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Here's a dump of anything interesting I found while searching for Red Dutton:

In 1931, he was called "dashing" and "reckless:" http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...FAAAAIBAJ&pg=4457,4106956&dq=red+dutton&hl=en

Here's an article from Dutton's year as player-coach (1935-36). It contains his motto as a coach, "keep fighting," and a lot of praise from Dutton for his goalie, Roy Worters, in the 1936 playoffs http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2191,3284267&dq=red+dutton&hl=en

Here's another article that says Dutton's motto was "keep punching, boys." Also with praise for Worters from the 1936 playoffs: http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5991,4499670&dq=red+dutton&hl=en

After retiring as a player, Dutton became manager of the New York, later Brooklyn Americans. In 1942, he charged that the Americans did not drop out of the NHL voluntarily, but were "scuttled." Madison Square Garden suddenly refused to give the Americans home dates. Dutton said that if there had been a warning, they would have moved to Buffalo: http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5642,5812283&dq=red+dutton&hl=en

Here's a major profile of Dutton from 1966. It mostly focuses on his time after he retired - he apparently invested money made in hockey to become rich in the construction business. It contains a fascinating story about how he had his leg shattered in World War I and convinced doctors not to amputate it because he wanted to play hockey again. As Dutton rehabbed, he managed to play in 7 amateur Winnipeg leagues at once. Finally, he rehabbed enough to be signed to play in the WCHL in 1921, beginning his career as pro.

The article also talks about how Eddie Gerard (now a coach) signed Dutton to play in the NHL after the WCHL folded and quickly ended up benching him for too many penalties. "It isn't my temper I have to control! I just have to learn how to control my enthusiasm!" said Dutton.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...NAAAAIBAJ&pg=2745,5202141&dq=red+dutton&hl=en

Red Dutton, who had served as NHL President for some time, was pissed at his successor, Colin Campbell for criticizing referee Red Storey in the press for "freezing" during a playoff game. Dutton said the president of the NHL should never criticize his referees publicly:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...NAAAAIBAJ&pg=6126,1382015&dq=red+dutton&hl=en
 
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...=2043,3603910&dq=sid+smith+hockey+|+nhl&hl=en

10 Players that were in nomination for the HHoF in 1992. I had no clue they were announcing the nomination like that. I thought we only knew the end product (Players that actually made it)

None of these names are surprising to read, but perhaps Jean-Guy Talbot. I had no clue he ever was in serious contention for a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
 
'64 article about lack of backchecking of NYR's top line:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=SAguW2jnL4UC&dat=19640125&printsec=frontpage&hl=en

page 24



it is not at all hard to find negative things in papers about defensive play of NYR of that era.


EagleBelfour said:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...=3563,4805079&dq=sid+smith+hockey+|+nhl&hl=en

Full results for 1956-57 Lady Bing, which do not appear in the All-Star voting thread.

Funny to see Dickie Moore and Ted Lindsay with 1 vote each!
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moore struck me as an honest physical player, though i may be wrong, but lindsay getting a vote must be a joke, like jagr's selke vote.



toe blake said he was "tickled to death" upon learning that he won the lady byng. it used to be a coveted and prestigious award.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...oNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3403,2624993&dq=toe+blake&hl=en
 
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Others might know it, but I never saw the full story behind Lester Patrick playing goalie. In 1966, Sports Illustrated dedicated a full-length article to the playoff game back in 1928:

In such an emergency, it was then customary for the other team to permit the use of any available goaltender. Patrick knew that Alex Connell, the star goalie of the Ottawa Senators, was among the spectators in the Forum. "I'll use Connell to finish the game," he told Eddie Gerard, the manager-coach of the Maroons.

"Not so fast, Lester," Gerard shot back. "You're not going to use Connell in this game and beat us." Patrick then asked for permission to use a minor league goalie named Hugh McCormick, but he was turned down too.

