Obscure hockey facts/stats (Part 2)

[Crosby2010]

Pete Mahovlich holds the Habs franchise record for assists in a single season with 82. Two things to consider here. Mahovlich had a much more wicked prime than we might remember. Secondly, the greatest franchise in hockey history and probably North American sports history outside of the Yankees never had someone else get more than that? That's surprising. Not even Lafleur. And there has been one 100 point season in Montreal since 1980 by a player. Hard to believe but it's true.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

10/28/2024 marked a rare “sports equinox” — a day featuring games from each of North America’s Big 4 sports leagues.

Starting Monday night, within a span of ~24 hours, the Knicks lost, the Yankees lost, the Giants lost, and the Rangers lost.

Would love to know the last time that happened to all four of a city’s teams.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

@pnep - do you have a way of generating a list that shows the win percentage of a team when the player is vs isn't in the lineup? Specifically I'm looking for an oddity - HOF players whose teams have a better win percentage in the games the players missed. I have a theory as to why this might be the case, but I want to gather more examples first. Currently I've identified Sidney Crosby, Denis Potvin and Steve Yzerman - are there others?

 

[reckoning]

Random statistic that probably means nothing, but I still thought was interesting:

Most points in a season by a player in games his team lost:

1. (89-90) Joe Sakic 69
2. (83-84) Mike Bullard 63
3. (84-85) Mario Lemieux 56
4. (92-93) Kelly Kisio 54
5. (85-86) Dale Hawerchuk 53
5. (92-93) Norm MacIver 53
7. (90-91) Joe Sakic 52
8. (92-93) Geoff Sanderson 51
9. (82-83) Ron Francis 50
9. (85-86) Bernie Nicholls 50

 

[pnep]

@pnep - do you have a way of generating a list that shows the win percentage of a team when the player is vs isn't in the lineup? Specifically I'm looking for an oddity - HOF players whose teams have a better win percentage in the games the players missed. I have a theory as to why this might be the case, but I want to gather more examples first. Currently I've identified Sidney Crosby, Denis Potvin and Steve Yzerman - are there others?

Win Percentage DIF. Of A Team When The Player Is VS Isn't In The Lineup (REG. Seasons 1917-2024)

Win Percentage DIF. Of A Team When The Player Is VS Isn't In The Lineup (REG. Seasons 1917-2024) Seasons when player played from 10% to 90% team games. ADJ_W = REG_WINS + OT_WINS ADJ_L = REG_LOSES + OT_LOSES ADJ_T = TIES + SH_WINS + SH_LOSES Skaters (REG. Seasons 1917-2024)...

forums.hfboards.com

 

[carjackmalone]

Morris lukowich?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

@pnep - do you have a way of generating a list that shows the win percentage of a team when the player is vs isn't in the lineup? Specifically I'm looking for an oddity - HOF players whose teams have a better win percentage in the games the players missed. I have a theory as to why this might be the case, but I want to gather more examples first. Currently I've identified Sidney Crosby, Denis Potvin and Steve Yzerman - are there others?

My theory is simply:

They missed more games when their teams were good, and they played more games when their teams were poor?

I think Crosby played all games in his rookie season, then missed a ton when the team was strong and Malkin could carried them. Yzerman was more healthy as a young star on the “Dead Things” and often hobbled by injury during their super stacked DPE teams. Potvin rarely missed games on the young, weak/emergent Islanders teams of the 70s, but did so more as a veteran defenseman on a dynasty.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Win Percentage DIF. Of A Team When The Player Is VS Isn't In The Lineup (REG. Seasons 1917-2024)

Win Percentage DIF. Of A Team When The Player Is VS Isn't In The Lineup (REG. Seasons 1917-2024) Seasons when player played from 10% to 90% team games. ADJ_W = REG_WINS + OT_WINS ADJ_L = REG_LOSES + OT_LOSES ADJ_T = TIES + SH_WINS + SH_LOSES Skaters (REG. Seasons 1917-2024)...

forums.hfboards.com

Unless I’m missing something, I think Mark Recchi, Mike Gartner, and Jarome Iginla are the Hall of Fame skaters with the worst win-difference?

With Recchi and Gartner, I suppose they have in common that they aren’t high-end HoFers. Both had long, healthy careers. Recchi’s record might be affected by not being Mario Lemieux? And maybe by being a reliably healthy player on injury riddled teams?

Iginla also remained healthy for most of his career. 2006-07 he missed 12 games on a playoff bound team. Maybe 2012-13 with the Penguins hurts him, if he played games missing either Malkin or Crosby?

Billy Smith having the worst win-ratio by a HoF goalie makes a lot of sense to me. Iirc, he played more RS games in the 70s, and generally saved himself for the playoffs as his teams improved?

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Auston Matthews has missed 59 career games, and played in 575

Connor McDavid has missed 59 career games, and played in 656

Alex Ovechkin has missed 59 career games, and played in 1,439

 

[Michael Farkas]

Carolina started the season with the same skaters in all 12 games. Last time that happened...1963-64 Boston Bruins.

 

[Crosby2010]

Just a cross-sport reference here and wondering if the NHL has this same sort of thing. But when the Yankees lost the World Series in Game 5 the other night it was the first time in their playoff history that they had ever squandered a 4+ run lead at Yankee Stadium, old or new stadium. They blew a 5-0 lead. This never happened with all of those great teams down to Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris, Berra, Jackson, and not the turn of the century dynasty teams either. Not once. I thought this was incredible.

Who would have this sort of obscure - but elite - record in hockey? Or even have something close to it?

The only thing I can think of with this sort of sustained excellence for a team would be the Habs beating the Bruins in every playoff series in a 45 year span (after 1943 and before 1988). Or didn't the Flyers never lose a game at the Spectrum against the Penguins from 1974 to 1989 or something? That being said, that Yankees record was one that dated back to 1923, the first year of Yankee Stadium.

 

[Crosby2010]

While we are at it, the Jets are 13-1 to start the season. Only them and the 2008 Senators won 13 of their first 14 games of the season in NHL history.

Immediately you think of the Habs dynasty having to have done this, but nope:
First 14 games
1976 Habs - 10-2-2
1977 Habs - 10-3-1
1978 Habs - 8-3-3
1979 Habs - 8-4-2

No kidding huh? For their standards the Habs started slow considering they lost 3 games in their first 14 in 1977 but only lost 5 in their next 66.

Would you believe the 1996 Wings were 7-5-2 in their first 14?
2019 Tampa was 10-3-1
2023 Bruins were 12-2
Even the 1994 Maple Leafs who I know started 10-0 still were 11-1-2 in their first 14.
As well as another team that started 10-0, the 2007 Sabres, but were 12-1-1 in their first 14

So that's it. This version of the Jets and the 2008 Senators, who would wind up barely making the playoffs.

 

[The Panther]

In 1981-82, Wayne Gretzky scored 86 points just in the third periods alone.

 

[Voight]