Obscure hockey facts/stats (Part 2)

[Yozhik v tumane]

I was looking at Mark Messier's first season with the Rangers (1991-92) and kind of reviewing that club's year when I noticed a statistical oddity, which was Mess's plus/minus in The Rangers' 42nd game of the season (which was Mess's 41st), on January 4th, 1992 @ New Jersey. At Brendan Byrne Arena, the Devils won 6-4, and Messier was -6 for the game. The Devils scored 6 even strength goals and Mess was on the ice for every single one! Tony Amonte was also -6, so clearly that line had a rough night, but nobody else on the Rangers was worse than -3.

Mess himself was only worse than -2 in one other game that whole season (vs. Washington he went -3 one night), so that -6 is a real outlier. I checked his past with Edmonton, and only three times in twelve years did Mess go -4 in a single game with the Oilers. (Believe it or not, only once was he ever worse than -3 with the Canucks, which was a -4 game vs. Toronto in March 2000 and even then I think he was for the overtime goal against to go -4.)

In fact, I checked his entire career, that that -6 holds up as the single worst result. (Twice he went -5: once as a rookie with Edmonton, and once in the Rangers' 11-6 loss to Buffalo in that weird 1992-93 season.)

To be fair, -6 would be an outlier for most players, maybe even every player. Since +/- has been recorded, -7 or worse has only been recorded 24 times, and never for the same player twice. Bill Mikkelson, with the worst +/- season record, never had worse than -5 in a night, but the worst +/- game does belong to another player on the 1974-75 Capitals: Greg Joly went -9 in a game against Pittsburgh. Ouch.

This would be the most miserable minus game for an iconic line: Secord - Savard - Larmer all were -7 once against the 1984-85 Oilers. Oilers won the game in question 12-9, Savard had a goal and his wingers an assist each.

The only player to record -7 since Doug Wilson for the Sharks in 1993, was Calgary’s Chris Butler who did so in 2012 against the Bruins.

The last player to record -6 in a game was… drum roll… Victor Hedman! Just a few days ago, on December 30th 2021 in a 9-3 loss against the Panthers. Golly! Before this season, he’d only had worse than a -3 once in 2013-14 where he had a -5 vs. the Bruins, but this season Hedman’s been a -4 player twice in addition to his -6 game. What’s up with that?

Sources: Hockey-reference, Which Player Had Worst Plus Minus In One Game | StatMuse

 

[The Panther]

To be fair, -6 would be an outlier for most players, maybe even every player. Since +/- has been recorded, -7 or worse has only been recorded 24 times, and never for the same player twice. Bill Mikkelson, with the worst +/- season record, never had worse than -5 in a night, but the worst +/- game does belong to another player on the 1974-75 Capitals: Greg Joly went -9 in a game against Pittsburgh. Ouch.

This would be the most miserable minus game for an iconic line: Secord - Savard - Larmer all were -7 once against the 1984-85 Oilers. Oilers won the game in question 12-9, Savard had a goal and his wingers an assist each.

The only player to record -7 since Doug Wilson for the Sharks in 1993, was Calgary’s Chris Butler who did so in 2012 against the Bruins.

The last player to record -6 in a game was… drum roll… Victor Hedman! Just a few days ago, on December 30th 2021 in a 9-3 loss against the Panthers. Golly! Before this season, he’d only had worse than a -3 once in 2013-14 where he had a -5 vs. the Bruins, but this season Hedman’s been a -4 player twice in addition to his -6 game. What’s up with that?

Sources: Hockey-reference, Which Player Had Worst Plus Minus In One Game | StatMuse

Great post.

Greg Joly's 44 games for Washington during 1974-75 may be the worst 40-odd game stretch any NHL defenceman has ever had. 44 games, 1 goal, 8 points, -69. (That's a pace of -125 for an 80-game season.)

However, almost certainly the worst 20-game stretch for any NHL defenceman is Jack Lynch of the... 1974-75 Capitals. Lynch must have been bummed to get traded to Washington on Feb. 8th 1975, because he subsequently went -54 in 20 games to close out the season (a pace of -216 for a full season). I still can't get my head around how that's even possible.

Early-to-mid March appears to be when Lynch first threw in the towel. Over a 7-game span, he went -28.

Not to be outdone, over his final 8 games of the season, he went -22.

 

[The Panther]

As utterly horrid as the 1974-75 Capitals were, the 1975-76 club was nearly as bad.

They started the season 0-8-1, and by late January were 3-29-5. That's horror bad.

What jumps out, from a casual scan of their second season, is their loss to Buffalo on Dec. 21, 1975. They lost 14-2, being outshot 50 to 16: Washington Capitals at Buffalo Sabres Box Score — December 21, 1975 | Hockey-Reference.com

I'm wondering: Is 14 goals the most any club has scored since that season?

