Second NHL Era to be named later

Does George Hay Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Whether or not you think George Hay belongs in the Hockey Hall of Fame depends a lot on how much weight you put on a player scoring at a point-per-game pace in the Western Canada Hockey League. It’s worth noting that Hay lost the scoring race to both Duke Keats and Bill Cook in different WCHL seasons – i.e. he was never clearly the best offensive player in the WCHL/WHL. Nor was he ever a true star in the NHL: His brief NHL career isn’t particularly distinguished compared to the careers of his contemporaries, given the size of the NHL at the time.

Listen to us talk about George Hay:

Does Frank Fredrickson Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Fredrickson entered the NHL in his 30s but, before that, he was an absolute star of the PCHA, perhaps the 3rd best player in its history.

Is that good enough for him to be in the Hall of Fame?

Listen to us talk about him in our latest episode:

Does Edward Reg Noble Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Reg Noble’s biggest claim to fame is that he set the NHL career record in games played and, when he retired he was way ahead of the next player.

Does he belong in the Hall of Fame? We talk about him here:

Error occurred when trying to fetch the file using wp_remote_get(). cURL error 6: Could not resolve host: the-back-check.pinecast.comedia

Does Georges Buck Boucher Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Georges Boucher aka Buck Boucher was among the very best defencemen of the NHL’s first decade and a half. Where does he rank all time?

Listen here:

Error occurred when trying to fetch the file using wp_remote_get(). cURL error 6: Could not resolve host: the-back-check.pinecast.comedia

Lorne Carr

Career

NHL: 1933-46; 13 seasons, 9 quality[1. By Modern standards of PPG]
204G (12th All Time at his retirement), 222A (10th) for 426P (9th) in 580 games (16th); 39.2 PS
Era: Carr is 3rd in Goals, GPG, OPS and Games, 2nd in Assists, APG, Points and PPG, and 7th in PS[2. Of the 7 players to play in at least 550 games between 1933 and 1946]
82-game average: 29G, 31A for 60P
3-year peak:[3. 1942-45] 48-game average of 27G, 31A for 59P
Playoffs: 10G, 9A for 19P in 53 games
Adjusted: 273G, 345A for 618P
Adjusted 82-game average: 39G, 49A for 87P
Traded twice in his prime, and twice at the beginning of his career.[4. Basically he was waived and called back up.]

Continue reading “Lorne Carr”

Aubrey Dit Clapper

Dit Clapper’s Career

NHL: 1927-47; 20 seasons, 8 out of 10 quality as a forward (by modern standards of PPG) and at least 8 out of 10 quality as a D (by Defensive Point Shares)
Totals:
- 228G (8th All Time at his retirement),
- 246A (6th) for
- 474P (6th) in
- 833 games (1st) – Clapper held the record for games played until the 1956-57 season
- 94.3 PS (5th)
At his retirement, Clapper was 18th All Time in GPG and PPG, and 20th in APG (minimum 500 games, since Clapper doesn’t meet the qualifiers for APG or PPG)
At his retirement, Clapper was 6th All Time in Offensive Point Shares and 11th All time in Defensive Point Shares
Era: Of the 7 players to play in at least 600 games between 1927 and 1947, Clapper is
- 3rd in Goals, GPG, Points and DPS,
- 2nd in Assists,
- 4th in APG and PPG,
- 1st in OPS, PS and Games
82-game average: 22G, 25A for 47P; 9.2 PS
3-year peak (1929-32): 44-game average of 26G, 16A for 43P (as a forward)
Playoffs: 13G, 17A for 30 points in 82 games
Adjusted: 382G, 508A for 890P
Adjusted 82-game average: 38G, 50A for 88P
Never Traded.

Lawrence Baldy Northcott

Career

NHL: 1928-39; 11 seasons, 6 quality[1. By modern standards of PPG]
133G, 112A for 245P in 446 points
At his retirement, Northcott was 22nd in GPG
For players to play during the decade he played in, Northcott is 15th in Goals, 23rd in Assists, 19th in Points and 22nd in Games Played[2. Minimum 400 games]
Era: Northcott is 15th Goals, 12th in GPG, 23rd in Assists, 21 in APG and PS, 19th in Points, 17th in PPG and OPS, and 22nd in Games[3. Of the 37 players to play in at least 400 games between 1928 and 1939]
82-game average: 25G, 21A for 45P
3-year peak (1931-34): 48-game average of 21G, 14A for 34P
Playoffs: 8G, 5A for 13P in 31 games
Adjusted: 229G, 256A for 485P
Adjusted 82-game average: 42G, 47P for 89P
Traded once at the end of his career.

