/nhl-data

name: nhl-data
description: |
  NHL data via ESPN public endpoints and the official NHL API — scores, standings, rosters, schedules, game summaries, injuries, futures, leaders, and news, plus an analytics backend: play-by-play with on-ice coordinates, cross-league career rows, skater/goalie leaders, and history to 1917. Zero config, no API keys.

  Use when: user asks about NHL scores, standings, team rosters, schedules, game stats, box scores, play-by-play, injuries, transactions, betting futures, team/player statistics, NHL news, shot locations, career stats, skater/goalie leaders, or historical NHL seasons.
  Don't use when: user asks about other hockey leagues (AHL, KHL, college hockey). For other sports use: nfl-data (NFL), nba-data (NBA), wnba-data (WNBA), mlb-data (MLB), football-data (soccer), tennis-data (tennis), golf-data (golf), cricket-data (cricket), cfb-data (college football), cbb-data (college basketball), fastf1 (F1). For betting odds use polymarket or kalshi. For news use sports-news.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: machina-sports
  version: "0.1.0"

NHL Data

Before writing queries, consult `references/api-reference.md` for endpoints, ID conventions, and data shapes.

Setup

Before first use, check if the CLI is available:

which sports-skills || pip install sports-skills

If `pip install` fails with a Python version error, the package requires Python 3.10+. Find a compatible Python:

python3 --version  # check version
# If < 3.10, try: python3.12 -m pip install sports-skills
# On macOS with Homebrew: /opt/homebrew/bin/python3.12 -m pip install sports-skills

No API keys required.

Quick Start

Prefer the CLI — it avoids Python import path issues:

sports-skills nhl get_scoreboard
sports-skills nhl get_standings --season=2025
sports-skills nhl get_teams

CRITICAL: Before Any Query

CRITICAL: Before calling any data endpoint, verify:

• Season year is derived from the system prompt's `currentDate` — never hardcoded.
• If only a team name is provided, call `get_teams` to resolve the team ID before using team-specific commands.

Choosing the Season

Derive the current year from the system prompt's date (e.g., `currentDate: 2026-02-18` → current year is 2026).

• **If the user specifies a season**, use it as-is.
• **If the user says "current", "this season", or doesn't specify**: The NHL season runs October–June. If the current month is October–December, the active season year matches the current year. If January–June, the active season started the previous calendar year (use that year as the season).
• **Example:** Current date is February 2026 → active season started October 2025 → use season `2025`.

Commands

| Command | Description | |---|---| | `get_scoreboard` | Live/recent NHL scores | | `get_standings` | Standings by conference and division | | `get_teams` | All NHL teams | | `get_team_roster` | Full roster for a team | | `get_team_schedule` | Schedule for a specific team | | `get_game_summary` | Detailed box score and scoring plays | | `get_leaders` | NHL statistical leaders | | `get_news` | NHL news articles | | `get_play_by_play` | Full play-by-play for a game | | `get_schedule` | Schedule for a specific date or season | | `get_injuries` | Injury reports across all teams | | `get_transactions` | Recent transactions | | `get_futures` | Futures/odds markets | | `get_team_stats` | Team statistical profile | | `get_player_stats` | Player statistical profile | | `find_nhl_player` | Search the NHL's player registry by name | | `get_nhlstats_schedule` | Games via the NHL API — team seasons to the Original Six era, NHL game ids | | `get_nhlstats_player_stats` | Career season-by-season across leagues via NHL API | | `get_nhlstats_play_by_play` | Play-by-play with on-ice x/y coordinates, zone, shot type | | `get_nhlstats_boxscore` | Full box score (skaters + goalies) via NHL API | | `get_nhlstats_standings` | Standings, current or any historical date (back to 1917) | | `get_nhlstats_leaders` | Skater and goalie leaders by category |

See `references/api-reference.md` for full parameter lists and return shapes.

Using ESPN and the NHL API Together

The `get_nhlstats_*` commands read api-web.nhle.com — the NHL's current API. (The retired `statsapi.web.nhl.com`, which most community docs still describe, no longer resolves.) It carries the analytics layer ESPN does not: on-ice shot coordinates, cross-league career rows, goalie leaders, and history to the Original Six era. The two sources use unrelated id systems:

• **Game ids.** NHL ids are 10 digits encoding season/type/game

(`2023030417`); ESPN uses 9-digit event ids (`401559593`). No shared column — join on the game date plus teams.

• **Team abbreviations.** Five teams differ: ESPN `LA`/`NJ`/`SJ`/`TB`/`UTAH`

vs NHL `LAK`/`NJD`/`SJS`/`TBL`/`UTA`. Every `get_nhlstats_*` team filter accepts either spelling, and rows carry both (`team_abbreviation`, `team_abbreviation_espn`).

• **Player ids.** NHL player ids (`8478402`) and ESPN athlete ids are

unrelated. Resolve names with `find_nhl_player`; ASCII spellings match accented names ("stutzle" finds "Tim Stützle").

• **Career rows span leagues.** `get_nhlstats_player_stats` returns every

league a player appeared in, each row labelled with `league` and `is_nhl` — filter to `is_nhl` before summing career numbers. A player traded mid-season has one NHL row per team plus a `team: "TOTAL"` row (`is_total: true`, counting stats summed, rate stats omitted); skip `is_total` rows when summing.

• **Seasons.** Pass the starting year (`season=2024` means 2024-25). The NHL

form (`"20242025"`) is also accepted.

Examples

Example 1: Today's scores User says: "What are today's NHL scores?" Actions: 1. Call `get_scoreboard()` Result: All live and recent NHL games with scores and status

Example 2: Conference standings User says: "Show me the Eastern Conference standings" Actions: 1. Derive season year from `c