly, the lack of data points between the NZIHL and AIHL (15 players, 19 transactions) meant the standard error is ignored here.

Which leagues are similar?

In (very) broad terms, I break the leagues down into six groups (or seven, but the seventh is just the NHL) with very loose borders:

1. Best outside the Show – (KHL, SHL, Czech Extraliga, AHL, National League, DEL, Liiga)
2. Strong upper level – Allsvenskan, ICEHL, VHL
3. Upper middle tier – NCAA, Slovak Extraliga, ECHL, Czech 1. Liga, DEL2, Metal Ligaen, EIHL
4. Lower middle tier – Norway, Asia, Swiss League, Mestis, Ligue Magnus, USHL, Poland, Usports, Chinook HL, HockeyEttan, Erste Liga, SPHL, LNAH
5. Lower pro* tier – AlpsHL, Allan Cup, Oberliga, Slovak 1. Liga, NCAA III, France Div 1, Czech 2. Liga
6. Semi-pro tier – Romania, Suomi-sarja, AIHL, Division 2 (Sweden), BeNeLiga, Regionaliga (Ger), NIHL, FPHL.

As with all of these comparisons, there are fairly big ranges around the estimates which mean the rankings in particular are quite loose (as can be seen in the charts below, which have been separated into 3 to make them readable).

Figure 1: ECHL Point ratio with standard errors for all leagues

Figure 2: ECHL Point ratio with standard errors for top half of leagues (excl NHL)

Figure 3: ECHL Point ratio with standard errors for bottom half of leagues (excl NHL)

So what?

This is more of a useful guide than hard and fast rules of where rankings sit – as shown with the standard errors, there is a reasonable amount of uncertainty around the ranking. That said, it is useful to give a bit of insight into where different leagues sit relative to each other, and that can feed into expectations surrounding new players to a league, like the AIHL.

What might be more fun out of this, is allowing people on the internet to claim imports for their team are better than imports from another team – and that is the main reason we are all here.

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[i] This analysis really can’t tell you which is best – as it doesn’t tell you anything about winning or losing, just scoring.