Pierre Pilote is, by some metrics, one of the greatest NHL D of All Time. He has more Norris Trophies (3) than all but four other D. And only 6 D have appeared on more end-of-season All Star Teams.
So obviously Pierre Pilote belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame. But where does he rank among the best D ever?
Listen to us talk about Pierre Pilote here:
Pierre Pilote’s Career:
- NHL: 1955-1969; 14 seasons, 13 quality
- Totals:
- 80G,
- 418A (4th/3rd D All Time at his retirement – Harvey, Gadsby) for
- 498P (6th/3rd D All Time at his retirement – Gadsby, Harvey),
- +187* (2nd All Time – Mikita – 1st D, at his retirement) in
- 890 Games (13th D All Time at his retirement);
- At his retirement, Pilote was 10th/9th All Time in Defensive Point Shares;
- Among D, Pilote was 9th/5th All Time in Offensive Point Shares at his retirement (Shore, Gadsby, Clancy, Harvey);
- At his retirement, Pilote was 19th All Time, 10th D, in Point Shares
- Per Games: At his retirement, among D, Pilote was
- 1st All Time in APG (by 0.06)
- Pilote doesn’t qualify for either the GPG or PPG leaderboards, but if we lower the qualifiers so he qualifies, among D at his retirement, Pilote was:
- 5th/1st All Time in PPG
- Era: Of the 11 D to play in at least 738 Games (7 modern seasons) between 1955 and 1969, Pilote is
- 4th/2nd in Goals
- 4th/2nd in GPG (last among qualifying players, doesn’t actually qualify)
- 1st in Assists (by 84)
- 1st in APG (by .05)
- 3rd/1st in Points
- 3rd/1st in PPG (last among qualifying players, doesn’t actually qualify)
- 1st in Plus/Minus (by 31)
- 2nd/1st in Offensive Point Shares
- 4th in Defensive Point Shares
- 1st in Point Shares (by nearly 5)
- 82-game average: 7G, 39A for 46P, +17; 8.6 PS
- 3-year peak (1963-66): 70-game average of 8G, 46A for 55P, +38; 9.7 PS
- Playoffs:
- 8G (t-14th/10th D All Time at his retirement),
- 53A (3rd/2nd D All Time at his retirement – Pilote was 17 ahead of 4th/3rd) for
- 61P (3rd/2nd D All Time at his retirement – Pilote was 15 ahead of 4th/3rd*)
- +7 (t-16th D All Time at his retirement) in
- 86 Games (10th D All Time at his retirement)
- Per Game:
- 1st D All Time in playoff APG at his retirement (5 or 6 qualifying players)
- 1st D All Time in playoff PPG at his retirement (2 or 3 qualifying players)
- Era: Of the 26 D to play in at least 41 playoff games between 1955 and 1969, Pilote is
- 6th/4th in playoff Goals
- t-6th/4th in playoff GPG (9 or 7 qualifying players, doesn’t actually qualify)
- 1st in playoff Assists (10 ahead of Kelly, 15 ahead of Harvey)
- 1st in playoff APG (by 0.07, 6 or 5 qualifying players)
- 2nd/1st in playoff Points
- t-1st/1st in playoff PPG (tied with Kelly, only qualifying full time D)
- T-11th in playoff Plus/Minus
- 5th/4th in playoff Games
- Adjusted for Era:
- Hockey-Reference:
- 87G
- 466A for
- 553P
- Adjusted 82-game average: 8G, 43A for 51P (+5P per 82 games)
- Per Game:
- T-20th D All Time in Adjusted APG
- VsX:
- Goals: doesn’t qualify
- Assists: 641
- Points: doesn’t qualify
- Per Game: not in the Top 25 in VsX Adjusted APG
- Hockey-Reference:
- Trades:
- Traded at 36 to Toronto for Jim Pappin (28)
Pierre Pilote’s Accomplishments:
- Norris (‘63, ‘64, ‘65) – tied 5th most ever (Orr, Harvey, Lidstrom, Bourque)
- Top 5 in Norris voting a further five times
- Top 5 in Calder voting
- All Star:
- 1st Team All Star five times
- 2nd Team All Star three times – 4th most ever (Bourque, Seibert, Coffey)
- 8 All Star Game appearances
- Top Player:
- Top 5 Player (by PS) twice (‘65, ‘67)
- Top 10 five times (‘60, ‘61, ‘64)
- Best Defensive Player (by DPS) twice (‘60, ‘67)
- Top 5 four times (‘61, ‘64)
- Top 10 six times (‘59, ‘65)
- Assists:
- Leader-boards:
- Top 5 in Assists three times
- APG leader-boards:
- Top 5 in APG four times
- Top 10 five times
- Single-season totals:
- 40 assists three times (t-12th most ever at his retirement, most by a D ever)
- Leader-boards:
- Points:
- Leader-boards:
- Top 10 in Points once
- PPG leader-boards:
- Top 10 in PPG once
- Single-season totals:
- 50 points three times (most ever by a D at his retirement)
- Leader-boards:
- Plus/Minus:
- Led the league in Plus/Minus twice (tied 3rd most ever – Orr, Gretzky)
- Top 5 four times (t-6th most ever)
- Top 10 six times (t-5th most ever – Bourque, Gretzky, Orr, Savard)
Pierre Pilote’s Great Teams:
- Best Player? (led playoffs in assists, points, plus-minus) on one Champion (‘61 Hawks)
- Best Player? On one Final four (‘67 Hawks)
- Best D (by points) on two Runners Up (‘62, ‘65 Hawks) and two Final Fours (‘63, ‘64 Hawks)
- Best D? (3-way tie for points) on one Final Four (‘68 Hawks)
- Top 2 D (by points) on three Final Fours (‘59, ‘60 ‘66 Hawks)