Scoring by Game State - 1961-62 to 1966-67

[overpass]

Thanks to the great work of the people at the Hockey Summary Project, a lot of information is available about previous years in the NHL that hasn’t been available before. I’ve gone through the data collected there and compiled the scoring stats of all players by game state, broken down into power play scoring, even-strength scoring, and shorthanded scoring. Here I’ll post some of these numbers from the 1960s, where there was previously very little information about scoring by game state.

Why does this matter? Most importantly, I think it’s interesting to know more about the roles players played and how they helped their team win.

In a way, it doesn’t matter if a goal is scored on the power play, shorthanded, or at even-strength. They all count equally at the end of the game. But when it comes to individual players, those who play a lot on the power play have more opportunity to perform well. They should be expected to score more. For these specific years, there is no ice time data or on-ice scoring data for power play time or shorthanded time available for these years. As a result, it’s difficult to evaluate most players based on this data. However, I think we can come to a few conclusions.

A note on data quality: The goals, assists, and points column in the table below are the official NHL numbers, taken from hockey-reference.com. The ES, PP, and SH numbers I compiled do not always add up to the official numbers. That's likely due to a couple of factors - a few goals weren't recorded as EV, PP or SH, there may be entry errors, etc. In most cases the discrepancy is between 0-3 points for this time period. Murray Oliver is an exception: the numbers I compiled show him with 11 fewer points than the official stats. I'm not sure why.

Here are the numbers for the top 25 scorers of this time period, as well as three other forwards of interest who didn’t play the whole time, and also a HHOFer.

Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | PPA | PPP | ESG | ESA | ESP | SHG | SHA | SHP | ESP/G | PPP/G
Stan Mikita | 413 | 188 | 316 | 504 | 57 | 109 | 166 | 127 | 205 | 332 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.80 | 0.40
Bobby Hull | 397 | 269 | 212 | 481 | 76 | 64 | 140 | 184 | 143 | 327 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 0.82 | 0.35
Gordie Howe | 418 | 180 | 272 | 452 | 60 | 94 | 154 | 112 | 169 | 281 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 0.67 | 0.37
Norm Ullman | 409 | 172 | 224 | 396 | 29 | 68 | 97 | 138 | 150 | 288 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0.70 | 0.24
Alex Delvecchio | 418 | 142 | 235 | 377 | 35 | 85 | 120 | 101 | 144 | 245 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 0.59 | 0.29
Andy Bathgate | 396 | 121 | 244 | 365 | 22 | 91 | 113 | 99 | 153 | 252 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.64 | 0.29
Frank Mahovlich | 397 | 168 | 184 | 352 | 35 | 56 | 91 | 133 | 128 | 261 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.66 | 0.23
Henri Richard | 367 | 124 | 220 | 344 | 16 | 37 | 53 | 108 | 179 | 287 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.78 | 0.14
Jean Beliveau | 358 | 125 | 219 | 344 | 52 | 72 | 124 | 73 | 147 | 220 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.61 | 0.35
John Bucyk | 388 | 136 | 204 | 340 | 24 | 53 | 77 | 110 | 145 | 255 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.66 | 0.20
Dave Keon | 402 | 141 | 192 | 333 | 32 | 52 | 84 | 101 | 134 | 235 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 0.58 | 0.21
Bobby Rousseau | 406 | 126 | 200 | 326 | 24 | 77 | 101 | 97 | 123 | 220 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0.54 | 0.25
Murray Oliver | 405 | 110 | 204 | 314 | 24 | 42 | 66 | 86 | 150 | 236 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.58 | 0.16
Kenny Wharram | 394 | 154 | 144 | 298 | 33 | 35 | 68 | 122 | 107 | 229 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.58 | 0.17
Claude Provost | 409 | 125 | 162 | 287 | 25 | 30 | 55 | 97 | 128 | 225 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.55 | 0.13
Bill Hay | 367 | 84 | 188 | 272 | 24 | 51 | 75 | 57 | 131 | 188 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0.51 | 0.20
Bob Pulford | 412 | 119 | 152 | 271 | 19 | 18 | 37 | 88 | 130 | 218 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 0.53 | 0.09
Red Kelly | 388 | 93 | 177 | 270 | 16 | 45 | 61 | 74 | 130 | 204 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.53 | 0.16
Ralph Backstrom | 412 | 119 | 148 | 267 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 106 | 131 | 237 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.58 | 0.07
Dean Prentice | 374 | 114 | 150 | 264 | 30 | 28 | 58 | 80 | 119 | 199 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.53 | 0.16
Phil Goyette | 350 | 71 | 190 | 261 | 17 | 52 | 69 | 54 | 136 | 190 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.54 | 0.20
George Armstrong | 405 | 100 | 154 | 254 | 20 | 38 | 58 | 75 | 109 | 184 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0.45 | 0.14
Bob Nevin | 390 | 104 | 138 | 242 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 76 | 100 | 176 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0.45 | 0.15
Don Marshall | 409 | 112 | 125 | 237 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 85 | 94 | 179 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 0.44 | 0.10
Gilles Tremblay | 349 | 128 | 108 | 236 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 96 | 82 | 178 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0.51 | 0.15
Camille Henry | 258 | 115 | 82 | 197 | 42 | 24 | 66 | 73 | 59 | 132 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.51 | 0.26
Dick Duff | 369 | 89 | 104 | 193 | 16 | 26 | 42 | 73 | 75 | 148 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.40 | 0.11
Bernie Geoffrion | 226 | 84 | 97 | 181 | 23 | 39 | 62 | 60 | 58 | 118 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.52 | 0.27
Phil Esposito | 235 | 74 | 100 | 174 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 61 | 80 | 141 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.60 | 0.12

