70 goals or 100 assists - which is more impressive?

[Pantokrator]

I was having a discussion with my son about whether or not 70 goals is more impressive than getting 100 assists in a season. He said goals, I said assists.

As best I can tell, 8 players have scored 70 or more goals in a season and it has been done 14 times.

3 players have had 100 assists or more and it has happend 13 times.

If Matthews hits 70 goals and Kucherov and McDavid hit 100 assists this year, the numbers will be 9 players with 70 goals 15 times, and 5 players with 100 assists 15 times, so they are both equally infrequent.

My argument is that since less people have achieved 100 assists in a season, it is more impressive. His argument is that it is more difficult to score than get an assist, so it is more impressive.

I am curious as to how people think about this.

Click to read more...

 

[NyQuil]

 

[Coaches Coroner]

I don't really think about this. Both seem pretty cool.

 

[BrannigansLaw]

70 goals easily.

 

[mclaren55]

Considering only 1 player is close to 70, and two this season are knocking on 100 assists, makes objective sense to state the former is more impressive.

 

[MCR74]

Who cares? Both are amazing accomplishments.

 

[AnomX]

70G, 100 primary assists would be close tho.....

 

[Slats432]

Considering only 1 player is close to 70, and two this season are knocking on 100 assists, makes objective sense to state the former is more impressive.

Using the 2023-24 season to justify your entire argument seems a little shortsighted. Both are impressive. Neither opinion is bad.

 

[SI90]

I haven’t come close to either so they’re both extremely impressive to me

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Both are more impressive.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

Both. Equally impressive.

What's most impressive is that we are witnessing it happen in the same season.

 

[hangman005]

Both are more impressive.

especially if it was from a goalie.

I dream of a day a goalie win the rocket.

 

[Ol' Jase]

Both are incredible achievements.

70G, 100 primary assists would be close tho.....

The way assists are tallied hasn’t changed in decades.

There are still only 3 NHL players that ever recorded 100 assists in a season, and all 3 are considered to be among the greatest players that ever played.

 

[Davo Ikinzom]

Point total's all that matters.

 

[syz]

8 players have scored 70 goals, 3 players have put up 100 assists.

 

[Donner]

Depends on primary vs secondary assists. With second assists, assists totals can get inflated more.

 

[Sugi21]

Always goals because there’s no such thing as secondary goals so if you take away the secondary assists how many assists do McDavid or Kucherov lose?

 

[X66]

8 players have scored 70 goals, 3 players have put up 100 assists.

2 players might put up 100 assists this year.

Only 1 might put up 70 goals(still not guaranteed).

And no player has ever scored 70 on modern day goalies.

 

[Madap]

Well two players are about to hit 100 assists in the same season, while no one is even close to 70 other than Matthews. Pretty telling…

Also look at Gretzky. Beat goal scorer and playmaker of all time, and he had more difficulty getting to 70 goals than 100 assists.

 

[Ol' Jase]

Depends on primary vs secondary assists. With second assists, assists totals can get inflated more.

Again, considering it has only been done by 3 players in NHL history, this makes no sense.

Always goals because there’s no such thing as secondary goals so if you take away the secondary assists how many assists do McDavid or Kucherov lose?

Huh?

 

[PaulD]

70 G ........awesome
100 A.......awesome
More players have hit 70 than 100.

 

[eviohh26]

Ima go with goals.

 

[Ol' Jase]

Well two players are about to hit 100 assists in the same season, while no one is even close to 70 other than Matthews. Pretty telling…

Also look at Gretzky. Beat goal scorer and playmaker of all time, and he had more difficulty getting to 70 goals than 100 assists.

Two players hitting 100 assists in a season will make it only 5 players in history that have ever scored 100 assists. I would argue that is also pretty telling.

 

[snag]

Can we truly compare them? Should we even try? How about just recognize they are both big accomplishments.

How many of the 70 goals are someone else's play?
How many of the assists were just an otherwise innocuous transfer of possession?

 

[wintersej]

There are 1.6 assists, on average, for every goal in the NHL. That means, on average, that 70 goals produced 112 assists.

I don't know if that actually means anything, though.