NHL Plus-Minus Data 1960-1967

[overpass]

The NHL has recently released full plus-minus data for the 1959-60 through 1966-67 seasons. I’ve taken the data and run it through some metrics I’ve previously used to analyze historical NHL plus-minus data.

The first thing that was apparent from the data was there were relatively few outliers in the plus-minus data, especially when examined over the full period. Players tended to post similar GF/GA ratios to the rest of their team, with significant differences only appearing for the very best players and units. Many of these same players would put up much better GF/GA ratios in the expansion NHL, suggesting that average team strength was significantly higher pre-expansion and it was harder for an individual to make a difference.

Overall scoring levels were lower than they would be for most seasons in the following decades, as was power play scoring. Power play scoring was also lower as a percentage of total scoring than it was in most of the following decades. 21% of goals were scored on the power play, which is similar to the last four NHL seasons and lower than most seasons in the 70s/80s/90s/00s.

Beginning with the forwards, here are the top even strength scorers for the full period.

Glossary of terms:
$ESP/70: Even strength points per 70 games played, adjusted to a scoring level of 165 ESG per team per season (average for the 1960-67 period)
$ESGF/70: On-ice even strength goals for per 70 games played, adjusted to a scoring level of 165 ESG per team per season
$ESGA/70: On-ice even strength goals against per 70 games played, adjusted to a scoring level of 165 ESG per team per season
R-ON: GF/GA ratio at even strength while the player was on the ice (higher is better, 1 is average)
R-OFF: Team’s GF/GA ratio at even strength while the player was not on the ice. Higher values here indicate that the player played on a strong team, but there are also factors such as linemate strength, matchup responsibilities, and team depth at various positions
EV%: Percentage of team’s even-strength goals that the player was on the ice for. Higher values here indicate the player played more even strength ice time, played a higher-event game with higher rates of goals for and/or goals against while on the ice, or both.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	$ESGF/70	$ESGA/70	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%
Bobby Hull	534	57	72	53	1.36	1.20	42%
Henri Richard	506	55	66	48	1.39	1.23	36%
Stan Mikita	548	50	62	36	1.71	1.11	33%
Gordie Howe	552	47	66	54	1.22	0.82	38%
Andy Bathgate	536	47	60	60	1.01	0.82	36%
Norm Ullman	549	46	61	65	0.95	0.98	40%
Jean Beliveau	487	46	55	43	1.27	1.30	31%
Frank Mahovlich	537	46	60	44	1.35	1.17	34%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Bobby Hull and Henri Richard were clearly the top two even-strength scorers for the full 1959-60 to 1966-67 period.

When looking at a subset of the time period, three other players approached their scoring level at even strength. Stan Mikita for the six years from 1961-62 to 1966-67, Andy Bathgate for the five years from 1959-60 to 1963-64, and Frank Mahovlich for the four years from 1960-61 to 1963-64.

Player	Years	GP	$ESP/70	$ESGF/70	$ESGA/70	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%
Bobby Hull	1960-1967	534	57	72	53	1.36	1.20	42%
Henri Richard	1960-1966	441	56	67	46	1.45	1.29	36%
Stan Mikita	1962-1967	413	56	68	42	1.64	1.13	36%
Andy Bathgate	1960-1964	351	56	70	69	1.01	0.74	41%
Frank Mahovlich	1961-1964	277	55	69	46	1.52	1.20	37%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

All of the leading even strength scorers most likely received extra ice time at even strength, judging by their EV% numbers (the percentage of their team’s even strength GF and GA for which they were on the ice), whether through double shifting or shortened rotations. The possible exception is Jean Beliveau, who had a lower EV% than any of the other high scorers in this list.

All of the leading even-strength scorers had higher on-ice goal ratios (R-ON) than off-ice goal ratios, with the exception of Norm Ullman. Using these goal ratios to evaluate individual players is tricky, especially in the context of a strong and deep Original Six NHL. Factors such as matchup responsibilities against opposing top lines and strength of linemates could outweigh the impact of the individual player. However, it is clear that these top scorers tended to be positive forces for their teams on the ice, to say the least.

Stan Mikita was the forward with the most positive plus-minus ratio over this time period. His outstanding offensive and defensive play was undoubtedly extremely important to his team. However, he probably benefited from playing on a separate line from Bobby Hull, he had strong linemates in Kenny Wharram and Doug Mohns, and it’s not clear what kind of matchup responsibilities he had compared to, say, Henri Richard.

Norm Ullman had a high number of GA compared to the rest of this group. Much of this difference was likely because he played big minutes on a Detroit team without forward depth and didn’t have a star linemate for most of the time.

I hope everyone realizes just how valuable Henri Richard was to the Montreal Canadiens at this time. He was much more than just a “second line centre who was lucky to play on great teams”. In fact, he was clearly the #1 centre and #1 forward on Montreal at even strength and scored as much as any player in the league in this role. Only the fact that he was not featured on the power play kept him from putting up bigger scoring numbers.

Here is the next group of top even strength scorers.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	$ESGF/70	$ESGA/70	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%
Johnny Bucyk	514	44	58	74	0.78	0.68	38%
Phil Esposito	235	43	58	40	1.46	1.27	31%
Bernie Geoffrion	349	43	55	42	1.30	1.30	30%
Marcel Bonin	157	42	61	36	1.67	1.28	30%
Dave Keon	472	41	54	42	1.28	1.23	32%
Dean Prentice	500	41	55	60	0.92	0.79	34%
Murray Oliver	529	41	51	68	0.75	0.71	34%
Alex Delvecchio	558	41	60	58	1.03	0.91	37%
Dickie Moore	281	40	54	33	1.61	1.29	27%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Some of this group almost certainly played higher than usual ice time, starting with Johnny Bucyk and Alex Delvecchio. Noe the presence of Phil Esposito here, even before his breakout in Boston. Dickie Moore, even past his prime and dealing with injuries, was a strong even-strength player. The group shown below here, the next tier of even strength scorers, were all in important roles at even strength and were solid scorers.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	$ESGF/70	$ESGA/70	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%
Red Kelly	470	39	57	46	1.23	1.25	34%
Bob Pulford	522	39	51	47	1.10	1.26	32%
Kenny Wharram	517	39	57	34	1.66	1.16	30%
Rod Gilbert	310	38	48	57	0.85	0.72	31%
Ralph Backstrom	545	38	46	34	1.32	1.24	26%
Leo Labine	103	38	49	62	0.78	0.82	33%
Bill Hay	506	37	48	43	1.10	1.29	31%
Claude Provost	528	37	52	43	1.21	1.35	31%
Vic Stasiuk	233	37	53	51	1.04	0.77	32%
Doug Mohns	181	37	60	38	1.57	1.26	31%
Bobby Rousseau	421	37	52	39	1.33	1.23	29%
Don McKenney	416	36	49	55	0.89	0.75	30%
Phil Goyette	477	36	45	43	1.05	0.89	26%
Camille Henry	360	35	43	52	0.83	0.79	28%
Tommy Williams	297	35	47	65	0.72	0.71	32%
Bronco Horvath	234	35	43	46	0.92	0.92	27%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

And the next group of even strength scorers, all playing a regular shift. I’ll cut it off after this group.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	$ESGF/70	$ESGA/70	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%
John Ferguson	260	34	51	43	1.19	1.16	31%
Gilles Tremblay	394	34	55	39	1.40	1.26	30%
George Armstrong	523	34	50	39	1.29	1.18	29%
Ron Ellis	200	33	49	45	1.10	1.24	32%
Bob Nevin	458	33	53	47	1.11	0.97	31%
Chico Maki	338	33	50	37	1.33	1.28	29%
Floyd Smith	290	32	47	47	1.01	1.09	30%
Ab McDonald	380	32	45	34	1.35	1.03	26%
Tod Sloan	136	31	35	28	1.26	1.19	23%
Ron Murphy	448	31	40	42	0.96	1.24	28%
Earl Ingarfield	492	31	41	57	0.71	0.84	29%
Jean Ratelle	258	31	41	56	0.72	0.76	28%
Bert Olmstead	176	31	46	46	1.00	1.38	29%
Claude Larose	227	31	44	42	1.04	1.15	28%
Murray Balfour	301	31	44	41	1.08	1.24	30%
Allan Johnson	103	30	38	50	0.76	0.86	28%
Dick Duff	503	30	44	43	1.02	1.17	28%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Next we’ll look at the top power play scorers on a rate basis in the 1959-60-1966-67 time period.