In the Ranger dressing room a few minutes later, Patrick angrily told his players how the Maroons had vetoed both Connell and McCormick. "Somebody here will have to put the pads on," Patrick said. After a few seconds of silence Leo Bourgault, a squash-nosed defenseman, spoke up, "I'll doit, Lester." But Frank Boucher, the Ranger captain, and Right Winger Bill Cook protested. "Look, Lester," Boucher said, "if Leo goes in the net we'll be short a man. You've done everything in hockey, and you're still in pretty good shape. You can go in there yourself. We won't let them get a good shot at you."

Patrick shrugged his shoulders; there seemed nothing else to do. Chabot's skates and equipment fitted him perfectly. He jammed Chabot's black baseball cap on his head and stiffly skated onto the ice for a warmup.

As a player, Patrick had often gone into the net when his team's goalie was penalized. Once, he had cleared a shot and skated the length of the rink to score. But now, with nearly 30 pounds of equipment strapped to him, it was different. Awkwardly he tested the heavy, thick goalie's stick as the Rangers glided in easily and flicked soft shots at him. "Make sure you shoot right at him," Boucher had whispered to his teammates. "If you put one by him now it'll ruin his confidence."

At the other end of the ice, the maroon-and-white uniformed players smiled at the sight of Patrick. They were ready to strafe him. Before the playoffs began, the Maroon club directors had promised each player a $3,000 bonus, in addition to their usual playoff money, if they won the Cup. Gerard sensed his team's over-confidence. "It won't be as easy as it looks," he told his players. "They'll check like hell for Lester."
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The full article lists the circumstances of Chabot's injury and a summary of the game after Lester went in net: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1072437/1/index.htm
 
Here's an excellent article I found randomly, which talks about the chaos regarding the tabulation of assists circa 1932, which had gotten so bad that players were disrupting the flow of the game after goals to go to the scorers' table and beg for assists. This is the clearest evidence I've seen to date that pre-war assists numbers were strictly a judgment call on the part of the scorers, and not simply first assists. There appears to have been no set standard for what counted as an assist at the time this article was written.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0w8_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=qk4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5859,4079208&hl=en
 
Sturminator said:
Here's an excellent article I found randomly, which talks about the chaos regarding the tabulation of assists circa 1932, which had gotten so bad that players were disrupting the flow of the game after goals to go to the scorers' table and beg for assists. This is the clearest evidence I've seen to date that pre-war assists numbers were strictly a judgment call on the part of the scorers, and not simply first assists. There appears to have been no set standard for what counted as an assist at the time this article was written.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0w8_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=qk4MAAAAIBAJ&pg=5859,4079208&hl=en
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Good find.

It would be interesting to see home/road scoring splits for this era.
 
Here's a link to a multi-page history of hockey in Ottawa printed by the Ottawa Citizen in 1953.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aNowAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Wd8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7043,6380817&hl=en

You need to scroll back a few pages to find the beginning of the article. Most of the information in it I already knew, but this is the single largest narrative of early hockey history (Ottawa being the centre point of hockey in the early years) I've ever seen printed in a newspaper, and in a very reputable one, to boot.
 
I'm just sort of dumping old documents this morning. Here's more support for the idea that Georges Vezina was better than Clint Benedict.

The Border Cities Star - Nov 25, 1921:

Another development at Ottawa was the signing of Clint Benedict to occupy the nets for the Ottawa team during the forthcoming season. Clint is generally regarded as the second best to George Vezina of the Flying Frenchmen, and is expected to have a great year under the new "forward pass" rule.
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The fact that this article is from 1921, which was actually something of a low point in Vezina's career (the Habs hadn't seen the playoffs for two straight seasons) and with Benedict just coming off his first Cup, seems to lend more credence to the idea that Vezina was considered the better goalie pretty consistently throughout the era.

I always love seeing now familiar terms put in quotation marks by old publications. It reminds you that these were once new ideas, and is, in fact, one of the clearest signals that one is dealing with material of potential historical interest. The article also mentions the signing of an amateur "phenom" to replace the retired Jack Darragh. I am assuming that this refers to Hooley Smith.
 
overpass said:
I've posted the results of a 1958 NIL coaches poll here.

