O6 era teams in the early expansion era

[VanIslander]

The late sixties and early seventies was the beginning of a new era and the level of competition between the early expansion (EE) teams and Original-6 teams has been noted, but has it been investigated? How well did O6 teams like Boston do against O6 vs. EE? Is there a difference between the scoring performance of Esposito and Orr against O6 vs. EE? St. Louis went to the Stanley Cup Finals and lost each time. What was their record against O6 teams? (e.g., lesser great O6 teams in EE era Rangers, Blackhawks, Leafs.) O6 teams played in one division, and EE in another, but for how long? And how soon did the gap close in level of play? Yeah, there are anecdotes on this, but has anyone ever studied it by the numbers?

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[TheDevilMadeMe]

Here's one such study, focusing on (Questioning) Ed Giacomin: http://brodeurisafraud.blogspot.com/2010/10/questioning-ed-giacomin.html

Some excerpts:

If you were asked to list off the easiest goalie jobs in NHL history, there would be a number of dynasty teams that would come immediately to mind. Right after those powerhouses, I think a high ranking on that list should be reserved for the starting role on an Original Six team shortly after expansion in the late '60s and early '70s. That was a position that was pretty much guaranteed to make you look better than you were.l

There were 11 Hall of Fame goalies that were active during the period from 1968 to 1975, but a handful of them were at the end of their careers (Plante, Worsley, Hall, Bower, Sawchuk), and another (Billy Smith) was suffering through the growing pains on an expansion team and had yet to make his mark. That leaves Ken Dryden, Tony Esposito, Gerry Cheevers, Ed Giacomin and Bernie Parent as the goalies who had their peak in the post-expansion period.

Or, to express it in a slightly different but perhaps more meaningful way, Montreal's goalie, Chicago's goalie, Boston's goalie, New York's goalie, and Bernie Parent.

If team effects had the potential to create Hall of Famers, then which goalies got lucky and which ones were unlucky? I'd submit Ed Giacomin as probably the worst of the lot. If you look at the Rangers' year-by-year GAAs against Original Six teams compared to expansion teams, you start to get a sense of the lack of balance in the league:

1967-68: 2.76 vs. Original Six, 1.88 vs. Expansion
1968-69: 3.15 vs. Original Six, 1.94 vs. Expansion
1969-70: 2.80 vs. Original Six, 2.14 vs. Expansion
1970-71: 2.73 vs. Original Six, 1.98 vs. Expansion
1971-72: 3.10 vs. Original Six, 2.06 vs. Expansion
1972-73: 3.31 vs. Original Six, 2.35 vs. Expansion
1973-74: 4.26 vs. Original Six, 2.67 vs. Expansion
1974-75: 4.52 vs. Original Six, 3.07 vs. Expansion
Period Averages: 3.14 vs. Original Six, 2.34 vs. Expansion

That's a 34% increase in GAA when playing against a fellow Original Six team. The Rangers also shut out the expansion teams 39 times, compared to just 17 blankings of their older foes.

 

[VanIslander]

That is one slice of the pie, showing how fruitful an analysis of the O6 in EE could be.