Is Benn's Art Ross Win The Weakest Since The 1967 Expansion?

GlitchMarner

Typical malevolent, devious & vile Maple Leafs fan
Jul 21, 2017
9,712
6,432
Brampton, ON
He had 87 points (adjusted point total as per hockey reference: 97) and Tavares came close to winning the Art Ross despite what wasn't exactly an amazing season for a former first overall pick.

Lecavalier would have won the Art Ross if his peak season had fallen in 2015 instead of 2007. MacKinnon would have won the Art Ross if he had had his 2018 season in 2015 instead.
 

Epsilon

#basta
Oct 26, 2002
48,464
369
South Cackalacky
He had 87 points (adjusted point total as per hockey reference: 97) and Tavares came close to winning the Art Ross despite what wasn't exactly an amazing season for a former first overall pick.

Lecavalier would have won the Art Ross if his peak season had fallen in 2015 instead of 2007. MacKinnon would have won the Art Ross if he had had his 2018 season in 2015 instead.

This is kind of a bizarre and fairly arbitrary detail inclusion (lots of players would have won an Art Ross if their peak seasons were teleported into some other season without any context), but overall I'd say that Benn's is definitely up there among the weakest. It required a perfect storm of basically every top player from the seasons around that having something of a down (or at least not great) year offensively.
 

BlueBull

Habby Man
Oct 11, 2017
1,696
1,434
Vancouver Island
He had 87 points (adjusted point total as per hockey reference: 97) and Tavares came close to winning the Art Ross despite what wasn't exactly an amazing season for a former first overall pick.

Lecavalier would have won the Art Ross if his peak season had fallen in 2015 instead of 2007. MacKinnon would have won the Art Ross if he had had his 2018 season in 2015 instead.
I have a Graph on top scorers for every NHL season since the 1967 expansion. Here are the worst 5 (based on adjusted average goals per game over the last 51 years) :
(Based on an average of 76.44 GP)
5. Martin St.Louis 2003-04 107.96 Enhanced Points
4. Connor McDavid 2017-18 107.33 Enhanced Points
3. Connor McDavid 2016-17 106.56 Enhanced Points
2. Stan Mikita 1967-68 104.83 Enhanced Points
1. Jamie Benn 2014-15 94.07 Enhanced Points
Jamie Benn's Season is the only season that, if enhanced, would NOT finish with at least 104 points.
:)
 

TheDevilMadeMe

Registered User
Aug 28, 2006
52,271
6,980
Brooklyn
I have a Graph on top scorers for every NHL season since the 1967 expansion. Here are the worst 5 (based on adjusted average goals per game over the last 51 years) :
(Based on an average of 76.44 GP)
5. Martin St.Louis 2003-04 107.96 Enhanced Points
4. Connor McDavid 2017-18 107.33 Enhanced Points
3. Connor McDavid 2016-17 106.56 Enhanced Points
2. Stan Mikita 1967-68 104.83 Enhanced Points
1. Jamie Benn 2014-15 94.07 Enhanced Points
Jamie Benn's Season is the only season that, if enhanced, would NOT finish with at least 104 points.
:)

The fact that McDavid's 2 wins are on this list kind of hurts its credibility. Especially 2017, when he won by 11 points!

Anyway, the weakest Art Rosses since I've followed the sport are Iginla's 2002 and Benn's 2015. St Louis's 2004 was quite weak as well, but not as weak as 2002 IMO.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Michael Farkas

c9777666

Registered User
Aug 31, 2016
19,892
5,875
What about 2000 Jagr? First guy to win a scoring title in a non-lockout season with under 100 points (96) since 1967-68, AKA the first year of expansion.

He actually had more points in 1993-94 (99) a year he finished 10th in scoring.

This season, he barely won it over Bure (94 points) and Mark Recchi (91 points)
 

vadim sharifijanov

Registered User
Oct 10, 2007
28,584
15,946
His season was weak or the player is weak (historically)?

maybe both?

to me it’s like if msl and d sedin went into late season lumps and perry won the 2011 art ross. it’s weird that the player won it, he won it on the back of a crazy late in the year hot streak, and the era’s true greats all had to have off years or be injured.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Epsilon

JackSlater

Registered User
Apr 27, 2010
18,041
12,661
Yes, especially post-1967. St. Louis' 2013 is also high on the list. It's kind of like the 1987 non-Gretzky scoring race. I don't know if there is a weaker win sine before the 1950s.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rosenqvist

daver

Registered User
Apr 4, 2003
25,819
5,709
Visit site
I have a Graph on top scorers for every NHL season since the 1967 expansion. Here are the worst 5 (based on adjusted average goals per game over the last 51 years) :
(Based on an average of 76.44 GP)
5. Martin St.Louis 2003-04 107.96 Enhanced Points
4. Connor McDavid 2017-18 107.33 Enhanced Points
3. Connor McDavid 2016-17 106.56 Enhanced Points
2. Stan Mikita 1967-68 104.83 Enhanced Points
1. Jamie Benn 2014-15 94.07 Enhanced Points
Jamie Benn's Season is the only season that, if enhanced, would NOT finish with at least 104 points.
:)

Comparing the leader's point totals to the average point total of the other Top Ten scorers is a much better way to compare different seasons. Benn's win is easily the weakest of the Cap era by the eye test alone but using the league GPG to adjust point totals is quite flawed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ResilientBeast

TheDevilMadeMe

Registered User
Aug 28, 2006
52,271
6,980
Brooklyn
What about 2000 Jagr? First guy to win a scoring title in a non-lockout season with under 100 points (96) since 1967-68, AKA the first year of expansion.

