ATD 2010 Bios

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Feel free to post any long biographies of drafted players here.

The main ATD threads get locked, so you can't edit bios after the fact.

Click to read more...

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Gordon Howe aka "Mr. Hockey" aka "Mr. Elbows"​

*Ranked #3 on both the HOH and THN Top 100 lists

* 6 Art Ross Trophies (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1963)
* 6 Hart Trophies (1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963) - as many as Lemieux and Orr combined

* First or second team All-Star every season from 1949-1970 except for 1955, or 21 times in the NHL in 22 seasons
* Top 5 in points in the NHL 20 straight times (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969)

* Top 5 in goals in the NHL 13 times (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1969)
* Top 5 in assists in the NHL 17 times (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969)
* Top 5 in PIM in the NHL 1 time (1954)

Skill and smartness:

In his prime in the 1950s and 1960s he was routinely described by coaches as the smartest player, the finest passer, the best playmaker and the most unstoppable puck carrier in the game. Aldo Guidolin, an opponent of Howe back in the early days, understatedly remarked "Gordie plays a funny kind of game; he doesn't let anyone else touch the puck!"

Toughness:

The right winger was a giant in his time at 6'1" and 205 lbs. He had the build of a heavyweight boxing champion. And he knew how to fight.

Part of the legend of Gordie Howe is his unmatchable toughness. He had "windshield wiper elbows" and like to give "close shaves" to anyone who dared to challenge. Ask any hockey experts who they'd choose as the toughest NHLer ever, and most would put their money on Gordie Howe against anyone else.

Stamina and smartness:

Apart from his forbidding temperament, Howe's athletic and savvy playing style also contributed to his longevity. He never wasted energy if he didn't need to, especially after he cut down on the number of fights he'd take part in early in his career. He was economical with his movements, anticipating when and where the play would intersect with his effortless progress around the ice. He often played 45 minutes of a game when the average total was 25. Observers noticed that when his exhausted line returned to the bench, Howe was the first to recover and raise his head, ready for another shift.

Very impressive list for sure, but it's the level that he dominated those scoring races that sets him apart:
1950-51: 23.26% scoring margin (86 to 66) Age: 22
1951-52: 19.75% scoring margin (86 to 69) Age: 23
1952-53: 23.26% scoring margin (95 to 71) Age: 24
1953-54: 17.28% scoring margin (81 to 67) Age: 25
1956-57: 4.49% scoring margin (89 to 85) Age: 28
1962-63: 5.81% scoring margin (86 to 81) Age: 34

That wasn't against weak competition either. That was against players who are all-time greats and likely to be in our final top 10 to top 50. That's a level of dominance only Gretzky can rival, and that margin only gets larger if you compare it you take out his linemates.

Comparison to the peaks of Gretzky and Lemieux here.

I think that Howe gets underrated by a lot of people, ironically due to his longevity. People seem to remember him as the guy that played for 26 years. What they forget is that he was just as dominant as Mario Lemieux, probably even more so.

I think I debunked the "Lemieux was a better scorer than Howe" myth in this post. I compare the relative offensive performance of Howe and Lemieux during their six Art Ross victories; even if we exclude Gretzky, Howe performs far better than Lemieux. To quote myself: "I think this should permanently end any doubts about whether Howe was really dominant in his prime. He didn't just outscore the rest of the league, he obliterated them. Howe finished an incredible 53% ahead of the next-best player (this is by a higher amount than Lemieux's margin of victory over Yzerman)". This doesn't even take into account Howe's clearly superior physical play and defensive play.

I showed in the link above that aside from Rocket Richard and two teammates, Howe doubled the offensive output of every other player in the league during his six best years. I don't have the exact number handy but there were over a dozen players who were that close (relatively speaking) to Lemieux's production. And, again, that analysis was only based on Lemieux's healthy seasons--just think about how one-sided it would be if I included all of Howe's healthy years.

Howe is still tied with Gretzky for one of the most important scoring records of all-time: most times leading the NHL playoffs in scoring (six). He did this even more than top rivals like Beliveau and Richard that played on even greater dynasties.

Let's also consider that Howe has as many Hart trophies as Lemieux and Orr combined. Obivously injuries has a lot to do with that, by why penalize Howe for being healthy?

Ultimately, I put Howe second, though I could understand an argument for first or third. But I think my research shows that Howe was not only healthier/more consistent than Lemieux, he was better even during their respective primes.

 

[EagleBelfour]

With our first selection, the 10th overall in this year All-Time Draft, the Detroit Falcons are thrilled to select Monsieur Maurice Joseph Henri Richard

Nickame: Le Rocket, La Comet
Height: 5'10''
Weight: 170 lbs
Position: Right Wing
Shoots: Left
Date of Birth: August 04, 1921
Place of Birth: Montreal , Quebec, Canada
Date of Death: May 27, 2000 (Age: 78)

Stanley Cup Champion (1944, 1946, 1953, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)
Stanley Cup Finalist (1947, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955)
First All-Star Team Right Wing (1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1955, 1956)
Second All-Star Team Right Wing (1944, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957)
Played in NHL All-Star Game (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959)
Stanley Cup Game Winning Goal (1956)
Conn Smythe Winner (1951**, 1958**)
Hart Memorial Trophy (1947)
Maurice Richard Trophy (1945, 1947, 1950, 1954, 1955)
Canada Sports Hall of Fame (1975)
Team Captain (1956–1960)
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1961)
#9 Retired by the Montreal Canadiens (1960)

Top-10 Scoring (2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th)
Top-10 Goalscoring (1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 6th)
Top-10 Assist (6th, 7th, 9th, 10th)
Top-10 Penalty minutes (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 7th, 8th)

Top-10 Playoff Scoring (1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 5th, 6th)
Top-10 Playoff Goalscoring (1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 7th, 10th)
Top-10 Playoff Assist (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th, 10th, 10th)
Top-10 Playoff Penalty minutes (1st, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th)

Top-10 Hart Nomination (1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, 8th)

- #5 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
- #6 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2008 edition)
- #9 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2009 edition)
- Named the best instincts of the 1940's by Ultimate Hockey
- Named the best sniper of the 1940's by Ultimate Hockey
- Named the best sniper of the 1950's by Ultimate Hockey
- Maurice is the older brother of Hall of Famer XXXXX XXXXXXX
- He was signed as a free agent by Montreal on October 29th, 1942
- Richard scored his first NHL goal on November 8th, 1942, against the New York Rangers
- In his first season with the Montreal Canadiens, Richard was teamed up mostly with Hall of Famer's XXXXXX XXXXXXX and XXXXX XXXXXXX. He was the left winger of this line
- Missed 34 games of the 1942-43 season due to broken leg suffered in game against NY Rangers on December 27th, 1942
- Early in his career, The Canadiens supposedly came close to trading Richard, reportedly to the New York Rangers
- The local media had dubbed Richard with the nickanme ''The Comet''. Later teammate XXX XXXXXXXX, was wowed by Richard and compared him to a rocket. It was later publish in the newspaper by Dink Carroll
- At the start of the 1943 season, Richard asked to changed number from 15 to his famous #9: his first born daughter Hughette, weighting 9 pounds
- On December 28th, 1944, Richard became the first player in NHL history to score eight points in one game. This remained the league standard until XXXXXX XXXXXXX's 10-point night in 1976
- With the help of teammates XXXXXX XXXXX and XXXXX XXXX on the famous ''Punch Line'', Maurice Richard registered 50 goals in 50 games, the first to accomplish such a feat. It took 36 years before XXXX XXXXX equalled the performance
- On November 8, 1952, Maurice scored his 326th regular-season goal against Chicago to surpass XXXX XXXXXXX as the NHL's all-time leader.
- Suspended by the NHL for the remainder of regular season and playoffs on March 16th, 1955
- Richard gained a place on the NHL All-Star Team 14 consecutive times from 1944 to 1957
- On October 19, 1957, Richard beat XXXXX XXXX of Chicago to become the first NHL player to score 500 regular-season goals
- Missed 42 games of the 1957-58 season due to ankle injury suffered in game against Toronto on November 13th, 1957
- Missed 28 games of the 1958-59 season due to broken leg suffered in game against Chicago on January 18th, 1959
- On March 20th, 1960, Richard beat XX XXXXXXX of the New York Rangers to score his 544th and last regular-season NHL goal. It took three years and Gordie Howe to surpass his mark
- Richard scored his last playoff goal on April 12th, 1960 against XXXXXX XXXXX
- At the end of his career, Richard held 17 NHL records
- Maurice Richard was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961: the customary three-year waiting period was waived for him
- Richard was the first Coach of Quebec Nordiques in the World Hockey Association, but resigned after two games: he didn't like the pressure and the fact that he was away from his family
- In 1995, 35 years after he last played and in front of a sold-out stadium of fans, many of whom too young to have ever seen Richard play, gave Richard the longest standing ovation in hockey history
- On June 25th, 1998, the NHL board of governors voted to honour Richard with a trophy in his name to be presented annually to the league's top goal scorer
- On May 27th, 2000, Richard succumbed from an abdomen cancer. He was given a state funeral that was broadcast across the country, the first time such an honour was accorded an athlete

Richard was often at his best in the most important games. His six career overtime goals set an NHL record.

Remember, a rocket in 1943 was a new, terrifying, and effective weapon. So, too, was Maurice Richard on skates.

The stare was Rocket Richard's trademark. When he came at a goalie with his eyes lit up, the opposition was terrified.

Rocket Richard did everything by instinct and brute strength. He would run, not glide, down the ice and cut fearlessly to the slot. Some describe him as the greatest opportunist the game has ever known. He was probably the greatest goal scorer from the blue line in.

Richard's fierce temper and dedication were also hallmarks of his. Winning at all costs best sums up Richard's approach to hockey.

In a playoff game, the Bruins Leo Labine knocked Richard unconscious and doctors said he was done for the series. Richard refused to be hospitalized and returned to the game as the teams battled. Rocket Richard scored the game winning goal.

He was just a hockey player, but no one hockey player meant so much to so many people on such a personal level.

''The Rocket'' was given on account of his mad, whirling-dervish rushes, his edge-of-your-seat charges into enemies territory. He was an excellent stickhandler and could often be seen carrying a player on his back on breakaways. His tricky dekes attracted a lot of holdings, tripping and slashing from checkers. He had an amazingly accurate shot and could score from just about any angles. From 10 feet inside the opposition blue-line, he was the most deadly assasin of all-time.

Peak Years 1947-51
In a Word ASSASIN

- ''What I remember most about the Rocket were his eyes. When he came flying toward you with the puck on his stick, his eyes were all lit up, flashing and gleaming like a pinball machine. It was terrifying.'' - XXXX XXXX/B]

- ''He carried the flag for an entire population, and that's pretty heavy. He felt he had to live up to that responsibility and he did it the way he knew how: by scoring goals and responding to every challenge on the ice.'' - Red Fisher

- ''First, there was the way Maurice would turn on his rockets from the blueline to the net. Then, there was his eyes, as bright as the glare from any rocket.'' - XXXXXXX XXXXXX, explaining Maurice Richard's nickname

- ''When God created the perfect goal-scorer, it came in the form of The Rocket!'' - Red Storey

- ''Richard was highly tuned, highly specialized hockey instrument.'' - Jean Béliveau

- ''Rocket Richard, from the blueline in, is still the greatest hockey player who has ever played in the world. I don't care if they play hockey another 10 years, nobody will ever be better than the Rocket.'' - XXX XXXXXXX


Sites:
http://www.sihrhockey.org/member_player_sheet.cfm?player_id=3198&mode=0
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P196108#photo
http://www.greatesthockeylegends.com/2006/04/rocket-richard_20.html
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep196108.htm
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iCYS1PAPeI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DS_x0FwuqY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbk0ChMx95I

 

[Leafs Forever]

He has often been referred to as hockey's first bona fide superstar. He electrified fans and confounded the opposition in a way that ensured his exalted status in hockey history. -loh

He contributed to the Canadiens' consecutive Stanley Cup wins in 1930 and 1931. His blinding speed and puckhandling wizardry were key factors in Montreal's upset win over Boston in the 1930 finals.

He was one of the dominant offensive forces in the league in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He scored a league-high 51 points in 1927-28 and was presented with the Hart Trophy. Two years later he registered an incredible 40 goals in 44 games. In 1930-31, he won his second Hart Trophy and scoring title with another 51-point season. Morenz was also selected to the NHL's inaugural First All-Star Team in 1931. The following year he scored 49 points in 48 games and was awarded his third Hart Trophy in five seasons as well as another spot on the First All-Star Team.-loh

In 1950, he was voted the outstanding hockey player of the half-century by a national press poll.-loh

For much of his career forward passing was illegal so end to end rushes were the norm. He excelled in that area in spectacular fashion. He had blazing speed and could do magical things with the puck at that speed. He would dance through the entire team, often with reckless abandon, and often resulting in a terrific scoring chance. He did so in dramatic fashion, often bringing the fans out of their seats like so few hockey players are able to do.-Joe Pelletier

He was the best. He could stop on a dime and leave you nine cents change. He was in a class by himself. And when he couldn't skate around you, he'd go right through you.-undrafted player

You can take any era of hockey and the stars of yesterday would be stars of today. And he is right up there at the top of the class. I don't think from end to end I ever saw a guy like him. He was small, stocky, with the most powerful legs you've ever seen. He'd make rush after rush - at least 20 a game - and it never mattered how hard he got hit. Most players, after they were hit, you'd think 'Oh, he can't take that again,' but it didn't matter with him. Shot up into the seats in one rush, by killers like Eddie Shore and (undrafted player) and the like, and he'd come right back as if they didn't exist. And I'll tell you another thing, one of the greatest backcheckers I ever saw. He was just a terrific hockey player."-Undrafted coach

They don't come like him very often, about one in a century. He had everything, could rush, score goals, backcheck. You couldn't put the Rocket in the same breath as Howie, and that goes for everybody else. None of them were in the same stable.-undrafted player

With our first selection, the Toronto St.Pats are very happy to select a truly wonderful, complete hockey player who could do it all. I am happy to select, the "Babe Ruth of hockey" himself...



HOWIE MORENZ!

Awards and Achievements
3 x Stanley Cup Champion (1924, 1930, 1931)
3 x Hart trophy Winner (1928, 1931, 1932)
2 x Art Ross Trophy Winner (1928, 1931)
2 x First Team AST Centre (1931, 1932)
1 x Second Team AST Centre (1933)
1 x Retro Conn Smythe Trophy (1924)

Top 10s

Goals: 7th(1924), 3rd (1925), 5th (1926), 2nd (1927), 1st(1928), 4th(1929), 3rd(1930), 3rd(1931), 5th(1932)

Assists: 6th(1925), 1st(1928), 4th(1929), 3rd(1931), 3rd(1932), 7th(1933), 5th(1935)

Points: 10th(1924), 4th(1925), 5th(1926), 3rd(1927), 1st(1928), 3rd(1929), 7th(1930), 1st(1931), 3rd(1932), 10th(1933)

Playoff Goals: 1st(1924), 1st(1925), 2nd(1930)

Playoff Assists: 1st(1931), 3rd(1933)

Playoff Points: 1st(1924), 1st(1925), 8th(1930), 8th(1931)

Biography
Morenz began his hockey career playing goal more often than forward, but it became apparent soon that his speed and skills were more suited for an offensive role. He would light it up in his days as a junior and minor league players, often the fastest player of the league, and would soon become sought after by the pro teams. He would deny offers from an umber of clubs before eventually settling on the Montreal Canadiens.

