Roy Conacher scored the second most goals of his era, behind only Maurice Richard. And he also won an Art Ross.
But it took the Hall of fame decades to induct him, and he wasn’t inducted until the late 1990s.
In this episode, we discuss Roy Conacher’s case for the Hall of Fame. Listen here:
Roy Conacher’s Career:
- NHL: 1938-42; 1945-52; 11 seasons, 9 quality
- Totals:
- 226G (11th All Time at his retirement),
- 200A for
- 426P (18th) in
- 490 games;
- 50.8 PS
- At his retirement, Conacher was 18th All Time in Offensive Point Shares
- Era: Of the 26 players to play in at least 450 games between 1938 and 1952, Conacher is
- 2nd in Goals, GPG and OPS,
- 14th in Assists,
- 13th in APG,
- 9th in Points,
- 6th in PPG,
- 5th in PS and
- 18th in Games
- 82-game average: 38G, 34A for 71P
- 3-year peak (1946-49): 60-game average of 27G, 32A for 59P
- Playoffs:
- 15G,
- 15A for
- 30P in
- 42 games
- Per Game: Doesn’t qualify
- Era: Of the 58 skaters to play in at least 41 playoff games between 1938 and 1952, Conacher is
- 16th in Goals
- 8th in GPG
- 20th Assists
- 9th in APG
- 19th in Points
- 8th in PPG
- 48th in Games
- Adjusted:
- Hockey-Reference:
- 308G, 312A for 620P
- Adjusted 82-game average: 52G, 52A for 104P
- Per Game: Conacher is
- 13th All Time in Adjusted GPG
- But doesn’t qualify for the other two
- VsX:
- 431G
- doesn’t qualify for Assists
- 746P
- Per Game: Conacher is 8th All Time in Adjusted GPG and 14th All Time in Adjusted PPG
- Hockey-Reference:
- Trades:
- Traded at 29 to Detroit for Joe Carveth (28)
- Traded at 31 to New York for Eddie Slowinski and Futures but he refused to report so
- Two weeks later he was traded to Chicago for cash
Roy Conacher’s Accomplishments
- Top 5 in Hart voting (’49),
- Top 5 in Calder voting (’39)
- Art Ross (’49)
- Back Check Best Player (’49)
- Top Player:
- Top 10 Player (by Point Shares) twice (’39, ’49)
- Best Offensive Player (by Offensive Point Shares) once (’49),
- Top 5 three times (’39, ’41),
- Top 10 eight times (’40, ’42, ’47, ’48, ’50)
- Goals:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in Goals once,
- Top 5 seven times,
- Top 10 eight times
- GPG leader-boards:
- Led the league in GPG three times,
- Top 5 seven times,
- Top 10 nine times
- Single-season totals:
- 30 goals once,
- 25 goals five times (1 of only 5 players to do so at his retirement)
- 20 goals eight times (1 of only 3 players to do so at his retirement)
- Leader-boards:
- Assists:
- Leader-boards:
- Top 5 in Assists once,
- Top 10 twice
- APG leader-boards:
- Top 5 in APG twice,
- Top 10 three times
- Single-season points:
- 40 assists once (1 of only 16 players to do so at his retirement)
- Leader-boards:
- Points:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in Points once,
- Top 10 six times
- PPG leader-boards:
- Top 5 in PPG three times,
- Top 10 six times
- Single-season totals:
- 60 points once,
- 50 points four times (1 of only 12 players to do so at his retirement)
- Leader-boards:
- All Star:
- 1st Team All Star once
- 1 All Star Game appearance
- VsX:
- Best 7 Seasons:
- Goals: 20th All Time
- Assists: 106th All Time
- Points: 67th All Time
- Best 10 Seasons:
- Goals: 27th All Time
- Assists: 170th All Time
- Points: 94th All Time
- Best 7 Seasons:
Roy Conacher’s Great Teams:
- NHL:
- Best Player (by points) on one Final Four (’47 Red Wings),
- Top 3 Forward (by points) on one Champion (’39 Bruins) and two Final Fours (’40, ’42 Bruins),
- Top 6 Forward (by points) on one Champion (’41 Bruins),
- Missed most of playoffs due to military commitments for one Runner Up (’46 Bruins)
- Amateur:
- Best Skater? (by points) on one Memorial Cup Champion (’36 Nationals)
Conacher was one of the premiere goal scorers of his era but is overshadowed in part because he spent a good chunk of his career playing for the worst franchise in the league, after Boston decided they didn’t want him because of his military service.