Glossary of terms:
$PPP/70: Power play points per 70 games played, adjusted to a scoring level of 45 PPG per team per season (average for the 1960-67 period)
PP%: Percentage of team’s power play goals that the player was on the ice for. Higher values here indicate the player played more power play time, or that the team was more successful while he was on the ice. For the best players who play on their team’s first unit, usually both are the case.
TeamPP+: Strength of team’s power play compared to league average, weighted per season by the size of the player’s PP role. 1 is average, values above 1 indicate an above-average power play, values below 1 indicate a below-average power play. Note that there is no data on PP opportunities pre-1968, so the team strength calculations are based solely on goals, not percentages.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	EV%	$PPP/70	PP%	TmPP+
Bernie Geoffrion	349	43	30%	30	91%	1.17
Jean Beliveau	487	46	31%	29	71%	1.21
Gordie Howe	552	47	38%	28	86%	1.02
Stan Mikita	548	50	33%	25	72%	1.15
Bobby Hull	534	57	42%	24	78%	1.13
Yvan Cournoyer	194	10	9%	22	70%	1.26
Andy Bathgate	536	47	36%	22	79%	0.92
Bronco Horvath	234	35	27%	21	63%	0.90
Camille Henry	360	35	28%	21	71%	0.97
Norm Ullman	549	46	40%	20	58%	1.01
Alex Delvecchio	558	41	37%	20	80%	1.02

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The Montreal duo of Bernie Geoffrion and Jean Beliveau tops the list here. Yvan Cournoyer of the Canadiens also appears, as a powerplay specialist for this part of his career. There’s also Hull and Mikita from Chicago, Howe, Ullman, and Delvecchio from Detroit, and powerplay aces Andy Bathgate, Bronco Horvath, and Camille Henry. Only Toronto fails to place a player on this list, as Punch Imlach spread the power play ice time around more than any other NHL coach of his time.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	EV%	$PPP/70	PP%	TmPP+
Bert Olmstead	176	31	29%	19	59%	0.92
Dickie Moore	281	40	27%	19	48%	1.33
Vic Stasiuk	233	37	32%	18	69%	0.92
Cliff Pennington	96	26	23%	18	77%	0.84
Bobby Rousseau	421	37	29%	17	54%	1.19
Frank Mahovlich	537	46	34%	17	64%	0.92
Doug Mohns	181	37	31%	17	62%	1.25
Bill Hay	506	37	31%	16	53%	1.04
Johnny Bucyk	514	44	38%	16	67%	0.70
Don McKenney	416	36	30%	15	57%	0.86
Rod Gilbert	310	38	31%	15	58%	0.97
Parker MacDonald	390	27	29%	15	50%	1.12
Dave Keon	472	41	32%	14	50%	0.90
Marcel Bonin	157	42	30%	13	41%	1.48
Red Kelly	470	39	34%	13	62%	0.92
Henri Richard	506	55	36%	13	40%	1.24
Murray Oliver	529	41	34%	13	52%	0.68
Andy Hebenton	350	28	31%	13	53%	0.86
Kenny Wharram	517	39	30%	12	40%	1.19
Dean Prentice	500	41	34%	12	52%	0.77
Bob Nevin	458	33	31%	12	48%	0.94
Floyd Smith	290	32	30%	12	46%	1.07
Phil Goyette	477	36	26%	11	34%	1.01
Gilles Tremblay	394	34	30%	11	37%	1.11
Ab McDonald	380	32	26%	11	45%	0.96
George Armstrong	523	34	29%	11	44%	0.92
Red Sullivan	140	27	28%	10	45%	0.81
Ron Ellis	200	33	32%	10	30%	0.95

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The next tier here includes basically the rest of the forwards with a significant powerplay role.

Here are the leading forward penalty killers on a usage rate basis.

Glossary of terms:
$SHP/70: Power play points per 70 games played, adjusted to a scoring level of 6 SHG per team per season (average for the 1960-67 period)
SH%: Percentage of team’s power play goals that the player was on the ice for. Higher values here indicate the player played more shorthanded time. It could also indicate that the team was less successful on a rate basis while he was on the ice – but over several seasons, ineffective penalty killers will usually be removed from the penalty kill unit by the coach. Additionally, the best penalty killers will usually face opposing first units and kill 3-on-5s, which are both situations where power play goals are more likely to be scored. So a high SH% will generally indicate a player who has played high ice time and difficult situations on the PK over several seasons.
TeamSH+: Strength of team’s penalty kill compared to league average, weighted per season by the size of the player’s SH role. 1 is average, values below 1 indicate an above-average penalty kill, values above 1 indicate a below-average penalty kill. Note that there is no data on PP opportunities pre-1968, so the team strength calculations are based solely on goals, not percentages, and team discipline in not taking penalties may also play a role here.

Player	GP	EV%	PP%	$SHP/70	SH%	TmSH+
Earl Balfour	138	7%	0%	3	74%	1.22
Donnie Marshall	549	26%	27%	4	71%	0.89
Charlie Burns	262	26%	3%	6	67%	1.14
Jerry Toppazzini	336	25%	44%	5	60%	1.14
Ed Westfall	197	30%	24%	2	56%	1.23
Fleming Mackell	47	25%	19%	4	55%	1.10

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Earl Balfour was a penalty killing specialist for the Hawks who rarely played at even strength. All things considered, Donnie Marshall was probably the leading penalty killing forward of the decade, playing big minutes in the role first for Montreal and then New York. Ed Westfall’s numbers here include only his years at forward – I estimate he played D from 62-64 and then F from 65-67, based on his scoring numbers and on-ice goal numbers.

Here is the next tier.

Player	GP	EV%	PP%	$SHP/70	SH%	TmSH+
Bob Pulford	522	32%	20%	5	49%	0.91
Ken Schinkel	265	20%	8%	2	47%	0.84
Ron Stewart	497	21%	28%	2	45%	0.99
Val Fonteyne	474	15%	12%	1	45%	1.00
Reg Fleming	458	21%	10%	2	44%	1.11
Eric Nesterenko	525	29%	17%	3	42%	0.91
Red Berenson	166	17%	4%	3	40%	0.93
Johnny Wilson	169	21%	16%	3	40%	0.93
Forbes Kennedy	221	22%	5%	2	35%	1.16

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Although the NHL lists Reg Fleming as D, I think he must have played mostly forward, based on his scoring numbers (too high for a defender) and his on-ice goal numbers at even strength (21% EV% would be extremely low for a defenceman).

Moving on to defencemen, we’ll start with the leading defencemen based on their even strength role. The top defencemen in EV%.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	$ESGF/70	$ESGA/70	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%
Red Kelly	50	21	82	97	0.85	0.90	58%
Pierre Pilote	517	30	90	63	1.43	1.14	52%
Jim Morrison	89	19	74	89	0.83	0.90	51%
Doug Barkley	247	22	86	70	1.23	1.00	50%
Doug Harvey	275	20	87	77	1.12	0.98	50%
Pat Stapleton	215	20	78	90	0.87	0.98	49%
Tim Horton	547	22	80	69	1.17	1.27	49%
Harry Howell	551	18	76	87	0.87	0.73	48%
Bill Gadsby	453	20	71	81	0.88	1.02	48%
Marcel Pronovost	525	16	74	72	1.03	0.94	48%
Jacques Laperriere	256	16	75	68	1.10	1.25	47%
Terry Harper	271	14	82	61	1.35	1.13	47%
Moose Vasko	455	17	74	61	1.22	1.25	46%
J.C. Tremblay	438	19	79	63	1.24	1.28	46%
Leo Boivin	517	22	68	92	0.73	0.73	46%
Allan Stanley	499	22	76	63	1.20	1.22	46%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Red Kelly’s numbers here are based on only his partial season in Detroit, his last as a defenceman. Pierre Pilote had the highest EV% of any defenceman who played the full time. He also had the best plus-minus ratio of any defenceman, was the leading scorer at even strength for defencemen, and played major roles on both special teams. It’s clear that he was the leading defenceman in the NHL for this time period.

You could say this is basically the list of top-pairing defencemen for the time period. The next list shows the next tier of defencemen in EV%, what we might call second pairing defencemen.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	$ESGF/70	$ESGA/70	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%
Bob Woytowich	154	16	59	93	0.64	0.84	45%
Gilles Marotte	118	14	55	93	0.60	0.86	45%
Larry Cahan	192	14	63	90	0.70	0.85	45%
Tom Johnson	359	17	76	70	1.09	1.22	44%
Bobby Orr	61	26	77	70	1.09	0.58	44%
Carl Brewer	382	21	79	54	1.47	1.15	44%
Bob Baun	464	16	73	59	1.23	1.21	43%
Lou Fontinato	234	11	78	64	1.22	1.07	43%
Dollard St. Laurent	200	15	62	58	1.06	1.32	43%
Bob Armstrong	132	13	62	84	0.74	0.80	43%
Jim Nielsen	327	16	59	85	0.70	0.81	42%
Ted Green	350	15	61	86	0.70	0.71	42%
Doug Mohns	338	23	60	88	0.68	0.74	42%
Bert Marshall	118	10	79	56	1.40	0.90	41%
Larry Hillman	199	16	67	59	1.13	1.25	41%
Ted Harris	190	12	70	54	1.30	1.06	41%
Al Langlois	449	15	70	64	1.09	0.94	40%
Fern Flaman	122	16	63	74	0.86	0.78	40%
Jack Evans	276	8	56	55	1.01	1.38	40%
Gary Bergman	189	21	67	62	1.08	1.03	39%
John Hanna	113	12	63	70	0.90	0.80	39%
Jean-Guy Talbot	539	18	69	54	1.28	1.33	39%
Warren Godfrey	267	14	58	67	0.87	0.77	39%
Doug Jarrett	182	22	71	50	1.41	1.34	38%
Matt Ravlich	185	14	58	54	1.08	1.39	36%
Bob McCord	131	11	49	70	0.70	0.85	35%
Al MacNeil	260	15	62	42	1.49	1.16	35%
Ed Westfall	166	12	56	70	0.80	0.59	34%
Don Awrey	137	14	43	73	0.59	0.77	34%
Dallas Smith	116	7	42	67	0.62	0.72	32%
Rod Seiling	135	16	42	64	0.65	0.66	30%
Howie Young	206	13	50	57	0.89	0.74	30%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Note Bobby Orr’s presence toward the top of the list. Although he was only an 18-year old rookie, he was still a plus player on a weak Boston team against very strong competition, showing flashes of his future dominance.