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1370669

I came across it a week ago and have posted it now that Red Sullivan is drafted.
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Impressive that Sullivan is listed as the best defensive forward and almost the best penalty killer. I hadn't known he was that highly thought of. Seems like he's good enough to be a good two-way 3rd liner in the ATD.
 
Sturminator said:
Impressive that Sullivan is listed as the best defensive forward and almost the best penalty killer. I hadn't known he was that highly thought of. Seems like he's good enough to be a good two-way 3rd liner in the ATD.
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I read it as the equivalent of a Selke trophy or at least a high finish.

Keep in mind that this is only a snapshot of a single point in time, but its still impressive. I really wanted him at 537 and probably should have taken him earlier.
 
1933-34 Montreal 3-Stars

Imperial Oil 3 Star Gasoline sponsored 3 star selections for Montreal home games. Last 3 games are playoffs.

001 11/09/33 DET 1 at MTL 2 - Lorne Chabot; Aurel Joliat; Herbie Lewis
005 11/11/33 BOS 2 at MTM 3 - Jimmy Ward; Vernon Ayres; Alex Smith
010 11/14/33 CHI 1 at MTL 3 - Pit Lepine; Wildor Larochelle; Art Coulter
013 11/16/33 NYA 2 at MTM 2 OT - Dave Kerr; Marvin Wentworth; Red Jackson
016 11/18/33 BOS 2 at MTL 1 - Tiny Thompson; Pit Lepine; Dit Clapper
021 11/21/33 MTL 5 at MTM 0 - Aurel Joliat; Sylvio Mantha; Marvin Wentworth
024 11/23/33 OTS 0 at MTL 1 - Gerald Carson; George Mantha; Scotty Bowman
029 11/25/33 NYR 0 at MTM 1 - Baldy Northcott; Hooley Smith; Andy Aitkenhead
033 11/28/33 MTM 4 at MTL 1 - The Penalty Box; Baldy Northcott; Jimmy Ward
036 11/30/33 TOR 1 at MTM 0 - King Clancy; George Hainsworth; Teddy Graham
038 12/02/33 NYA 1 at MTL 3 - Johnny Gagnon; Aurel Joliat; Pit Lepine
044 12/05/33 DET 1 at MTM 1 OT - Hooley Smith; Teddy Graham; Cooney Weiland
049 12/09/33 NYR 4 at MTL 2 – Ching Johnson; Murray Murdock; Jack Riley
059 12/14/33 TOR 0 at MTL 2 - Johnny Gagnon; Lorne Chabot; Hec Kilrea
062 12/16/33 OTS 2 at MTM 3 - Hooley Smith; Walter Kilrea; Billy Beveridge
071 12/21/33 CHI 0 at MTM 0 OT - Hooley Smith; Dave Kerr; Chuck Gardiner
072 12/23/33 DET 0 at MTL 3 – Wilf Cude; Aurel Joliat; Howie Morenz
081 12/28/33 BOS 4 at MTL 3 – Babe Siebert; Nels Stewart; Pit Lepine
083 12/30/33 MTL 2 at MTM 2 OT - Bill MacKenzie; Howie Morenz; Sylvio Mantha
091 01/04/34 TOR 1 at MTL 4 - Lorne Chabot; Georges Mantha; Pit Lepine
095 01/06/34 BOS 2 at MTM 4 - Earl Robinson; Dave Trottier; Marty Barry
099 01/09/34 MTM 2 at MTL 3 - Aurel Joliat; Russell Blinco; Pit Lepine
103 01/11/34 DET 1 at MTM 1 OT – Dave Kerr; Wilf Cude; Russell Blinco
106 01/13/34 OTS 0 at MTL 0 OT - Aurel Joliat; Jack Riley; The Customers
113 01/16/34 CHI 5 at MTM 6 OT - Bill MacKenzie; Russell Blinco; Earl Robinson
119 01/20/34 NYR 4 at MTL 5 - Aurel Joliat; Jack Riley; Wildor Larochelle
