Obscure hockey facts/stats (Part 2)

[Hockey Outsider]

Teppo Numminen in 2005-06 started with an 0-32-32, and was briefly 0-33-33 before scoring a goal later in the game with his 33rd assist. That's more points than anyone who finished a season with 0 goals so it might be him.

There was a "race" between Numminen and Jay Bouwmeester that season. As of March 10th, 2006, Numminen had zero goals and 32 assists, while Bouwmeeseter and zero goals and 31 assists.

The next night (March 11th), Numminen got his 33rd assist befire getting a goal later that period. His 0-33-33 statline is, as far as I can tell, the record for more assists without a goal at any point in a season.

Bouwmeester got his 32nd assist of the season that same night (March 11th). Then he scored goals in consecutive games (March 17th and 18th), so Numminen gets to keep this "record", at least for now.

 

[Big Phil]

It has been said before, but Joe Juneau still holds the single season assist record for left wingers with 70 in 1993. How is this still possible? I know historically there aren't exactly a lot of left wingers that rack up assists, but still, this is the player with the best season? Thank you Adam Oates, I guess you can say.

 

[Big Phil]

Brett Hull, never known as much of a penalty killer, did do it a bit in St. Louis at one point. Bizarrely, in 1992 he had 4 PPG goals scored while he was on the ice but had a total of 5 shorthanded goals. I mean.............what? Now, I know Hull, I am sure he was taking some extreme chances that probably could have hurt the team but it makes you wonder the circumstances there. Was he just on the ice randomly and happened to score a goal shorthanded? Because being on the ice for just 4 PPG against is not much, but you get 5 goals shorthanded?

 

[Johnny Engine]

Brett Hull, never known as much of a penalty killer, did do it a bit in St. Louis at one point. Bizarrely, in 1992 he had 4 PPG goals scored while he was on the ice but had a total of 5 shorthanded goals. I mean.............what? Now, I know Hull, I am sure he was taking some extreme chances that probably could have hurt the team but it makes you wonder the circumstances there. Was he just on the ice randomly and happened to score a goal shorthanded? Because being on the ice for just 4 PPG against is not much, but you get 5 goals shorthanded?

I thought I specifically remember Hull scoring a 3 on 5 goal in the 1994-95 season against Detroit, though I can't figure out if that was the case.
He has 2 SHG that year against Detroit, both have another forward figuring in the play (it's not impossible you'd send out 2F 1D for a 5 on 3, but definitely not common). The one on April 16, he scored on an Esa Tikkanen penalty, assisted by Guy Carbonneau. The other, on April 2, there was a parade to the penalty box including an instigator penalty for McRae, a roughing call for Lapperiere, delay of game for Tardif, and then roughing for Primeau and a garden variety five for fighting for Konstantinov - I guess that would have been a 4 on 3 for Detroit but I can't really be sure about that. Perhaps I'm conflating the 4-goals-and-a-shorty performance from the April 16th game with a different 3-on-5 goal Hull scored on some other team, both being season defining accomplishments for Hull?

 

[blogofmike]

Brett Hull, never known as much of a penalty killer, did do it a bit in St. Louis at one point. Bizarrely, in 1992 he had 4 PPG goals scored while he was on the ice but had a total of 5 shorthanded goals. I mean.............what? Now, I know Hull, I am sure he was taking some extreme chances that probably could have hurt the team but it makes you wonder the circumstances there. Was he just on the ice randomly and happened to score a goal shorthanded? Because being on the ice for just 4 PPG against is not much, but you get 5 goals shorthanded?

Obviously he's known for other things but in the 2002 Cup run Scotty Bowman actually gave Brett Hull more PK time than Sergei Fedorov.