Carl Brewer had very good plus-minus numbers. He played on Toronto's second pairing with Bobby Baun, and most likely faced weaker competition than the Stanley-Horton pairing, but even so his numbers are still very impressive. Having an two-way ace like Brewer on their second pairing was undoubtedly a major reason that Toronto was able to win three Stanley Cups in the early 60s.

Finally, here are the defencemen who played something less than a regular role at even strength.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	$ESGF/70	$ESGA/70	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%
Aut Erickson	160	6	43	52	0.83	0.80	28%
Irv Spencer	200	12	40	51	0.77	0.80	26%
Kent Douglas	244	7	42	35	1.20	1.19	26%
Al Arbour	176	8	40	30	1.35	1.30	24%
Bryan Watson	162	4	15	24	0.63	1.16	12%
Bob Turner	253	6	22	22	1.00	1.39	14%
Jimmy Roberts	218	8	10	12	0.88	1.18	7%

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The bottom three of Watson, Turner, and Roberts were all penalty killing specialists for Toe Blake’s Montreal Canadiens.

Kent Douglas was a powerplay specialist for Toronto.

Here are the leading defencemen on the power play for this time.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	EV%	$PPP/70	PP%	TmPP+
Bobby Orr	61	26	44%	18	95%	0.71
Pierre Pilote	517	30	52%	17	77%	1.07
Doug Harvey	275	20	50%	16	66%	1.25
Doug Mohns	338	23	42%	16	69%	0.78
Jacques Laperriere	256	16	47%	14	75%	1.20
Kent Douglas	244	7	26%	12	75%	1.00

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Most teams played 4 forwards on the power play in the 60s. Some teams played 5, like Detroit did with Howe and Delvecchio at the points. The offensive defenceman revolution had not yet arrived, and relatively few defencemen played a big role on their team’s power play.

Here are the best of the rest for defencemen on the power play.

Player	GP	$ESP/70	EV%	$PPP/70	PP%	TmPP+
Bill Gadsby	453	20	48%	8	42%	0.91
Harry Howell	551	18	48%	8	46%	0.96
Rod Seiling	135	16	30%	8	38%	1.12
Jim Morrison	89	19	51%	7	46%	0.87
Doug Barkley	247	22	50%	7	36%	1.08
Gilles Marotte	118	14	45%	7	41%	0.71
Larry Hillman	199	16	41%	7	44%	0.96
Tim Horton	547	22	49%	7	36%	0.90
Ted Green	350	15	42%	7	42%	0.57
J.C. Tremblay	438	19	46%	6	25%	1.19
Allan Stanley	499	22	46%	5	29%	0.91
Pat Stapleton	215	20	49%	5	35%	1.16
Irv Spencer	200	12	26%	5	16%	0.88
Jim Nielsen	327	16	42%	5	30%	0.97
Jean-Guy Talbot	539	18	39%	5	20%	1.15
Tom Johnson	359	17	44%	4	23%	1.19

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

And finally, the top penalty killing defencemen.

Player	GP	EV%	$SHP/70	SH%	TmSH+
Jimmy Roberts	218	7%	1	87%	0.88
Jacques Laperriere	256	47%	1	80%	0.90
Tom Johnson	359	44%	1	77%	0.90
Marcel Pronovost	525	48%	1	71%	0.95
Bob Turner	253	14%	2	69%	0.96
Doug Harvey	275	50%	1	69%	0.80
J.C. Tremblay	438	46%	0	68%	0.86

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Six of the seven most used defencemen on the PK were Montreal players. It’s clear that Toe Blake liked to give his players specific roles and then play them heavily in those roles, especially on the penalty kill. His leading defenders such as Laperriere, Johnson, Harvey, and Tremblay played most of the shorthanded minutes on the back end, and spare defencemen Turner and Roberts played most of the forward minutes when killing penalties. Marcel Pronovost was the sole non-Montreal defenceman to exceed 60% in SH%.

Player	GP	EV%	$SHP/70	SH%	TmSH+
Bob McCord	131	35%	0	60%	1.17
Harry Howell	551	48%	0	59%	1.07
Bob Armstrong	132	43%	1	59%	1.07
Bill Gadsby	453	48%	1	58%	1.02
Moose Vasko	455	46%	1	56%	1.03
Bobby Orr	61	44%	4	56%	1.31
Red Kelly	50	58%	2	56%	0.61
Lou Fontinato	234	43%	1	55%	1.07
Tim Horton	547	49%	1	54%	0.93
Allan Stanley	499	46%	1	53%	0.90
Warren Godfrey	267	39%	1	52%	0.86
Pierre Pilote	517	52%	1	50%	0.99

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The next table shows the rest of the first unit PKers in the league among defencemen. Most of them were also leading even strength defencemen.

Player	GP	EV%	$SHP/70	SH%	TmSH+
Bryan Watson	162	12%	1	48%	0.95
Doug Jarrett	182	38%	2	47%	0.74
Leo Boivin	517	46%	1	47%	1.11
Jack Evans	276	40%	1	46%	1.16
Doug Barkley	247	50%	1	44%	0.97
Fern Flaman	122	40%	0	43%	1.04
Bob Baun	464	43%	0	42%	0.93
Matt Ravlich	185	36%	1	42%	0.73
Ted Green	350	42%	0	42%	1.18
Jim Nielsen	327	42%	0	41%	1.01
Bob Woytowich	154	45%	1	41%	1.28
Larry Hillman	199	41%	1	40%	0.96
Al Langlois	449	40%	0	39%	0.97
Gilles Marotte	118	45%	1	39%	1.31
Gary Bergman	189	39%	1	39%	1.01
Bert Marshall	118	41%	1	38%	0.99
Carl Brewer	382	44%	1	38%	0.82
Al MacNeil	260	35%	0	37%	0.93
Terry Harper	271	47%	0	37%	0.94
John Hanna	113	39%	1	36%	1.37
Dollard St. Laurent	200	43%	1	36%	1.14
Larry Cahan	192	45%	0	35%	0.90
Doug Mohns	338	42%	0	33%	1.14
Jean-Guy Talbot	539	39%	1	32%	0.86
Aut Erickson	160	28%	0	31%	1.01
Ted Harris	190	41%	0	31%	0.90
Jim Morrison	89	51%	0	30%	0.85
Pat Stapleton	215	49%	0	29%	0.97
Kent Douglas	244	26%	1	27%	0.87
Al Arbour	176	24%	0	26%	1.10
Dallas Smith	116	32%	0	19%	1.12
Rod Seiling	135	30%	0	18%	1.01
Don Awrey	137	34%	0	16%	1.25
Ed Westfall	166	34%	0	16%	1.19
Howie Young	206	30%	0	10%	1.08
Irv Spencer	200	26%	0	5%	1.22

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

This last table shows the SH% numbers for the rest of the defencemen. Most of them had SH% numbers that indicate at least a regular role on the penalty kill, if not on the first unit. A handful of Boston, New York, and Detroit defencemen at the bottom had limited time on the penalty kill. Oddly enough, one of them was Ed Westfall, who rarely killed penalties in his first three seasons as a defencemen, and then became of the great penalty killing forwards of all time.

Click to read more...

 

[Canadiens1958]

Great job overpass. Especially interesting is the Henri Richard data which confirmed the strong positive opinions of the player. Especially given that the Canadiens roled four lines during this period. which limited RS TOI. Toronto also roled four lines. The other teams tended to extra shift star players.

A few questions, comments. The data is broken down home and away. Would it be viable to replicate the data with a home and away breakdown?

Another interesting aspect is that not all players are properly slotted by position. You mentioned Reg Fleming. Doug Mohns especially with Boston moved back and forth between defence and forward. Chicago, mainly a forward. You mention how Westfall evolved.

Others like Irv Spencer, Bryan Watson, Gerry Odrowski, the Canadiens group of Bob Turner, Jim Roberts, Jean-Guy Talbot, Bryan Watson, besides the PK as a forward also saw a bit of time up front as forwards at ES. Also usage varied when they changed teams.

 

[JackSlater]

Very nice information. Richard and Mikita really stand out here. The praise for young Orr (Howell's Norris quote, Orr's placement in ranking top players from the 1960s) makes more sense now as well.

 

[The Panther]

It's nice to finally see Bobby Orr's plus/minus from his rookie season (he was +1 in 61 games). 15 of his 41 points were on the power-play, a similar ratio to what he would maintain throughout his best seasons.

