If consistency is what matters, Denneny was one of the best, if not the best, wingers of the NHL’s first decade and a half. Though only briefly dominant, he played and scored longer than most players. So we wonder where he ranks all time.
Listen to us talk about Cy Denneny here:
Cy Denneny’s Career:
- NHL: 1917-1929; 12 seasons, 10 quality
- Totals:
- 248G (1st All Time at his retirement, held until 1933-34),
- 85A (3rd All Time at his retirement) for
- 330P (1st, held until 1931-32) in
- 328 games (3rd All Time at his retirement);
- 58.4 PS (2nd All Time at his retirement)
- At his retirement, Denneny was 2nd All Time in Offensive Point Shares
- Per game:
- Denneny is 3rd All Time in GPG (Denneny qualified for the leader board during the 1924-25 season and held 1st All Time through the next season; he regained 1st All Time in the 1930-31 season and did not relinquish it until the 1980-81 season). At his retirement, Denneny was 2nd All Time in GPG (behind by 0.01 GPG).
- Nobody who played through 1929 qualified for the APG or PPG leader-boards, but if the qualifier is set to 300 games played, Denneny was
- 2nd in APG and
- 1st in PPG.
- 82-game average: 62G, 21A for 84P
- 3-year peak (1920-23): 24 game average of 29G, 10A for 39P
- Playoffs:
- 16G (1st All Time from 1927 until 1938)
- 2A (tied 15th All Time at his retirement) for
- 18P (2nd All time at his retirement) in
- 25 games* (1st All Time at his retirement))
- Per Game: Nobody from this era meets Hockey-Reference’s leader-board qualifiers for Per Game stats, but if we lower them, at his retirement Denneny was
- 2nd All Time in playoff GPG
- 5th All Time (last among qualifying players) in playoff APG)
- 2nd All Time in playoff PPG
- Adjusted:
- Hockey-Reference:
- 392G, 455A for 847P
- Adjusted 82-game average: 98G, 114A for 212P
- Denneny is 2nd All Time in Adjusted GPG (behind by 0.01 GPG) but doesn’t qualify for the other two leaderboards
- VsX: Doesn’t qualify for the adjustment
- Hockey-Reference:
- Traded once at the end of his career for cash.
- NHA:
- 1914-17, 3 seasons, 1 quality
- 33G, 4A for 37P in 42 games
- If the qualifier is set ridiculously low (40 games), Denneny might be in the Top 25 All Time in APG
- 20-game average of 16G, 2A for 18P
- Playoffs: 1G for 1P in 2 games
- Traded once for cash.
*Keep in mind that Stanley Cup playoff games were not counted as NHL playoff games until 1927.
Cy Denenny’s Accomplishments:
- Back Check MVP (’24, ’26)
- Top Player:
- Top 5 Player (by PS) six times (’18, ’21, ’22, ’24, ’25, ’26),
- Top 10 eight times (’19, ’23)
- Best Offensive Player (by OPS) once (’24),
- Top 5 eight times (’18, ’19, ’21, ’22, ’23, ’25, ’26),
- Top 10 nine times (’27)
- Goals:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in Goals once,
- Top 5 eight times,
- Top 10 nine times
- GPG Leader-boards:
- Led the league in GPG once,
- Top 5 eight times
- Single Season totals:
- Scored 35 goals once (1 of only 4 players ever at his retirement),
- 30 goals twice (1 of 4 players at his retirement),
- 25 goals four times (1 of 2 players),
- 20 goals seven times (only player ever to do so at his retirement)
- Leader-boards:
- Assists:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in Assists twice,
- Top 5 five times,
- Top 10 six times
- APG Leader-boards:
- Set the single-season record for APG in the first NHL season (lost it the next season),
- led the league in APG twice,
- Top 5 four times
- Leader-boards:
- Points:
- Leader-boards:
- Led the league in Points once,
- Top 5 seven times
- PPG Leader-boards:
- Top 5 in PPG eight times
- Leader-boards:
- VsX: Doesn’t qualify for the adjustment.
- NHA:
- Goals:
- Top 5 in Goals once
- Top 5 in GPG once
- Assists:
- Top 10 in Assists maybe once
- Top 10 in APG maybe once
- Points:
- Top 5 in Points once
- Top 10 in PPG once.
- Goals:
Cy Denneny’s Great Teams:
(Stanley Cup vied for by multiple leagues until 1927)
- NHL:
- Best Skater (led NHL playoffs in goals) on two Stanley Cup Champions (’23, ’27 Senators),
- Best Skater (by points) on one NHL Runner Up (’24 Senators),
- Best Forward (by points) on one NHL Runner Up (’19 Senators),
- Top 3 Forward (led the NHL playoffs in goals) on one NHL Runner Up (’22 Senators),
- Top 3 Forward (by points) on one Stanley Cup Champion (’21 Senators) and one NHL Runner Up (’26 Senators),
- Top 3? Forward (by points) on one Stanley Cup Champion when there was no NHL playoff (’20 Senators),
- Top 6 Forward (by points) and assistant coach on one Stanley Cup/NHL Champion (’29 Bruins),
- Top 6 Forward (by points) on one Final Four (’28 Senators)