Black Hawks

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?

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Does Herb Gardiner Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?

Herb Gardiner may have been one of the premier defencemen of his era, and was awarded the Hart Trophy as a result.

But how good was he really? Can we even know? How do we evaluate defencemen from the 1920s who didn’t score a lot? Can we trust Hart trophy wins from the past when we know they sometimes awarded them for controversial reasons?

Listen to us talk about Herb Gardiner here:

Does Dick Irvin Sr. Belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Player?

Dick Irvin Sr. is arguably not as famous as his son to anyone who isn’t a Habs fan or who isn’t a really old Leafs fan.

But before he was a great coach, he was a player. In this episode of The Back Check we try to decide whether he was a player who was good enough to be inducted just as a player, and not due to his coach record, because that’s a conversation we can have.

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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.

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Andy Blair

Career

NHL: 1928-37; 9 seasons, 2 quality[1. By modern standards of PPG]
74G, 86A for 160P in 402 games
Era: Blair is 11th in Goals, GPG, Points, PPG and OPS, 10th in Assists and APG, 12th in PS and 13th in Games[2. Of the 15 players to play in at least 400 games between 1928 and 1937]
82-game average: 15G, 17A for 33P
3-year peak (1928-31): 44-game average of 11G, 11A for 23P
Playoffs: 6G, 6A for 12P in 38 games
Adjusted: 140G, 299A for 439P
Adjusted 82-game average: 29G, 61A for 90P
Traded near the end of his career.

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Tom Cook

Career

NHL: 1929-38; 9 seasons, 5 quality[1. By modern standards of PPG]
77G, 98A for 175P in 349 games; 20.5 PS
Era: Cook does not make it into the Top 25 for any category[2. When Cook is compared to the 61 players who played in at least 300 games between 1929 and 1938]
82-game average: 18G, 23A for 41P
3-year peak (1929-32): 44-gam average of 14G, 14A for 28P
Playoffs: 2G, 4A for 6P in 24 games
Adjusted: 133G, 260A for 393P
Adjusted 82-game average: 31G, 61A for 92P
Traded out of the league once and waived once, both near the end of his career.

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Max Bentley

Max Bentley’s Career

NHL: 1940-43; 1945-54; 12 seasons, 11 quality
Totals:
- 245G (7th All Time at his retirement),
- 299A (5th) for
- 544P (5th) in
- 646 games (14th),
- 56.6 PS
- At his retirement, Bentley was 19th All Time in Offensive Point Shares
Per Game: At his retirement, Bentley was
- 10th All time in GPG, and
- 9th in APG and GPG
Era: Of the 10 players to play in at least 600 games between 1940 and 1954, Bentley is
- 3rd in Goals, GPG and Points,
- 2nd in Assists and APG,
- 4th in PPG and OPS,
- 6th in PS and
- 5th in Games
82-game average: 31G, 38A for 69P
3-year peak (1942-47): 50-game average of 28G, 38A for 67P
Playoffs: 18G, 27A for 45P in 51 games
Adjusted:
- Hockey Reference:
  - 298G, 436A for 734P
  - Adjusted 82-game average: 38G, 55A for 93P
  - Per Game: Not in the Top 25
  - VsX:
    - 417G
    - 622A
    - 876P
    - Per Game:
      - 23rd All Time in VsX Adjusted APG
      - 23rd All Time in VsX Adjusted PPG
Trades:
- Traded at 27 with Cy Thomas (21) to Toronto for Gus Bodnar (24), Bud Poile (23), Gaye Stewart (24), Ernie Dickens (26) and Bob Goldham (25) – our 31st worst Maple Leafs Trade of All Time, sort of
- Traded at 33 for cash

Elwin Doc Romnes

Career

NHL: 1930-40; 10 seasons, 6 quality[1. By modern standards of PPG]
68G, 136A (24th All Time at his retirement) for 204P in 360 games; 21.6 PS
At his retirement, Romnes was 6th All Time in APG and 25th in PPG[2. Minimum 300 games]
Era: Romnes is 14th in Assists, 5th in APG, 24th in Points and 17th in PPG[3. Of all the players to play at least 360 games between 1930 and 1940]
82-game average: 16G, 31A for 47P
3-year peak (1935-38): 48-game average of 10G, 24A for 35P
Playoffs: 7G, 18A for 25P in 43 games
Adjusted: 117G, 301A for 418P
Adjusted 82-game average: 27G, 69A for 95P
Traded thrice at the end of his career, including getting traded out of the NHL.

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Joseph Johnny Sheppard

Career

NHL: 1926-34; 8 seasons, 2 quality[1. By modern standards of PPG]
68G, 58A for 126P in 308 games; 19.2 PS
Era: Sheppard is 23rd in GPG, APG and PPG, 24th in Assists, 37th in Games[2. Of the 40 players to play in at least 300 games between 1926 and 1934]
82-game average: 18G, 16A for 35P
3-year peak (1927-30): 44-game average of 10G, 10A for 20P
Playoffs: 0P in 10 games
Adjusted: 125G, 253A for 378P
Adjusted 82-game average: 33G, 67A for 101P
Traded twice in his prime, once after.

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Johnny Gottselig

Career

NHL: 1928-41, 1942-45; 16 seasons, 12 quality
176G (17th All Time at his retirement), 195A (14th) for 371P (17th) in 589 games (13th); 45.4 PS
At his retirement, Gottselig was 11th All Time in GPG and PPG, and 10th in APG
At his retirement, Gottselig was 22nd All Time in Offensive Point Shares
Era: Gottseling is 6th in Goals, GPG and Points, 5th in Assists, PPG and Games, 4th in APG, 7th in OPS, 8th in PS[1. Of the 11 players to play in at least 500 games between 1928 and 1942]
82-game average: 25G, 27A for 52P
3-year peak (1938-41): 48-game average of 12G, 27A for 38P
Playoffs: 13G, 13A for 26P in 43 games
Adjusted: 299G, 432A for 731P
Adjusted 82-game average: 42G, 60A for 102P
Never traded.

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