He would begin his career with a bang, his first season being a cup win where he shined, being retroactively called the most valuable player of the cup run. Morenz would account for 3 of his teams 5 goals in the two-game playoff series with the Ottawa Senators, and then performing well in a face-off against the champions from the western leagues to win the cup.

Morenz would continue to be a powerful offensive force, and become one of the league`s best players in the late 20`s, early 30s, winning two art ross trophies and 3 hart trophies in the span of 5 seasons, and being apart of the league`s first three post-season all-star teams (something he would have likely been apart of more had they been around earlier in his career). He would also contribute to the Canadiens back-to-back cup wins in 1930 and 31, his speed and skills being a key factor in the upset win over the Bruins in the 1930 finals. He also contributed to a hard fought win in 1931 over the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring the insurance goal in the dedicding match despite playing with a badly injured shoulder.

The violent attention from opposition defenders would begin to wear down Morenz however, and he was traded to the Blackhawks in 1934 and spent time with the Rangers. He would return to Montreal in 1936-37 and would have a rejuvination of sorts, playing on an exciting line and helping the Canadiens to 1st place in the standings, but it would be cut short when he suffered a terribly broken leg on January 28th, 1937. On March 8th, the world learned that Morenz died from complications from the injury, shocking the hockey world and sending it into great mourning, with the Montreal Forum becoming a shrine of honour and thousands of fans coming in an outpouring of emotion for one of hockey`s immortals. He would be into the Canada Sports Hall of Fame, and one of the first to be elected to the hockey hall of fame when it was established in 1945.

 

[hungryhungryhippy]

The Vancouver Maroons are proud to take the ultimate game-breaker, a goalie who always got the job done when it mattered most...

PATRICK ROY

Joe Pelletier:

He imposed his style on the game, and legions of hockey fans and goalies everywhere were grateful. It is not just that his method was effective, that the revolutionary quick drop-n-slide of a pad could stone the wickedest snap shot. Roy's way was also fun, dramatic, cocky, marvelous, at times even beautiful. Far beyond the statistics, Patrick Roy entertained us and thrilled us while he emerged so dazzlingly as the best.

Many of hockey's historical experts will tell you that Patrick Roy is the greatest goaltender of all time. With all due respect to the likes of xxxxx, xxxxx, xxxxx and Dominik Hasek, the stats are convincing.

Joe Pelletier:
While he was very good in the regular season, it was in the playoffs that St. Patrick worked his miracles.

Again the statistics are all on his side. He owns records for most career playoff games played by a goaltender (247), minutes played (15,209), most career playoff wins (151), and most career playoff shutouts (23).

To say he was instrumental in each championship is an understatement. He was the first three-time winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff's most valuable player.

Joe Pelletier:

No where was Roy's impact felt as strongly as in his native Quebec. French-Canadians in particular, maybe even the entire nation of Canada, no longer wanted to be Rocket Richard, Jean Believeau or Guy Lafleur when they grew up. They now wanted to be goaltenders. He made such an impact on the position that not only did they want to be goaltenders, but they wanted to be like Patrick and play the way he played.

Awards

Stanley Cup x4 (86,93,96,01)
Vezina Trophy x3 (89,90,92)
Conn Smythe Trophy x3 (86,93,01)

Vezina Voting: 1st, 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 9th 10th

Hart Voting: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th

Honors

1985-86 NHL NHL All-Rookie Team (1st)
1987-88 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1988-89 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1989-90 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1990-91 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1991-92 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
2001-02 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)

Statistics

Save Percentage
1986-87 NHL .892 (5)
1987-88 NHL .900 (1)
1988-89 NHL .908 (1)
1989-90 NHL .912 (1)
1990-91 NHL .906 (2)
1991-92 NHL .914 (1)
1993-94 NHL .918 (3)
1996-97 NHL .923 (4)
2001-02 NHL .925 (2)

Goals Against Average
1986-87 NHL 2.93 (2)
1987-88 NHL 2.90 (3)
1988-89 NHL 2.47 (1)
1989-90 NHL 2.53 (2)
1990-91 NHL 2.71 (3)
1991-92 NHL 2.36 (1)
1993-94 NHL 2.50 (3)
2001-02 NHL 1.94 (1)

Shutouts
1987-88 NHL 3 (4)
1988-89 NHL 4 (2)
1989-90 NHL 3 (2)
1991-92 NHL 5 (1)

Career Playoff Wins (Goalies)

1) Patrick Roy - 151
2) xxxxx - 98
3) xxxxx - 92





​

 

[chaosrevolver]

C - Bobby Clarke

The merits he accumulated during his career were impressive. As a player, the former Philadelphia captain led his club to Stanley Cup championships in 1974 and 1975. He also captured numerous individual awards, including the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player in 1973, 1975 and 1976, and made the All-Star Team four times. But Clarke's behavior on ice was far from heroic. Under the captaincy of Clarke, Philadelphia played a very aggressive game of hockey.

He had a famous, captivating smile - with about a dozen missing teeth. That is how Bobby Clarke will be remembered by those who saw him on ice. One of the best checkers in the entire history of the league, he was also a ruffian and a warrior. And a victor.

No hockey player worked harder than Bobby Clarke, the tenacious leader of the Philadelphia Flyers for 15 enjoyable years. As a result, no one personified the Philadelphia Flyers better.

A wonderful talent blessed with great vision and playmaking skills, Clarke is better remembered for his physical talents - a relentless work ethic, a powerful leadership presence, and an unquenchable thirst to win complete with a willingness to do anything it took to capture victory.

It could be game in the middle of January and up or down by 6 goals, but Clarke played every shift as if it was overtime in game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals.

His super-human will should not overshadow his high skill level. Clarke was an incredible defensive player. He was almost always the guy to take the big faceoff, kill a key penalty or defend a lead in the last minute of play. As the statistics suggest, Clarke was a great playmaker as well. Twice he led the NHL in assists, and had 852 in total in his career, compared to 358 goals.

Though some might question his managerial skills few can dispute this Philadelphia Flyer’s incredible determination, grit and will to win. Bobby Clarke would do whatever it took to win a hockey game (just ask XXXXXXX) and he led his Broad Street Bullies to 2 Stanley Cups during the 1970s, and was a key component of the Team Canada team that beat the Soviets in the 1972 Summit Series. Clarke wasn’t just grit though. He had plenty of raw talent and he racked up 1,210 regular season and 119 playoff points during his spectacular career. His success on the ice also translated to individual awards, and he carried home the Hart Trophy 3 times and the Selke Trophy once during his Hall of Fame career.

We take the shortest route to the puck and arrive in ill humor.

Accomplishments
* Stanley Cup (1974, 1975)
* Hart Memorial Trophy (1973, 1975, 1976)
* Frank J. Selke Trophy (1983)
* 1st All-Star Team (1975, 1976)
* 2nd All-Star Team (1973, 1974)
* All-Star Game Participant (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978)
* Bill Masterton Trophy (1972)
* Lester B. Pearson (1973)
* Top-5 in Points (1973, 1974, 1976)
* Top-10 in Points (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978)
* Led NHL in Assists (1975, 1976)
* Top-5 in Assists (1973, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1983)
* Top-10 in Assists (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983)
* Led League in Shorthanded Goals (1974, 1977)​

 

[chaosrevolver]

LW - Ted Lindsay

He was only 5'8" and 160 pounds but could hold his own in fights and in the corners with much larger opponents. But Lindsay was also a gifted offensive player, a natural goal scorer who set records for a left wing and made up one third of Detroit's famous Production Line in the 1940s and 1950s. Nine times he was an All-Star, eight of those selections to the First Team. Such a combination, in such a small, powerful package, hadn't been seen in the National Hockey League before the arrival of Terrible Ted Lindsay, and it hasn't been seen since.

No man on skates was ever too big or too tough for Ted Lindsay to challenge. At 5'8" and 160lbs he used his big stick and his fists to cut down some of the biggest meanest men in National Hockey League history.

Lindsay's place among hockey's great LWs is not in doubt. He was a 9 time all star, include 8 selections to the First Team. The 1950 Art Ross trophy winner scored 379 career goals, 472 career assists and 851 career points. He also had over 1800 PIMs in a 1000+ game career, all amazing numbers for the Original Six era.

Although he ranks as one of if not THE greatest left wingers in hockey history, perhaps his off ice achievements are his greatest legacy.

Major Accomplishments
* 4x Stanley Cup Winner
* 8x First Team All-Star
* 1x Second Team All-Star
* 1x Art Ross Trophy Recipient
* 11x NHL All-Star Participant
* Led NHL in Goals (1948)
* Led NHL in Assists (1950, 1957)
* Led NHL in Points (1950)
* Top-5 in Goals (1948, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1954)
* Top-5 in Assists (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957)
* Top-5 in Points (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957)​

 

[DoMakc]

Dominik Hašek

Accomplishments:

2x Stanley Cup (2002, 2008)
2x Hart Memorial Trophy (1997, 1998)
2x Lester B. Pearson Award (1997, 1998)
6x Vezina Trophy (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001)
3x William M. Jennings Trophy (1994, 2001, 2008)
Best Goaltender at Olympic Games (1998)
6x NHL First All-Star Team (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001)
NHL All-Rookie Team (1992)
3x Czechoslovakian Player of the Year (1987, 1989, 1990)
5x Czechoslovakian Goaltender of the Year (1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990)
2x Best Goaltender at WEC-A (1987, 1989)

#12 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2009) (Best Goaltender)
#13 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2008) (2nd Best Goaltender)


10x Top 10 in Sv% (1993(7),1994(1), 1995(1), 1996(1), 1997(1), 1998(1), 1999(1), 2000(3), 2001(5), 2002(9), 2006(2))
First in NHL Career Sv% with .922
12x Top 10 in GAA (1993(6),1994(1), 1995(1), 1997(4), 1998(4), 1999(2), 2000(6), 2001(5), 2002(9), 2006(2))
9x Top 10 in SO (1994(1), 1995(1), 1997(6), 1998(1), 1999(2), 2001(1), 2006(4), 2007(2), 2008(6))

Quotes:

Brodeur is a Fraud:

Overall, I think it is pretty clear that Dominik Hasek is the best goalie of the last 20 years (and I would argue the best goalie ever).

http://brodeurisafraud.blogspot.com/2009/03/brodeur-roy-and-hasek-debate-rages-on.html

If I had to rank the goalies based on their overall performance in high-leverage situations, the top choice is pretty obvious: Dominik Hasek. Hasek was great in OT, dominating when his team was trying to mount a comeback, and virtually unbeatable when they had the lead. Hasek's career was great, but his results in Buffalo were even better - as a Sabre, Hasek's "close and late" playoff save percentage in 1,167 high-leverage third period and OT minutes was an astonishing .949.

[...]

This whole exercise helps describe a bit more of the team context these guys were playing in. Most of all, however, it shows that Dominik Hasek was the best goalie of his generation, and that his advantage over his peers was even greater when the chips were down.

http://brodeurisafraud.blogspot.com/2009/01/which-goalie-was-best-in-clutch.html

Joe Pelletier:

I firmly believe no goalie in hockey history had as high a peak performance than "The Dominator." And he did it for years during Patrick Roy's reign.

 

[hungryhungryhippy]

The Vancouver Maroons are proud to add their team captain...

MILT SCHMIDT

Originally posted by Joe Pelletier

Schmidt was considered to be the ultimate two-way player of his day, a Trottier or Steve Yzerman of the 1940s. He was small but determined. He was a strong skater and clever puck distributor but also a great finish. As beautiful as he was to watch on the offense, the Bruins long time captain took equal pride in the defensive zone, and was not afraid to get his nose dirty. While he usually played cleanly, one reporter described his play as "angry."

Originally posted by Joe Pelletier

Schmidt was elected Boston's captain after he and the Bruins suffered through a miserable 1949-50 season, in which the club missed the playoffs and Schmidt scored a somewhat average 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 68 games. With the 'C' on his sweater, Schmidt rebounded strongly for 22 goals, a career-high 39 assists and 61 points in 1950-51. He was awarded the Hart Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player, and earned the last of his three first-team All-Star berths.

Originally posted by Legends-of-Hockey

Prior to his departure for the war, Schmidt was key to the Bruins' winning the Stanley Cup twice, once in 1939 in five games over Toronto, and again in 1941 against Detroit. That year the Bruins became the first team to win the Cup in the fewest games possible - eight. They were Schmidt's only Cup triumphs, even though he played another 10 years after the war. Perhaps his other great prewar highlight came as the 1939-40 season ended and for the first time in league history an entire forward line finished 1-2-3 in the NHL's scoring race, with Schmidt leading the way with 52 points.

Originally posted by Legends-of-Hockey

The Bruins lost NHL scoring leader xxxxx to a knee injury in the very first game of the playoffs. Schmidt came through with a hard-checking style that earned him mention as a game star in four of the games against Toronto, then was great in the finals with points in all four games. Had 1-1 in 3-2 1st game win, set up the winner in 2-1 game 2 win, had two goals including the winner in game three 4-2 triumph and had two assists in the 3-1 series clincher. He led the playoffs by three points with 5-6-11.

Awards

Stanley Cup x2 (39,41)
Hart Trophy (51)
Conn Smythe Trophy (41)

Hart Voting: 1st, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 5th

Honors

1939-40 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1946-47 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1950-51 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1951-52 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)

​

 

[Leafs Forever]

Glenn Hall!

Awards and Achievements
Calder Memorial Trophy (1956)
Conn Smythe Trophy (1968)
7 First Team All-Star Goalie Honors (1957, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1969)
4 Second Team All-Star Goalie Honors (1956, 1961, 1962, 1967)
3 Vezina Trophies [Best GAA] (1963, 1967, 1969)
Stanley Cup Winner (1961)
Made Stanley Cup Finals 7 Times. (1956 with Detroit, 1961, 1962, 1965 with Chicago, 1968, 1969, and 1970 with St. Louis)
Placed 16th in the Hockey News 100 Greatest NHL Players in 1998, 3rd amongst goalies on the list.