Here are the numbers for the top scoring defencemen of this time. I've counted Mohns and Fleming as defencemen; I'm not sure when or how much they played each position.

Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | PPA | PPP | ESG | ESA | ESP | SHG | SHA | SHP | ESP/G | PPG/G
Pierre Pilote | 377 | 44 | 224 | 268 | 19 | 77 | 96 | 23 | 141 | 164 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0.44 | 0.25
Doug Mohns | 387 | 92 | 151 | 243 | 27 | 53 | 80 | 63 | 97 | 160 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.41 | 0.21
Harry Howell | 414 | 34 | 143 | 177 | 5 | 45 | 50 | 29 | 90 | 119 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.29 | 0.12
Tim Horton | 420 | 51 | 122 | 173 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 37 | 93 | 130 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.31 | 0.08
J.C. Tremblay | 396 | 26 | 122 | 148 | 7 | 27 | 34 | 18 | 91 | 109 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.28 | 0.09
Reggie Fleming | 392 | 64 | 81 | 145 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 53 | 72 | 125 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.32 | 0.04
Jean-Guy Talbot | 400 | 21 | 110 | 131 | 2 | 24 | 26 | 15 | 80 | 95 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0.24 | 0.07
Allan Stanley | 367 | 26 | 103 | 129 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 19 | 89 | 108 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.29 | 0.04
Leo Boivin | 390 | 24 | 93 | 117 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 88 | 108 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.28 | 0.02
Bill Gadsby | 323 | 18 | 94 | 112 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 76 | 93 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.29 | 0.05
Jacques Laperriere | 256 | 13 | 97 | 110 | 2 | 46 | 48 | 9 | 50 | 59 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.23 | 0.19
Ted Green | 350 | 27 | 79 | 106 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 17 | 56 | 73 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.21 | 0.09
Doug Barkley | 247 | 24 | 80 | 104 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 18 | 59 | 77 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.31 | 0.09
Jim Neilson | 326 | 18 | 78 | 96 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 13 | 62 | 75 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.23 | 0.06
Marcel Pronovost | 386 | 16 | 75 | 91 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 71 | 84 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.22 | 0.01
Carl Brewer | 264 | 11 | 77 | 88 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 70 | 80 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.30 | 0.01
Kent Douglas | 283 | 20 | 65 | 85 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 6 | 32 | 38 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.13 | 0.16
Albert Langlois | 320 | 19 | 62 | 81 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 56 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.23 | 0.03
Bob Baun | 333 | 14 | 65 | 79 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 61 | 75 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.23 | 0.01
Pat Stapleton | 215 | 9 | 69 | 78 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 54 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.29 | 0.06
Moose Vasko | 323 | 10 | 66 | 76 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 57 | 66 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.20 | 0.01

Discussion

Chicago appears to have played their stars on the power play a lot, which was probably the right thing to do. Mikita was the best power play producer of this time period, and Pilote was the most productive defenceman on the PP. Bobby Hull was also a big PP producer, of course, and Hay and Wharram each had good PP numbers. Phil Esposito was left out, as he had pretty good numbers at even-strength but didn’t get much of a chance on the power play. Ironically, he would go on to be one of the greatest power play scorers ever.