 

[Big Phil]

I thought I specifically remember Hull scoring a 3 on 5 goal in the 1994-95 season against Detroit, though I can't figure out if that was the case.
He has 2 SHG that year against Detroit, both have another forward figuring in the play (it's not impossible you'd send out 2F 1D for a 5 on 3, but definitely not common). The one on April 16, he scored on an Esa Tikkanen penalty, assisted by Guy Carbonneau. The other, on April 2, there was a parade to the penalty box including an instigator penalty for McRae, a roughing call for Lapperiere, delay of game for Tardif, and then roughing for Primeau and a garden variety five for fighting for Konstantinov - I guess that would have been a 4 on 3 for Detroit but I can't really be sure about that. Perhaps I'm conflating the 4-goals-and-a-shorty performance from the April 16th game with a different 3-on-5 goal Hull scored on some other team, both being season defining accomplishments for Hull?

Yes he did, I think you are right with the era, it was mid 1990s. It was a breakaway if I recall.

 

[Bondurant]

Is there a place on the interwebs for obscure facts? Last night Karel Vejmelka was pulled 59 seconds into the game. I am wondering if that is a NHL record. Best I can find in terms of goalies getting pulled is that an AHL goalie was pulled after 36 seconds in 2014.

 

[FerrisRox]

What is the record for how many times player has been drafted?

The answer might be Fredric Chabot.

He was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 10th round of he 1986 NHL Entry Draft.

He was then drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft.

He was then drafted by the Nashville Predators in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft.

He was then drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1998 NHL Waiver Draft.

Finally, he was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft.

Having been drafted five different times, he might be hard to beat. It's pretty wild that he was drafted three times in three different Expansion Drafts including two that were eight years apart.

He also never played a single game for an Expansion team despite being drafted by three different Expansion teams.

 

[Kahvi]

Thanks, that was a really great post.

 

[Kahvi]

The answer might be Fredric Chabot.

He was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the 10th round of he 1986 NHL Entry Draft.

He was then drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft.

He was then drafted by the Nashville Predators in the 1998 NHL Expansion Draft.

He was then drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1998 NHL Waiver Draft.

Finally, he was drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2000 NHL Expansion Draft.

Having been drafted five different times, he might be hard to beat. It's pretty wild that he was drafted three times in three different Expansion Drafts including two that were eight years apart.

He also never played a single game for an Expansion team despite being drafted by three different Expansion teams.

I dont think I had heard about Waiver draft before, back in the late 90's / early 2000's there wasn't that much coverage or changes to follow NHL as well as nowadays. So I had to google what it was, and found this article
Longing for the Old-School Waiver Draft

interesting trivia there

For example, future Rangers coach and (after that) controversial head disciplinarian Colin Campbell was plucked in the 1980 draft, going from the Oilers to the Canucks, which made him a member of the presumably exclusive club of players to be picked in four different types of drafts: the NHL entry draft, the WHA amateur draft, an expansion draft, and a waiver draft.

Reading further, still only 4 Waiver drafts but Brubaker was drafted by the Bruins in entry draft, so it's 5 for him as well

While those guys were all key picks in their own right, the undisputed MVP of the early-’80s waiver draft was winger Jeff Brubaker, who was taken four times in four drafts between 1981 and 1984, part of a nine-year NHL career that saw him play for seven teams, presumably because chanting “BRRRUUUUU” was so much fun.

Add entry draft, and it's 4 for Chris Joseph

Gary Bettman’s first lockout pushed the 1994 draft into 1995, when defenseman Chris Joseph began to stake his claim as his generation’s Jeff Brubaker, being picked for the first of three times in the decade.

Another interesting draft fact

The 1998 draft brought the next wave of expansion, as the Predators made Zdeno Ciger their first pick. Two years later, another expansion team, the Minnesota Wild, would make Ciger the first pick of the 2000 waiver draft. He’s the only player to go first overall twice, and he was equally productive for both of the teams that chose him — he never played a game for either.

 

[Kahvi]

That piece by Sean McIndoe was actually a really great read. Couple of other things I noticed.

Sebastian Aho is the next possible that comes to mind that might happen.