Top 10's
Save %:
2nd(1956), 1st(1957), 2nd(1960), 2nd(1961), 3rd(1962), 1st(1963), 2nd(1964), 2nd(1965), 2nd(1966), 2nd(1967), - 6th(1971)

Hart voting:
5th(1958), 3rd(1960), 5th(1961), 6th(1962), 4th(1963), 6th(1964), 4th(1966), 8th(1969)


Biography
Nicknamed "Mr.Goalie" for his consistent and long-lasting success in the national hockey league, Glenn Hall is undoubtedly one of the greatest NHL goaltenders of all time. Year after year, Hall was a familiar and intimidating sight in nets across the continent. He hardly missed a game or an award in his great 18 season NHL career, and only had a losing record in four of those seasons. He set a record for most consecutive games by a goaltender, with 502. His 84 career shutouts, third of all time, guaranteed his place in the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the sport's best goaltenders.

After being traded from Detroit to Chicago, Hall found tremendous success, being placed on the all-star team 8 of his 10 seasons in Chicago ( 5 of them being First All-Star Team), and backstopping the Hawks to a stanley cup championship in 1961. After his time in Chicago, he would go to the St.Louis Blues in the expansion draft, where he would carry the Blues to the final. Although they were swept in the final, Hall was stilll awarded the conn smythe trophy.

Hall ended his amazing career with 407 wins, 84 shutouts, and a career GAA of 2.49. He left a legacy as one of the first NHL goalies to master the butterfly style of goaltending, and as one of the greatest goalies to ever play the game. His 7 First-Team All-Star's are an incredible feat playing in an era with Plante and Sawchuck. Hall was inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975.

Fun Facts
Hall would always get nauseous before game and was often sick to his stomach in the minutes leading up to to taking the ice. He would often throw-up before each game, prompting a teammate to suggest his bucket should have been placed in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

In the 1956 Stanley Cup final, Jean Beliveau and Maurice Richard both scored powerplay goals, while _________ was serving a minor penalty for tripping. That makes Glenn Hall was the last goalie to ever be scored against twice on the same minor penalty.

Glenn Hall was the first goalie to break with the traditional "stand-up" style of goaltending. He addopted the a low crouch, with his legs wide apart, which allowed him to cover more of the net and gave him better manoeuverability against tips and rebounds. Glenn Hall was the first of the "butterfly" goalies, and created a style that Patrick Roy would later master and popularisze.

Video on Glenn Hall:

 

[markrander87]

"The Magnificent One" 66

Awards

Lemieux's star on Canada's Walk of FameHockey Hall of Fame – 1997
Stanley Cup champion – 1991, 1992, 2009 (as owner)
Olympic Gold Medalist- 2002
Hart Memorial Trophy – 1988, 1993, 1996
Art Ross Trophy – 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997
Conn Smythe Trophy – 1991, 1992
Lester B. Pearson Award – 1986, 1988, 1993, 1996
NHL Plus/Minus Award – 1993
Calder Memorial Trophy – 1985
Chrysler-Dodge/NHL Performer of the Year – 1985, 1986, 1987
Dapper Dan Athlete of The Year – 1986, 1989
Lester Patrick Trophy – 2000
Bill Masterton Trophy – 1993
NHL All-Star Game MVP – 1985, 1988, 1990
NHL First All-Star Team – 1988, 1989, 1993, 1996, 1997
NHL Second All-Star Team – 1986, 1987, 1992, 2001
NHL All-Rookie Team – 1985
ESPN Hockey Player of the Decade – 2000
ESPY Award NHL Player of the Year – 1993, 1994, 1998
Lou Marsh Trophy – 1993
Inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame in 2004.
His #66 has been retired by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Team Canada, and Laval Titan.
In 2009, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for his contributions as one of hockey’s most gifted players, as an inspirational role model and mentor, and for supporting charitable initiatives through the Mario Lemieux Foundation".



Records
NHL record only player to score 5 goals in different ways in one game. (shorthanded, full strength, powerplay, penalty shot, and empty net) (December 31, 1988 against the New Jersey Devils)
NHL single-season record for shorthanded goals (13 in 1988–89)
NHL record for most goals in one period (4, 26 January 1997, shares record)
NHL record only player in history who scored over 30 power-play goals in two different seasons
NHL record only player in history who scored over 10 short-handed goals in two different seasons
NHL record scored or assisted on 57.3% of team's goals in 1988–89, the highest percentage in NHL history
NHL record only player in history to record three eight point games
NHL record four career five goal games (shares record)
NHL All-Star Game record for career goals (13, shares record)
NHL All-Star Game record for goals in a single-game (4 in 1990, shares record)
NHL All-Star Game record for points in a single-game (6 in 1988)
NHL All-Star Game record for most MVP-Awards (3, shares record)
NHL playoff record for goals in a single period (4, shares record)
NHL playoff record for goals in a single game (5, shares record)
NHL playoff record for points in a single period (4, shares record)
NHL playoff record for points in a single game (8, shares record)
Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career games played (915)
Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career goals (690)
Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career assists (1033)
Pittsburgh Penguins team record for career points (1723)
Pittsburgh Penguins record for longest goal-scoring streak (12 games)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for goals (85 in 1988–89)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for assists (114 in 1988–89)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-season record for points (199 in 1988–89)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for goals (5, four occasions including playoffs)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for assists (6, three occasions, shares record)
Pittsburgh Penguins single-game record for points (8, three occasions including playoffs)


Notably, on December 23, 2002, during his afternoon radio show in Pittsburgh, host Mark Madden said he would donate $6,600 to the Mario Lemieux Foundation if the hockey great ever scored off a faceoff. That very night, the Penguins played the Buffalo Sabres in Pittsburgh and Lemieux, who was aware of the challenge, made good on it when he scored the game-winning goal right off a faceoff during the third period. Awesome Hockey Moment, please tell me Lemieux was not a good draw man

Lemieux was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame immediately after his first retirement, waiving the normal three-year waiting period

Lemieux's impact on the NHL has been significant: Andrew Conte of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called him the "savior" of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and after Lemieux's retirement, Wayne Gretzky commented that "You don't replace players like Mario Lemieux ... The game will miss him." Bobby Orr called him "the most talented player I've ever seen." Orr, along with Bryan Trottier and numerous fans, speculate that had Lemieux not suffered so many issues with his health, his on-ice achievements would have been much greater.

 

[DoMakc]

Aubrey Victor "Dit" Clapper

Accomplishments:

3x Stanley Cup (1929, 1939, 1941)
2x Norris Memorial Trophy* (1939, 1941)
3x 1st Team Allstar (1939-41) all as D
3x 2nd Team Allstar (1931, 1935 (both as RW), 1944 (as D))
4x Top 10 in Goals (1930 (2), 1931 (8),1935 (5),1937 (10))
2x Top 10 in Assists (1930 (10), 1932 (7))
4x Top 5 in D Scoring (1939 (2), 1949 (2), 1941 (1), 1943 (5))
Served as Bruins' Captain 13 seasons.
#58 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2009)
#53 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2009)

*retroactively awarded

Quotes:

In a career that lasted two decades, he forged a reputation as a tenacious yet honest competitor. He rarely looked for trouble on the ice, but if the game turned rough, he was one of the league's more accomplished pugilists. Throughout his pro tenure, Clapper was a respected leader on the ice and in the dressing room.
[...]
A member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, Clapper was elected to the Hockey
Hall of Fame in 1947 when the customary waiting period was waived in recognition of his obvious greatness.

Clapper diagnosed the plays like a great infielder in baseball.He put himself where the puck had to come. "

Clapper had a simple creed - he fought his heart out, bounced players around and took the same kind of punishment he dished out. Once the game was over, however, he forgot it all and never held a grudge. That's what made him so popular with other players and fans throughout the entire NHL circuit.

 

[hfboardsuser]

-The youngest captain in NHL history (20), from 1987-88 to 1992-93, Steve Yzerman was out-scored by only two players- Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. With 732 points during that span he had 100 more points than the next-nearest player in the league.

-One of the greatest debates in hockey history is Steve Yzerman vs. Joe Sakic. Let's compare them by five-year stretch.

Age 19-23 (Formative Years)

Both Sakic and Yzerman broke into the league with the same reputation: lots of offense, but a casual disregard for defensive play. Sakic also had the added handicap of being only an average skater. Both also began their careers on teams in crisis, which further pushed them to play 'firewagon hockey'.

Yzerman (19-23): 355 GP, 478 pts, +5 (1.35 PPG)
Sakic: (19-23) 377 GP, 472 pts, -100 (1.25 PPG)

One will point to era and the GPG being different, and while this is correct, it's not a substantial gap; the average GPG during Sakic's first five seasons was 7.19, in comparison to 7.57 during Yzerman's first five. If all else their first five seasons become equal in terms of PPG.

But what truly separates Yzerman from Sakic during this period is production league-wide.

Yzerman, TTG/TTA/TTP (19-23): 2 TTG, 2 TTA, 1 TTP
Sakic, TTG/TTA/TTP (19-23): 1 TTG, 1 TTA, 2 TTP

Slight edge Yzerman.


24-28 (Peak Season)

Steve Yzerman (24-28): 380 GP, 557 pts
Joe Sakic (24-28): 342 GP, 411 pts

Here, the effect of era is impossible to ignore: Yzerman enjoyed a league where the GPG rate was 6.99; Sakic played in what is oft-referred to as the Dead Puck Era, a chill 5.97 GPG.

But again, debates in the ATD sphere often turn to two things: who a player's top competition was in his era, and how he did relative to the league.

Here, the advantage is substantial.

NHL Points Leaders, 1993-94 to 1997-98

1. Jaromir Jagr- 515 pts
2. Wayne Gretzky- 467 pts
3. XXX XXXXXXX- 448 pts
4. XXXX XXXXXXX- 432 pts
5. XXXX XXXXX- 415 pts
6. Joe Sakic- 411 pts

Examine PPG, and Sakic is tenth in the league during what were his prime years!


NHL Points Leaders, 1989-90 to 1993-94

1. Wayne Gretzky- 621 pts
2. XXXX XXXXX- 570 pts
3. Steve Yzerman- 557 pts

Examine points per game, and Yzerman is still fifth.

Now, let's examine top-ten finishes.

Yzerman (24-28): 4 TTG, 2 TTA, 4 TTP
Sakic (24-28): 1 TTG, 2 TTA, 2 TTP

Edge: Yzerman


Age 29-33 (The Mature Years)

This is the point in time at which Sakic and Yzerman see their careers flip. While most players hit a substantial wall at age 30 and break down at an exponential rate, Joe Sakic was at his most productive during some of the NHL's leanest years offensively. Only Jaromir Jagr finished ahead of him in the span from 1997-98 to 2002-03. Yzerman was 14th overall in total points from 1994-95 to 1998-99.

A look a top-ten finishes further shows the career disparity:

Sakic: 2 TTG, 4 TTA, 4 TTP
Yzerman: 0 TTG, 1 TTA, 0 TTP

However, during this same time period, Yzerman won two Cups- as many Sakic would in his entire career. Was he merely a passenger? Absolutely, one-hundred-percent not.

Most Playoff Points, 1995-1999

1. XXXXXX XXXXXXX- 88 GP, 93 pts (1.06 PPG)
2. Joe Sakic- 70 GP, 88 pts (1.26 PPG)
3. Steve Yzerman- 85 GP, 82 pts (0.96 PPG)

It's one of few categories the two ever over-lap in, and it's a substantial feat- a 29 to 33-year-old Yzerman versus a 25 to 29-year-old Sakic.

Here's Sakic during the same stage of his career:

1. XXXXX XXXXXXXX- 73 GP, 88 pts (1.21 PPG)
2. Joe Sakic- 85 GP, 82 pts (0.96 pts)
3. XXXX XXXXXX- 67 GP, 68 pts (1.01 PPG)

Identical. Eerily identical, in fact.

Does this make up for the gap in regular season production? No. But that Yzerman was every bit as good when it counted at the same age does something to mitigate that.


34 to 39 (Twilight)

Again, it's a non-contest. As his career ticked down, Sakic remained a 1 PPG+ player while Yzerman slowly but surely saw his numbers decline.

Sakic (34-39): 304 GP, 326 pts (28th in league)
Yzerman (34-39): 336 GP, 272 pts (94th in league)

Playoffs were much the same story:

Sakic (34-39): 30 GP, 31 pts
Yzerman (34-39): 47 GP, 33 pts


Summary

The purpose of this debate is not to prove that Yzerman was heads-and-shoulders above Sakic. Rather, it's meant to challenge the argument that Sakic was clearly the superior player. In this analysis, both players 'won' two out of four five-year segments- Yzerman the first half of their respective careers, Sakic the back-half.

If nothing else, this should paint them as equals. They're close in many other categories- hardware is a saw-off, as both have a Conn Smythe, Pearson and an 'incidental' award, while Yzerman has a Selke and Sakic a Hart. Yzerman is 6th all-time in points, Sakic 8th.

The playoffs are also a kind of tie- while Sakic has more records and a better PPG, Yzerman appeared in the post-season an unprecedented 20 out of 22 seasons and won four Cups.

What it comes down to and what it should only come down to is how either are utilized in an ATD context. Neither player had a critical fault that plagued them throughout their careers, but both cater to a certain kind of team 'flavor' and linemate.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

The New Jersey Swamp Devils are pleased to anchor our blueline with a guy who could do it all, a man Joe Pelletier calls "arguably the most important player of all-time."

Börje Salming, D

-Ranked 85 on the History of Hockey Top 100 list (2008 version).
-Ranked 74 on the THN Top 100 list.

-NHL First All-Star Team in 1977.
-NHL Second All-Star Team in 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979 and 1980 (see chart below for who he lost out to).
-4th in Hart voting in 76-77.

-Twice Top 10 in assists (all positions) - 3rd 76-77, 8th in 77-78
-Second in defenseman scoring to Denis Potvin over the course of his career.
-One of the dirtiest players in the league - THN 1988-89 yearbook

-Named to the All-Star Team at the World Ice Hockey Championships in 1973.
-Named to the Swedish All-Star Team in 1973 and 1989.
-Named to the Canada Cup All-Star Team in 1976.
-Elected to the IIHF Centennial All-Star Team in 2008 along Gretzky and a bunch of Soviets (Kharalmov, Makarov, Fetisov, Tretiak)

-Holds 6 career and single season Toronto Maple Leaf records including most career points by a defenseman, most career goals by a defenceman, most career assists (any position), most assists in a season by a defenceman, and best plus-minus.

Finished 2nd in 1974 Coach's Poll: Best defensive defenseman
Finished 3rd in 1979 Coach's Poll: Best defensive defenseman
Finished 4th in 1979 Coach's Poll: Best passer (all players)
Finished 4th in 1979 Coach's Poll: Best playmaker (all players)
Finished 2nd in 1979 Coach's Poll: Best skater (all players)
Finished 4th in 1979 Coach's Poll: Most Natural Ability

... it was his willingness to play the rough North American style that had convince the Leafs to take the chance. It turned out to be one of the best risks ever taken.

Salming is remembered for his slalom rushes across the rink and his powerful wrist shots in the style of Bobby Orr, as well as for his tricky but accurate passes so typical of the European game... Yet, for a hockey player capable of gaining points on the offensive, his eagerness to be a human shield and stop a slapshot was quite incredible. And he did it without much hesitation.