Gordie Howe was Detroit’s star on the power play – no surprise there. What’s surprising is that Norm Ullman outscored Howe at even-strength over this time period. Why didn’t Ullman produce more on the power play? Lack of opportunity, or was his game better suited to even-strength play?

Punch Imlach appears to have distributed power play time fairly evenly for the Leafs’ forwards. Mahovlich scored less on the PP than one would expect, and a lot of players got PP points. On the blueline, Carl Brewer appears to have rarely played on the power play – surprising, considering his even-strength scoring record and his reputation as an offensively skilled defenceman. Kent Douglas was used almost as a power play specialist for a couple of years. Tim Horton was a consistent presence on the power play, while Allan Stanley scored 11 PP points in 1961-62 and then never more than 2 after that.

Andy Bathgate played the point on the power play for the Rangers, which explains his high assist numbers. Camille Henry was the scorer up front on the PP.

In Boston, John Bucyk and Doug Mohns were both fine PP producers. Bucyk would, of course, excel on the PP later in his career with Orr and Esposito. Did Mohns play the point?

I think the Montreal numbers are the most interesting of all.

• Henri Richard had the 4th most even-strength points over this time period, ahead of Gordie Howe and well ahead of his teammates. However, he didn’t score a lot on the power play, as Jean Beliveau was the first-unit centre.
• Beliveau had the 4th most power play points in this time period, but was only 15th in even-strength points.
• Ralph Backstrom also outscored Beliveau at even-strength, and scored at a similar rate to Delvecchio and Keon. What kind of numbers would he have had with some power play time?
• Bobby Rousseau was an excellent power play producer, leading the league with 37 power play points in 1966 – the highest single-season mark of this time period.
• Yvan Cournoyer was used as a power play specialist in his first two years, scoring 52 of 69 points on the PP in 1966 and 1967.
• On the blueline, Jacques Laperriere was a big point producer on the PP in his younger years, Jean-Guy Talbot had a big year on the PP in 1962, and J.C. Tremblay was a consistent power play producer.

Several defencemen put up fair to good scoring numbers at even-strength while rarely playing on the power play during this time. Carl Brewer is the best example of this category. Leo Boivin, Bill Gadsby, Marcel Pronovost also fit here, and Albert Langlois, Bob Baun, and Moose Vasko all rarely played on the PP.

Click to read more...

 

[Dark Shadows]

Thanks to the great work of the people at the Hockey Summary Project, a lot of information is available about previous years in the NHL that hasn’t been available before. I’ve gone through the data collected there and compiled the scoring stats of all players by game state, broken down into power play scoring, even-strength scoring, and shorthanded scoring. Here I’ll post some of these numbers from the 1960s, where there was previously very little information about scoring by game state.

Why does this matter? Most importantly, I think it’s interesting to know more about the roles players played and how they helped their team win.

In a way, it doesn’t matter if a goal is scored on the power play, shorthanded, or at even-strength. They all count equally at the end of the game. But when it comes to individual players, those who play a lot on the power play have more opportunity to perform well. They should be expected to score more. For these specific years, there is no ice time data or on-ice scoring data for power play time or shorthanded time available for these years. As a result, it’s difficult to evaluate most players based on this data. However, I think we can come to a few conclusions.

A note on data quality: The goals, assists, and points column in the table below are the official NHL numbers, taken from hockey-reference.com. The ES, PP, and SH numbers I compiled do not always add up to the official numbers. That's likely due to a couple of factors - a few goals weren't recorded as EV, PP or SH, there may be entry errors, etc. In most cases the discrepancy is between 0-3 points for this time period. Murray Oliver is an exception: the numbers I compiled show him with 11 fewer points than the official stats. I'm not sure why.