125 01/23/34 NYA 2 at MTL 6 - Aurel Joliat; Jack Riley; Sylvio Mantha
130 01/25/34 TOR 0 at MTM 6 - Baldy Northcott; Hooley Smith; Dave Kerr
132 01/27/34 NYA 1 at MTM 2 OT - Earl Robinson; Dave Kerr; Art Chapman
141 02/01/34 CHI 3 at MTL 3 OT – Johnny Sheppard; Sylvio Mantha; Wildor Larochelle
145 02/03/34 NYR 4 at MTM 2 - Earl Seibert; Earl Robinson; Cecil Dillon
149 02/06/34 OTS 2 at MTM 6 – Glenn Brydson; Hooley Smith; Bill MacKenzie
152 02/08/34 MTM 3 at MTL 2 OT - Aurel Joliat; Marvin Wentworth; Jimmy Ward
155 02/10/34 BOS 0 at MTM 1 – Eddie Shore; Stewart Evans; Cy Wentworth
161 02/13/34 DET 6 at MTM 1 – Wilf Cude; Cooney Weiland; Jimmy Ward
164 02/15/34 NYR 2 at MTL 5 - Howie Morenz; Aurel Joliat; Earl Seibert
167 02/17/34 NYA 4 at MTM 2 - Roy Worters; Rabbit McVeigh; Earl Robinson
172 02/20/34 TOR 2 at MTL 3 OT - Aurel Joliat; Georges Mantha; Joe Primeau
176 02/22/34 MTL 0 at MTM 1 - Hooley Smith; Jimmy Ward; Lorne Chabot
180 02/24/34 CHI 2 at MTL 3 OT - Pit Lepine; Sylvio Mantha; Johnny Gottselig
184 02/27/34 TOR 2 at MTM 1 OT – King Clancy; Bill Thoms; Jimmy Ward
190 03/03/34 BOS 1 at MTL 2 - Lorne Chabot; Georges Mantha; Aurel Joliat
195 03/06/34 NYA 0 at MTL 3 - Aurel Joliat; Marty Burke; Pit Lepine
199 03/08/34 NYR 2 at MTM 2 OT - Jimmy Ward; Earl Robinson; Earl Seibert
201 03/10/34 OTS 2 at MTL 3 OT - Howie Morenz; Pit Lepine; Allan Shields
206 03/13/34 CHI 2 at MTM 6 - Hooley Smith; Baldy Northcott; Cy Wentworth
210 03/15/34 DET 4 at MTL 1 - Wilf Cude;; Ebbie Goodfellow; Johnny Gagnon
212 03/17/34 OTS 2 at MTM 2 OT - Hooley Smith; Dave Trottier; Billy Beveridge
03/22/34 CHI 3 at MTL 2 - Johnny Gottselig; Howie Morenz; Lionel Conacher
03/20/34 NYR 0 at MTM 0 - Russell Blinco; Earl Seibert; Hooley Smith
03/28/34 CHI 3 at MTM 0 - Chuck Gardiner; Taffy Abel; Russell Blinco
 
Why did nobody notice when Pierre Turgeon retired?

I found the following while researching Rejean Houle.

Todd Denault (author of the Jacques Plante book along with some others) wrote a very good retrospective of Pierre Turgeon's career. If you weren't really following the NHL when Turgeon played, you should really read the whole thing to get a sense of why those of us who did always talk about "yeah, he has great stats, but something was missing."

Here's a link to the full thing: http://www.habsworld.net/article.php?id=1482

Some excerpts:

there was one story that seemed to fall through the cracks and for the most part went unnoticed by many in the media and on the team's numerous fan boards. In many ways it was a fitting end to the career of Pierre Turgeon; a player who announced his retirement from his agent's office as opposed to holding a press conference at the Bell Centre. A player who was one of the most gifted of his generation, a player who is a member of the prestigious 500 goal, 1000 point club, a former captain of the Canadiens, but a player who seemed unable to take that final step, that final step to greatness.