...
Another of Salming's strengths was his phenomenal stamina. Even at 38, while Salming was playing out his last season in Toronto, he would spend 30 to 40 minutes on the ice per game. In 1986, in a game against the Detroit Red Wings, he was badly injured when his face was cut with a skate. In photos taken at the time, Salming looked like a character out of a horror movie. But three days later he was back on the ice.

Until Borje Salming came along, NHL teams were afraid to take a chance on "soft" European players.
....
Time and time again Salming was tested by the NHL's toughest players, especially the Philadelphia Flyers gang of Broad Street Bullies. XXX and XXX laid beatings on him after jumping him in a fight, but Salming held his own. Not only did he stand up for himself, but he was able to dish out a few vicious shots himself. He earned the respect of the Flyers, especially their leader, Bobby Clarke.

"He was tough." admitted Clarke. "And he could use his stick too."

Salming was undoubtedly great. He could do it all, and was perhaps the best shot blocker of his era.

Salming's adjusted plus/minus is incredible.

In his second NHL season, Börje started being seen as one of the top four defensemen in the league. Even though his peak didn't last over the entirety of Salming's stay in the NHL, his tenure lasted over 1100 games.

Season | 1st AST | 1st AST | 2nd AST | 2nd AST | Norris Trophy
1973-74 | Bobby Orr | Brad Park | XXX | XXX | Bobby Orr
1974-75 | Bobby Orr | Denis Potvin | Guy Lapointe| Börje Salming | Bobby Orr
1975-76 | Brad Park | Denis Potvin | Guy Lapointe | Börje Salming | Denis Potvin
1976-77 | Larry Robinson | Börje Salming | Guy Lapointe | Denis Potvin | Larry Robinson
1977-78 | Brad Park | Denis Potvin | Larry Robinson | Börje Salming | Denis Potvin
1978-79 | Denis Potvin | Larry Robinson | Börje Salming | Serge Savard | Denis Potvin
1979-80 | Raymond Bourque | Larry Robinson | Börje Salming | XXX| Larry Robinson

.

 

[seventieslord]

In this analysis, both players 'won' two out of four five-year segments- Yzerman the first half of their respective careers, Sakic the back-half..

A lot of that is due to Yzerman's best seasons being concentrated at one time, and Sakic's being sprinkled over a 17-year period.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

[

Sakic also had the added handicap of being only an average skater..

Really?

 

[hfboardsuser]

Really?

Out of the gate, yes. From LOH:

During the World Championships in Finland, Sakic wasn't happy when he compared his skating ability to the Europeans on the bigger ice surface. Next fall he was the first player cut from the Canada Cup team at the Canadian training camp. A trainer there told him that he didn't have sufficient leg strength. Sakic resolved to improve his skating and strength and went on a weightlifting program for the next year.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Out of the gate, yes. From LOH:

Nice find. He obviously took the trainer's criticism to heart, judging from the Sakic he later became.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Al MacInnis

The seven-time winner of the Hardest Shot competition at the annual NHL All-Star Game, Al MacInnis is acknowledged as possessing the hardest slapshot in the NHL, and although at one time he used it at every opportunity, MacInnis later learned to harness the fear of his shot to set up plays, take an extra step or unleash the blast with another drive.

MacInnis spent thirteen seasons with Calgary before moving to St. Louis, but left Alberta having evolved into one of the most effective defensemen in the NHL.

At the time of his retirement, MacInnis had climbed to 17th place on the all-time games played list with 1,416, had accumulated 1,274 points and was twelfth on the all-time assists list with 934. Among defensemen, Al MacInnis ranks among the greatest ever, concluding his career third in goals with 340, third in assists and third in points.

Source

His overall effective game which ranked him as one of the most complete defenders of any era is totally overlooked by his 100 mile an hour blast from the point that puts the fear of god into goalies and anyone standing in the way.

Over the years he learned to make his shot doubly effective by keeping the shot low, rarely over a foot off the ice, so that it was perfect for tip-ins and rebounds

Perhaps even more amazing than the strength and velocity of his shot was his accuracy. It was pretty rare to see a player block a MacInnis shot of any kind, especially the big slapper. MacInnis knew how to get puck through traffic and on to the net. It was this uncanny skill that he would pass on to many defensive partners

But if you look past that shot, you'll notice he was a complete defenseman with an incredible career.

MacInnis was a good skater in terms of lateral movement and agility, but he had average speed. He rarely rushed the puck, instead preferring to make crisp outlet passes. He played a very effective physical game, but was anything but a punishing physical presence. His game based on subtle intelligence, and if not observed closely, it can be taken for granted, even ignored.

Source

His career resume reads like few others before him, but somehow Al MacInnis never really got the public recognition he deserved. One of the few times he did was in the 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs. MacInnis and his big shot led Calgary Flames to their first Stanley Cup championship. MacInnis was the leading scorer in those playoffs, the first defenseman to accomplish that feat. In fact he scored a point in each of his last 17 games that spring. For his dominant efforts he was awarded the Conn Smythe trophy as playoff MVP.

Source

Post season all-stars:
First team:
* Ray Bourque, 13 times
* Doug Harvey, 10 times
* Nicklas Lidstrom, 9 times
* Bobby Orr, 8 times
* Eddie Shore, 7 times
* Red Kelly, 6 times
* Chris Chelios, 5 times
* Brad Park, 5 times
* Pierre Pilote, 5 times
* Denis Potvin, 5 times
* Al MacInnis, 4 times
* Paul Coffey, 4 times
* Earl Seibert, 4 times
* Larry Robinson, 3 times
* Tim Horton, 3 times
* Dit Clapper, 3 times
* Bill Gadsby, 3 times
* Scott Stevens, 2 times
* King Clancy, 2 times (Probably more if they existed earlier.)
* Borje Salming, 1 time

Who was he competing with for all-star teams? (I'm ignoring high end competitors who had off years as well as MacInnis' off years.)
'87: Finished 4th, behind Bourque, and two undrafted players. Ahead of Paul Coffey, Larry Robinson and Scott Stevens. But behind Robinson and Coffey in Norris votes.
'89: Finished 3rd, behind Chelios and Coffey. Ahead of Bourque. Norris mirrors.
'90: Finished 2nd, behind Bourque. Ahead of Coffey. Norris mirrors.
'91: Finished 2nd, behind Bourque. Ahead of Chelios, Coffey and Stevens. Norris mirrors. Both Norris and all-star voting is very close; Norris: 257 to 228 (35 to 27 1st place votes.), All-Star: 320 to 306 (63 to 54 1st place votes.)
'92: Finished 6th, behind Bourque, Stevens and three undrafted players. Ahead of Chelios and Lidstrom. Did not recieve serious Norris votes.
'94: Finished 3rd, behind Bourque and Stevens. Ahead of Chelios and Coffey. Norris mirrors.
'99: Finished 1st, Ahead of Lidstrom, Bourque and Stevens. Norris mirrors.
'03: Finished 2nd, Behind Lidstrom. Other competition is insignificant, but the gap between MacInnis and Lidstrom is marginal. Norris: 560 to 486 (42 to 20 1st place votes.) 3rd place is 142 with 0 1st place votes. All-Star: 308 to 294 (61 to 54 1st place votes.) 3rd place is 120 with 3 1st place votes.

Stats:
# 3rd among all-time NHL defensemen in points. (5th per game. 500 game min.)
# 3rd among all-time NHL defensemen in assists. (6th per game. 500 game min.)
# 3rd among all-time NHL defensemen in goals. (6th per game. 500 game min.)
# 2nd among all-time NHL defensemen in powerplay goals. (1st per game. 500 game min.)
# 5th among all-time NHL defensemen in playoff points. (5th per game. 50 game min.)
# 3rd among all-time NHL defensemen in playoff assists. (4th per game. 50 game min.)
# 5rd among all-time NHL defensemen in playoff goals. (13th per game. 50 game min.)
# 2nd among all-time NHL defensemen in playoff powerplay goals. (2nd per game. 50 game min.)

All per game averages increase in the post season except even strength/shorthanded goals.

And I can't possibly ignore overpass' statistical analysis of Al in the HoH top 100 project.

Here's two posts that go into great detail:
Multifacetted statistical breakdown.

MacInnis was a top offensive producer right from the time he broke into the league, leading the Calgary PP to be the best in the league. By 1989, he had developed into an even strength force as well, as he led the Flames to the Cup and won the Conn Smythe. He was a 1st team All-Star in 1990 and 1991, and continued to be a top ES and PP performer until he left Calgary in 1994.

MacInnis's accolades dropped off in the mid to late 90s. Part of this was that he had trouble playing a full season, missing 10-20 games in many seasons. However, he was still a force when he was on the ice, and in 1999 he played all 82 games, went +33 on a St Louis team that was only +14 overall, and won the Norris trophy. He continued to play well until his final season in 2003, when he was a 1st team All-Star at the age of 39.

I think MacInnis's consistent excellence and sometime greatness deserves recognition at this point. The main knock against him may be his in-season durability in the second half of his career. I don't care about that too much, as he was a great player on the ice and was always there for the playoffs.

Team performance with vs without Al MacInnis

Conclusion:
Al MacInnis has two main strikes against him. Like Bourque and Lidstrom, his game was intelligent and not flashy, built on reliability, steadiness and consistency. Only Al had "The Shot" which drew everyones attention. Bourque and Lidstrom had no such glaring strength, so, in time, observes noticed how they impacted the game on multiple different levels in all three zones. But with MacInnis, the shot often overwhelmed observation of his game. Two, he played in the modern era, most of us saw him many times. We saw him recently too. We can keep his career in perspective. While the players of days gone by exist as a mythological player. A player who plays the way we envision, rather than see. So the mythological player will always seem better than the real player. Against tougher competition, MacInnis achieved more Clapper or Horton. Against tougher competition, MacInnis proved equal to Clancy. (beyond Shore, there was no ATD #1s.) Seibert may have a better resume, but his achievements come against significantly weaker competition, often against a WWII weakened league, and always clearly and firmly behind Shore and Clancy, often failing to outplay worse ATD competition.

Only Ray Bourque was clearly better than MacInnis. He was roughly equal to Chris Chelios, they traded seasons of who was better than who, only Chelios won Norris trophies when he was better and MacInnis was stuck behind Bourque at his MVP worthy best. MacInnis was better than a post-Edmonton Coffey. MacInnis was the equal of Lidstrom until age finally caught MacInnis.

When you look at nothing but the data in front of you. The stats and the perceptions of the time. Al MacInnis is closer to Brad Park, Chris Chelios and Pierre Pilote than he is to Dit Clapper, Tim Horton and Earl Seibert.

And really, lets not forget. No one, and I mean no one in the history of the sport of hockey has a better point shot than Al MacInnis.

 

[markrander87]

he played in the modern era, most of us saw him many times. We saw him recently too. We can keep his career in perspective. While the players of days gone by exist as a mythological player. A player who plays the way we envision, rather than see. So the mythological player will always seem better than the real player.

BaZing!!!!!!! Couldn't of said it better myself, well done Sir.

 

[EagleBelfour]

With our 2nd selection, the 46th overall selection in this year All-Time Draft, the Detroit Falcons are utterly please to select Monsieur Syl Charles Joseph Sylvanus Apps

Nickname: Slippery Syl, Nijinsky of the Ice, Commissioner of Athletics
Height: 6'0''
Weight: 185 lbs
Position: Center
Shoots: Left
Date of Birth: January 18, 1915
Place of Birth: Paris, Ontario, Canada
Date of Death: December 24, 1998 (Age: 83)

Stanley Cup Champion (1942, 1947, 1948)
Stanley Cup Finalist (1938, 1939, 1940)
First All-Star Team Centre (1939, 1942)
Second All-Star Team Centre (1938, 1941, 1943)
Played in NHL All Star Game (1939, 1947)
Calder Memorial Trophy (1937)
Conn Smythe Trophy (1942**)
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (1942)
Team Captain (1940-1943; 1945-1948)
Canada Sports Hall of Fame (1975)
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1961)
#10 honoured by the Toronto Maple Leafs (1993)

Top-10 Scoring (2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th)
Top-10 Goalscoring (4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 10th)
Top-10 Assist (1st, 1st, 6th, 6th)
Top-10 Playoff Scoring (1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 8th, 10th)
Top-10 Playoff Goalscoring (1st, 3rd, 4th, 4th, 5th)
Top-10 Playoff Assist (1st, 2nd, 2nd, 6th)
Calder Nomination (1st)
Top-10 Hart Nomination (2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd)
Top-10 Lady Bing Nomination (1st, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, 4th)

- #34 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
- #38 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2008 edition)
- #38 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2009 edition)
- Named the best skater of the 1940's by Ultimate Hockey
- Named the finest athlete of the 1940's by Ultimate Hockey
- Named the most admired player of the 1940's by Ultimate Hockey
- He's the father of Syl Apps Jr.
- Apps never drank smoked or swore
- In 1934, he won gold medal in pole vault for Canada at 1934 British Empire Games with a jump of twelve and a half feet
- In the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Apps competed for Canada as a Pole Vaulter and finished 6th
- Apps captained the McGill University football team to an inter-collegiate title in 1936
- First Calder winner of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization
- He missed 21 games with a broken collarbone in January 1940. He also missed one month of the 1940-41 season with torn cartilage in his left knee, occurred against the New York Americans on February 25th, 1941
- His performance in the 1940-41 season is considered the best by a center by Ultimate Hockey
- In the 1941-42 season, Apps receive no infraction for a complete season. He was honored with the Lady Bing trophy at the end of that year
- Apps didn't played for the majority of 1942-43 season, recovering from leg injury suffered in game against Boston on January 30th, 1943. That year, Apps offered 1000$ of his 6000$ he was payed a year to owner Conn Smythe, because he thought he was getting payed more than he deserved. Smythe refused the money
- In his final regular season game he scored a hat trick to give him a career total of 201 goals. He was the first 200 goalscorer of the Toronto Maple Leafs
- In his career, Apps only received three fighting penalties
- Apps served 12 years as an elected Ontario Provincial Parliament deputee. He also served as a Minister of Correctional Services
- He is the only member of all three Hockey Halls of Fame, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Amateur Athletics Hall of Fame
- Syl Apps passed away on Christmas Day, 1998 after a long battle with a neurological disorder that doctors were never able to properly diagnose

Perhaps never has a finer man played in the NHL than Syl Apps. A remarkably skilled hockey player, he was big and strong and possessed one of the best shots in the league.

During that first year, many players thought he was too nice and not tough at all. XXXXX XXXXXXX discovered this belief was mistaken one night when he high-sticked Apps, knocking out two teeth. Apps dropped his gloves and pummeled XXXXXXX

Syl Apps ranks as one of the greatest captains in Toronto Maple Leaf history. A team captain from 1940 through 1943 and again from 1945 until his retirement in 1948, Apps was the star of the 1940s dynasty that captured 3 Stanley Cups with him at the helm.

