Well, you did not trash the Bruins for his goals, I guess they were not lightweights. What difference does it make that the Isles won when he did not play?
I classed them as high quality opponent given the .600+ regular season record, but something was wrong with them. The 83 Isles, unafraid of any potential bulletin board material, thought they were a mild inconvenience, especially on a bigger (regulation-size) ice surface.
The New York Islanders sound relatively unconcerned about the...
Why does it matter that they won when he didn't play? Because the thread seems to assert his goals were more crucial to winning.
Because Bossy was a better goal scorer against set defences, he was the better goal scorer in close games and against better teams.
That's the bit I would take issue with. in 1985 Gretzky scores 17 goals in 18 games against 4 teams with winning records. The 12th place overall 85 Kings are the worst team the Oilers faced, and were higher-ranked than all but one of the opponents of the 1981 Isles.
Also this "set defences" thing is nonsense that lumps in 5-on-4 PP goals with 5-on-5 ES goals to give them more weight.
You can also see by looking at scoring by period that both Bossy and Gretzky scored less in the third period. Bossy went from scoring around 20% of his team's goals in the first and second period, to only scoring 10.5% of his team's goals in the third period in games that his team won. I would attribute this drop to Al Arbour coaching to play it safe with the lead, giving more ice time to the checking lines and having the Trottier-Bossy line play it safe as well.
Alternative explanation: Bossy was PP-dependent. Guess what period has fewer penalties called?
It could be that Arbour played the checking lines more if he wanted to protect a lead. After all the 1980 Islanders were +12 when Mike Bossy was off the ice, and -4 when Bossy was on the ice.
I think the “Gretzky could have scored more goals if he wanted to” objection proves too much.
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You may choose to find the best by imagining how they would perform if they chose to chase statistics. I for one prefer when hockey is played to win, not chase individual statistics.
It's not just that Gretzky is great, it's not just that he scores 200 points with a 92 goal season and a 52 goal season, it's that 5-on-4 PP goals should be the easiest way to pad your stats. And when the goals were the easiest to score, Gretzky usually positioned himself behind the net and made himself a passer. In scoring 5 ES goals against the 1985 Flyers, Gretzky did something Bossy never did against any quality of opponent.
Agreed that the Oilers were able to be successful with their attack. Just not as much against strong defensive teams that could protect the slot.
From 1982-83 to 1987-88, the Oilers averaged 5.07 goals/game in the regular season. In 25 Stanley Cup final games, they averaged only 3.52 goals/game, but still won because they were able to play better defence, only allowing 2.80 goals/game.
They played better defensively? Or perhaps the Finals tend to be a lower scoring environment.
Some of that is due to how the game is called. The stereotype is that whistles are put away, and the refs let players play. That's probably a big part of how the Flyers were tough matchups for New York and Edmonton in 1985 and 1987. There were low PPO, but probably a lot of stuff that could have been called. In a high PP environment, the Oilers went 8/25 against Boston in 4.5 games, and Gretzky was on a 200+ point pace in the Finals. Of course, the Isles were fortunate in terms of chances. In 1980, they went 15/40 in 6 games. 40!
Some of that is due to opponent, so naturally the 1981 Isles, who had the easiest schedule in modern playoff history, scored like the regular season Oilers with 5.39 GPG.
The Oilers scored less in the Finals, but teams typically do, unless they're lucky enough to run into a terrible opponent. I'd say the Oilers were still pretty successful after 1983, given that all of their Finals opponents were legitimate contenders.
Here are some of the high scorers in the 4-round era:
Most goals in a Finals series
4 game series
18. Oilers v. Bruins, 1988 (3 blackout game goals excluded)
18. Isles v. Canucks, 1982
17. Isles v. Oilers, 1983
5 games
26. Knights v. Panthers, 2023
26, Isles v. Stars, 1981
21. Oilers v. Isles, 1984
21. Oilers v. Flyers, 1985
20. Oilers v. Bruins, 1990
20. Caps v. Knights, 2018
7 Games
23. Bruins v. Canucks, 2011
22. Oilers v, Flyers, 1987
22. Bruins v. Blues, 2019
21. Rangers v. Canucks, 1994
Or put in a Bossy vs Gretzky context, once again, here's how they did against playoff teams based on their opponents' regular season records.
| GP | G | Bossy GPG | Gretzky GPG | GP | G |
sub .500 | 34 | 33 | 0.97 | 0.65 | 34 | 22 |
.500 - .599 | 45 | 23 | 0.51 | 0.63 | 55.5 | 35 |
.600 + | 50 | 30 | 0.60 | 0.71 | 41 | 29 |