Also: Buffalo scored 8 goals in the third period. Surely, that's the record...?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

As utterly horrid as the 1974-75 Capitals were, the 1975-76 club was nearly as bad.

They started the season 0-8-1, and by late January were 3-29-5. That's horror bad.

What jumps out, from a casual scan of their second season, is their loss to Buffalo on Dec. 21, 1975. They lost 14-2, being outshot 50 to 16: Washington Capitals at Buffalo Sabres Box Score — December 21, 1975 | Hockey-Reference.com

I'm wondering: Is 14 goals the most any club has scored since that season?

Also: Buffalo scored 8 goals in the third period. Surely, that's the record...?

November 11th 1981, the North Stars beat the Jets 15-2. They tied the 1943-44 Red Wings for the second most goals scored in one game. The record belongs to the 1919-20 Canadiens who beat the Quebec Bulldogs 16-3.

No team has scored 13 or more goals in a game since 1993, and 11 or more goals hasn’t been scored by a team since 2003.

12 times have teams scored 10 goals in a game since the lockout: Four of those games took place in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, and three of them involved the Canadiens. Once at the receiving end of a pummeling, and twice at the dishing.

March 19th 1981, Sabres beat the Maple Leafs 14-4. In the second period, the Sabres scored 9 goals to set the NHL record for goals in a period.

No team has gotten within one goal of the record since the 1998-99 Capitals who scored 8 goals in the second period of a game versus the Lightning that they ended up winning 10-2.

Source: records.nhl.com

 

[The Panther]

November 11th, the North Stars beat the Jets 15-2.

Sorry, what season was that?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Sorry, what season was that?

Sorry about that!

1981-82

 

[The Panther]

Geez, the Jets had a decent season in 1981-82. How'd they lose a game 15 to 2？

 

[reckoning]

Geez, the Jets had a decent season in 1981-82. How'd they lose a game 15 to 2？

John Ferguson had picked up Serge Savard in the waiver draft, but Savard opted to stay retired rather than move to Winnipeg. After the 15-2 disaster, Ferguson called Savard and pleaded with him to change his mind, because their defence needed him. Savard was in the lineup a month later, and they started doing better defensively.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Tie Domi (the Leafs' designated fighter for most of the Mats Sundin era) scored 2 goals in consecutive games (November 29th, 2000 against the Pronger/MacInnis-era Blues, and then November 30th, 2000 against the hapless NY Islanders).

Has there ever been a weaker offensive talent to score 2+ goals in consecutive games? (In his career, Domi scored 104 goals and 245 games in 1,020 games).

Colby Armstrong's only 2 goals with the Habs came in back-to-back games I believe.

He scored less than Domi, but in like 600 games less.

 

[frisco]

Colby Armstrong's only 2 goals with the Habs came in back-to-back games I believe.

He scored less than Domi, but in like 600 games less.

Reminds me of Mick Vukota's natural hat trick in 1989. He only had 17 goals in 575 or so NHL games.

My Best-Carey

 

[alko]

Source - Story is from 2001
It's not unusual for Russian players to get their first real dental once-over when they come to North America. Still, when Thrashers rookie Ilya Kovalchuk recently had nine teeth removed (four wisdom teeth and five others) it raised some eyebrows.
"As a kid, I always liked to eat chocolate," he said. "My mother told me I eat too much candy. She used to hide the candy in the house, but I went looking for it."
Here's the kicker. Kovalchuk's mother, Luba, is a dentist.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Does anyone know which players have been in the most all-star games without ending up in the Hall? (Yes I realize the format was different for much of the Original Six era).

I believe the leaders are Claude Provost (11x), Jeremy Roenick (9x) and Gus Mortson (8x).

There are a bunch of non-HOF players who were seven-time all-stars: JC Tremblay, Theo Fleury, Sandis Ozolinsh, Rick Martin, Garry Unger, Don McKenney, Don Marhsall, Doug Mohns, Sid Smith. Am I missing anyone?

====
Conversely, any ideas as to who's in the HOF (focusing on players who played most/all of their prime in the NHL, post-WWII) with the least all-star games?

Kevin Lowe was one of my first guesses but, surprisingly he was in 7 games. So was Dick Duff (different rules). Gainey and Carbonneau were in 4 and 3 respectively. Andreychuk and Federko were in 2. Two Islanders, Gillies and Smith, were only in one, along with Gerry Cheevers - surely that must be the record?