Apps was an artistic a player as have ever played in the National Hockey League. They called him the “Nijinsky of the Ice,†comparing his graceful skating abilities to the happy feet of the great Russian ballet dancer Naslav Nijinsky. Equally as impressive were his puck skills – he had one of the most accurate shots and loved to set up his teammates – particularly XXXXX and XXXXX. He could do tricks with the puck as he stickhandled down ice unlike almost any player of any era. Comparisons to modern day superstar Joe Sakic are not without merit. Several of the few old timers who are still with us insist Syl was the greatest player they had ever seen.

Though a big man for his time, Apps moved with speed and grace and possessed one of the most accurate shot around.

Peak Years 1939-43
Comparable Recent Player Joe Sakic
In a Word CANADIAN

The six-foot, 185-pounds centre had a determination to go to the net. Apps was a clean player and would rarely display any temper, but woe to anyone who dared to challange him too strongly. His leadership skills were never more evident than when he led the Leafs back from a three-game-to-none deficit against Detroit.

XXXX XXXXX, the Detroit manager, was particulary impressed with Apps whom he rated as even greater than Howie Morenz.

He was bigger a bigger centre player than most of those he faced but he never took advantage of his size to intimidate an opponent. However, his great stickhandling and finesse attracted holding, tripping and boarding.

To begin with, his virtues were beyond reproach. He played the game with infinite finesse, yet with a courage and vigor that inspired every hockey-loving father to tell his son that that was the way he wanted his kid to do it.

Syl Apps was the Bobby Orr of the pre-World War II ERA.

- ''Apps made the best impression of the newcomers. It was thoight he might display nervousness, but instead he acted like an old-timer. Some of his passes were beauties and he played his position to the king's taste.'' - The Toronto Telegram on App's rookie season performances

- ''He represents what pro athletes should be. He was the Jean Beliveau of English Canada.'' - Former Leaf Jim Dorey

- ''Everyone who ever wanted to play for the Leafs looked to Syl as their inspiration. He was a great, great man.'' - XXX XXXXXXX

-''A rembrandt on the ice, a Nijinsky at the goal mouth. He plays with such grace and precision you get the impression that every move is the execution of a mental image conceived long before he goes through a motions.'' - Canadian author Vincent Lunny

-'' His dazzling bursts of speed, and great sweeping strides made him an exciting player to watch.'' - Ron McAllister

-''Apps is the greatest centre I have ever seen.'' - XXXX XXXXX


Sites:
http://www.sihrhockey.org/member_player_sheet.cfm?player_id=100&mode=2
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/Lege...?mem=p196101&type=Player&page=bio&list=#photo
http://mapleleafslegends.blogspot.com/2007/03/syl-apps.html
http://www.cshof.ca/hm_profile.php?i=418
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BBAjEefzhM

 

[nik jr]

Frank Nighbor

also known as
"The Pembroke Peach"
"The Flying Dutchman"
"Dutch"
"Peerless Frank"​

There is no player in professional hockey who stood higher in the estimation of the experts and fans for general all-round ability combined with clean play and gentlemanly conduct on and off the ice than Frank Nighbor.

C/LW/RW
5'9, 160
shoots: R ?
Jersey Number: 6
born: 1-26-1893 in Pembroke Ontario
died: 4-13-1966 in Pembroke Ontario
inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947




Best Player in the World

I roomed with Frank Nighbor, who was then (i.e. early '20s) regarded as the best player in the world.

Nighbor was given one of the greatest tributes ever extended by a fellow player from his great opponent Howie Morenz. When Frank Ahearn congratulated Morenz on winning the Hart Trophy, the latter replied:

I won the cup (i.e. Hart Trophy), but Nighbor is the greatest player in hockey.

Morenz declared he had never seen anything to exceed the exhibition of Nighbor in the 1st period against Maroons.

"Cyclone" Taylor has great admiration for Frank Nighbor as a player, naming the famous poke-check king the greatest player of all-time.

15 Years Ago
From The Star of December, 14, 1931

Frank Nighbor, whom sports writers and other experts agreed was the best forward in hockey of all time, was preparing to leave the game and return to his native Pembroke.

Now, Howie Morenz was probably the most colourful of all those flying forwards yet if we look back we do not find that he ever put Frank Nighbor in the shade. In fact, I will be so different that I will suggest with conviction that Nighbor was the more effective player of the two and I say this despite the fact that poor Howie was one of my closest friends.
...
There were a lot of people who worshipped at the Morenz shrine, but there were just as many who gave that highest award to the stoical Pembroke Peach. It is all a matter of opinion.

With all due respect to the many wonderful players who have come and gone since 1900, there are few who could be rated above Frank Nighbor. Someone once called him the "peerless centre," and I can think of no label which would have been more apt. We always felt he could have played a complete game of hockey in formal attire without even putting a wrinkle in his suit. He was a leading scorer, an expert passer and a playmaker; and no rival forward could come close to him in defensive skill. Along with Jack Walker he developed the poke-check to such an extent that his contemporaries were forced to revamp completely their style of play in order to cope with him.
....
It is hard to say whether Morenz' style of play was more effective than Nighbor's, but there was this difference--Nighbor was so letter-perfect that a spectator could fall asleep watching him play, knowing just what was going to happen.

So far ahead of all hockey players in defensive ability, in starting plays and in outguessing the opposition is Frank Nighbor that it would be almost a shame to mention another in the game at the present time. There is only one "Old Master" and aspiring players have a star to aim at.

In centre ice, the great Frank Nighbor again showed he is in a class by himself. He outplayed whoever was opposed to him.
....
Nighbor made Cougars look bad with his natty defence work.

From what I've been able to gather from old articles is that Nighbor is very often mentioned as the second best center after Morenz (and surprisingly ahead of Lalonde). Maybe the people who saw him play valued defensive play more than we seem to, but he is consistently mentioned as a great of the game right there with Morenz and Shore.

although his best seasons were played before the creation of the Hart Trophy, and though his prime seems to have ended around '21, Nighbor won the very 1st Hart, in '24. He also was 3rd in Hart voting in '26.

It is likely Nighbor would have won a few more if the award had existed earlier.


Greatest Player from 1900-1950 Poll
Morenz: 27
M Richard: 4
Taylor: 3
Nighbor: 2
(all others): 1


Nighbor was the NHA's highest scoring player in '17. that may be the only season in history where the same player was both the best defensive forward and the top scorer.

Joe Malone and Frank Nighbor are tied as the leading goal-getters in the NHA.
....
It is an odd fact that Nighbor has been harassed and nagged all thru the season while Malone is seldom the butt of opposing players. The answer lies here:

Nighbor irritates opposing players, not only in the skill in which he pops in goals, but in his persistency in trailing the puck, and in his almost uncanny efficiency in snagging it off the other fellow's stick. In doing this he nearly always makes his victim look like what is termed in sporting parlance a "sucker," and very frequently his opponents seek to make up their lack of hockey skill by rough-house.

Malone as a player is not of the same value as Nighbor, even tho he is by a fluke of circumstances tied with the Pembroke boy in scoring. Malone has done his work in bursts while Nighbor has plugged steadily. Nor is Malone the equal of Nighbor in speed or back-checking ability. But for sheer stick-wizardry, particularly close to the nets, Malone has the edge.

Defensive Marvel

Nighbor was an outstanding checker who played at centreice. Nobody could handle a hockey stick like Frank Nighbor. He was the master of the poke-check. .... Nighbor should really be credited as the greatest hook-check artist of them all. Instead of poking the puck off someone's stick, he had a knack of trapping the puck with a hook-check and bringing it back to his own stick as if the puck were on a string. It was a magician's touch. And once he got the puck, he rarely gave it away again.

Skating backward and waving his stick in wandlike fashion, preparatory for use in his devastating poke check, was also a marvel of coordination. It was hard for his admirers to make up their minds at which he was best, offense or defense.

He perfected the poke and hook check which he used to break up opposing attackers and it was nothing to see his own defensemen resting on their sticks and his goaler stifling many a yawn as the Pembroke Peach massacred eight out of ten plays that came through his center slot.

MacKenzie also picked Nighbor as the C on his all time team.

Frank Nighbor is the greatest defensive hockey player I have ever seen.
....
...in my opinion, by far the greatest defensive centre in the game.

Gorman also said later that Nighbor was the greatest player he had ever seen.

We remember one night when Rangers were here, with Frankie Boucher, Bill and Bun Cook at the peak of their razzle-dazzle brilliance. Boucher came whirling over the Ottawa blueline, the Cooks criss-crossed, and Frankie drove the puck around the rush end of the playing surface, from left wing to right. Nighbor had come back with the play, and as Boucher shot the puck, the Dutchman turned, took a couple of strides towards the left side of the Ottawa net, and stood still. The puck traveled around the boards, came to Bill Cook, and the latter's attempted pass out went directly onto Nighbor's stick.

Questioned later about that particular play, Nighbor gave an answer that emphasized just how fast he was thinking, and just how much hockey "savy" he possessed. His reply was: "When Bill Cook got that puck from Boucher, where else could he pass it?" Needless to say, the answer closed the inquiry.

Nighbor with his pokecheck was breaking up the locals' drive, and they had difficulty in getting past him. He stood out like a traffic cop, and was directing the opposing players down the wing lanes, where they were promptly covered.

Baz O'Meara (Montreal Star sportswriter) was talking only yesterday about Clint Benedict and in course of the conversation told how Benny, when he was playing for the old Ottawa Senators, used to point to Frank Nighbor and say "There's the best goaltender in the league." Although Nighbor was a centre, he was probably the greatest defensive forward of all time, which made Benny's chore a lot lighter.

Some old-timers claim Frank was without a peer as a centre; others say he would have been if he'd been a better offensive player. He was past his peak when we saw him, but he still had much of his great defensive skill. Tall and thin, he was a master at the poke check and the hook check, either facing the puck-carrier and poking the puck away from him or coming from behind to lean away over and hook it away from him. He could keep a whole team at bay all by himself in the days of parallel passing.

There is a story, a bit apocryphal it must be admitted, of how he so frustrated the great Howie Morenz one night, never allowing him to pass centre ice, that Howie broke into tears. A different version of it says it was Nels Stewart, not Howie, and that Nels finally hauled off and shot the puck at him. Perhaps neither incident ever happened, but they serve to illustrate the kind of defensive genius he undoubtedly was.

Frank made a brief appearance in the sports pages a few years ago when a Toronto writer quoted Dit Clapper as saying that Nighbor wouldn't be the same kind of standout in the kind of hockey they are playing today. So much invective was hurled at Dit by Frank's admirers that he must have felt he had fired the opening shot in a Third World War.

The following excerpts appear in the official National Hockey League annual as a tribute to the great Nighbor.

Frank Nighbor, the 'Gliding Ghost' of Pembroke, was the centre ice star for the Ottawa teams of that era and there probably never was a cleaner nor more sporting player than this poker-faced exponent of the hook-check, who at times became almost a team in himself.

Legendary Poke Check:

A Suggestion

A reader signing himself "Old Hockey Fan" suggests that some screen news company is missing a bet in not making a "short" of Frank Nighbor in order to reveal to all hockey fans and to preserve for posterity the mechanics and finesse of the famed Nighbor "poke-check" which made the old Ottawa star a "one man defense" at centre ice and broke the heart of so many rival attackers. The idea would be to show Frank making the play at normal speed and then in slow motion shots to depict the progressive phases of his poke-check.

While admitting that Nighbor has long since retired from hockey, "Old Hockey Fan" believes Frank is "still spry enough to give us a flash of the old-time magic," for although Nighbor can no longer play, it is inconceivable that he would have forgotten the technique of how to poke-check.

Our correspondent writes, "in many a game played in Ottawa some 20 years ago, and in many other games played in Montreal in more recent years, I have been puzzled as to just how Nighbor managed to take the puck away from the other fellow so deftly and without any apparent effort. And I am willing to wager I am not the only one who wondered how it was done."

He concludes by stating that such a "short" as he proposes would "solve the mystery" of Nighbor's now almost legendary poke-check. Such a revelation might also serve to teach young players that remarkable defensive art.

Nighbor rose to greater heights than ever to repel the crimson charge of Canadiens, and it was his clever defensive work in the last analysis that that thwarted the league leaders. Time after time, he broke up their rushes, and it was his work that held Morenz as in a vise. The latter never could get going in his usual meteoric fashion.

Bill Cook put up a great effort to avert defeat (NYR lost 1-2). He was unable to get the plays started that he did on the occasion of the last visit of Rangers here (NYR had won 9-3 when Nighbor was injured.), due to the numerous passes intercepted by Nighbor.

Morenz has played better games than he did tonight, but still the "Stratford Streak" was always dangerous while he was in action. He received more than the usual attention from Nighbor and that no doubt impaired his effectiveness considerably.

Ottawa Senators showed last night in beating Canadiens 2(?)-0 before a packed house at the Arena the closest approach to the polished hockey and machine-like play which marked the club at the height of its career. Three factors stood out in Ottawa's victory:
The Net-minding of young X
The defensive play of Nighbor
The "breaks" of the game

Ottawa Citizen on the same game:

Meanwhile, out near center-ice, Frank Nighbor, his face dripping blood all through the game after an accidental jab in the early passages, was a heroic figure. His far-reaching stick was almost magnetic, as it hooked the puck off Canadien sticks, Nighbor bending low, his long reach sweeping almost from side to side of the ice, breaking up one attack after another, and keeping the Habitants from getting to close quarters with their usual good effect.
....
Howie Morenz got away while George Boucher was serving one of his numerous penalties, and was inside the defense, with a goal a seeming certainty, but Nighbor streaked up behind him at a terrific clip, and Morenz delayed his shot a fraction of a second too long, for Nighbor hurled himself full length, fell on Morenz' stick, smothering stick and puck, and sliding into the boards behind the net with both beneath him--possibly the most spectacular save of the night.
....
...the Habitants could seldom pass the Nighbor menace at centre-ice.

Howie Morenz, while showy as usual, was not so effective, and Frank Nighbor had him well in hand at many stages.

The Irish played good combination all evening, and the famous checking of the invaders failed to worry them much. Nighbor was effective, but the other players failed to keep him company. (Ottawa lost 5-7.)

The Ottawa defense was particularly vulnerable, and but for the yeoman work of Frank Nighbor, the Ottawa centre, the Irishmen would have piled up a commanding lead in the first two periods. (Ottawa lost 2-3)

Nighbor used a long, but legal, stick:

I'd like to have seen (Nighbor) reach down once more, and with that stick of his which seemed so long, and which turned out to be regulation size after all, baffle the best of the opposition centers, not even excluding Howie Morenz.

Lou Marsh assumed command before the game started. He paraded Nels Stewart, Frank Carson and Frank Nighbor over to the timer's box and measured their sticks. They were all within the law.

Nighbor was a great defensive forward even as a rookie (at LW):

His main feature is stealing the puck by the hooked stick method, which he has down to perfection. He also has a wicked shot, which kept Boyes hustling to beat.