Pierre Turgeon is mostly remembered today for what he wasn't, rather than for what he was. He never seemed to live up to the expectations that others held for him, and seemed unable to step out from the shadows that seemed to follow him throughout his NHL career. Throughout his career he seemed to always stop short of becoming the superstar that so many had envisioned.
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In one of the biggest trades of the decade the Sabres acquired Lafontaine because of his explosiveness, his dynamism, and his willingness to get his nose dirty, all traits they found lacking in Turgeon.

Unlike Lafontaine, Turgeon excelled at the finesse game, and combined that with superior playmaking ability and a keen hockey sense. He did lack a physical game, and even though he was over six feet tall and weighed 205 pounds, he never did impose himself in a physical way towards the opposition.
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It seems like Todd agrees with BC that Turgeon finally looked like he was putting it together under Al Arbour until the Dale Hunter cheap shot:

1992-93 is without a doubt the finest year that Pierre Turgeon would enjoy in his NHL career... It appeared that Pierre Turgeon had finally taken that next step, the step towards greatness, and then within a mere couple of seconds it all came crashing down.
...
As the next year began, it soon became apparent that Pierre Turgeon was not the same player he had been before. The physical part of his body had healed, but mentally he never seemed to regain any semblance of his former self. His energy level seemed to drop as he became more hesitant on the ice, and soon found himself playing mostly on the perimeter, seemingly unwilling to pay the price. And while he continued to produce points, he never again assumed the level of play he had exhibited before the Hunter hit.
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Pierre Turgeon has been defined for his whole career by what he isn't as opposed to what he is. He was a gifted offensive player, who was a remarkably consistent point producer. But he was also a player who seemed to always be a step short of taking his game to the next level, the elite level. Not once during his professional career was he able to play for Team Canada on the international level. He also never played in the Stanley Cup finals. And while this may not entirely be his fault, his lack of experience at the games biggest showcases means that we were deprived the opportunity to see the true measure of his talent. For despite all of his skills, and his abilities on the ice, he was never considered a great hockey player, just a very good hockey player, one that was never able to fully take his game to the levels expected of him by others.
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BillyShoe1721 said:
In reference to Baldy Northcott:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?i...&pg=6589,2106504&dq=dave+trottier+check&hl=en

I knew he had some toughness and did play defense at one point, but interesting to see his defense was that highly regarded.
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i posted that earlier in this thread, along with some other things about northcott.

i think it was pitseleh who posted years ago an article in which bill cook picked his all star team, and also said that northcott was the most difficult defensive matchup.
 
overpass sent me a pair of recent articles where the author rewatched the Summit Series and counted scoring chances created by a player and scoring chances against created by a player's mistake. They make Phil Esposito (playing without Bobby Orr or Ken Hodge and only playing with Wayne Cashman for 2 games) look exceptionally good, but there is information about a lot of other ATD regulars, so I figured I'd post it all here now that the relevant players have been drafted.

The first article focuses on the first 4 games of the Summit Series (the games in Canada) and is called Phil Esposito was the Mario Lemieux of '72. Bruins ace was a scoring machine for Team Canada

On the lack of puck skill by Soviet defensemen:

On defence, the Soviet d-men lacked the outstanding puck-handling skills of the Canadian d-men. Perhaps this was by design. I recall Anatoli Tarasov in his book admiring the skill of Carl Brewer, the NHL star who sometimes played for the Canadian national team in the 1960s, but also saying that Brewer slowed the game down too much for his taste by over-handling the puck. Tarasov wanted faster movement of that puck.

In the ’72 series, Soviet d-men didn’t carry or stickhandle the puck much. Instead, they advanced it quickly, much like modern NHL d-men do. Think Ladi Smid or Nick Schultz on the Oilers, strong defenders, decent puck-movers, but neither with much of a shot or much of an attacking sense. That is what these CCCP d-men are like.