Given that the Bruins as a whole that year scored 182 goals while allowing 253 against, Orr's plus/minus that rookie season looks pretty good. Here's how the top Bruins' scorers managed in 1966-67:

-5 Bucyk (he'd been -43 in 1961-62)
-16 Martin
+1 Orr
-35 McKenzie (ouch!)
+1 Westfall
-18 Oliver (he'd been -44 in 1961-62)
-15 Connelly
-12 Schock

And the Bruins' defencemen:
+1 Orr
-10 Green
-41 Marotte (ouch!)
-7 Watson
-23 Woytowich
-11 Smith (only 32 games played)

 

[overpass]

Great job overpass. Especially interesting is the Henri Richard data which confirmed the strong positive opinions of the player. Especially given that the Canadiens roled four lines during this period. which limited RS TOI. Toronto also roled four lines. The other teams tended to extra shift star players.

A few questions, comments. The data is broken down home and away. Would it be viable to replicate the data with a home and away breakdown?

Another interesting aspect is that not all players are properly slotted by position. You mentioned Reg Fleming. Doug Mohns especially with Boston moved back and forth between defence and forward. Chicago, mainly a forward. You mention how Westfall evolved.

Others like Irv Spencer, Bryan Watson, Gerry Odrowski, the Canadiens group of Bob Turner, Jim Roberts, Jean-Guy Talbot, Bryan Watson, besides the PK as a forward also saw a bit of time up front as forwards at ES. Also usage varied when they changed teams.

I treated Doug Mohns as forward while in Chicago and defence while in Boston. I'm sure that choice was an oversimplification.

While the home and away plus-minus numbers are listed for players, unfortunately the component numbers are not separated into home and road numbers, so most of the metrics presented here cannot be calculated for home games and road games separately.

Here are the home/road plus-minus numbers for some of the leading forwards and defencemen of this period, sorted by team. See the column on the right (Difference/70), which is the plus-minus difference between home and road, per 70 games.

Of the forwards, a few things stand out. Ralph Backstrom had the best road plus-minus of any Montreal forward, while Henri Richard had a much larger split between his home/road. Andy Bathgate and Dean Prentice were plus players at home and had a large split between their home/road plus-minus, while the other Ranger forwards had a similar road plus-minus but were much lower at home. In general the Rangers seem to have a lower gap between their home and road plus-minus. Possibly a lower home-ice advantage due to the busy schedule at Madison Square Garden?

On defence, there was a general trend for the better offensive defencemen to have larger home/road splits. Doug Mohns, Pierre Pilote, Marcel Pronovost, and J.C. Tremblay had particularly high splits.

I've done this type of analysis before for plus-minus data from 1987-88 and later, and Mario Lemieux was the player with the largest split between his home plus-minus and road plus-minus per game for that time period.

Forwards

Team	Player	GP	$ESP/S	$ESGF/S	$ESGA/S	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%	Home +/-	Road +/-	Difference/70
BOS	Johnny Bucyk	514	44	58	74	0.78	0.68	38%	-31	-122	12
BOS	Tommy Williams	297	35	47	65	0.72	0.71	32%	-15	-65	12
BOS	Don McKenney	249	40	52	66	0.78	0.68	33%	-19	-55	10
BOS	Murray Oliver	429	43	53	74	0.72	0.69	36%	-48	-99	8
CHI	Murray Balfour	286	32	45	40	1.13	1.26	31%	48	-33	20
CHI	Stan Mikita	548	50	62	36	1.71	1.11	33%	156	18	18
CHI	Bobby Hull	534	57	72	53	1.36	1.20	42%	140	14	17
CHI	Kenny Wharram	517	39	57	34	1.66	1.16	30%	132	20	15
CHI	Bill Hay	506	37	48	43	1.10	1.29	31%	56	-37	13
CHI	Phil Esposito	235	43	58	40	1.46	1.27	31%	47	15	10
CHI	Chico Maki	338	33	50	37	1.33	1.28	29%	46	17	6
DET	Gordie Howe	552	47	66	54	1.22	0.82	38%	102	-28	16
DET	Floyd Smith	290	32	47	47	1.01	1.09	30%	22	-35	14
DET	Norm Ullman	549	46	61	65	0.95	0.98	40%	33	-69	13
DET	Alex Delvecchio	558	41	60	58	1.03	0.91	37%	48	-55	13
MTL	Henri Richard	506	55	66	48	1.39	1.23	36%	119	-1	17
MTL	John Ferguson	260	34	51	43	1.19	1.16	31%	36	-13	13
MTL	Bernie Geoffrion	291	45	57	42	1.35	1.37	31%	47	-7	13
MTL	Jean Beliveau	487	46	55	43	1.27	1.30	31%	66	-14	11
MTL	Claude Provost	528	37	52	43	1.21	1.35	31%	74	-8	11
MTL	Bobby Rousseau	421	37	52	39	1.33	1.23	29%	62	6	9
MTL	Gilles Tremblay	394	34	55	39	1.40	1.26	30%	68	17	9
MTL	Ralph Backstrom	545	38	46	34	1.32	1.24	26%	57	25	4
MTL	Dickie Moore	243	45	60	35	1.71	1.28	29%	42	34	2
NYR	Andy Bathgate	336	56	69	70	0.99	0.73	41%	37	-65	21
NYR	Dean Prentice	243	46	64	62	1.04	0.75	38%	32	-31	18
NYR	Earl Ingarfield	492	31	41	57	0.71	0.84	29%	-24	-93	10
NYR	Phil Goyette	249	44	56	56	0.99	0.68	33%	10	-21	9
NYR	Jean Ratelle	258	31	41	56	0.72	0.76	28%	-17	-42	7
NYR	Camille Henry	338	37	44	53	0.84	0.78	28%	-18	-46	6
NYR	Rod Gilbert	310	38	48	57	0.85	0.72	31%	-16	-35	4
TOR	Bob Nevin	244	35	57	41	1.40	1.29	31%	60	-3	18
TOR	Frank Mahovlich	537	46	60	44	1.35	1.17	34%	101	-7	14
TOR	Dave Keon	472	41	54	42	1.28	1.23	32%	81	-5	13
TOR	George Armstrong	523	34	50	39	1.29	1.18	29%	87	-1	12
TOR	Bob Pulford	522	39	51	47	1.10	1.26	32%	71	-12	11
TOR	Red Kelly	470	39	57	46	1.23	1.25	34%	63	-4	10
TOR	Dick Duff	306	31	46	39	1.19	1.22	27%	37	-5	10

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Defencemen

Team	Player	GP	$ESP/S	$ESGF/S	$ESGA/S	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%	Home +/-	Road +/-	Difference/70
BOS	Doug Mohns	338	23	60	88	0.68	0.74	42%	14	-119	28	0.92
BOS	Leo Boivin	432	19	68	92	0.74	0.69	46%	-11	-158	24	1.08
BOS	Ted Green	350	15	61	86	0.70	0.71	42%	-19	-103	17	0.99
CHI	Pierre Pilote	517	30	90	63	1.43	1.14	52%	180	12	23	1.26
CHI	Moose Vasko	455	17	74	61	1.22	1.25	46%	105	-2	16	0.97
CHI	Jack Evans	276	8	56	55	1.01	1.38	40%	27	-14	10	0.74
DET	Marcel Pronovost	413	16	75	75	1.00	0.90	48%	83	-67	25	1.11
DET	Bill Gadsby	323	20	74	79	0.94	1.07	50%	38	-49	19	0.87
DET	Doug Barkley	247	22	86	70	1.23	1.00	50%	50	6	12	1.23
DET	Warren Godfrey	201	15	65	68	0.95	0.79	42%	20	-15	12	1.21
MTL	J.C. Tremblay	438	19	79	63	1.24	1.28	46%	121	-10	21	0.97
MTL	Jacques Laperriere	256	16	75	68	1.10	1.25	47%	31	-11	11	0.88
MTL	Jean-Guy Talbot	539	18	69	54	1.28	1.33	39%	104	18	11	0.96
MTL	Tom Johnson	238	17	88	66	1.32	1.43	48%	58	28	9	0.93
MTL	Terry Harper	271	14	82	61	1.35	1.13	47%	54	33	5	1.19
NYR	Harry Howell	551	18	76	87	0.87	0.73	48%	6	-97	13	1.20
NYR	Jim Nielsen	327	16	59	85	0.70	0.81	42%	-39	-74	7	0.87
TOR	Tim Horton	547	22	80	69	1.17	1.27	49%	126	-14	18	0.92
TOR	Carl Brewer	382	21	79	54	1.47	1.15	44%	124	30	17	1.28
TOR	Bob Baun	464	16	73	59	1.23	1.21	43%	110	-2	17	1.02
TOR	Allan Stanley	499	22	76	63	1.20	1.22	46%	108	-2	15	0.99

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[Canadiens1958]

It's nice to finally see Bobby Orr's plus/minus from his rookie season (he was +1 in 61 games). 15 of his 41 points were on the power-play, a similar ratio to what he would maintain throughout his best seasons.