 

[Kahvi]

What is the highest number of arenas that a player has scored? without looking it, Ovechkin probably has scored in every current arena (maybe not in Seattle, or Islanders new arena?) which would give him 32 arenas and the ones that are no longer used by NHL teams. Could it be as high as 35? 40?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

What is the highest number of arenas that a player has scored? without looking it, Ovechkin probably has scored in every current arena (maybe not in Seattle, or Islanders new arena?) which would give him 32 arenas and the ones that are no longer used by NHL teams. Could it be as high as 35? 40?

Interesting question.

I think another good bet would be someone like Jagr since a lot of current (and defunct, too) arenas were opened between 1993-2000, so someone like him who is likely to have produced in these former arenas as well as the new ones, against now-defunct and relocated teams like the Jets, Whalers and Nordiques, and against 30 teams not named the Golden Knights or Kraken.

 

[reckoning]

Two Islanders, Gillies and Smith, were only in one, along with Gerry Cheevers - surely that must be the record?

To be fair, Gillies and Cheevers also both played in the 1979 Challenge Cup. It's not counted as an all-star game, but I think it, and Rendez-Vous '87, should be. Those games took the place of the All-Star Game, and if a player was good enough to play on Team NHL, it's a safe bet they'd be good enough for a conference team.

With all the missed All-Star Games over the last 30 years due to lockouts, Olympics, and Covid, it's likely that if a player ever makes it with zero appearances it would be somebody playing in this era.

 

[hacksaw7]

Reminds me of Mick Vukota's natural hat trick in 1989. He only had 17 goals in 575 or so NHL games.

My Best-Carey

and I believe he did it all within a 5 minute span

 

[kaiser matias]

What is the highest number of arenas that a player has scored? without looking it, Ovechkin probably has scored in every current arena (maybe not in Seattle, or Islanders new arena?) which would give him 32 arenas and the ones that are no longer used by NHL teams. Could it be as high as 35? 40?

It would have to be someone who played through the 1990s and the arrival of all new arenas I would imagine. @Yozhik v tumane has a good candidate in Jagr, but I'd also suggest someone Messier, especially as he played in both conferences during this era, so would have had a strong chance to do it, too.

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

It would have to be someone who played through the 1990s and the arrival of all new arenas I would imagine. @Yozhik v tumane has a good candidate in Jagr, but I'd also suggest someone Messier, especially as he played in both conferences during this era, so would have had a strong chance to do it, too.

Someone once listed the arenas Jagr scored his NHL goals in.
I do not know how accurate it is, since I haven't done the research myself. (This includes the arena names)
Apparently he played NHL games in 64 different arenas, scoring a goal in 54 of them.

Arena and number of goals

1 - Mellon Arena (Pittsburgh Civic Arena) 240
2 - Madison Square Garden 83
3 - Capital One Arena (Verizon Center / MCI Center) 62
4 - BB&T Center (National Car Rental Center) 33
5 - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 28
6 - Wells Fargo Center (Wachovia Center / CoreStates Center) 28
7 - Prudential Center 20
8 - Canadian Tire Centre (The Palladium) 16
9 - Bell Centre (Molson Centre) 14
10 - Continental Airlines Arena (Izod Center / Brendan Byrne Arena) 14
11 - KeyBank Arena (Marine Midland Arena) 14
12 - Amalie Arena (Ice Palace) 13
13 - TD Garden (FleetCenter) 13
14 - American Airlines Center 12
15 - Scotiabank Arena (Air Canada Centre) 11
16 - Buffalo Memorial Auditorium (The Aud) 9
17 - Honda Center (Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) 9
18 - Philips Arena (State Farm Arena) 9
19 - PNC Arena (Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena) 8
20 - Rexall Place (Northlands Coliseum / Edmonton Coliseum / Skyreach Centre) 8
21 - Hartford Civic Center (XL Center) 7
22 - Rogers Arena (GM Place) 7
23 - SAP Center (San Jose Arena) 7
24 - Boston Garden 6
25 - Joe Louis Arena 6
26 - Montreal Forum 6
27 - Scotiabank Saddledome (Olympic Saddledome) 6
28 - Bridgestone Arena (Nashville Arena) 5
29 - Colisee de Quebec 5
30 - Maple Leaf Gardens 5
31 - Ottawa Civic Centre (TD Place Arena) 5
32 - Staples Center (Now Crypto.com Arena) 5
33 - United Center 5
34 - Miami Arena 4
35 - Pepsi Center (Now Ball Arena) 4
36 - The Spectrum (CoreStates Spectrum) 4
37 - America West Arena (Talking Stick Resort Arena) 3
38 - Great Western Forum (The Forum) 3
39 - Jobing.com Arena (Gila River Arena / Glendale Arena) 3
40 - McNichols Sports Arena 3
41 - Thunderdome (Tropicana Field / Florida Suncoast Dome) 3
42 - ARCO Arena (Sleep Train Arena) 2
43 - PPG Paints Arena (Consol Energy Center) 2
44 - Bell MTS Place (MTS Centre / Canadian Life Centre) 2
45 - Nationwide Arena 2
46 - Reunion Arena 2
47 - Scottrade Center (Enterprise Center / Kiel Center) 2
48 - Winnipeg Arena 2
49 - Chicago Stadium 1
50 - Cow Palace 1
51 - Greensboro Coliseum 1
52 - Met Center 1
53 - Pacific Coliseum 1
54 - Richfield Coliseum 1