The lack of threat they posed from the point allowed Canadian coach Harry Sinden, after game one, to cover the points with just one forward, the centre, with the two wingers collapsing down low to help handle those tricky Russian forwards, a strategy that worked well for Team Canada.
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On Phil Esposito's play:

The Soviets were horrible on faceoffs, with Phil Esposito often barging towards the net on offensive zone draws and getting a good scoring chance that way. The CCCP had a heck of a time figuring out how to stop Espo on that one.

* Phil Esposito’s play reminds me of Mario Lemieux’s play in 1987. Espo was known to be a guy who parked in the slot, allowing his teammates to do the dirty work in the corners so he could pound in goals off their passes. In this series, with Bobby Orr sidelined, Esposito often carried the puck from end-to-end, warding off Soviet attackers to set up dangerous shots and passes. He moved slow, seemingly, but fast and tricky enough that the CCCP defenders couldn’t get the puck off him with any kind of ease. Just a brilliant performance by Espo, who led the Canadian team in contributions to chances with 38 in the four games, 9.5 per game.
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The description of Gilbert Perreault trying to stickhandle around the entire Soviet Team (sometimes succeeding sometimes failing) is interesting, as is the description of him as Kharlamov without the passing ability. He was quite young in 1972 though.

Gilbert Perreault finally got in a game for Team Canada in Vancouver. Every time Perreault touched the puck he tried to deke the entire Soviet team. Now and then it worked, but he was just as likely to make a mistake and cause a scoring chance against. But young Perreault was as skilled with the puck as any player in this series, including Kharlamov, but the Soviet star was a somewhat superior skater and far superior passer of the puck.
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More on the defensemen in the series:

On defence, at even strength, Park made the most mistakes that contributed to chances against, 18 in the four games, but he also contributed to 15 scoring chances on the attack at evens. If a d-man is doing his job against tough competition, he’ll help create one chance for every chance where he’s made a mistake. Park came close to that in difficult circumstances so I’d give him a passing grade.

By comparison, the top two Soviet d-men, Viktor Kuzkin and Gennadi Tysgankov, really struggled. Kuzkin chipped in on just six chances at even strength while making mistakes on 20, while Tsygankov chipped in on four, and made mistakes on 21. That is Kurtis Foster-Cam Barker territory. Of course, Tsygankov is a much better player than either of those guys, but he and his fellow Soviet d-men just couldn’t find a way to help out much on the attack.

* Not so strong on the Canadian blueline at evens were Don Awrey and Rod Seiling. In two games, Seiling helped create two chances but made mistakes on 12, while Awrey chipped in on not one, but made mistakes on nine against.

Pat Stapleton was two for, eight against, but his partner, cool and lanky Bill White, got it done, making mistakes on eight chances, but contributing to seven.
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This followup article was written after the author rewatched and counted scoring chances after all 8 games. It's called Bobby Clarke Was The Villain of 1972 but-Was He Also Team Canadas MVP?

It was a close series. Canada won 4-3-1 in games. The USSR outscored Canada 32-31. Canada outchanced the USSR 21.6 to 19.9.

The author wrote the superior Canadien defensemen were the difference in the series and singles out Brad Park and Bill White as the only two defensemen in the series who maintained a more or less even ratio between scoring chances created and mistakes.

he weakness of the Soviet team was its defencemen. If a defenceman is doing his job against tough competition, he will help create one scoring chance for every scoring chance against where he makes a mistake. Usual mistakes include missing an assignment, losing a puck battle or giving away the puck.

Team Canada had two key defencemen, Brad Park and Bill White, who met that test. Park chipped in on 27 scoring chances at even strength, while making mistakes on 26 against (here are the team totals for the entire series). White contributed to 21 chances while making mistakes on 18 chances against.