Nighbor was a big improvement from his last game and was the leader in the back-checking.

Nighbor was the only man who played the game for Torontos. (2-11 loss) He checked back the whole way and was the life of the forward line.

Nighbor was the star of the game, and the Toronto fans would like to see a few more of his calibre. His great stick-handling and checking back are nice to see, and he plays clean hockey, as he keeps in condition and can easily keep up the pace set by any team without trying to play his check out by getting him instead of the puck. Right there lies the keynote to real hockey and until the teams in the NHA realize this they will never be able to play real hockey.

The majority of the Canadiens seemed off their game and thru the back-checking of Toronto, particularly Nighbor, they were bottled up to such an extent that they seldom got a clear shot at Holmes.

Nighbor also scored 2 goals and set up the 1st, in the 6-2 Toronto win.



Nighbor's Offensive Ability
Available stats do not fully reflect Nighbor's offensive ability for several reasons. firstly, about half of his prime was played before the NHL ('13-'17). secondly, Nighbor was more a playmaker than a goalscorer, but he played in an era in which the scoring race was biased towards goal scorers, b/c assists were rarely recorded.


during Nighbor's prime NHL seasons ('18-'21), he ranked:

3rd in points per game, behind only Lalonde and Malone
4th in goals per game, behind Malone, Lalonde and linemate Denneny
1st in assists per game


Sturminator made an interesting comparison of the scoring of Nighbor and Lalonde.
http://hfboards.com/showpost.php?p=18885653&postcount=835

'13 (assists not recorded)
Lalonde: 25g
Nighbor: 25g

Nighbor played in the PCHA in '14 and '15. 3rd in scoring in '15 and on pace for 3rd in scoring in '14.

'16
Lalonde: 34p (1st)
Nighbor: 24p (7th)

'17
Lalonde: 35p (4th)
Nighbor: 51p (1st)

'18 (both players missed some games)
Lalonde: 30p (on pace for 3rd)
Nighbor: 19p (on pace for 5th)

'19
Lalonde: 32p (1st)
Nighbor: 28p (2nd)

'20
Lalonde: 46p (2nd)
Nighbor: 41p (3rd)

'21
Lalonde: 43p (1st)
Nighbor: 29p (5th)

total minus injured seasons
Lalonde: 215
Nighbor: 198

Lalonde was clearly the superior offensive player, but they were usually fairly close in scoring, and both won a scoring title (Nighbor in '17, Lalonde in '16, '19, '21).

Nighbor was there with some great stick handling and he kept Vezina busy with his accurate shooting.

The only real feature of the game was the playing of Nighbor (at LW) and Holmes for the locals. The former played his best game of the season, his shooting being at all times excellent, every shot being dead on the goal. His puck carrying was also the best he has shown here this season. Time and again he secured the puck, and by fake passes, worked his way inside the defense. He scored six goals.

Frank Nighbor, the Pembroke star, reported back to Senators Saturday morning, displaying a right hand which had been gashed painfully in practice at the North Renfrew town last week. But Nighbor signed up, consented to play and gave a dazzling display of all around hockey. Seldom, if ever, in fact, has he excelled it. His sore hand did not prevent him from going through the Canadien defense time after time, with the result that six of the seven Ottawa goals were credited to the Pembroke idol. His back-checking, his poke check, his passing, shooting and dodging were all typical of Nighbor at his best.

(Ottawa down 1-3 in the 3rd) Right from the faceoff Nighbor beat X with a shot from outside the defense. Nighbor carried it down and passed it to Cleghorn, who evened the score. Full time arrived with the score tied.
The Arenas were the first to press in the overtime. X and Noble had shots, and X gave Benedict a hard one to stop. Nighbor carried down the boards, dropped the puck back to Broadbent, and he beat X with a shot from well out. This made the final 4-3.

Nighbor's winning goal was a beauty. He broke from center and sped for X's side of the defense (left side). Old X carried him wide but Frank cut loose with a fast backhander that sent the puck skimming into the far side of the net.

Nighbor was the hero of the hour and ten minutes, slamming in the winning goal, and feeding X the pass for the other tally a minute later. (both goals were scored in OT.)

Some of the most spectacular hockey ever witnessed was on tap last night. The customers saw the great Frank Nighbor turn in a wonderful play to score Ottawa's 4th goal 13 minutes after the start of the 3rd period. Nighbor hooked the puck from "Happy" Day near center ice, then stickhandled his way around X and X in turn, to get in on top of X in the Toronto net. X was decoyed out of his cage and the Old Master quietly lifted the disc into the net.
....
Not in years had Frank Nighbor played better than he played last night. He broke up rush after rush in the mid area and he led several well-directed attacks on the Leafs' citadel. Nighbor's goal in the 3rd period, which settled the issue beyond doubt, was one of the most beautifully executed plays ever witnessed in any hockey match.

Nighbor seems to have used that move regularly. 10 days later:

Nighbor's Spectacular Tally

Ottawa's fourth and final goal came 11 minutes and 40 seconds after the start of the second period and it was scored by the master mechanic, Frank Nighbor. Clancy had been put off for hooking X, and while King was in conversation with the penalty timer, Kilrea was chased to the sidelines for giving Morenz a lofty tumble. Hooley Smith, Nighbor and George Boucher held the onrushing Canadiens at bay until Clancy and Kilrea returned. And with the team at full strength, Nighbor opened up. The Ottawa center man obtained the puck back at his own blue line to dash around Morenz and then sidestep Mantha. He completely outguessed Hainsworth when the latter was set for the shot, by pulling the goaler to one side then tossing the puck in behind him. It was the most spectacular goal of the evening and it ended the scoring.

more instances of the same play:

In the third, the Ottawas registered their only tally, Frank Nighbor taking the disc from Lalonde and scoring after a magnificent piece of stickhandling. He drew X out and scored on the open net.

Nighbor suddenly grabbed the puck at center, dodged Mummery, drew Vezina to one side of the net and drove it like a bullet into the other side as Ottawa backers jumped to their feet in ecstasies of delight.

It was the prettiest play of the night. Mummery charged back into Nighbor and bowled him over, but the Pembroke boy arose with a smile and skated back to his position.

3 minutes later, Boucher and Nighbor rushed, and Nighbor, after a magnificent bit of stickhandling, drew out the Canadien goalkeeper and scored a beauty, making it 2-2.

Frank Nighbor dodged the Toronto defense, drew goaler X out and tallied the first one in two minutes.

an unsuccessful instance of the same play:

From the face-off Nighbor was the first to break away. He went down the ice and stick handled his way inside the local defense. He drew Vezina out, having an open net to shoot at. In his over-anxiety, Nighbor missed the net, striking the goal post with his shot.

Nighbor used the slapshot?:

Nighbor attempted a golf stroke, in the first period, which scored a hole in one, by landing on a spectator's nasal organ, much to the spectator's discomfiture, as the last seen of him was a claret colored handkerchief, as he beat a hasty retreat to safer quarters.

There's been an improvement in the calibre of hockey played in the NHL but there's little new for the fan to watch, the veteran (Bill Beveridge) figures.
He recalls that Frankie Nighbor of the Ottawa Senators used the slapshot and compares the wicked shot of Toronto's Charlie Conacher to that of Chicago's Bobby Hull of today.

Playmaking
even though many of Nighbor's best seasons were played prior to the NHL, he led the NHL in assists twice, finished 2nd twice, 3rd, 6th and 8th once each.

Nighbor retired in '30 as the NHL's all time leader in assists in both the regular season and playoffs.

We must not forget that Frank Nighbor was a pivot man and most unselfish. On occasions too numerous to mention he passed when he could have scored alone. In one game back in the '20s I saw him sacrifice a dozen opportunities to tally so that "Punch" Broadbent or Cyril Denneny could do the firing.

an example from the '20 finals:

The ice in the second period was in a terrible state. Nighbor went thru, but passed when he had a good chance to bore in.

Nighbor scored 2g in the game and was named by the paper as one of the stars of the game.

It was a pretty effort, with Nighbor coaxing the Cougar defense men to check him and then slipping the puck to his mate, uncovered on the right boards. The typical Nighbor play earned the goal and Holmes had no chance to save.
....
In tying the score, Nighbor had Holmes just as much in his mercy. He got the puck straight out from the net and took his time to place it perfectly in an unguarded corner.
....
Nighbor, master pivot, led the Ottawa attack to victory. He worked his youthful wings to perfection and famous check was as disastrous as ever to Cougar rushes.

Goalscoring
'13 NHA: 4th
'14 PCHA: missed several games, but on pace for 3rd
'15 PCHA: 3rd
'16 NHA: 7th
'17 NHA: 1st (tied with Malone)
'18: missed several games, but on pace for 5th
'19: 3rd
'20: 3rd
'21: 5th
'22: -
'23: -
'24: 10th


"Main Cog"
Nighbor was the key player in the operation of his team's offense and defense. Nighbor generated scoring chances for his team and stopped the scoring chances of the opposing team. His playmaking was key in Ottawa's combination plays and his defensive play was the key to their defensive system.

Main Cog Missing

Frank Nighbor, main cog in the Ottawa smooth-working hockey machine, went into last night's game feeling none too well, and was compelled to retire in the 2nd period. With the peerless center-ice man out of commission, the locals are not by any means as formidable as they are when he is at his best.

Montreal Gazette on the same game:

Injury to Nighbor, Early in Second Session, Tended to Disorganize Play of League Leaders

An injury to Nighbor in the early part of the second period also handicapped the Senators and their play became uncertain and to an extent disorganized.
....
It was at this stage of the game that Nighbor retired. Although Hooley Smith who replaced him played exceptionally well and Gorman and Finnigan who substitued at right wing played sterling hockey, the Ottawa firing line did not work with the same machine like precision that featured their play with Nighbor on the ice.

Nighbor Outstanding
Although Cyril Denneny scored 4 of the 5 goals obtained by the visitors, he was not their most outstanding player. Either Nighbor or Clancy earns this honor. The great centre man, who it is rumored is about to retire, gave a wonderful exhibition of how to play the centre ice position, and there is no doubt that he is without a peer. His uncanny poke checking, speedy dashes and stick handling were a treat to watch, and several goals were due to him.

The game served as a denial to the well-worn belief that Ottawa has a one-man team with Frank Nighbor, poke-checking centre, as the king-pin. Nighbor was not in uniform, owing to a severe cold.

Despite their aversion to seeing Ottawa win, they did not fail to applaud the good work of Frank Nighbor, who has certainly got himself "in right" with Toronto fans. His poke-check was responsible for breaking up several likely-looking rushes. He also found time to score three goals. But the thing that commended itself most was the strategy he used in directing his team. Now and again Cyril Denneny was wont to break up his team's defensive system by doing needless checking and skating. It was here that Nighbor, with eagle eye, detected probable loopholes for scoring and he promptly advised Denneny, not on one occasion, but on several, to play his position. The above is not intended to reflect on the playing ability of Denneny, who proved himself in Saturday's game to be a player of no mean calibre, but it goes to show how a captain should control his team on the ice.

EDMONTON SPEEDIER
Comparing the two teams it would be fair to say that Edmonton have in Gagne, Arbour, Trapp and Simpson, four men who can skate half as fast again as any man on the Senators line, but Clancy. On the other hand it is doubtful if the Esks have the collection of brainy strategists at all comparable to Ottawa. Their generalship is wonderful. Frank Nighbor is the master strategist. He knows every move in hockey and when he seems to be loafing he is merely gathering his forces for another raid.

another example Nighbor's leadership from a practice:

The players kept up the same relentless pace, the whole squad was in action and Frank Nighbor, who had a bad cold, was in the thick of every play. Nighbor is taking considerable pains in the work of instilling systematic ice play into Senators and his constant chatter and advice is helping to mould the youngsters into powerful performers.

Speaking of the best players he had ever seen, Clancy claimed Frank Nighbor as the best team player he had ever seen, while Howie Morenz was the most colorful.

Nighbor at center ice is probably the most effective man in forward-line play. His poke check, either a jab or a sweep, has ruined more combination plays than that of any other player.

What a Whale of a Difference Nighbor Makes!
Last night, with the Old Master on the ice, Ottawa took the sting of a 9-3 defeat out of their systems by beating New York Rangers, 2-1, and thus avenging the sound trimming administered by the same team a few weeks ago. Under the coaching, assistance and inspiration of the great Nighbor, Ottawa outplayed the fastest players wily Lester Patrick could shoot at them in relays, and in the last long ten minutes, when they were out on their feet, defended Ottawa's goal as no other team has done here this season.
....
The 1st period was productive of good, but canny, hockey. The outstanding feature of it was the return of Nighbor, who soon showed that his plaster cast was perhaps the most potent factor in keeping Ottawa out of the money berths this year. For, handicapped as he must have been after the long lay-off, he showed right away that Ottawa is not near its hockey capacity when it is Nighborless.

Frank Nighbor was back in the Ottawa line-up after an absence of several games through injuries to his wrists, and his return to the champions was largely responsible in the marked reversal in their play over the mediocre display last Thursday night. Nighbor was not only fresh after his rest and consequently at his very best around centre ice, where he broke up many a Canadien rush with his famed poke-check, but he guided the champions steadily. It was a cool pass from Nighbor that brought about the winning(?) (and only) goal, and it was also his trip of Morenz in the second period that prevented this stellar Canadien from counting.

Frank Nighbor at center was a tower of strength to the Ottawas, both offensively and defensively. He was given rather a rough ride by heavy body checks, but returned bumps for bumps and all together played one of his very best games. In the second period, X attempted to cross-check Ottawa's famous center-ice player, but the latter beat the Canadien to a punch, although Ottawa supporters thought both should have gone off, if a penalty was deserved.

A curious thing happened midway in the second period, when Morenz, at top speed, charged at Nighbor. The latter saw what was coming and neatly side-stepped him, with a result that Morenz crashed into X, knocking the Canadien defense man down on the ice.

Ottawa's championship chances in the National Hockey League will not be bright if Frank Nighbor, veteran centre-ice man, remain in retirement.

Nighbor went into action under quite a handicap as his injured foot had not fully mended, but notwithstanding, this center ice star turned in one of his very best performances, which means nothing more need be said.
....
Nighbor Scores Winning Tally
Nighbor hooked the disc from X, as the latter was headed for the Ottawa net, and sidestepped away from several well-intended body thrusts to get inside his opponent's blue line. Seeing an opening between the two defensemen, Nighbor let his shot fly. It wasn't as hard as some others that had been directed at the Canadien cage, but it caught Hainsworth rather unawares.

Injury to Nighbor in Opening Period Severe Blow to Losers

Ottawa fans know what Senators look like when Nighbor, or any of the big 4 of Nighbor, Boucher, Clancy and Denneny, are forced out of action. They drop from brilliancy to mediocrity right away and that is what they did last night.
....
The latter, demoralized by the loss of Nighbor, never seemed to get their combination plays going.
....
The sensational net display of Benedict was the salvation of the Montreal team time and again, but on the other hand, a little more concerted play by Ottawa's forwards and less selfishness might have turned the verdict in favor of Senators.