Given that the Bruins as a whole that year scored 182 goals while allowing 253 against, Orr's plus/minus that rookie season looks pretty good. Here's how the top Bruins' scorers managed in 1966-67:

-5 Bucyk (he'd been -43 in 1961-62)
-16 Martin
+1 Orr
-35 McKenzie (ouch!)
+1 Westfall
-18 Oliver (he'd been -44 in 1961-62)
-15 Connelly
-12 Schock

And the Bruins' defencemen:
+1 Orr
-10 Green
-41 Marotte (ouch!)
-7 Watson
-23 Woytowich
-11 Smith (only 32 games played)

Actually Orr was - 8 at home and +9 on the road another example of how he was constrained on the smaller Boston rink.

 

[Canadiens1958]

I treated Doug Mohns as forward while in Chicago and defence while in Boston. I'm sure that choice was an oversimplification.

While the home and away plus-minus numbers are listed for players, unfortunately the component numbers are not separated into home and road numbers, so most of the metrics presented here cannot be calculated for home games and road games separately.

Here are the home/road plus-minus numbers for some of the leading forwards and defencemen of this period, sorted by team. See the column on the right (Difference/70), which is the plus-minus difference between home and road, per 70 games.

Of the forwards, a few things stand out. Ralph Backstrom had the best road plus-minus of any Montreal forward, while Henri Richard had a much larger split between his home/road. Andy Bathgate and Dean Prentice were plus players at home and had a large split between their home/road plus-minus, while the other Ranger forwards had a similar road plus-minus but were much lower at home. In general the Rangers seem to have a lower gap between their home and road plus-minus. Possibly a lower home-ice advantage due to the busy schedule at Madison Square Garden?

On defence, there was a general trend for the better offensive defencemen to have larger home/road splits. Doug Mohns, Pierre Pilote, Marcel Pronovost, and J.C. Tremblay had particularly high splits.

I've done this type of analysis before for plus-minus data from 1987-88 and later, and Mario Lemieux was the player with the largest split between his home plus-minus and road plus-minus per game for that time period.

Forwards

Team	Player	GP	$ESP/S	$ESGF/S	$ESGA/S	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%	Home +/-	Road +/-	Difference/70
BOS	Johnny Bucyk	514	44	58	74	0.78	0.68	38%	-31	-122	12
BOS	Tommy Williams	297	35	47	65	0.72	0.71	32%	-15	-65	12
BOS	Don McKenney	249	40	52	66	0.78	0.68	33%	-19	-55	10
BOS	Murray Oliver	429	43	53	74	0.72	0.69	36%	-48	-99	8
CHI	Murray Balfour	286	32	45	40	1.13	1.26	31%	48	-33	20
CHI	Stan Mikita	548	50	62	36	1.71	1.11	33%	156	18	18
CHI	Bobby Hull	534	57	72	53	1.36	1.20	42%	140	14	17
CHI	Kenny Wharram	517	39	57	34	1.66	1.16	30%	132	20	15
CHI	Bill Hay	506	37	48	43	1.10	1.29	31%	56	-37	13
CHI	Phil Esposito	235	43	58	40	1.46	1.27	31%	47	15	10
CHI	Chico Maki	338	33	50	37	1.33	1.28	29%	46	17	6
DET	Gordie Howe	552	47	66	54	1.22	0.82	38%	102	-28	16
DET	Floyd Smith	290	32	47	47	1.01	1.09	30%	22	-35	14
DET	Norm Ullman	549	46	61	65	0.95	0.98	40%	33	-69	13
DET	Alex Delvecchio	558	41	60	58	1.03	0.91	37%	48	-55	13
MTL	Henri Richard	506	55	66	48	1.39	1.23	36%	119	-1	17
MTL	John Ferguson	260	34	51	43	1.19	1.16	31%	36	-13	13
MTL	Bernie Geoffrion	291	45	57	42	1.35	1.37	31%	47	-7	13
MTL	Jean Beliveau	487	46	55	43	1.27	1.30	31%	66	-14	11
MTL	Claude Provost	528	37	52	43	1.21	1.35	31%	74	-8	11
MTL	Bobby Rousseau	421	37	52	39	1.33	1.23	29%	62	6	9
MTL	Gilles Tremblay	394	34	55	39	1.40	1.26	30%	68	17	9
MTL	Ralph Backstrom	545	38	46	34	1.32	1.24	26%	57	25	4
MTL	Dickie Moore	243	45	60	35	1.71	1.28	29%	42	34	2
NYR	Andy Bathgate	336	56	69	70	0.99	0.73	41%	37	-65	21
NYR	Dean Prentice	243	46	64	62	1.04	0.75	38%	32	-31	18
NYR	Earl Ingarfield	492	31	41	57	0.71	0.84	29%	-24	-93	10
NYR	Phil Goyette	249	44	56	56	0.99	0.68	33%	10	-21	9
NYR	Jean Ratelle	258	31	41	56	0.72	0.76	28%	-17	-42	7
NYR	Camille Henry	338	37	44	53	0.84	0.78	28%	-18	-46	6
NYR	Rod Gilbert	310	38	48	57	0.85	0.72	31%	-16	-35	4
TOR	Bob Nevin	244	35	57	41	1.40	1.29	31%	60	-3	18
TOR	Frank Mahovlich	537	46	60	44	1.35	1.17	34%	101	-7	14
TOR	Dave Keon	472	41	54	42	1.28	1.23	32%	81	-5	13
TOR	George Armstrong	523	34	50	39	1.29	1.18	29%	87	-1	12
TOR	Bob Pulford	522	39	51	47	1.10	1.26	32%	71	-12	11
TOR	Red Kelly	470	39	57	46	1.23	1.25	34%	63	-4	10
TOR	Dick Duff	306	31	46	39	1.19	1.22	27%	37	-5	10

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Defencemen

Team	Player	GP	$ESP/S	$ESGF/S	$ESGA/S	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%	Home +/-	Road +/-	Difference/70
BOS	Doug Mohns	338	23	60	88	0.68	0.74	42%	14	-119	28	0.92
BOS	Leo Boivin	432	19	68	92	0.74	0.69	46%	-11	-158	24	1.08
BOS	Ted Green	350	15	61	86	0.70	0.71	42%	-19	-103	17	0.99
CHI	Pierre Pilote	517	30	90	63	1.43	1.14	52%	180	12	23	1.26
CHI	Moose Vasko	455	17	74	61	1.22	1.25	46%	105	-2	16	0.97
CHI	Jack Evans	276	8	56	55	1.01	1.38	40%	27	-14	10	0.74
DET	Marcel Pronovost	413	16	75	75	1.00	0.90	48%	83	-67	25	1.11
DET	Bill Gadsby	323	20	74	79	0.94	1.07	50%	38	-49	19	0.87
DET	Doug Barkley	247	22	86	70	1.23	1.00	50%	50	6	12	1.23
DET	Warren Godfrey	201	15	65	68	0.95	0.79	42%	20	-15	12	1.21
MTL	J.C. Tremblay	438	19	79	63	1.24	1.28	46%	121	-10	21	0.97
MTL	Jacques Laperriere	256	16	75	68	1.10	1.25	47%	31	-11	11	0.88
MTL	Jean-Guy Talbot	539	18	69	54	1.28	1.33	39%	104	18	11	0.96
MTL	Tom Johnson	238	17	88	66	1.32	1.43	48%	58	28	9	0.93
MTL	Terry Harper	271	14	82	61	1.35	1.13	47%	54	33	5	1.19
NYR	Harry Howell	551	18	76	87	0.87	0.73	48%	6	-97	13	1.20
NYR	Jim Nielsen	327	16	59	85	0.70	0.81	42%	-39	-74	7	0.87
TOR	Tim Horton	547	22	80	69	1.17	1.27	49%	126	-14	18	0.92
TOR	Carl Brewer	382	21	79	54	1.47	1.15	44%	124	30	17	1.28
TOR	Bob Baun	464	16	73	59	1.23	1.21	43%	110	-2	17	1.02
TOR	Allan Stanley	499	22	76	63	1.20	1.22	46%	108	-2	15	0.99

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Excellent work. Still a question of waiting for the separated component numbers to be released. Obviously they are around.

The Ralph Backstrom observation is noteworthy. Reflects the importance of depth for Toronto and Montreal given that they always had the Sunday road game at the end of a 3 game in 4 night string or a 4 in 5. Also goes to match-ups and how the PK could be used not only to kill penalties but set-up the defensive match-ups.

Just like with Red Kelly, I sense that a clearer picture of how Doug Mohns was used in Boston will emerge.

Another noteworthy feature is the explanation of the abilities of the likes of Murray Oliver, the depth Toronto forwards and the second pairing d-men.

 

[The Panther]

Actually Orr was - 8 at home and +9 on the road another example of how he was constrained on the smaller Boston rink.

Or maybe the whole team just played a bit better on the road.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Or maybe the whole team just played a bit better on the road.

But the team did not play better on the road, 7-22-6 versus 10-21-4 at home. Plus on the road they had an 11-2 loss in Montreal.

 

[The Panther]

But the team did not play better on the road, 7-22-6 versus 10-21-4 at home. Plus on the road they had an 11-2 loss in Montreal.

Okay.

Anyway, I don't buy the "Orr was limited on the smaller ice surface" bit. If we could find some kind of statistical evidence of this, I'd be surprised. The Bruins of the post-expansion era have a long history of players who put up career numbers in Boston and couldn't replicate those numbers elsewhere.