The top six Team Canada defencemen were Park, +1 on scoring chances at even strength, White, +3, Guy Lapointe, -5, Pat Stapleton, -10, Serge Savard, -10, and Gary Bergman, -11, not a bad showing against such a skilled attacking team as the Soviet Union.

The Soviets didn’t have one top d-man who came close to meeting this standard.

In fact, their two top d-men, Vladimir Lutchenko and Gennady Tsygankov, helped out little on the attack at even strength, while often getting beat in their own end repeatedly.

Lutchenko contributed to 14 scoring chances at even strength, while making mistakes on 34 against. Even worse, Tsygankov contributed to 11 chances, while making mistakes on 43 against.

The top six Soviet defencemen were Valery Vasiliev, -6, Yuri Lyapkin, -12, Alexander Ragulin, -13, Alexander Gusev, -17, Viktor Kuzkin, -18, Lutchenko, -20, and Tysgnakov, with a chilly -32.

Vasiliev came on strong as the series when on (even if he made a bad giveaway on the sequence of pain for the Soviet’s leading up to Henderson’s historic goal). Indeed, Vasiliev strikes me as the first of the new breed of Soviet d-man, who was tough, even nasty, in his own end, but also skilled on the attack. This breed reached its peak with Alexei Kasatonov and Vyacheslav Festisov in the 1980s, but Vasiliev gave a taste of what was to come.
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Interesting that he more or less calls a young Valeri Vasiliev the first modern Soviet defenseman. Needless to say this doesn't make the older generation of Soviet defensemen look very good.

For anyone doubting that the Soviets government would do anything to win sporting events:

It’s also come out in recent years that the Soviet Union used wild nights of vodka and prostitutes to bribe foreign refs in 1970s and 1980s tournaments. It’s never been proven that any refs in the Summit Series were bribed, but one of the Russians who ran the bribery operation, Viktor Dombrovski, was the goal judge in Game 8 who failed to turn on the goal light after Yvan Cournoyer’s tieing goal in the third period.
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The author then talks about Team Canada's MVP. He says it comes down to five names: Phil Esposito, Bobby Clarke, Brad Park, Serge Savard, and Paul Henderson.

With his stickhandling, shooting, grinding and unbelievably long shifts, Esposito put up more scoring chances than any other player in the series.

In all situations, Espo made some shot, pass, hit or screen that contributed to 67 scoring chances in the eight games. Off that production, he scored 13 official points, seven goals and six assists. He was way ahead of anyone else. Next best was Malstev, 51 contributions to scoring chances (five points), Boris Mikhailov, 48 (5 points), Henderson, 47 (10 points), Yvan Cournoyer, 44 (5 pts), Kharlamov, 39 (7 pts), Park, 38 (5 pts), Alexander Yakushev, 38 (11 pts), and Clarke, 37 (6 pts).

As for Park, without an injured Bobby Orr and with J.C. Tremblay banned from the series for signing with the World Hockey Association, Team Canada was badly lacking in puck-moving defencemen. Park was the key guy carrying the puck up ice. At times he was the only guy having much success at this task.

Along with his strong even strength play, Park was one of the few Canadians who had any success on the weak Team Canada power play, contributing to 11 chances, behind only Espo, who was in on 13.

Clarke’s case comes from his outstanding even strength play, where he was invariably asked to go up against the top Russian attacking unit, first the Kharlamov trio, then once Clarke had hacked Kharlamov out of the tournament, the Yakushev group. Clarke’s even strength play was exceptionally efficient. He chipped in on 37 scoring chances and made mistakes on just 11 against, making him +26, just a hair behind the extraordinary Espo, who was +28. Finally, Clarke’s penalty killing was next to flawless,and the same goes with Savard.

In the final minutes of a game, or when Team Canada needed to kill off a penalty, Savard was trusted with ice time and invariably got the job done. Only he and White had the agility, wingspan and defensive smarts to consistently shut down the toughest Russian attackers. Other d-men like Gary Bergman, Pat Stapleton and even Park, not to mention Rod Seiling and Don Awrey who really struggled, had to resort to the odd stick or elbow to stay in the game with the likes of Malstev, Mikhailov and Kharlamov.

