A note on Frank Foyston, combination play and PCHA assist stats.
Prewar assist stats are a remarkably unreliable source from which to judge a player's general creativity, his ability to execute the short passing game, puck-carrying, etc. Specifically in the PCHA, the rate at which assists were given out is so low as to suggest that they were only awarded for passes which directly led to a goal - backdoor passes, passes to set up open-net shots on a rush, etc. The assist rate out west was so low as to be an almost wholly meaningless reflection of a player's ability to perform many of the other plays which are associated with what we today think of as playmaking.
A good example of this is Frank Foyston, a player whose stats suggest that he was a pure goalscorer who couldn't pass the puck to save his life. In his most extreme season, Foyston scored 26 goals and 3 assists. From the numbers, he looks like a comically bad playmaker, but this is a false assumption.
The Seattle Mets and specifically Frank Foyston and Jack Walker were actually known for being great at combination play - that is the short passing game which teams use to move the puck up ice without any one player carrying it for long periods of time. In fact, the PCHA, with it's seven man hockey, was generally a league which encouraged this sort of play moreso than the eastern six man rules.
This first
article is from the Montreal Gazette, December 25, 1912:
Hockey on an ice area the size of the Toronto Arena requires at least seven men a side for the best exposition of the fine points of the game. The prettiest thing about hockey is the combination team attack, the passing and the repassing and the backchecking, which are apparently impossible under the six man rule.
The exhibition on Saturday by the professionals was a succession of one-man rushes (some of them brilliant) with little or no attempt at combined play. Had there been five men a side or even four men a side, it would have been just as sensible, with more openings for individual rushes.
This makes sense. The more men you have on the ice the fewer lanes there will be for individuals to hold onto the puck themselves, and the more players will be forced into combination plays with their linemates.
This next article is a Christian Science Monitor piece, so I cannot link it. I stumbled upon it while I was researching the end of the PCHA and the sale of many of its players to other interests. From the CSM, October 30, 1924:
Sale of four former stars of the old Seattle Metropolitans of the Victoria Cougars and the Vancouver Maroons, of the Western Canada Hockey Association, was recently announced. Walker, Holmes and Fraser will join the Victoria lineup and the opening of the season, while Foyston will go to Vancouver.
Purchase of Walker, Holmes and Fraser means that the Victoria team, contrary to all expectations, will be almost completely changed this year. Holmes will replace Fowler in goal, the former Victoria goalie being slated for one of the prairie teams, probably Edmonton, which recently released its goaltender. Fraser's playing on the Seattle defense last year was so spectacular that he is expected to take a regular place on the Victoria team, probably replacing Halderson, whose work last season was disappointing. Walker, though one of the veterans of the old Coast League, is regarded as one of the greatest strategists in the game in the west and is credited with inventing the hook check now used everywhere. He always played in rover's position before the introduction of the six-man game and has never been as effective on the wing as in his old position.
Foyston is expected to replace Frank Boucher in center on the Vancouver lineup. For the last half dozen years Foyston has been considered one of the greatest forwards in the game, being excelled in the west only by Frederickson, the crack Victoria center ice man. He is in the veteran class now and has lost a good deal of his old speed. As a stickhandler, however, he has few equals.
The transfer of Walker, Foyston and Fraser breaks up a trio who have made hockey history. Foyston and Walker have been playing together since 1915 and in that time have developed remarkable combination play. With Arbour of Edmonton playing on the wing, and the three former Seattle players in the lineup, the Victoria team will be scarcely recognizeable. Frederickson, Louchlin and Hart are expected to wear the blue Cougar jersey this season, but no definite announcement on his plans has been made yet by Lester Patrick, Victoria manager.
I think the text speaks for itself. This next
article is from the Vancouver Sun, December 7, 1922:
The play was exceedingly pretty at times. The visitors seemed perfectly at home in the local rink, which they declare is much the same size as their own. Their center ice passes, long speedy shots, that someone always seemed to get, were better than the locals, but their short passing game, the one that after all stands the opposition on its head, didn't compare with the work of the Mets.
Seattle seems to have been specifically known for executing the short passing game. This next
article is from just a few weeks earlier. From the Calgary Daily Herald, November 14, 1922:
Foyston, Riley and Morris were in their element the whole route. Foyston and Riley, particularly, could not be held by the Vancouver defense, and repeatedly broke through with combination and individual play, and tested Reid with hard drives. Reid saved a multitude of them, but on the majority of the counters he had but slight chance to save, as the Mets worked through the Vancouver defense and passed the puck.
This last quote is from an
article that nik has posted already - from the Montreal Gazette, March 31, 1920:
Played Combination
The pace continued fast and the Seattle players showed pretty combinations, Foyston, Morris, Walker and Rowe being prominent. The puck was passed back and forth with such dexterity and accuracy that the Ottawa team appeared bewildered.
This is a fairly meaningful quote given the opponent, that Sens team being arguably the greatest defensive team of all-time. At any rate, I think this information is sufficient to demonstrate a few points:
1) The Seattle Mets were great at executing the short passing game.
2) Frank Foyston, in particular, was quite good at it.
3) Foston's assist totals do not reflect this skill
4) PCHA assist totals, in general, do a very poor job of reflecting the various aspects of what modern observers consider to be playmaking skills.