When the Nordiques took Greg Adams from the Canucks with the first pick in 1989, it broke up the only instance in NHL history of two players with the exact same name playing for the same team at the same time.

Not really a stat and probably added to lighten up the article, but anyway, maybe it's true for NHL players?

The Senators were back at it in 1993, scooping veteran forward (and worldwide consecutive consonant record-holder) Dave McLlwain.

 

[frisco]

The Vancouver Canucks, 1976-77 to 1990-91 inclusive, were under .500 for 15 straight seasons. They did make the playoffs nine times in that stretch including a Finals appearance.

My Best-Carey

 

[frisco]

Last year there were 21 players in the top 150 in scoring that were age 32 or older. In 1982-83 there were 5.

My Best-Carey

 

[frisco]

Of the top 150 goal scorers in NHL history there have been only nine who have scored at least 15 goals in each NHL season they played in NHL:

Nash (low 15)
Kane (low 15)--Not including this season
Goulet (low 16)
Vanek (low 16)
Tavares (low 19)--Not including this season
Barber (low 20)
Lemaire (low 20)
Ovechkin (low 24)--Not including this season
Bossy (low 38)

My Best-Carey

 

[DeysArena]

Five NHL players have recorded 150-point seasons: Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Steve Yzerman, Phil Esposito and Bernie Nicholls.

One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Of the top 150 goal scorers in NHL history there have been only eight who have scored at least 15 goals in each NHL season they played in NHL:

Nash (low 15)
Kane (low 15)--Not including this season
Goulet (low 16)
Vanek (low 16)
Tavares (low 19)--Not including this season
Barber (low 20)
Lemaire (low 20)
Bossy (low 38)

My Best-Carey

I was positive you must have missed Sundin, however in the half season he played with the Canucks in his final year, he only netted nine times. His 18 goal pace that season was his worst since his rookie season, when he had 23 goals.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Of the top 150 goal scorers in NHL history there have been only eight who have scored at least 15 goals in each NHL season they played in NHL:

Nash (low 15)
Kane (low 15)--Not including this season
Goulet (low 16)
Vanek (low 16)
Tavares (low 19)--Not including this season
Barber (low 20)
Lemaire (low 20)
Bossy (low 38)

My Best-Carey

Ovechkin would be on that list too, right? (Or maybe he's excluded due to the in-progress 2022 season).

 

[Hockey Outsider]

To my knowledge, Wayne Gretzky twice in his career scored 20 points in four consecutive NHL games.

Leading up to the “50-in-39 game” vs. Philly on Dec. 30th 1981, Wayne didn’t quite make it to 20 in a four-game stretch, but he scored 25 points in five games, which is actually even more impressive, I guess.

Anyway, these were the two 20-points-in-four games I could find:
1) Feb. 17th to Feb. 24th 1982:
vs. MIN: 2 goals + 3 assists = 5 points
vs. HAR: 3 goals + 2 assists = 5 points
@ DET: 1 goal + 4 assists = 5 points
@ BUF: 3 goals + 2 assists = 5 points

Pretty crazy to have exactly five points in four consecutive games.

2) Dec. 14 to Dec. 21 1983:
@ NYR: 3 goals + 2 assists = 5 points
vs. QUE: 1 goal + 5 assists = 6 points
@ WIN: 2 goals + 2 assists = 4 points
vs. WIN: 3 goals + 2 assists = 5 points

So, these are the only examples I can find of Wayne doing this, and looking at Mario’s three biggest seasons I don’t see him doing it (he did have 19 points in four games at least once).

So, has any other player besides Gretzky ever done this?

Maybe back in the 1920s or something…?

I checked several likely candidates from the NHL's first decade. I couldn't find anybody with 20 points over four games. The closest I could find was Babe Dye (17 points during the first four games of the 1923 season).

Peter and Anton Stastny both had consecutive 6 and 8 points games during their rookie season. But Peter only had 4 points in the next two games so he "only" got 18 points over four games.

