1968-69 Detroit Red Wings

Dennis Bonvie

Registered User
Dec 29, 2007
29,206
17,564
Connecticut
1968-69 was the first season for 100 point scorers in the NHL. Phil Esposito shattered the scoring record with 126 points. But Bobby Hull scored 107 and Gordie Howe had 103, his only 100 point season in the NHL.

Gordie was 3rd (59) in assists and 5th (44) in goals. He was 40 years old.

Frank Mahovlich was his left wing, his first full season with Detroit after being traded from Toronto. Mahovlich was tied for 2nd in goals with Esposito with 49. Hull had 58 goals, but Mahovlich led everyone in even strength goals with 42. He was tied for 10th in scoring. He was the youngster on the line at 31.

Alex Delvecchio was their center. He finished 4th in assists with 58, 7th in scoring with 83 points. He was 36 years young.

On top of that Delvecchio was a +42, Mahovlich +44 and Howe +45. Just behind Orr, Espo and Hodge.

Incredibly, the Red Wings were only 33-31-12 and missed the playoffs.

Wondering if there was ever a line that was that good and that old, even if it were just for one season.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dingo

Boxscore

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Jan 22, 2007
14,358
7,031
Wondering if there was ever a line that was that good and that old, even if it were just for one season.
That's going to be real tough, especially thanks to Gordie being 40. That's almost an average age of 36! And that's pretty good production for them--not chopped liver.
 

Professor What

Registered User
Sep 16, 2020
2,257
1,926
Gallifrey
Take age out of the discussion, and I think you'd have a pretty short list of lines that could match up with that. All three being top ten in scoring is is extremely impressive without any restrictions being put on it. So, with that in mind, I can say that I highly doubt that a line with an average age pushing anything close to 40, and I highly doubt we'll see it again anytime soon. As a rule, you wouldn't be able to custom build a line that matches that in any given season.
 

Moose Head

Registered User
Mar 12, 2002
4,957
2,101
Toronto
Visit site
Closest I could come up with are these mid 70’s possibles and they were all still producing well

- Were Espo, Bucyk, Hodge/Cashman ever a line?
- Ratelle, Bucyk, Hodge/Cashman?

still, not at the same total age of the 3 wings
 

Sanf

Registered User
Sep 8, 2012
1,943
902
Regarding their lack of success, that was a tough year goaltending-wise:

1968-1969 Detroit Red Wings Goaltender Game-by-Game Performance

Sawchuk came back and couldn't stay healthy enough to spell Crozier, who started to have knee problems mid-year. Roy Edwards actually had a great string for just over a month, but the wheels fell off late.

Always felt that this is quite tragic trio. All of them suffered from stress related health issues and various injuries and all of them died atleast not in that old age (Roy Edwards 62, Roger Crozier 53, Terry Sawchuk 40)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doctor No

Dennis Bonvie

Registered User
Dec 29, 2007
29,206
17,564
Connecticut
Closest I could come up with are these mid 70’s possibles and they were all still producing well

- Were Espo, Bucyk, Hodge/Cashman ever a line?
- Ratelle, Bucyk, Hodge/Cashman?

still, not at the same total age of the 3 wings

Cashman-Esposito-Hodge for a few seasons

Bucyk-Ratelle-Cashman had one very good season (75-76)
 

vikash1987

Registered User
Mar 7, 2004
1,302
564
New York
Wasn’t there a nickname for that line? “Production Line 2.0” or “Power Line” or something like that? Could’ve just as easily been “Old-Timers’ Line” :)

Seems like there were a bunch of 30-somethings on the Red Wings that season. And that line accounted for 50% of the Red Wings’ goals.
 

Dissonance Jr

Registered User
Oct 6, 2017
689
1,427
The two closest modern-day analogues I could think of were:

— Brunette (33)-Sakic (37)-Hejduk (30) in 2006-'07 — Sakic was 6th in NHL scoring, Brunette 21st, and Hejduk 41st.

— Bondra (33)-Oates (39)-Jagr (29) in 2001-'02 — Jagr was 5th in scoring, Oates was 8th, and Bondra was 21st. The catch with this one is that I think Jagr/Bondra were often split up and Oates was traded away toward the end of the season.

But neither line was quite as old or quite as good!
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->