A
APISports
All APIs
HO

Hockey Reference API

Comprehensive NHL historical statistics since 1917

8.3 / 10Very GoodVerified
Hockey
Starting PriceFree
Free TierYes
Live DataNo
WebSocketNo
Commercial UseNo
Visit WebsiteView Documentation

Overview

Hockey Reference is the definitive source for historical NHL statistics, covering every player, team, and game since the league's founding in 1917. Part of the Sports Reference family, it provides career stats, season splits, game logs, advanced metrics (Corsi, Fenwick, expected goals), goalie stats, advanced team stats, and historical box scores. The data is accessible through community Python packages and web scraping, making it essential for hockey analytics and research.

Pros

  • Most comprehensive NHL historical data
  • Data going back to 1917
  • Advanced metrics (Corsi, Fenwick, xG)
  • Goalie and skater stats
  • Play Index for custom queries
  • Olympics and international data

Cons

  • No official public REST API
  • Data access primarily via scraping
  • No commercial use without license
  • No real-time or live data
  • Scraping may violate ToS
  • No WebSocket streaming

Best For

Hockey analytics researchNHL history projectsPlayer and team comparisonsSabermetrics equivalents (Corsi/Fenwick)Fantasy hockey research

Not Ideal For

Live game trackingReal-time applicationsCommercial products without licenseBetting platforms needing live data

Specifications

REST APIYes
GraphQLNo
WebSocketNo
WebhooksNo
OpenAPI SpecNo
Player StatsYes
Team StatsYes
Odds DataNo
Historical Data1917-18 season onward (NHL); complete postseason history; WHA 1972-1979
Request LimitsWeb-based access; rate limited for scraping
Commercial UseNo
RedistributionNo
White LabelNo

SDKs

PythonR

Leagues

NHLWHAOlympicsWorld ChampionshipsAHLKHLSHLCollege Hockey
Last verified: 2026-08-15

Our Verdict

8.3/ 10

Hockey Reference API is a solid choice for hockey analytics research and nhl history projects, with an overall score of 8.3/10. While it performs well in most areas, consider no official public rest api when making your decision.

Editorial: 8.5/10Benchmark: 8.0/10How we score →
Data verified: 2026-08-15
✓ Pricing checked✓ Coverage checked✓ Docs checked

Coverage

Sports Supported

Hockey
Live DataNo
Historical Data1917-18 season onward (NHL); complete postseason history; WHA 1972-1979
Player StatsYes
Team StatsYes
Odds DataNo

Leagues & Competitions

NHLWHAOlympicsWorld ChampionshipsAHLKHLSHLCollege Hockey

8 leagues and competitions covered

Developer Experience

API Paradigms

✓REST
✗GraphQL
✗WebSocket
✗Webhooks

SDKs

PythonR

Documentation

View Documentation →Changelog →

Commercial Terms

✗Commercial use
✗Redistribution
✗White-label
Rate limit: Web-based access; rate limited for scraping

Pricing Plans

Free Web Access

Free

N/A

  • All stat tables
  • Player pages
  • Team pages
  • Season and career stats

Stathead Hockey

$9.99/month

Unlimited queries

  • Play Index
  • Game finders
  • Player finders
  • Split finders
  • Custom queries

Stathead Annual

$75/year

Unlimited queries

  • All Stathead features
  • Priority support
  • Savings over monthly

Similar APIs

SP

Sportradar

9.4

Enterprise-grade sports data and technology platform

from Custom

AP

API-Sports

8.4

Multi-sport API covering football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and more

from Free

TH

The Odds API

8.2

Real-time sports odds from 30+ bookmakers

from Free

SP

SportsDataIO

7.9

Real-time and historical sports data for developers

from Free

Top Lists & Rankings

Best Sports APIs 2026 →Best Free Sports APIs →Best Fantasy Sports APIs →All Best Lists →

Developer Guides

Build a Live Score App →Caching Sports Data →Rate Limit Handling →Error Handling & Retry →All Developer Guides →