 

[Theokritos]

The Bruins of the post-expansion era have a long history of players who put up career numbers in Boston and couldn't replicate those numbers elsewhere.

But how close was any of those players to being hockey player or a skater of Bobby Orr's calibre?

 

[seventieslord]

Wow, Bobby Orr's Rn and off as an 18-year old rookie. Outstanding.

Mikita's on and off numbers are standout as well, but he was probably the best all-around forward of the decade, so that shouldn't surprise anyone.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Wow, Bobby Orr's Rn and off as an 18-year old rookie. Outstanding.

Mikita's on and off numbers are standout as well, but he was probably the best all-around forward of the decade, so that shouldn't surprise anyone.

We also get indications about the strength of the Toronto top four d-men, the difference between a Tom Johnson and Bill Gadsby which may have had a bearing on the 1959 Norris that Johnson won, and the impact of the Red Wings losing Doug Barkley to a career ending injury. Lou Fontinato also gets a few points.

 

[overpass]

Here are a couple more tables. These ones show the same metrics over the same time period for playoff games only. I've cut off the numbers at a minimum of 40 games played.

Keep in mind for these numbers were compiled against a stronger class of opponent, and specific matchups would have influenced these numbers more than the regular season numbers.

Forwards

Player	Sum of GP	Sum of $ESP/G	Sum of $ESGF/G	Sum of $ESGA/G	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%	PP%	$PPP/G	TmPP+	SH%	TmSH+	$SHP/G
George Armstrong	70	0.41	0.67	0.39	1.71	0.87	29%	48%	0.20	0.87	25%	0.62	0.05
Ralph Backstrom	62	0.40	0.45	0.53	0.84	1.30	28%	6%	0.04	1.18	0%	N/A	0.00
Murray Balfour	40	0.36	0.55	0.55	1.00	0.94	28%	18%	0.14	1.05	0%	N/A	0.00
Dave Balon	41	0.35	0.59	0.41	1.43	1.07	24%	1%	0.00	1.54	2%	1.50	0.00
Jean Beliveau	63	0.48	0.54	0.35	1.53	1.06	25%	76%	0.43	1.03	0%	N/A	0.00
Alex Delvecchio	61	0.48	0.70	0.64	1.09	0.78	33%	61%	0.45	1.19	8%	0.65	0.02
Dick Duff	70	0.41	0.60	0.44	1.35	1.05	29%	38%	0.24	1.09	3%	0.50	0.00
John Ferguson	40	0.29	0.37	0.41	0.89	1.32	23%	40%	0.08	1.04	0%	N/A	0.00
Val Fonteyne	45	0.14	0.21	0.38	0.55	0.99	15%	13%	0.10	1.10	40%	0.99	0.03
Billy Harris	45	0.14	0.14	0.15	0.93	1.11	7%	15%	0.07	0.92	0%	N/A	0.00
Bill Hay	67	0.33	0.49	0.54	0.91	1.00	28%	45%	0.19	1.07	28%	1.43	0.01
Gordie Howe	61	0.60	0.81	0.62	1.31	0.73	36%	87%	0.63	1.21	24%	0.88	0.03
Bobby Hull	65	0.74	0.86	0.66	1.30	0.83	40%	83%	0.44	0.85	10%	1.67	0.01
Red Kelly	70	0.48	0.59	0.67	0.88	1.16	35%	75%	0.35	0.86	4%	0.43	0.02
Dave Keon	63	0.44	0.63	0.38	1.66	0.95	29%	53%	0.19	0.83	30%	0.63	0.07
Parker MacDonald	52	0.08	0.22	0.47	0.47	1.06	16%	34%	0.24	1.27	0%	N/A	0.00
Bruce MacGregor	52	0.32	0.47	0.51	0.91	0.94	24%	19%	0.12	1.18	27%	0.90	0.01
Frank Mahovlich	72	0.42	0.55	0.66	0.83	1.21	33%	51%	0.27	0.79	0%	N/A	0.00
Ab McDonald	43	0.48	0.69	0.35	2.00	0.89	25%	45%	0.22	1.28	0%	N/A	0.00
Stan Mikita	66	0.63	0.78	0.61	1.28	0.83	38%	65%	0.39	0.86	11%	1.38	0.01
Eric Nesterenko	66	0.34	0.52	0.52	1.00	0.96	28%	8%	0.02	1.27	37%	1.48	0.04
Claude Provost	62	0.38	0.58	0.36	1.63	1.03	27%	16%	0.09	1.38	34%	0.68	0.00
Bob Pulford	73	0.47	0.59	0.60	0.98	1.12	34%	12%	0.05	1.18	43%	0.67	0.04
Henri Richard	58	0.62	0.67	0.53	1.27	1.09	34%	28%	0.21	1.12	0%	N/A	0.00
Bobby Rousseau	51	0.25	0.41	0.48	0.86	1.05	26%	64%	0.38	1.06	10%	0.61	0.01
Eddie Shack	53	0.14	0.25	0.33	0.75	1.20	16%	7%	0.02	0.51	0%	N/A	0.00
Floyd Smith	44	0.28	0.39	0.65	0.60	1.10	26%	47%	0.26	1.32	0%	N/A	0.00
Ron Stewart	56	0.26	0.36	0.43	0.85	1.25	21%	18%	0.08	0.97	25%	0.63	0.00
Norm Ullman	61	0.66	0.78	0.90	0.87	0.93	42%	66%	0.48	1.26	37%	0.93	0.02
Kenny Wharram	65	0.47	0.65	0.53	1.24	0.88	31%	28%	0.12	0.70	1%	1.35	0.00

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The plus-minus R-ON and R-OFF splits were larger in the playoffs than in the regular season for many players. See Dave Keon and George Armstrong from Toronto, Claude Provost and Jean Beliveau from Montreal, and several others. Possibly because there were fewer games played than in the regular season and a good series or two could really move the numbers.

The Chicago and Detroit stars (Hull, Mikita, Howe) were still plus players in the playoffs, but their teams really struggled at even strength when they were off the ice.

There's one player I want to pick on here. Eddie Shack. In the playoffs and in the regular season, he was a minus player who played a relatively small role at even strength. He rarely played on the power play and didn't kill penalties. What exactly did he do to keep a job with the Leafs, a strong team, for eight seasons? Why Shack and not Jim Pappin, Gerry Ehman, or Dick Gamble?

Defencemen

Player	Sum of GP	Sum of $ESP/G	Sum of $ESGF/G	Sum of $ESGA/G	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%	PP%	$PPP/G	TmPP+	SH%	TmSH+	$SHP/G
Bob Baun	69	0.20	0.85	0.63	1.37	0.92	41%	1%	0.00	1.23	40%	0.60	0.00
Carl Brewer	51	0.23	0.96	0.53	1.83	0.88	37%	10%	0.00	0.79	34%	0.60	0.00
Bill Gadsby	44	0.36	1.03	1.00	1.03	0.85	49%	8%	0.03	0.83	84%	0.94	0.00
Terry Harper	45	0.14	0.77	0.73	1.05	1.03	43%	3%	0.00	1.36	34%	0.57	0.03
Tim Horton	73	0.29	0.84	0.93	0.90	1.25	50%	28%	0.17	1.00	54%	0.62	0.02
Pierre Pilote	65	0.49	1.04	0.87	1.19	0.81	51%	63%	0.38	0.98	38%	1.23	0.01
Marcel Pronovost	63	0.21	0.93	1.19	0.79	0.90	53%	8%	0.01	1.11	75%	0.84	0.04
Allan Stanley	70	0.28	0.80	0.85	0.94	1.17	46%	20%	0.08	0.87	55%	0.61	0.04
Jean-Guy Talbot	65	0.15	0.61	0.61	1.00	1.27	35%	16%	0.02	0.95	35%	0.83	0.00
J.C. Tremblay	56	0.34	0.90	0.63	1.43	0.80	44%	44%	0.23	1.10	73%	0.71	0.00
Moose Vasko	58	0.09	0.94	0.62	1.52	0.76	41%	13%	0.05	1.20	54%	1.40	0.00

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

As with the forwards, a few defencemen had big plus-minus splits in the playoffs. Carl Brewer, J.C. Tremblay, and Moose Vasko stand out.

The Chicago defencemen had very poor team results shorthanded. Looking at the playoffs year by year in more detail, Chicago allowed a ton of playoff shorthanded goals in 1965, 1966, and 1967 -- three disappointing playoff years for them. The 1965 playoffs saw a lot of goals scored on the power play, and Chicago was a main victim, allowing 19 PPGA in 11 games. Then in 1966 they allowed 10 PPGA in 6 games, and in 1967 allowed 7 PPGA in 6 games. Over those three playoff seasons, they allowed 37 goals at even strength and 36 shorthanded goals. They had a goal differential of +1 at even strength, but scored 17 fewer power play goals than they allowed.

Continuing on the theme of power play goals in the playoffs, two of the Montreal Stanley Cup winning teams provide a major contrast. In 1960, when Montreal won 8 straight playoff games and the Cup, their outstanding power play barely played a role. They scored only 3 PPG and allowed 1, with the remaining 36 of 40 goals scored at even strength. The next Stanley Cup victory for the Canadiens, 1965, was won on the power play. They scored a record 21 playoff goals on the power play, and only 13 goals at even strength. I haven't checked, but I suspect very few teams have since scored as many as 21 power play goals or more in 2 playoff rounds.