 

[frisco]

Ovechkin would be on that list too, right? (Or maybe he's excluded due to the in-progress 2022 season).

No, you're right. In fact, he's the first guy I checked but forgot to type him in!

My Best-Carey

 

[frisco]

In 1981-82 twelve of the top 40 scoring leaders were 22 or younger. Last year there was one (Adam Fox at 38th).

The highest 31 or older player in the scoring list in 1981-82 was Ivan Boldirev and Gilbert Perreault (tied for 59th). Last year there were 16 31 or older players in the top 60.

My Best-Carey

 

[frisco]

Rick St.Croix of Philadelphia in 1980-81 posted the best save percentage of anyone in the 80's at .9129. Minimum 25 GP.

My Best-Carey

 

[The Panther]

The Vancouver Canucks, 1976-77 to 1990-91 inclusive, were under .500 for 15 straight seasons. They did make the playoffs nine times in that stretch including a Finals appearance.

My Best-Carey

I've noticed that 15-years'-losing-seasons thing before, too, and I think it is absolutely insane. As you say, they still made the playoffs fairly often due to the "everyone gets in" style of playoffs in that era, but that is a hard period for a Canadian fanbase to suffer, especially when clubs like Calgary, Montreal, Quebec, and of course Edmonton were all thriving.

The Canucks' fanbase appeared to bottom-out in the 1986-87 season when, if I recall correctly, they had not only the worst attendance in franchise history but maybe the worst in the NHL that decade...? (Not sure if that's right.)

The Maple Leafs went from 1979-80 through 1988-89 without a winning season, and in fact went from 1979-80 through 1991-92 (thirteen seasons) never finishing above .500. But the difference is, they still sold out their building every night.

Just to add something I noticed once: In the '86 playoffs, the Canucks were destroyed by the Oilers in the first round, as expected. That was the last season of best-of-five opening round, so there was only one game played in Vancouver, on April 12th, 1986. The Canucks drew an official crowd of 7,854 for a home playoff game, against the dynasty Oilers with several peak Hall of Famers on the ice. Now, I realize the Canucks' faithful expected the home-side to lose, but it still strikes me as odd that a relatively large Canadian city would draw that paltry of a crowd to a home playoff game.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

I thought I specifically remember Hull scoring a 3 on 5 goal in the 1994-95 season against Detroit, though I can't figure out if that was the case.
He has 2 SHG that year against Detroit, both have another forward figuring in the play (it's not impossible you'd send out 2F 1D for a 5 on 3, but definitely not common). The one on April 16, he scored on an Esa Tikkanen penalty, assisted by Guy Carbonneau. The other, on April 2, there was a parade to the penalty box including an instigator penalty for McRae, a roughing call for Lapperiere, delay of game for Tardif, and then roughing for Primeau and a garden variety five for fighting for Konstantinov - I guess that would have been a 4 on 3 for Detroit but I can't really be sure about that. Perhaps I'm conflating the 4-goals-and-a-shorty performance from the April 16th game with a different 3-on-5 goal Hull scored on some other team, both being season defining accomplishments for Hull?

No, you're bang on. I remember it too. I was going to mention it and then reading your comment was a mind-meld moment.

It was a breakaway and I think he went forehand backhand.

 

[alko]

As we know, March 9th, 1991, Theo Fleury scores a hattrick all with shorthanded goals. Two of which came 8 seconds apart on the same penalty kill.

How many players scored 2 SHG in the same penalty?

I think, also Palffy did in his last game for Islanders, didnt he? Who else?

 

[The Panther]

As we know, March 9th, 1991, Theo Fleury scores a hattrick all with shorthanded goals. Two of which came 8 seconds apart on the same penalty kill.

How many players scored 2 SHG in the same penalty?

I think, also Palffy did in his last game for Islanders, didnt he? Who else?

Mark Messier did it in 30 seconds vs. Detroit, in March 1986: Edmonton Oilers at Detroit Red Wings Box Score — March 25, 1986 | Hockey-Reference.com