Does Bryan Hextall Belong in the Hockey

Grandfather of Ron, Bryan Hextall was one of the offensive stars of his era. And he was pretty good. If you fiddle with the VsX adjustment and do look at his per game numbers – something it’s not designed for – it paints Hextall as the best offensive player in NHL history in terms of adjusted PPG. That’s obviously not true and just exposes flaws in adjusted stats. But he must have been pretty good, right?

Listen to us talk about Bryan Hextall’s Hall of Fame case here:

Bryan Hextall’s Career:

• NHL: 1936-44, 1945-48; 11 seasons, 8 quality
• Totals:
  • 187G (19th All Time at his retirement),
  • 180A for
  • 367P (23rd All Time at his retirement) in
  • 449 Games;
  • 36.5 Point Shares;
• Per Game: Hextall doesn’t qualify for the PG leaderboards but if we lower the qualifiers so that he does (175G, 175A, 350P), at his retirement, Hextall was
  • T-9th All Time in GPG (21 qualifying players)
  • 18th All Time in APG (37 qualifying players)
  • T-9th All Time in PPG (24 qualifying players)
• Era: Of the 21 skaters to play in at least 410 games (5 modern seasons) between 1936 and 1948, Hextall is
  • 3rd in Goals
  • T-2nd in GPG
  • 9th in Assists
  • 9th in APG
  • 8th in Points
  • T-5th in PPG
  • 4th in Offensive Point Shares
  • 21st (last) in Defensive Point Shares
  • 11th in Point Shares
  • 14th in Games
• 82-game average: 34G, 33A for 67P
• 3-year peak (1941-44): 50-game average of 24G, 33A for 57P
• Playoffs:
  • 8G,
  • 9A for
  • 17P in
  • 37 Games
  • Per Game: Hextall doesn’t qualify for the PG leaderboards
  • Era: Of the 100 skaters to play in at least 20 playoff games between 1936 and 1948, Hextall is
    • T-34th in playoff Goals
    • T-39th in playoff GPG
    • T-40th in playoff Assists
    • T-39th in playoff APG
    • T-39th in playoff Points
    • T-41st in playoff PPG
    • T-50th in playoff Games
• Adjustment for Era:
  • Hockey-Reference:
    • 252G
    • 250A for
    • 502P
    • Adjusted 82-game average: 46G, 46A for 92P (+25P per 82 games)
    • Adjusted PG: Hextall doesn’t qualify
  • VsX:
    • 469G
    • 564A
    • 904P
    • Per Game:
      • 2nd All Time in VsX GPG (Drillon)
      • 5th All Time in VsX APG (Joe Primeau, Boucher, Cowley, Gretzky)
      • 1st All Time in VsX PPG
• Trades:
  • Traded at 35 out of the NHL

Bryan Hextall’s Accomplishments:

• Top 5 in Hart voting once
• Back Check MVP (‘42)
• Back Check Best Player (‘42)
• Top Player:
  • Top 10 Player (by PS) once (‘42)
  • Top 5 Offensive Player three times (‘40, ‘41, ‘42)
  • Top 10 five times (‘39, ‘43)
• All Star:
  • 1st Team All Star three times
  • 2nd Team All Star once
• Goals:
  • Leaderboards:
    • Led the league in Goals twice
    • Top 5 five times
  • GPG leaderboards:
    • Top 5 in GPG three times
    • Top 10 five times
  • Single-season totals:
    • 25 goals once
    • 20 goals seven times (1 of only 4 players ever at his retirement – Stewart, Morenz, Denneny)
• Assists:
  • Leaderboards:
    • Top 5 in Assists once
  • APG leaderboards:
    • Top 5 in APG once
• Points:
  • Leaderboards:
    • Led the league in Points once
    • Top 5 three times
    • Top 10 four times
  • PPG leaderboards:
    • Top 5 in PPG twice
    • Top 10 three times
  • Single-season totals:
    • 50 points three times (1 of only 12 players ever at his retirement)
• VsX Peak:
  • Best 7 Seasons:
    • Goals: 32nd All Time
    • Assists: 189th All Time
    • Points: 99th All Time
  • Best 10 Seasons:
    • Goals: 40th All Time
    • Assists: 199th All Time
    • Points: 117th All Time

Brian Hextall’s Great Teams:

• Top 3 Forward (by points) on one Champion (‘40 Rangers)
• Top 6 Forward (by points) on two Final Fours (‘42, ‘48 Rangers)
• Top 9 Forward (by points) on one Final Four (‘39 Rangers)