Also a note on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs from 1962 to 1964. They had outstanding shorthanded results in those 3 seasons, allowing only 17 PPGA in 36 games. Over the same time, Chicago allowed 25 in 25, Detroit allowed 18 in 25, and Montreal allowed 12 in 18. In addition to their goal prevention, they also scored 8 shorthanded goals, meaning they were only -9 in 36 playoff games when shorthanded.

Edit: Actually, Montreal was just as strong on the PK in their Stanley Cup seasons of 1965 and 1966. They allowed only 11 PPG in 23 games. For those two playoffs, Detroit allowed 15 in 19, Toronto allowed 18 in 10 (!), and Chicago allowed 29 in 20. For much of the 60s a big part of the formula for playoff success was a strong penalty kill.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Here are a couple more tables. These ones show the same metrics over the same time period for playoff games only. I've cut off the numbers at a minimum of 40 games played.

Keep in mind for these numbers were compiled against a stronger class of opponent, and specific matchups would have influenced these numbers more than the regular season numbers.

Forwards

Player	Sum of GP	Sum of $ESP/G	Sum of $ESGF/G	Sum of $ESGA/G	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%	PP%	$PPP/G	TmPP+	SH%	TmSH+	$SHP/G
George Armstrong	70	0.41	0.67	0.39	1.71	0.87	29%	48%	0.20	0.87	25%	0.62	0.05
Ralph Backstrom	62	0.40	0.45	0.53	0.84	1.30	28%	6%	0.04	1.18	0%	N/A	0.00
Murray Balfour	40	0.36	0.55	0.55	1.00	0.94	28%	18%	0.14	1.05	0%	N/A	0.00
Dave Balon	41	0.35	0.59	0.41	1.43	1.07	24%	1%	0.00	1.54	2%	1.50	0.00
Jean Beliveau	63	0.48	0.54	0.35	1.53	1.06	25%	76%	0.43	1.03	0%	N/A	0.00
Alex Delvecchio	61	0.48	0.70	0.64	1.09	0.78	33%	61%	0.45	1.19	8%	0.65	0.02
Dick Duff	70	0.41	0.60	0.44	1.35	1.05	29%	38%	0.24	1.09	3%	0.50	0.00
John Ferguson	40	0.29	0.37	0.41	0.89	1.32	23%	40%	0.08	1.04	0%	N/A	0.00
Val Fonteyne	45	0.14	0.21	0.38	0.55	0.99	15%	13%	0.10	1.10	40%	0.99	0.03
Billy Harris	45	0.14	0.14	0.15	0.93	1.11	7%	15%	0.07	0.92	0%	N/A	0.00
Bill Hay	67	0.33	0.49	0.54	0.91	1.00	28%	45%	0.19	1.07	28%	1.43	0.01
Gordie Howe	61	0.60	0.81	0.62	1.31	0.73	36%	87%	0.63	1.21	24%	0.88	0.03
Bobby Hull	65	0.74	0.86	0.66	1.30	0.83	40%	83%	0.44	0.85	10%	1.67	0.01
Red Kelly	70	0.48	0.59	0.67	0.88	1.16	35%	75%	0.35	0.86	4%	0.43	0.02
Dave Keon	63	0.44	0.63	0.38	1.66	0.95	29%	53%	0.19	0.83	30%	0.63	0.07
Parker MacDonald	52	0.08	0.22	0.47	0.47	1.06	16%	34%	0.24	1.27	0%	N/A	0.00
Bruce MacGregor	52	0.32	0.47	0.51	0.91	0.94	24%	19%	0.12	1.18	27%	0.90	0.01
Frank Mahovlich	72	0.42	0.55	0.66	0.83	1.21	33%	51%	0.27	0.79	0%	N/A	0.00
Ab McDonald	43	0.48	0.69	0.35	2.00	0.89	25%	45%	0.22	1.28	0%	N/A	0.00
Stan Mikita	66	0.63	0.78	0.61	1.28	0.83	38%	65%	0.39	0.86	11%	1.38	0.01
Eric Nesterenko	66	0.34	0.52	0.52	1.00	0.96	28%	8%	0.02	1.27	37%	1.48	0.04
Claude Provost	62	0.38	0.58	0.36	1.63	1.03	27%	16%	0.09	1.38	34%	0.68	0.00
Bob Pulford	73	0.47	0.59	0.60	0.98	1.12	34%	12%	0.05	1.18	43%	0.67	0.04
Henri Richard	58	0.62	0.67	0.53	1.27	1.09	34%	28%	0.21	1.12	0%	N/A	0.00
Bobby Rousseau	51	0.25	0.41	0.48	0.86	1.05	26%	64%	0.38	1.06	10%	0.61	0.01
Eddie Shack	53	0.14	0.25	0.33	0.75	1.20	16%	7%	0.02	0.51	0%	N/A	0.00
Floyd Smith	44	0.28	0.39	0.65	0.60	1.10	26%	47%	0.26	1.32	0%	N/A	0.00
Ron Stewart	56	0.26	0.36	0.43	0.85	1.25	21%	18%	0.08	0.97	25%	0.63	0.00
Norm Ullman	61	0.66	0.78	0.90	0.87	0.93	42%	66%	0.48	1.26	37%	0.93	0.02
Kenny Wharram	65	0.47	0.65	0.53	1.24	0.88	31%	28%	0.12	0.70	1%	1.35	0.00

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

The plus-minus R-ON and R-OFF splits were larger in the playoffs than in the regular season for many players. See Dave Keon and George Armstrong from Toronto, Claude Provost and Jean Beliveau from Montreal, and several others. Possibly because there were fewer games played than in the regular season and a good series or two could really move the numbers.

The Chicago and Detroit stars (Hull, Mikita, Howe) were still plus players in the playoffs, but their teams really struggled at even strength when they were off the ice.

There's one player I want to pick on here. Eddie Shack. In the playoffs and in the regular season, he was a minus player who played a relatively small role at even strength. He rarely played on the power play and didn't kill penalties. What exactly did he do to keep a job with the Leafs, a strong team, for eight seasons? Why Shack and not Jim Pappin, Gerry Ehman, or Dick Gamble?

Defencemen

Player	Sum of GP	Sum of $ESP/G	Sum of $ESGF/G	Sum of $ESGA/G	R-ON	R-OFF	EV%	PP%	$PPP/G	TmPP+	SH%	TmSH+	$SHP/G
Bob Baun	69	0.20	0.85	0.63	1.37	0.92	41%	1%	0.00	1.23	40%	0.60	0.00
Carl Brewer	51	0.23	0.96	0.53	1.83	0.88	37%	10%	0.00	0.79	34%	0.60	0.00
Bill Gadsby	44	0.36	1.03	1.00	1.03	0.85	49%	8%	0.03	0.83	84%	0.94	0.00
Terry Harper	45	0.14	0.77	0.73	1.05	1.03	43%	3%	0.00	1.36	34%	0.57	0.03
Tim Horton	73	0.29	0.84	0.93	0.90	1.25	50%	28%	0.17	1.00	54%	0.62	0.02
Pierre Pilote	65	0.49	1.04	0.87	1.19	0.81	51%	63%	0.38	0.98	38%	1.23	0.01
Marcel Pronovost	63	0.21	0.93	1.19	0.79	0.90	53%	8%	0.01	1.11	75%	0.84	0.04
Allan Stanley	70	0.28	0.80	0.85	0.94	1.17	46%	20%	0.08	0.87	55%	0.61	0.04
Jean-Guy Talbot	65	0.15	0.61	0.61	1.00	1.27	35%	16%	0.02	0.95	35%	0.83	0.00
J.C. Tremblay	56	0.34	0.90	0.63	1.43	0.80	44%	44%	0.23	1.10	73%	0.71	0.00
Moose Vasko	58	0.09	0.94	0.62	1.52	0.76	41%	13%	0.05	1.20	54%	1.40	0.00

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

As with the forwards, a few defencemen had big plus-minus splits in the playoffs. Carl Brewer, J.C. Tremblay, and Moose Vasko stand out.

The Chicago defencemen had very poor team results shorthanded. Looking at the playoffs year by year in more detail, Chicago allowed a ton of playoff shorthanded goals in 1965, 1966, and 1967 -- three disappointing playoff years for them. The 1965 playoffs saw a lot of goals scored on the power play, and Chicago was a main victim, allowing 19 PPGA in 11 games. Then in 1966 they allowed 10 PPGA in 6 games, and in 1967 allowed 7 PPGA in 6 games. Over those three playoff seasons, they allowed 37 goals at even strength and 36 shorthanded goals. They had a goal differential of +1 at even strength, but scored 17 fewer power play goals than they allowed.