He actually had more points in 1993-94 (99) a year he finished 10th in scoring.

This season, he barely won it over Bure (94 points) and Mark Recchi (91 points)

Good point, that was a really weak Art Ross season too. The names look good at the top, but the two best scorers in the league on a per-game basis (Jagr and Sakic) each missed about 1/4 of the season with injuries. Jagr won the Art Ross anyway.
 

TheDevilMadeMe

Registered User
Aug 28, 2006
52,271
6,980
Brooklyn
What about 2000 Jagr? First guy to win a scoring title in a non-lockout season with under 100 points (96) since 1967-68, AKA the first year of expansion.

He actually had more points in 1993-94 (99) a year he finished 10th in scoring.

This season, he barely won it over Bure (94 points) and Mark Recchi (91 points)

Good point, that was a really weak Art Ross season too. The names look good at the top, but the two best scorers in the league on a per-game basis (Jagr and Sakic) each missed about 1/4 of the season with injuries. Jagr won the Art Ross anyway.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mrhockey193195

Laineux

Registered User
Aug 1, 2011
5,267
2,826
Adjusted points hurt current players as powerplays have been at an all-time low the past five years or so. More difficult to rack up points for the superstars, relative to goals per game.
 

GlitchMarner

Typical malevolent, devious & vile Maple Leafs fan
Jul 21, 2017
9,712
6,432
Brampton, ON
Adjusted points hurt current players as powerplays have been at an all-time low the past five years or so. More difficult to rack up points for the superstars, relative to goals per game.

More PPOs = the League's GPG rate is more likely to be higher, decreasing the adjusted value of each point.

Fewer PPOs = the League's GPG rate is likely to be be lower, increasing the adjusted value of each point.

The lack of PPs has bearing on actual point totals. Adjusted point totals are like a measure of a single player's slice of the overall pie.


Of course, in a case like McDavid's 2018 season, because his particular team had an historically low number of PPOs and his team's PP was garbage, he was at a definite disadvantage compared to other top scorers and these facts need to be considered when evaluating his season.
 

sr edler

gold is not reality
Mar 20, 2010
11,845
6,289
Benn the player is not weak, he's been solid the last 5 years. He backed up his Art Ross with a 2nd place in the scoring race the following season, and then had 15 playoff points in 13 games despite Seguin being out injured. The 2015 Ross is weak in a vacuum though.
 

daver

Registered User
Apr 4, 2003
25,819
5,709
Visit site
More PPOs = the League's GPG rate is more likely to be higher, decreasing the adjusted value of each point.

Fewer PPOs = the League's GPG rate is likely to be be lower, increasing the adjusted value of each point.

More PPOs means the elite offensive players take a larger peice of the overall scoring pie but doesn't mean that overall scoring necessarily goes up.

Without looking it up, do you think the 80's and '90s had 50 % to 70% more PPOs than the current as the league GPG would suggest?

Why adjust anything when you can compare how each player did against their peers?
 

Laineux

Registered User
Aug 1, 2011
5,267
2,826
More PPOs = the League's GPG rate is more likely to be higher, decreasing the adjusted value of each point.
Increase in PP scoring will mostly be seen as increase in the point totals of players that get 1st PP unit minutes while increase in ES scoring will be seen as increase throughout all four lines. Thus with more powerplays and same goals per game it's easier to rack up points for the top players which adjusted points doesn't take into account.
 

Michael Farkas

Grace Personified
Jun 28, 2006
13,350
7,830
NYC
www.HockeyProspect.com
I think it's more to do with Sidney Crosby lapping the field, a bad bounce breaks his face and it took St. Louis (and Stamkos) until like the second to last game of the season (or something) to finally pass him by a whisker...

I don't say that in defense of the post...I just say that because that's what I believe someone could make into a case for a weak Ross haha...
 

quoipourquoi

Goaltender
Jan 26, 2009
10,123
4,126
Hockeytown, MI
No St. Louis 2013 easily

Why? Similar scoring seasons, but St. Louis finished 12 points north of a point-per-game average in a 48-game season, while Benn cleared it by just 5 points in an 82-game season. More than that, Benn scored 10 points in the 3 games after Dallas was eliminated and had nothing to play for but a scoring title, while St. Louis started hot and maintained a steady pace all season.

Not seeing it unless we’re not giving lockout winners a fair shake - even when they’re on their second Art Ross Trophy.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->