Is Stan Mikita a Top 5 Centre All Time?

If you didn’t see him play, it’s possible Stan Mikita’s resume is better than you think it should be. In addition to winning multiple Hart trophies, Art Ross trophies and the Stanley Cup, he’s likely the 2nd best centre of the ’60s and among the best centres of the ’70s.

So it’s clear Stan Mikita belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame. The question is, where does Stan Mikita rank among centres all time?

Listen here:

Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 1983: Stan Mikita, Bobby Hull, Ken Dryden

Stan Mikita’s Career:

  • NHL: 1958-80; 22 seasons, 19 quality
  • Totals:
    • 541G (6th All Time at his retirement)
    • 926A (18th All Time, 2nd All Time at his retirement – Howe) for
    • 1467P (15th All Time, 3rd All Time at his retirement – Howe, Esposito)
    • +329 (20th All Time, 10th at his retirement)
    • 1394 games (7th at his retirement);
    • 143.5 PS (5th at his retirement – Howe, Esposito, Orr, Kelly);
    • Mikita is 22nd All Time in Offensive Point Shares (3rd at his retirement – Howe, Esposito)
  • Per Game: At his retirement, Mikita was
    • 9th All Time in APG
    • T-12th All Time in PPG
  • Era: Of the 13 skaters to play in at least 1066 games (13 modern seasons) between 1958 and 1980, Mikita is
    • 2nd in Goals (behind by 169)
    • 3rd in GPG
    • 1st in Assists (ahead by 66)
    • 2nd in APG
    • 2nd in Points (behind by 103)
    • 2nd in PPG (behind by .22)
    • 1st in Plus/Minus (ahead by 62)
    • 2nd in Offensive Point Shares
    • 2nd in Defensive Point Shares (1st Forward)
    • 2nd in Point Shares
    • 1st in Games
  • 82-game average: 32G, 54A for 86P, +19
  • 3-year peak (1966-69): 74-game average of 36G, 60A for 96P, +19
  • Playoffs: 
    • 59G (8th All Time at his retirement), 
    • 91A (3rd All Time at his retirement – Beliveau, Howe) for 
    • 150P (3rd All Time at his retirement – Beliveau, Howe),
    • -8 in 
    • 155 games (5th All Time at his retirement – Henri Richard, Kelly, Beliveau, Howe)
    • Per Game: At his retirement, Mikita was
      • T-24th All Time in playoff GPG
      • T-14th All Time in playoff APG
      • 7th All time in playoff PPG
    • Era: Of the 76 skaters to play in at least 82 playoff games between 1958 and 1980, MIkita is
      • 5th in playoff Goals
      • 10th in playoff GPG
      • 1st in playoff Assists
      • 4th in playoff APG
      • 1st in playoff Points
      • 7th in playoff PPG [played WAY more games than all but one player ahead of him]
      • T-63rd in playoff Plus/Minus
      • 1st in Games
  • Adjustment for Era:
    • Hockey Reference:
      • 541G, 
      • 937A (14th All Time) for 
      • 1478P
      • Adjusted 82-game average: 32G, 55A for 87P (+1P per 82 games)
      • Adjusted Per Game: Doesn’t qualify, however, if the qualifier is raised to 820 games, Mikita is
        • 20th All Time in Adjusted APG
        • 23rd All Time in Adjusted PPG;
        • If the qualifier is raised to 1230 games, Mikita is
          • 23rd All Time in Adjusted GPG
          • 10th All Time in Adjusted APG
          • 10th All Time in Adjusted PPG
    • VsX:
      • 670G (14th All Time)
      • 1231A (7th All Time)
      • 1610P (5th All Time – Howe, Gretzky, Jagr, Messier)
      • Per Game: Doesn’t qualify but if the qualifier is set to 820 games, Mikita is
        • 22nd All Time in VsX Adjusted GPG
        • 7th All Time in VsX Adjusted APG
        • 11th All Time in VsX Adjusted PPG;
        • If the qualifier is raised to 1230 games, Mikita is
          • 7th All Time in VsX GPG
          • 3rd All Time in VsX APG (Gretzky, Howe)
          • 4th All Time in VsX PPG (Gretzky, Howe, Esposito)
  • Never traded.