Continue reading “Lawrence Baldy Northcott”

Milt Schmidt

Milt Schmidt’s Career

NHL: 1936-42, 1945-55; 16 seasons, 14 quality
Totals:
- 229G (14th All Time at his retirement),
- 346A (3rd) for
- 575P (4th) in
- 776 games (2nd),
- 63.3 PS (22nd)
- At his retirement, Schmidt was 13th All time in OPS
Per game: At his retirement, Schmidt was
- 25th All Time in GPG
- 7th in APG (out of 8 qualifying players)
- 13th in PPG (out of 13 qualifying players)
Era: Of the 6 players to play it at least 700 games between 1936 and 1955, Schmidt is
- 3rd in Goals, GPG, PPG and PS,
- 1st in Assists, APG and Games,
- 2nd in Points and OPS
82-game average: 25G, 37A for 61P
3-year peak (1939-42): 48-game average of 18G, 28A for 46P
Playoffs:
- 24G,
- 25A for
- 49P in 86 games
Adjusted:
- Hockey-Reference:
  - 305G, 540A for 845P
  - Adjusted 82-game average: 32G, 57A for 89P
  - Schmidt is not on any PG leader-boards
- VsX:
  - 423G
  - 782A
  - 1,030P
  - Schmidt is 18th All Time in VsX Adjusted APG
Never traded.

Milt Schmidt’s Accomplishments

Hart (’51)
Top 5 in Hart voting a further four times (’40, ’47, ’50, ’52)
Back Check Best Player (’40)
Back Check MVP (’40)
Top Player:
- Top 5 Player (by Point Shares) once (’40),
- Top 10 twice (’47)
- Best Offensive Player (by Offensive Point Shares) once (’40),
- Top 5 thrice (’47, ’51)
Goals:
- Leader-boards:
  - Top 5 in Goals once,
  - Top 10 three times
- GPG leader-boards:
  - Top 5 in GPG once,
  - Top 10 four times
- Single-season totals:
  - 25 goals once, 20
  - goals four times
Assists:
- Leader-boards:
  - Led the league in Assists once,
  - Top 5 four times
- APG leader-boards:
  - Led the league in APG once,
  - Top 5 four times
Points:
- Leader-boards:
  - Led the league in Points once,
  - Top 5 thrice,
  - Top 10 five times
- PPG leader-boards:
  - Top 5 in PPG thrice,
  - Top 10 five times
- Single-season totals:
  - 60 points twice (1 of only 12 players to do so at his retirement)
  - 50 points four times (1 of only 13 players at his retirement)
All Star:
- 1st Team All Star thrice,
- 2nd Team once
- 4 All Star Games
VsX:
- Best 7 Seasons:
  - Goals: 123rd All Time
  - Assists: 43rd All Time
  - Points: 56th All Time
- Best 10 Seasons:
  - Goals: 113th All Time
  - Assists: 51st All Time
  - Points: 68th All Time

Great Teams

NHL:
- Best Player (by points) on one Runner Up (’46 Bruins) and two Final Fours (’47, ’48 Bruins),
- Best Skater (led playoffs in points) on one Champion (’41 Bruins),
- Top 6 Forward (by points) on one Champion (’39 Bruins), one Runner Up (’53 Bruins) and three Final Fours (’49, ’52, ’54 Bruins),
- Top 9 Forward (by points) on one Final Four (’51 Bruins),
- Role Player (by points) on two Final Fours (’38, ’40 Bruins)
Senior:
- Best Player (by points) on one Allan Cup Champion (’42 RCAF Flyers)

Schmidt didn’t deserve his Hart the one year he won it, but might have deserved it another year. And he wasn’t as offensively dominant as long as some of the greats of his era. And, despite some strong playoffs, he also had many weak playoffs. But I can’t shake the feeling he belongs.

Hector Kilrea

Career

NHL: 1925-40; 15 seasons, 5 quality[1. By modern standards of PPG]
167G (15th All Time at his retirement), 129A for 296P (18th) in 633 games (4th); 44.9 PS
At his retirement, Kilrea was 14th All Time in GPG, 20th in APG and 16th in PPG[2. Minimum 500 games, 25 qualifying players]
Era: Kilrea is 5th in Goals and GPG, 8th in Assists and OPS, APG and PPG, 6th in Points, 7th in PS and 3rd in Games[3. Of the 10 players to play in at least 550 games between 1925 and 1940, because only 3 players managed to play in 600 games over that span]
82-game average: 21G, 16A for 39P
3-year peak (1929-32): 44-game average of 23G, 12A for 35P
Playoffs: 8G, 7A for 15P in 48 games
Adjusted: 296G, 395A for 691P
Adjusted 82-game average: 38G, 51A for 90P
Traded twice in his prime.

Continue reading “Hector Kilrea”

Harold Darragh

Career

NHL: 1925-33; 8 seasons, 1 quality[1. By modern standards of PPG]
68G, 49A for 117P in 308 Games
Era: Darragh is 20th in Goals and GPG, 23rd in Assists, Points and PPG, 22nd in APG and OPS, 25th in PS and 26th in Games[2. Of the 33 players to play in at least 300 games between 1925 and 1933]
82-game average: 18G, 13A for 31P
3-year peak (1928-31): 44-game average of 10G, 9A for 19P
Playoffs: 1G, 3A for 4P in 16 games
Adjusted: 128G, 213A for 341P
Adjusted 82-game average: 34G, 58A for 91P
Traded once and waived once in his prime, traded out of the league.[3. Ended Darragh’s NHL career]

Continue reading “Harold Darragh”