But smooth Savard and rangy White were able to smother most attacks without resorting to fouling. At the same time, Savard’s puck-ragging showed the Soviets just how effective a d-man could be who knew how to deke and dodge.

Of course, Henderson’s late game heroics in the three final games are the stuff of enduring Canadian legend.
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The author says if he had to pick an MVP, he'd pick Esposito, with Clarke as runner up, followed by Henderson.
 
TheDevilMadeMe said:
overpass sent me a pair of recent articles where the author rewatched the Summit Series and counted scoring chances created by a player and scoring chances against created by a player's mistake. They make Phil Esposito (playing without Bobby Orr or Ken Hodge and only playing with Wayne Cashman for 2 games) look exceptionally good, but there is information about a lot of other ATD regulars, so I figured I'd post it all here now that the relevant players have been drafted.

The first article focuses on the first 4 games of the Summit Series (the games in Canada) and is called Phil Esposito was the Mario Lemieux of '72. Bruins ace was a scoring machine for Team Canada

On the lack of puck skill by Soviet defensemen:



On Phil Esposito's play:



The description of Gilbert Perreault trying to stickhandle around the entire Soviet Team (sometimes succeeding sometimes failing) is interesting, as is the description of him as Kharlamov without the passing ability. He was quite young in 1972 though.



More on the defensemen in the series:
Click to expand...

Honestly, I don't think it should be much of a surprise that the caricatures that seem to snowball out of control around here aren't necessarily descriptive of a players ability.

ie. Phil Esposito can only go to the slot and wait to bang home garbage or Paul Coffey never played defense or Pavel Bure was a cherry picker who couldn't pass or Bobby Hull can't work with a xyz center..

I think the party line is pretty inadequate on a lot of players. Some it is true though :naughty:
We need to give these guys some credit.

As an aside though, those numbers don't look like they add up at all. How can the chances be so close overall while the Russian defense makes so many more mistakes than the Canadians? (doesn't smell right)

And if all the mistakes don't results in scoring chances then how serious were they in the first place?

And if all those mistakes did end up in chances, how awesome was Tretiak in standing up to this onslaught and keeping the series close? ;)
 
BraveCanadian said:
Honestly, I don't think it should be much of a surprise that the caricatures that seem to snowball out of control around here aren't necessarily descriptive of a players ability.

ie. Phil Esposito can only go to the slot and wait to bang home garbage or Paul Coffey never played defense or Pavel Bure was a cherry picker who couldn't pass or Bobby Hull can't work with a xyz center..

I think the party line is pretty inadequate on a lot of players. Some it is true though :naughty:
We need to give these guys some credit.

As an aside though, those numbers don't look like they add up at all. How can the chances be so close overall while the Russian defense makes so many more mistakes than the Canadians? (doesn't smell right)

And if all the mistakes don't results in scoring chances then how serious were they in the first place?

And if all those mistakes did end up in chances, how awesome was Tretiak in standing up to this onslaught and keeping the series close? ;)
Click to expand...

Presumably the Canadians created chances in a different way from the Russians. From what I saw the Canadian forwards would attack the Russian D 1-on-1 more often, and frequently had success. The Russians used more of a passing attack, and the chances against may have been more difficult to fault one Canadian player for - more of a team issue.

I do wonder how the author can accurately attribute the fault for chances against when the teams used such different systems.
 
overpass said:
I do wonder how the author can accurately attribute the fault for chances against when the teams used such different systems.
Click to expand...

Ehhh...his insights into what is happening on a global level are good, but his attempt to put it all into a chances caused/created statistics is...questionable. His system is completely opaque, so I can't call it brutal because he doesn't share the data that led him to one conclusion or the other, but I think it is of essentially zero value. Didn't we already know that Esposito was the best forward in the series, and Park the best defenseman?
 
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