The arenas he did not score a goal in (apparently):

Xcel Energy Center
US Airways Arena (Capital Centre)
Expo Hall
Yankee Stadium
Citizens Bank Park
Saitama Super Arena
The Omni
Barclays Center
Rogers Place
Little Caesars Arena

Once again, I do not know how accurate this is, but Jagr is definitely the frontrunner here.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Uwe Krupp and Mike Rupp scored a Stanley Cup winning goal each.

From this I deduce that Brian Propp was a vowel away from winning a cup ring.

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

Is Mike Bossy the only player ( expansion era) to be a point-per-game player and plus player (plus/minus) against every NHL opponent?

Opponent	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-
Atlanta Flames/Calgary Flames	37	26	28	54	+19
Boston Bruins	35	30	13	43	+4
Buffalo Sabres	32	17	16	33	+6
Chicago Blackhawks	35	36	28	64	+33
Colorado Rockies/New Jersey Devils	53	40	58	98	+52
Detroit Red Wings	31	22	23	45	+21
Edmonton Oilers	25	23	16	39	+21
Hartford Whalers	26	17	21	37	+10
Los Angeles Kings	32	26	22	48	+20
Minnesota North Stars	35	25	29	54	+21
Montreal Canadiens	33	24	21	45	+6
New York Rangers	60	43	49	92	+14
Philadelphia Flyers	61	43	55	98	+23
Pittsburgh Penguins	53	42	31	73	+13
Quebec Nordiques	24	16	21	37	+10
St. Louis Blues	33	24	25	49	+23
Toronto Maple Leafs	32	19	36	55	+11
Vancouver Canucks	33	24	20	44	+23
Washington Capitals	55	55	32	87	+34
Winnipeg Jets	24	20	8	28	+12
Totals	752	573	553	1126	+380

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Big Phil]

Gregg Sheppard led the Bruins in playoff scoring in the 1974 postseason with their march to the final.

Orr still had a decent postseason with 18 points compared to Sheppard's 19 and was effective with 7 points in the final. But perhaps not as dominant as 1970 or 1972. Esposito had an okay playoffs, but the Flyers really seemed to hold him off to 3 points in 6 games. Maybe that was the difference. I don't know if there was a specific plan, or more than their normally would be, to hold off Esposito, but something worked. Sheppard probably shouldn't be leading a club in scoring with all that talent on the team.

 

[Michael Farkas]

Probably well known, but just want to write it down...1976 Canada Cup - Canada/USSR TV ratings: 10,713,500 - 47% of population, 82% of TV sets.

Source: 1976 Canada/Czechoslovakia broadcast

 

[Hockey Outsider]

Martin St. Louis has as many Art Ross trophies as Alexander Ovechkin, Maurice Richard, Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, and Steve Yzerman combined.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Martin St. Louis has as many Art Ross trophies as Alexander Ovechkin, Maurice Richard, Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, and Steve Yzerman combined.

I always seem to forget that Sakic didn’t win the Art Ross in 2001.

 

[FerrisRox]

Thomas Vanek began the 2013-14 season, his ninth in the NHL, playing for the Buffalo Sabres, the only organization he had ever played for.

That summer, on July 1st, he joined his fourth NHL franchise. The Sabres dealt him to the Islanders who had in turn traded him to the Montreal Canadiens then, at seasons end, he inked a deal with the Minnesota Wild.

He played two seasons in Minnesota then signed, as a free agent, with the Detroit Red Wings in July 1st of 2016. This would set off another flurry of moves for Vanek. By July 1st of 2018, when he would once again sign a free agent deal with the Red Wings, Vanek had suited up for the Wings, Panthers, Canucks and Blue Jackets.

In the end, Vanek played for the Sabres, Islanders, Canadiens, Wild, Red Wings, Panthers, Canucks, Blue Jackets and the Wings, again in a fourteen year career. He would have two different stages of crazy transition. After nine years in Buffalo he played on three other teams in less than a 12 month window then after leaving Detroit, the first time, he would add three other teams over the next 12 months or so.