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 confi

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: If pip install fails with a Python version error, the package requires Python 3.10+. Find a compatible Python: No API keys required. Quick Start Prefer the CLI — it avoids Python import path issues: 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 — filter to NHL before summing career numbers. 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 currentDate 2. Call get standings(season=<derived year ) 3. Filter results for Eastern Conference Result: Eastern Conference standings with W L OTL, points, regulation wins Example 3: Team roster User says: "Who's on the Maple Leafs roster?" Actions: 1. Call get team roster(team id="21") Result: Full Maple Leafs roster with name, position, jersey number, shoots/catches Example 4: Game box score User says: "Show me the full box score for last night's Bruins game" Actions: 1. Call get scoreboard(date="<yesterday ") to find the event id 2. Call get game summary(event id=<id ) for full box score Result: Complete box score with per player stats and scoring plays Example 5: Stanley Cup odds User says: "What are the Stanley Cup odds?" Actions: 1. Call get futures(limit=10) Result: Top Stanley Cup contenders with odds values Example 6: Player statistics User says: "Show me Connor McDavid's stats" Actions: 1. Derive season year from currentDate 2. Call get player stats(player id="3895074", season year=<derived year ) Result: Season stats by category with value, rank, and per game averages Commands that DO NOT exist — never call these ~~ get odds ~~ / ~~ get betting odds ~~ — not available. For prediction market odds, use the polymarket or kalshi skill. ~~ search teams ~~ — does not exist. Use get teams instead. ~~ get box score ~~ — does not exist. Use get game summary instead. ~~ get player ratings ~~ — does not exist. Use get player stats instead. If a command is not listed in the Commands table above, it does not exist. Error Handling When a command fails, do not surface raw errors to the user . Instead: 1. Catch silently and try alternatives 2. If team name given instead of ID, use get teams to find the ID first 3. Only report failure with a clean message after exhausting alternatives Troubleshooting Error: sports skills command not found Cause: Package not installed Solution: Run pip install sports skills Error: Team not found by ID Cause: Wrong or outdated ESPN team ID used Solution: Call get teams to get the current list of all NHL teams with their IDs (expansion teams like the Seattle Kraken and Utah Mammoth have non sequential IDs) Error: No data returned for a future game Cause: ESPN only returns data for completed or in progress games Solution: Use get schedule to see upcoming game details; get scoreboard only covers active/recent games Error: Offseason — scoreboard returns 0 events Cause: No games scheduled during the offseason (July–September) Solution: Use get standings or get news instead; use get schedule to find when the season resumes

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