If there was one outstanding player on the Ottawa team last night, it was Frank Nighbor, whose performance was well-nigh perfect. Nighbor not only did a lot of telling defensive work, but he also broke through the Bruin defense on several occasions for wicked drives on X in the Bruin net.
....
The great Frank Frederickson was completely outplayed by the great Frank Nighbor. The Ottawa center-ice star was superior in every aspect of the game, and Frederickson had little opportunity to shine.
....
Shore and Hitchman, the Bruins' defense duo, gave Frank Nighbor, Ottawa's peerless center, a hard ride, which, however, spurred him on to greater efforts in tying the Bostonian forward line in knots.
....
Frank Nighbor gave as good as he received last night, and on one occasion piled into Eddie Shore, Bruin defenseman, sending him flat on his back.

Despite being a regular target of the opposition's hits and cheap shots, Frank Nighbor was a durable player, often playing through injury and missing only a couple of games per season.

In the 1917-1918 season, Frank Nighbor played only 10 of 22 games, in large part because Nighbor served in the Royal Air Force during part of World War 1. Ottawa and Toronto were working on a deal to transfer Nighbor to Toronto. I have not found any information that injury was a factor.
Nighbor played only 2 of the 1st 13 games.

Nighbor's extended absence in '18 gives us an idea of his importance to his team.

Discounting the Montreal Wanderers, who folded early in the season (only played 6 games), The '18 Ottawa Senators had the worst GA and the worst GF in the NHL, and missed the playoffs.

Ottawa without Nighbor in '18
3-9 record
59 GF, 73 GA

Ottawa with Nighbor in '18
5-5 record
43 GF, 40 GA

Lalonde's goals vs Ottawa with Nighbor: 1 game, 1g
Lalonde's goals vs Ottawa without Nighbor: 5 games, 8g

Malone's goals vs Ottawa with Nighbor: 3 games, 1g
Malone's goals vs Ottawa without Nighbor: 7 games, 23g

Malone's '18 season has become legendary. He scored 44g in 22 games, the highest goals per game pace in NHL history. But even more amazing is that he scored over half of those goals in 7 games against Ottawa when Nighbor was out of the lineup.


Joe Malone again dominated Ottawa when Nighbor could not play:

Winning Streak of Champion Senators Stopped at Nine Straight as Lowly "Bulldogs" Defeated Them 10-4 over Slushy Sheet of Ice. Ottawas Were Without Frank Nighbor and Joe Malone Ran Wild. Scoring Six Goals.

Joe Malone ran wild in the absence of Nighbor and scored 6 goals for Quebec, beating out "Newsy" Lalonde for the league honors.

Malone was giving the Ottawa defense a busy night as Frank Nighbor with his pokecheck was not there to stop up the Quebec captain.

Nighbor often changed his style of play based on his team's needs.

from the last game of the '23 finals:

The Senators got their lone score about halfway through the first period and from that point they played a safe, but an uninteresting defensive game, which the Eastern rules allow.
....
It was a battle of speed and brilliant attack against experience, a heady calculation in every play and grim determination and the latter won.
....
Welded into a whole, and working as a team, the Senators are probably without peers in Canada today.
....
A moment later, Broadbent scored on a pass from Nighbor. The Ottawa players adopted an airtight defense.
....
The Ottawa players for a great part of this period checked with such persistency that Edmonton made little headway.
....
Edmonton came back, but the checking was close and they were unable to get over the Ottawa blueline.
....
Nighbor camped himself just back of his own blue line and worked his hook-check so effectively that the Eskimos were turned back time and again.

There was one thing noticeable tonight and that was when the Senators were one up, they did not resort to their usual pastime of "Kitty bar the door."
Frank Nighbor, the famous center player, was not with the Senators.

Nighbor is one of the smartest center tee men in the business, inclined to ease up when the going is not so rough, but mighty effective in the tight spots.

When the famous Senators found it necessary to score goals, Nighbor often threw caution to the four winds of chance and it was then that the danger signal flashed in his opponents' end of the rink. During one eventful game in Toronto, the Senators trailed by one goal with only five minutes to go. Cyril Denneny and "Punch" Broadbent had been fed pass after pass by Nighbor but they could not get through, so the Pembroke wizard took over and twice in succession he flashed in to hit the rigging.

a similar situation in a different game:

Playing steadily in mid-ice when his defense wabbled behind him, Nighbor gave one of his best exhibitions of poke-checking and clever attacking. Time after time Nighbor would hook the puck away from Irish forwards in tantalizing style and dash in on the X-X defense. He broke loose in the third period and scored two well-earned goals, the result of sparkling plays. His wingmen, Denneny, Broadbent and Darragh were woefully off in this marksmanship, and they threw away many easy chances in this manner.

Nighbor was playing one of his best defensive games. His poke check was in the way of all Canadien attacks and Hooley Smith was not far behind the pivot man. The too strong defensive led to ragged hockey.
....
(After scoring the first goal) Ottawa immediately turned to defensive hockey, but were backing up under the dashes of Joliat, X and Morenz, especially when George Boucher and Clancy took turns in the penalty box.

playing more offensively instead of more defensively:

Manager X changed his system Saturday night and caught the Toronto team flat-footed. Instead of laying his men back at the start of the match, the Ottawa coach opened up a cyclonic attack, and Ottawa had two goals in the bag before the Torontos steadied down. Frank Nighbor dodged the Toronto defense, drew goaler X out and tallied the first one in two minutes.

Throughout the 1st period, Manager Green kept his extra man near the defence, and it was evident, as Lalonde also lay back on the Canadien defence, that both were playing cautious hockey.
....
with a fair lead (2-0), Ottawas then changed their tactics. Nighbor, instead of laying back to help out his defence, shot up into the play. Everything was immediately thrown into the attack and in a few minutes, the Canadiens cracked under the strain. Frank Nighbor dodged in himself and made it 3-0. Three minutes later, skating in on top of Darragh's shot, Nighbor recovered the rebound off Vezina, and made it 4-0. Canadiens then took a brace and Odie Cleghorn beat out Benedict from a sharp angle on Donald Smith's pass, but this failed to stop the irresistible Senators, and in a minute or so, Broadbent broke into the summary on a pass from Nighbor, making it 5-1. Each goal was scored from within a few feet, and Vezina had no chance to stop it, though he did block a score of others.

using the poke check for offensive purposes, in the last game of the '26 NHL finals:

Ottawa's big move was to send Frank Nighbor close up to the cage on the chance that he might get his famed poke check into action and take the puck from a Maroon player attempting to carry it out of danger. A steal by Nighbor in the shadow of the Montreal goal would have been almost fatal to Maroons.

X saw the threat and met it with instructions to his players which were carried out to the letter. Nighbor never got a chance to use his famed hook-check. The Maroons had been instructed not to try and pass him.

They played it as far as the Ottawa Senator and then played it off the boards, rounding Nighbor to pick up the puck again behind him. It was a simple trick, not noticed by many, but it was a deciding defensive move which rendered negative Ottawa's main threat.

targeting of Nighbor (and other stars) was common:

Frank Nighbor appeared at centre for the Ottawas and was the pick of the line. Nighbor was given a fierce grueling by the Toronto team and in the first period there was just one continual procession of players to the penalty bench for their methods of checking Nighbor. Frank came through all right until a few minutes before the close. Reg Noble lifted the puck and struck the Ottawa star in the left eye.
....
Nighbor worked like a Trojan and scored Ottawa's only goal in the third period when he took the puck around the back of the net and shoved it in unassisted.

The game, while bitterly contested from the start, was quite free from undue roughness until near the end of the final period when Billy Coutu got his stick around Frank Nighbor's neck and threw him heavily to the ice. For this offence referee Laflamme gave Coutu a ten minute penalty.
....
During the latter part of the game, Frank Nighbor, of the Ottawas, was given much attention. He was given many a rude jolt with elbows and knees, but came through it all, and in the end was playing much more aggressively than when he started.
....
Nighbor foiled rush after rush of the Canadiens, and while he showed little aggressiveness in the opening period, except when scoring the Senators' first goal, he was quite a factor in the 2nd and 3rd periods, regardless of the many heavy checks he received.

Ottawas Win Terrific Game from Wanderers; Two Savage Assaults on Frank Nighbor

President Robinson also assured me that he was inquiring into the attack on Frank Nighbor," said Mr. Rosenthal. "He did not witness the match and his referee failed to see the foul, but he is taking statements from spectators and minor officials and has promised that there will not be a repetition."

Frank Nighbor, the flashy Ottawa center, who had his face slashed in last night's game. Nighbor was again the object of attack by Canadien players.

Frank Nighbor continued his aggressive tactics and made 3 trips to the penalty pen during the game, something very unusual for this famous player, but he also served notice that he was through "taking it" without giving a receipt for every clout or bump.

Playoffs
Nighbor was the top C for the Ottawa dynasty which won 4 cups ('20, '21, '23, '27). He was also a key player for the Cup winning '15 Vancouver Millionaires.


Nighbor led the playoffs in goals once ('20), and twice each in assists ('15, '21) and points ('15, '21). in 19 Stanley Cup finals games, Nighbor scored 20p.

Nighbor retired 3rd all time in NHL playoff scoring. if not for Lalonde's huge series against the Nighbor-less Senators, Nighbor may have been 2nd. even though he played many years past his prime, Nighbor's career playoff numbers (including NHA and PCHA) are among the best of his era. 35p in 41 games.

Between 1920 and 1923, the Senators won the Stanley Cup three times. Nighbor was brilliant in the 1920 Cup challenge versus the Seattle Metropolitans when he registered six goals in a hotly contested five-game series. The following season, his checking was crucial to Ottawa's successful Stanley Cup repeat in a low-scoring five-game series against the Vancouver Millionaires.

--from his legendsofhockey bio

He (Hooley Smith) has not yet shown the faculty of Nighbor to rise to great occasions in "money games."

In the '15 Stanley Cup finals, Nighbor's Vancouver Millionaires faced NHA champion Ottawa. Nighbor not only tied for the lead in scoring, but more importantly, he also shut down Ottawa's forwards.

The outstanding star was Nighbor. He combined both offense and defense and had the Senators quite bewildered.

4 years later, Nighbor's Ottawa Senators faced the Habs in the '19 NHL finals. Nighbor missed the 1st 3 games of the series b/c of a death in the family.
with Nighbor out, the Habs' C Newsy Lalonde dominated. this was Lalonde's famous 11g, 2a series. (Lalonde went on to score 6g in the Stanley Cup finals, which were cancelled after 5 games due to the influenza epidemic.)

it is no coincidence that Ottawa's worst series loss came when Nighbor could not play.

games 1, 2, 3 without Nighbor: 3.33 GFA, 6.33 GAA

games 4, 5 with Nighbor: 4.0 GFA, 3.5 GAA

With the NHL down to two teams - not coincidently its two halves winners - a best of seven series was set to decide the league champion for 1919. The Canadiens, without Malone, would defeat the Senators four games to one. Ottawa, deprived of leading scorer Frank Nighbor for a family bereavement, were no match for Montreal.

http://wwweyesontheprize.blogspot.com/2008/08/1918-19-cup-that-almost-was.html


Conditioning and Skating

Frank used to be at me all the time about staying in condition. He'd say "Frankie, the way you stay in condition is never to be out of condition. Take good care of your body and it will serve you well. Try to take a little cat nap every chance you get. Then you're well rested, and by Jiminy, then you're always ready to play!"

But it was Frank Nighbor who set a mark no modern iron-man can match. He played six games without any kind of relief, and averaged a goal a game in that stretch.

--from King Clancy's autobiography

Nighbor was the star of the game, and the Toronto fans would like to see a few more of his calibre. His great stick-handling and checking back are nice to see, and he plays clean hockey, as he keeps in condition and can easily keep up the pace set by any team without trying to play his check out by getting him instead of the puck. Right there lies the keynote to real hockey and until the teams in the NHA realize this they will never be able to play real hockey.

Frank Nighbor Appears on Skates for First Time Since Stanley Cup Final Last Spring and Makes Fine Impression

Nighbor stepped to the center of the ice for a torrid 40 minute workout, and at its conclusion he was one of the freshest of the dozen who scrambled for the puck during the workout. Nighbor weighed in within a pound of last year's finishing weight, and traveled with full speed showing the same dazzling poke-check and astute generalship that has marked him out for years as one of the brainy greats of the game.

Nighbor's first practice in the next season:

The Pembroke star played throughout the entire 40 minutes and left the ice at the end of the practice as fresh as when he stepped out. Nighbor weighs just about the same as at the beginning of last season and is in splendid condition.

Nighbor has considerably more "foot" than is generally conceded, and when put to the test can step with the best of them, including Mr. Howie Morenz. He is a marvel of physical endurance and seems able to hop right out at top speed from his first appearance on skates.
17 years in professional hockey seem to have made little difference in Nighbor's physical condition.

A smooth skater, he worked superbly with his wingers as a crafty and unselfish playmaker.

--from Nighbor's legendsofhockey bio

The deceiving skating ability of Nighbor is something that can't be discounted. He can attune himself to any degree of speed the contest calls for.

Nighbor was an effortless skater, a master at setting up smooth combination plays with his wingers.

http://www.hockey-notes.com/1920_hockey_franknighbor.html

watching after a rookie teammate:

Of How King Clancy Never Saw the Sights of Montreal

King Clancy tells an amusing story on himself. He goes a long way back in his hockey career for this particular yarn, for it concerns the days when the man who is just now making his start as a coach, was a youngster breaking in as a player with the NHL. Clancy confesses that back in 1921 he was very much the cocky kid, given to popping off at great length and annoying his veteran teammates by the length, breadth, depth and height of his wit and wisdom. Also he pictured himself as a suddenly well-to-do young man, about to see the world and its sights. "You can imagine," averred the King, "how I felt. I signed my first contract with Ottawa Senators for the fabulous salary of $1,100 for the season, which was a positive fortune to a kid who had previously been wealthy if he had had two nickels in his pocket."

So young Clancy had all these riches and the opportunity to travel. His first trip to the big city of Montreal as a member of a great pro hockey club was intended to be quite a visit, for the King was determined to get around a bit. He enlightened his teammates with great thoroughness of detail as to his plans. And there he made his big mistake.

After the King's first game here, Frank Nighbor took him in tow and suggested they return to their hotel--the Corona it was--for a bite to eat. Clancy thought it was an excellent idea, and went along willingly enough.

After they had supped, Clancy considered it was high time he set about the business of his proposed visit to some of the night spots that flourished in those days. Nighbor detained him, however, by asking what kind of quarters he had in the hotel. The famed poke-checking star intimated that frequently rookies were not as well looked after as the regulars, and he was anxious to know if young Clancy was comfortable. The King was affected by this solicitousness in his behalf by this man as great as Nighbor, and hastened to assure him that everything was perfect.

