WVpens said:
How does this apply to defensive minded teams such as the Devils? I'm willing to bet their goal differential isn't as large as most of the 'great' teams in history. But that shouldn't take away from how effective they were.
The Devils numbers
Regular Season:
1994-95 New Jersey Devils
1.071
1999-00 New Jersey Devils
1.151
2002-03 New Jersey Devils
1.187
Playoffs:
1994-95 New Jersey Devils
1.463
1999-00 New Jersey Devils
1.281
2002-03 New Jersey Devils
1.272
Overall
1994-95 New Jersey Devils
2.534
1999-00 New Jersey Devils
2.432
2002-03 New Jersey Devils
2.459
It is not goal differential that I am measuring, it is goal %. This is similar to winning %, it meaures what % of goals scored are scored by the team we are rating. For example, a 3-0 win is a 100% goal %. A 3-1 win is 75%. A 8-2 win is 80%. 8-4 is 67%. Good defense and good offense are required to have a good goal %.
So, the Devils have not had a dominant regular season in any of their Stanley Cup years but, their 1995 Stanley Cup run was VERY dominant. That playoff year they were better than any of Colorado's cup runs, Tampa Bay's cup and any of Detroit's recent cup runs.
On my system, to be truly great, you need both an excellent offense and defense. One or the other will leave you down on the rankings. Look at my ratings for the '91
(1.079)and '92
(1.071) Penguins regular seasons. Great offense but not great defense. 2 of New Jersey's 3 regular seasons were well above Pittsburgh's two regular seasons.
So defensive teams can get good ratings. The greatest teams have great offense AND defense.