Stan Mikita’s Accomplishments

  • Hart (’67, ’68) – t-9th most All Time
  • Top 5 in Hart voting three more
  • Top 5 in Calder voting
  • Art Ross (’64, ’65, ’67, ’68) – 6th most All Time
  • Lady Byng (’67, ’68)
  • Back Check MVP (’64, ’65, ’67, ’68) – t-4th most All Time (Gretzky, Howe, Orr)
  • Back Check Best Player (’64, ’65, ’67, ’68) – 6th most All Time
  • All Star:
    • 1st Team All Star six times (4th Centre All Time – Gretzky, Beliveau, Esposito)
    • 2nd Team twice (t-5th most end-of-season All Star teams all time – Gretzky, Beliveau, Lemieux, Esposito)
    • 9 All Star Games appearances
  • Top Player:
    • Top 5 Player (by Point Shares) four times (’64, ’65, ’67, ’68)
    • Top 10 seven times (’63, ’66, ’70)
    • Best Offensive Player (by Offensive Point Shares) once (’68)
    • Top 5 eight times (’62, ’63, ’64, ’65, ’66, ’67, ’70) – t-6th most All Time
    • Top 10 nine times (’69)
  • Goals:
    • Leader-boards:
      • Top 5 in Goals six times
      • Top 10 seven times
    • GPG leader-boards:
      • Top 5 in GPG six times
      • Top 10 seven times
    • Single-season goals:
      • 40 goals once,
      • 35 goals five times (1 of only 15 players to do so at his retirement)
      • 30 goals nine times (1 of only 7 players to do so at his retirement)
      • 25 goals thirteen times (1 of 21 players ever, 1 of only 6 at his retirement)
      • 20 goals fourteen times (1 of only 8 players to do so at his retirement)
  • Assists:
    • Leader-boards:
      • Led the league in Assists three times – t-3rd most All Time
      • Top 5 eight times – t-7th most All Time
      • Top 10 ten times – t-7-th most All time
    • APG leader-boards:
      • Led the league in APG twice – t-9th most All Time
      • Top 5 nine times – t-5th most All Time (Gretzky, Howe, Lemieux, Beliveau)
      • Top 10 eleven times – t-6th most All Time
    • Single-season assists:
    • Tallied 60 assists twice  (1 of only 14 players ever at his retirement)
    • 50 assists eight times (1 of only 2 players ever at his retirement – Clarke)
    • 40 assists fifteen times (1 of 13 players ever, 1 of 2 at his retirement – Howe)
  • Points:
    • Leader-boards:
      • Led the league in Points four times – 6th most All Time
      • Top 5 nine times – t-3rd most All Time (Howe, Gretzky)
    • PPG leader-boards:
      • Led the league in PPG four times – t-6th most All Time
      • Top 10 ten times – t-6th most All Time
    • Single-season points:
      • Scored 90 points twice
      • 80 points nine times (1 of 23 players ever, 1 of only 2 at his retirement – Esposito)
      • 70 points thirteen times ( 1 of 13 players ever, 1 of only 3  – Howe, Esposito)
      • 60 points fourteen times (1 of 20 players ever, 1 of only 3 at his retirement – Howe, Esposito)
      • 50 points eighteen times (1 of 9 players ever, 1 of only 3 at his retirement – Howe, Ullman)
  • Plus/Minus
    • Top 5 in Plus/Minus three times
    • Top 10 six times – t-5th most All Time (Bourque, Gretzky, Orr, Savard)
  • Vs X Peak:
    • Best 7 Seasons:
      • Goals: 19th All Time
      • Assists: 5th All Time (Gretzky, Orr, Boucher, Esposito)
      • Points: 8th All Time
    • Best 10 Seasons:
      • Goals: 17th All Time
      • Assists: 4th All Time (Gretzky, Boucher, Esposito)
      • Points: 6th All Time

Stan Mikita’s Great Teams:

  • NHL:
    • Best Player (led the playoffs in Assists, Points and Plus/Minus) on one Runner Up (’62 Black Hawks)
    • Best Player (by points) on three Final Fours (’64, ’68, ’74 Black Hawks)
    • Top 3 Forward (led the playoffs in Goals) on one Champion (’61 Black Hawks)
    • Top 3 Forward (by points) on three Runners Up (’65, ’71, ’73 Black Hawks) and four Final Fours (’63, ’66, ’67, ’70 Black Hawks)
    • Top 9 Forward (by points) on two Final Fours (’60, ’72 Black Hawks)

Mikita is one of the relatively rare players who managed to both be dominant (he was one of the league’s best for an entire decade) and also managed a really long career.

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