Nighbor was not satisfied, however, and insisted the King show him his room in order that he could be personally certain that nothing was lacking toward Clancy's welfare. "Nothing but the best for a swell kid like you," commented Nighbor. Clancy was more than flattered by all this consideration, and promptly led Nighbor upstairs to inspect his room.

The King inserted the key in the lock, opened the door and went in to light the light. Immediately, the door slammed behind him; he heard the key turned and removed.

"So," Clancy concluded his story, "I never did get around to seeing Montreal. For Frank Nighbor regularly escorted me from the rink to a hotel after the game, ate with me, and then took me up to my room and locked me in. Anyway, I always got a swell night's sleep when I was here." Well, King, we hope your slumbers in Montreal will be just as sound and undisturbed this winter, meaning we trust your Maroons don't give you any sleepless nights.

Personal Notes
born Julius Francis Nighbor; oldest child of Julius "John" Nighbor of Pembroke and Pauline Kutchaw Nighbor, originally from Poland.
their children: Frank, Loretta, Inez, Victor, John

Julius Nighbor died in 1911.
Pauline Kutchaw Nighbor moved to Detroit with Inez, Victor and John in 1918.

Frank Nighbor married Marion Dorothy Slattery of Pembroke, on Wednesday, June 16, 1926.
their son Francis Stanley Nighbor Jr. born in 1927, on the day Ottawa won the Stanley Cup. Frank Jr's middle name comes from the Cup.
Marion Dorothy Slattery Nighbor died in May 1931, of tuberculosis.

Frank Nighbor's mother and his sister Inez died within 4 days of each other in 1934.

married Mary Ann Cecilia Heney of Pembroke in 1937
Frank and Mary had 3 children, Pauline, Catherine and Patrick.
Mary Heney Nighbor died on Friday, October 28, 1949 at age 37.


Frank Nighbor was a Roman Catholic Christian.

Nighbor "loved" playing in Vancouver, but moved back east because his mother was ill.

he rejected several trades, because he had an insurance business. retired from the insurance business in 1961. his son Frank Jr took over his insurance business.

Frank is one of Pembroke's finest baseball prospects. He plays tennis and is a crack rifle shot. Every fall he goes up into the wilds and returns with some real big game.

in 1930, Conn Smythe bought Nighbor's contract for $50,000, hoping Nighbor to become Toronto's coach. Nighbor declined as his wife was dying.

Nighbor did accept a coaching job with the Buffalo Bisons of the IHL. he coached them for 2 championships in '32 and '33.

Nighbor's car was stolen in 1940. 2 other motorists had their cars stolen, but Nighbor's was the only one which was not recovered.

Nighbor was an avid hockey fan and watched games on TV throughout his life.

Frank Nighbor died of cancer in 1966 in Pembroke at age 73.

 

[seventieslord]

Nice Nighbor bio, nik.

I've read a couple of other great quotes that specifically describe his defensive ability beyond "he was the best defensively". I can't remember where the one was, but the other was in Frank Selke's book, and he talked about how Nighbor angled the opposition over to the boards where they were rendered harmless.

I've looked forward to the chance to draft Nighbor again so I could do a bio similar to yours, that combines what I found earlier, with some new stuff.

Based on your bio, it appears that you're not sure where Nighbor placed in assists in his NHA/PCHA years. It can be hard to get this stuff without an SIHR membership. Let me fill it in for you:

1913: sub-10th
1914: 9th, but missed 5 games and was on pace for 5th
1915: 6th
1916: 9th
1917: sub-10th

yeah, more fluff to a resume than anything else, but still is good to know.

Just to compare his offensive record to a few players who played around the same time (pre-merger, with possibly some post-merger) who are already drafted, using my simple consistency studies (that don't assume much more than a 5th in one league is just a "top-10" overall, and so on), I've stretched the definition of what constitutes "around the same time" so that there are more players to compare.

Goalscoring, top-2, 5, 10, 15, 20 - Playmaking, top-2, 5, 10, 15, 20

Nighbor 1-4-6-7-8, 2-5-7-8-11
Taylor 1-5-5-5-5, 6-7-7-8-8
Lalonde 3-9-10-11-11, 2-3-3-6-8
Malone 4-6-8-9-9, 1-2-4-5-6
Morenz 2-7-8-8-10, 1-5-7-8-8
Cook 6-7-11-11-11, 0-3-7-7-8
Boucher 0-1-2-3-6, 7-9-10-12-13

Nighbor's no better than these guys, but I wouldn't say he is any worse either, when both playmaking and goalscoring are concerned. None of the other six are as accomplished at both goalscoring and playmaking, but each one tops him in one or the other. (all I'd conclusively confirm is that Boucher is the worst scorer of the bunch, and Malone the worst playmaker) - Taylor might have been the best of the bunch per-game at both, but his seasons in the east as a defensemen cramped his chances of posting more "longevity" numbers, and he was the oldest of these players, being 27 by the time he was in the PCHA and playing rover, where he could put up dominant totals.

Long story short, Nighbor is in this league offensively, and when you consider his unquestioned defensive excellence and his winning history it should not be difficult to argue that he is a top-40 player.

Also, interesting that we finally have some description of the "hook check" - I think it's used in bios of a couple other defensive stars of the day, and everyone always assumed it meant hooking, and then people would start to question if so-and-so could thrive in the ATD where they would get called for hooking. Apparently a hook check does not mean hooking at all.

 

[nik jr]

thanks, 70s.

i spent many hours writing it, b/c it took a long time to find the information and b/c took a long time editing, since i thought it was too long. i also accidentally deleted it.

you are right that i am not sure about some of the numbers.

it is good to know there is more information about nighbor's defense beyond his stick checking and skating and takeaways. i could not find anything on his positioning.
i thought hook check meant hooking an opponent's stick.

 

[EagleBelfour]

With our third selection, the 70th overall in this year All-Time Draft, the Detroit Falcons are extremely happy to select Monsieur Theodore Samuel Kennedy

Nickname: Ted, Teeder
Height: 5'11''
Weight: 175 lbs
Position: Center
Shoots: Right
Date of Birth: December 12, 1925
Place of Birth: Humberstone , Ontario, Canada
Date of Death: August 14, 2009 (Age: 83)

Stanley Cup Champion (1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951)
Second All-Star Team Centre (1950, 1951, 1954)
Played in NHL All-Star game (1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954)
Stanley Cup Game Winning Goal (1947)
Conn Smythe Trophy (1945**, 1947**, 1948**)
Hart Memorial Trophy (1955)
Team Captain (1948-1955)
Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (1966)
#9 honoured by the Toronto Maple Leafs (1993)

Top-10 Scoring (4th, 5th, 5th, 9th)
Top-10 Goalscoring (3rd, 5th, 7th)
Top-10 Assist (1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th)
Top-10 Playoff Scoring (1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 4th)
Top-10 Playoff Goalscoring (1st, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 10th)
Top-10 Playoff Assist (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd)
Top-10 Hart Nomination (1st, 2nd, 5th, 5th)

- #57 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
- #72 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2008 edition)
- #70 on History of Hockey list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players (2009 edition)
- The nickname Teeder stuck since childhood because some people had trouble pronouncing the name Theodore
- Ted's father, Gordon Kennedy, was killed in a hunting accident eleven days before he was born
- Kennedy wore the #9 all his career, because of his childhood hero Charlie Conacher
- In 1941, the Canadiens were the first to discover the hard working Ted Kennedy, and offered to pay his living and schooling expenses if he would come to Montreal to play junior hockey. Kennedy attended the training camp as a 16-year-old, but he was so homesick that he left early
- That same year, Kennedy played senior hockey in Ontario with Nels Stewart as his coach
- In 1942, the Toronto Maple Leafs' Frank Selke, the interim manager of the team during owner Conn Smythe's service in the Second World War, acquired Kennedy's rights from Montreal in a trade for Frank Eddolls. When Smythe returned, he was furious that the deal had been made without his having been consulted, and this disagreement between Smythe and Selke was one of the factors in Selke's decision to move to Montreal in 1946
- In 1946, Kennedy was placed on a line with Howie Meeker and Vic Lynn, known as the Kid Line II
- In 1953, Conn Smythe created an award expressly for Kennedy, the J.P. Bickell Trophy, which was given to the most valuable Maple Leaf
- Following his retirement from hockey in 1957, Kennedy spent a year coaching Junior A in Peterborough
- In the 1960's, Kennedy worked in the business world
- He was a passionate horse lover and he opened his own thoroughbred training center in the late 1960's.
- The April 27, 1998 issue of Sport Illustrated published "The Best Ever on the Draw", a poll of NHL experts of the top ten players of all time for skills on the faceoff, and Kennedy was ranked at #1
- Kennedy died of congestive heart failure in Port Colborne, Ontario

Ted "Teeder" Kennedy became a remarkable leader with an infectious combination of determination and confidence. Known as one of the game's great faceoff men and an antagonistic forechecker, Kennedy had the ability to score the important goal, to make the right check at the right time - to do all the little things that win big games and championships, which his Toronto Maple Leafs did on a regular basis.

Kennedy would win five Cups as a Maple Leaf, but individual honours for the Leafs' captain were few and far between. Three times he was selected to the NHL's Second All-Star Team, but Toronto fans and management believed he deserved more recognition in the year-end major awards.

In close games or behind a goal or two, Toronto fans knew their team had a chance if Kennedy could engineer a comeback with a timely goal or faceoff win.

He made up for it with his competitive zeal that would make him arguably the greatest leader in franchise history, and maybe in hockey history. He led by example, fearlessly battling some of hockey's all time greats. He could shoot and pass and stickhandle with the best of them, yet was a proud defensive player and a superior faceoff specialist.

But come game time he was totally focused, and always played every game at the highest level. For Kennedy every game was played with a level of desperation as if it were game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. Very few players in league history can have that said about them.

Yet it wasn't his offense but his hustle that earned him the most admiration. There was no doubt this man would one day be captain of the Blue and White.

Kennedy led the Leafs to an upset victory against the Montreal Canadiens in the 1945 Stanley Cup finals. The Canadiens were a powerhouse led by the unthinkable exploits of Rocket Richard. The Habs top line of XXXXX XXXX, XXX XXXXX and Richard - who scored 50 goals in 50 games that season - finished 1-2-3 in scoring during the year and were supposed to tear Toronto apart. But a wondrous defensive effort by a line centered by Kennedy (flanked by XXX XXXXXXXX and "Sudden Death" Mel Hill) kept the feared Punch Line at bay for much of the series. In the mean time Kennedy contributed a playoff leading 7 goals to capture the silver chalice.

It was in the playoffs that Kennedy was at his best. Although he put up impressive scoring totals throughout his career, he was hockey's version of Mr. October. In 1947 the Leafs captured another Stanley Cup, thanks Kennedy's cup winning goal against Montreal. The Leafs would repeat as champions in 1948, as Kennedy scored a playoff high 8 goals and 14 points. The following season Syl Apps - to that point probably the most revered Leaf in team history - retired and Kennedy, just 22, became the youngest captain in club history. Even without Apps, Kennedy would lead the Leafs to the first ever Stanley Cup "three-peat".

He was known for his leadership, work ethic, competitiveness, playmaking, forechecking, faceoff skills and for scoring important goals. He was an exceptional playoff performer and was the first player in NHL history to win five Stanley Cups. He is the last Maple Leaf to win the Hart Trophy for most valuable player.

he compensated with determination and tireless hard work. Among modern era players his style of play has been compared to Bobby Clarke. He brought to the Leafs a classy, humble leadership and the knack for scoring goals when they were most needed. He would fight for every inch of ice and was difficult to separate from the puck. He was also known for his agility, stick-handling, playmaking, passing skills and physical toughness.

Kennedy was also widely believed to be the best faceoff man in hockey and would seldom lose an important faceoff. Kennedy would prove a perfect fit into coach Hap Day's coaching style of emphasizing defense, positional hockey and physical play.

Theodore Kennedy was an exceptional play-maker, and always seemed to know where and when to set up his man. As well as being an excellent defensive center, he was thought by many sportwriters of the day to have been the best face-off man in the NHL.

Although Kennedy was not the most dominant ''skills'' player in the league, he consistently ranked near the top of the scoring race.

One of the most tenacious forechecker in modern hockey.

As a face-off man, he was peerless.

Kennedy was not a smooth skater but his scrambling style was quite effective.

But beside his plodding skating style, he managed to get from point A to point B as well as any and better than most.

-''I was highly honoured and what pleased me very much was how it came about. We were in the dressing room after practice in the fall of 1948 when XXX said 'since Syl is no longer with us we have to choose a new captain'. Then he put it out to the floor to take nominations verbally and put it to a vote. XXXX XXXXX said 'I think Teeder should be our captain'. XXX asked if there were any other nominations and no one else was put forward so they were all satisfied that I became their captain and that's the way it happened." - Ted Kennedy, telling the story of how he became the Maple Leafs Captain

-''He went from A to B just as fast I could because he went through people.'' - Howie Meeker on Ted Kennedy

-''Seldom lost an important face-off and was never beaten.'' - XXXX XXXXX

-''Apps used to hit the defence at top speed and XXXXXX XXXXXXX would come along and pick up the garbage. Kennedy would go into the corners and get the puck out to their wings.'' - XXXX XXXXX

-''He was a player of tremendous drive and strenght. Despite his lack of slick physical skill, he was a great, great player. The definite Maple Leafs.'' - Frank Orr

-''Ted Kennedy was a very quiet person. He was very good in the dressing room, but he led his team by example and using his hockey stick instead of long speeches. He showed on the ice what he can do, either it was winning faceoff, passing the puck or scoring goals.'' - George Gross, journalist

-''Ted Kennedy was not a superbly gifted athlete the way some players were, but he accomplished more than most of them by never playing a shift where he did not give everything he had." - Conn Smythe

-''Teeder Kennedy was tough, every game I played against him he gave 125%. He was tough as a center. He could make plays, never stop working, work like a horse.'' - Bernard Geoffrion

-''I think Teeder strongest point by far was his desire to win. He would do absolutely anything to win a hockey game. He had great skills with the puck, he could score goals he could make plays, work like a dog. He was a leader both on and off the ice'' - Howie Meeker

-''Whenever anyone was chasing me, I don't remember anyone ever catching me. Weither it was out of fear, I don't know.'' - Ted Kennedy

-''He was a complete centreman, a good playmaker, a good passer, good on faceoffs.'' - Jean Béliveau

-''Kennedy is the greatest competitor in hockey.'' - Conn Smythe


Sites:
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=P196605#photo
http://www.legendsofhockey.net/html/spot_oneononep196605.htm
http://www.sihrhockey.org/member_player_sheet.cfm?player_id=1773&mode=2
http://mapleleafslegends.blogspot.com/2006/05/teeder-kennedy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Kennedy_(ice_hockey)
http://www.thestar.com/Sports/Hockey/article/681607
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5BuUysYEeM