Continuing on the theme of power play goals in the playoffs, two of the Montreal Stanley Cup winning teams provide a major contrast. In 1960, when Montreal won 8 straight playoff games and the Cup, their outstanding power play barely played a role. They scored only 3 PPG and allowed 1, with the remaining 36 of 40 goals scored at even strength. The next Stanley Cup victory for the Canadiens, 1965, was won on the power play. They scored a record 21 playoff goals on the power play, and only 13 goals at even strength. I haven't checked, but I suspect very few teams have since scored as many as 21 power play goals or more in 2 playoff rounds.

Also a note on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs from 1962 to 1964. They had outstanding shorthanded results in those 3 seasons, allowing only 17 PPGA in 36 games. Over the same time, Chicago allowed 25 in 25, Detroit allowed 18 in 25, and Montreal allowed 12 in 18. In addition to their goal prevention, they also scored 8 shorthanded goals, meaning they were only -9 in 36 playoff games when shorthanded.

Edit: Actually, Montreal was just as strong on the PK in their Stanley Cup seasons of 1965 and 1966. They allowed only 11 PPG in 23 games. For those two playoffs, Detroit allowed 15 in 19, Toronto allowed 18 in 10 (!), and Chicago allowed 29 in 20. For much of the 60s a big part of the formula for playoff success was a strong penalty kill.

Outstanding work. Quick comment - add Dick Duff to the list of surprisingly strong playoff performers.

A few alternative explanations. Looking at an era where four of the six O6 teams dominated the playoffs Out of 8 seasons, 31 out of 32 playoff slots were filled by Montreal, Toronto, Chicago and Detroit. New York snuck-in in 1962.

Seven of the eight SCs were won by teams that rolled four lines, all the time. Chicago in 1961 also rolled four lines but went back to basically three lines afterwards.Seems like the rested teams had an advantage.

Chicago and Detroit in the playoffs. Their top line or lines usually had an exploitable weakness. Prime example Detroit. Howe and Delvecchio plus a hole either at center or LW depending on how Delvecchio was deployed. Evidenced by The gap between the two stars and one of the fillers Parker MacDonald(0.47).

You are correct about the playoff importance of the PP/PK units. Canadiens under Toe Blake had dedicated PK forwards which allowed them to rest their lines and maintain line stability. Chicago used three lines with Hull and MIKITA being deployed on the PP and PK. Post man advantage or shorthanded Blake could dictated the match-ups with fresh lines against Chicago's 3rd line or a tired Mikita or Hull.

Toronto defensively. Two pairings. Horton/Stanley saw much more of Howe and Delvechhio and Hull because of their size then Baun and Brewer did. Hence the disparities.

Why Eddie Shack? Straight forward answer. Shack was the better skater, physicality and could play all three forward positions - bit of a disaster at center, though. Ehman and Pappin were strictly RWs at the NHL level, Gamble strictly LW. the 12th or 13th forward had to be able to play at least two positions and/or kill penalties to be useful.

 

[seventieslord]

Billy Harris' usage pretty much exactly fits his profile from what I've read and compiled about him. Out of all the guys with 40+ playoff games, he has half the EV% of the next least-used guy (Fonteyne). His per-minute scoring rate appears to be as good as anyone's, though.

Crazy to think we have better data for 1960-67 playoffs than we do for 68-82 playoffs... or has that changed now? A full 1960-2017 playoff spreadsheet overpass-style would sure be interesting. Regular season too, for that matter.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Billy Harris' usage pretty much exactly fits his profile from what I've read and compiled about him. Out of all the guys with 40+ playoff games, he has half the EV% of the next least-used guy (Fonteyne). His per-minute scoring rate appears to be as good as anyone's, though.

Crazy to think we have better data for 1960-67 playoffs than we do for 68-82 playoffs... or has that changed now? A full 1960-2017 playoff spreadsheet overpass-style would sure be interesting. Regular season too, for that matter.

One of the quirks of the timing of the release of the archival data.
Eventually the requested will be produced. Ideally after the work is completed going back to the 1917-18 season.

Having all the years will provide a much stronger understanding especially if access to all the NHL meetings minutes are made available. This would answer further questions about scoring and other data keeping procedures. How the definitions of assists, etc changed thru the years.

Prime example, SV%. 1956 and 1957 it was part of the weekly NHL stat package, TOI seems to have been clocked as far back as the mid 1930s and +/- did not start in 1960, evidence of reference to +/- exists from the early O6 days.

Once available and understood the 1968 to 2017 data will have greater meaning once updated and integrated into a near complete package.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Wow, Bobby Orr's Rn and off as an 18-year old rookie. Outstanding.

Mikita's on and off numbers are standout as well, but he was probably the best all-around forward of the decade, so that shouldn't surprise anyone.

He also may have had the easiest matchups of any star forward in the decade.

Still, the numbers are outstanding.

 

[Theokritos]

Thanks for the outstanding work, overpass!

Would you happen to have the ES and PP numbers and the plus minus numbers for home and away available for the 1961-1962 season?

 

[overpass]

Billy Harris' usage pretty much exactly fits his profile from what I've read and compiled about him. Out of all the guys with 40+ playoff games, he has half the EV% of the next least-used guy (Fonteyne). His per-minute scoring rate appears to be as good as anyone's, though.

Crazy to think we have better data for 1960-67 playoffs than we do for 68-82 playoffs... or has that changed now? A full 1960-2017 playoff spreadsheet overpass-style would sure be interesting. Regular season too, for that matter.

Yeah, it would be pretty cool. But I don't plan to compile a full playoff sheet. The 1960-1967 was a good size for a small project about an era where we just had new data released. But most of the time went into manually entering the data from nhl.com into my spreadsheet, and I'm not really interested enough to put the time in for the post-1968 playoffs. Way more rounds, way more players, too much time.

(I used to copy and paste data from nhl.com into Excel, but it doesn't seem to work anymore since they upgraded their stats. If anyone has a way to quickly copy the nhl.com data to a spreadsheet, I might do more with it.)

Thanks for the outstanding work, overpass!

Would you happen to have the ES and PP numbers and the plus minus numbers for home and away available for the 1961-1962 season?

The raw stats are all on nhl.com. The numbers I've posted are just adjusted for scoring level (not necessary for a single season) or put in some kind of team context. Was was there something more specific you were looking for?

NHL.com - Stats

NHL.com - Stats

 

[overpass]

One more fun stat I ran across while going through the data.

Shooting percentage leaders for the 1959-60 to 1966-67 time period (minimum 250 GP)

NHL.com - Stats

1. Camille Henry: 21.2%
2. Kenny Wharram: 16.1%
3. Dickie Moore: 14.4%
4. Gilles Tremblay: 14.0%
5. Frank Mahovlich: 13.7%

In a league where it was hard to stand out, Camille "The Eel" Henry was one of a kind. If he posted those shooting percentages today they'd call it "unsustainable".

 

[seventieslord]

Yeah, it would be pretty cool. But I don't plan to compile a full playoff sheet. The 1960-1967 was a good size for a small project about an era where we just had new data released. But most of the time went into manually entering the data from nhl.com into my spreadsheet, and I'm not really interested enough to put the time in for the post-1968 playoffs. Way more rounds, way more players, too much time.

(I used to copy and paste data from nhl.com into Excel, but it doesn't seem to work anymore since they upgraded their stats. If anyone has a way to quickly copy the nhl.com data to a spreadsheet, I might do more with it.)

so you're saying the data is there?

One more fun stat I ran across while going through the data.

Shooting percentage leaders for the 1959-60 to 1966-67 time period (minimum 250 GP)

NHL.com - Stats

1. Camille Henry: 21.2%
2. Kenny Wharram: 16.1%
3. Dickie Moore: 14.4%
4. Gilles Tremblay: 14.0%
5. Frank Mahovlich: 13.7%

In a league where it was hard to stand out, Camille "The Eel" Henry was one of a kind. If he posted those shooting percentages today they'd call it "unsustainable".

Isn't that pretty much because he was a PP specialist? Meaning he got to take more high percentage shots than other players?

 

[Canadiens1958]

One more fun stat I ran across while going through the data.

Shooting percentage leaders for the 1959-60 to 1966-67 time period (minimum 250 GP)

NHL.com - Stats

1. Camille Henry: 21.2%
2. Kenny Wharram: 16.1%
3. Dickie Moore: 14.4%
4. Gilles Tremblay: 14.0%
5. Frank Mahovlich: 13.7%

In a league where it was hard to stand out, Camille "The Eel" Henry was one of a kind. If he posted those shooting percentages today they'd call it "unsustainable".

Camille Henry was a "deflection" specialist. Getting credit for shots when he scored but not when he didn't unless obvious.

 

[Theokritos]

Was was there something more specific you were looking for?

Yes, I was looking for more insight into the topic of this older thread where the impact of Henri Richard in comparison with Jean Beliveau was looked at.

 

[BenchBrawl]

This is freaking amazing.Great job overpass.

Billy Harris' usage pretty much exactly fits his profile from what I've read and compiled about him. Out of all the guys with 40+ playoff games, he has half the EV% of the next least-used guy (Fonteyne). His per-minute scoring rate appears to be as good as anyone's, though.

Crazy to think we have better data for 1960-67 playoffs than we do for 68-82 playoffs... or has that changed now? A full 1960-2017 playoff spreadsheet overpass-style would sure be interesting. Regular season too, for that matter.

I second this!