Here are the numbers for the top 25 scorers of this time period, as well as three other forwards of interest who didn’t play the whole time, and also a HHOFer.

Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | PPA | PPP | ESG | ESA | ESP | SHG | SHA | SHP | ESP/G | PPP/G
Stan Mikita | 413 | 188 | 316 | 504 | 57 | 109 | 166 | 127 | 205 | 332 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.80 | 0.40
Bobby Hull | 397 | 269 | 212 | 481 | 76 | 64 | 140 | 184 | 143 | 327 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 0.82 | 0.35
Gordie Howe | 418 | 180 | 272 | 452 | 60 | 94 | 154 | 112 | 169 | 281 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 0.67 | 0.37
Norm Ullman | 409 | 172 | 224 | 396 | 29 | 68 | 97 | 138 | 150 | 288 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 0.70 | 0.24
Alex Delvecchio | 418 | 142 | 235 | 377 | 35 | 85 | 120 | 101 | 144 | 245 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 0.59 | 0.29
Andy Bathgate | 396 | 121 | 244 | 365 | 22 | 91 | 113 | 99 | 153 | 252 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.64 | 0.29
Frank Mahovlich | 397 | 168 | 184 | 352 | 35 | 56 | 91 | 133 | 128 | 261 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.66 | 0.23
Henri Richard | 367 | 124 | 220 | 344 | 16 | 37 | 53 | 108 | 179 | 287 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.78 | 0.14
Jean Beliveau | 358 | 125 | 219 | 344 | 52 | 72 | 124 | 73 | 147 | 220 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.61 | 0.35
John Bucyk | 388 | 136 | 204 | 340 | 24 | 53 | 77 | 110 | 145 | 255 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.66 | 0.20
Dave Keon | 402 | 141 | 192 | 333 | 32 | 52 | 84 | 101 | 134 | 235 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 0.58 | 0.21
Bobby Rousseau | 406 | 126 | 200 | 326 | 24 | 77 | 101 | 97 | 123 | 220 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0.54 | 0.25
Murray Oliver | 405 | 110 | 204 | 314 | 24 | 42 | 66 | 86 | 150 | 236 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.58 | 0.16
Kenny Wharram | 394 | 154 | 144 | 298 | 33 | 35 | 68 | 122 | 107 | 229 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.58 | 0.17
Claude Provost | 409 | 125 | 162 | 287 | 25 | 30 | 55 | 97 | 128 | 225 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.55 | 0.13
Bill Hay | 367 | 84 | 188 | 272 | 24 | 51 | 75 | 57 | 131 | 188 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0.51 | 0.20
Bob Pulford | 412 | 119 | 152 | 271 | 19 | 18 | 37 | 88 | 130 | 218 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 0.53 | 0.09
Red Kelly | 388 | 93 | 177 | 270 | 16 | 45 | 61 | 74 | 130 | 204 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.53 | 0.16
Ralph Backstrom | 412 | 119 | 148 | 267 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 106 | 131 | 237 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.58 | 0.07
Dean Prentice | 374 | 114 | 150 | 264 | 30 | 28 | 58 | 80 | 119 | 199 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.53 | 0.16
Phil Goyette | 350 | 71 | 190 | 261 | 17 | 52 | 69 | 54 | 136 | 190 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.54 | 0.20
George Armstrong | 405 | 100 | 154 | 254 | 20 | 38 | 58 | 75 | 109 | 184 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 0.45 | 0.14
Bob Nevin | 390 | 104 | 138 | 242 | 25 | 35 | 60 | 76 | 100 | 176 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0.45 | 0.15
Don Marshall | 409 | 112 | 125 | 237 | 19 | 22 | 41 | 85 | 94 | 179 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 0.44 | 0.10
Gilles Tremblay | 349 | 128 | 108 | 236 | 28 | 26 | 54 | 96 | 82 | 178 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0.51 | 0.15
Camille Henry | 258 | 115 | 82 | 197 | 42 | 24 | 66 | 73 | 59 | 132 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.51 | 0.26
Dick Duff | 369 | 89 | 104 | 193 | 16 | 26 | 42 | 73 | 75 | 148 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.40 | 0.11
Bernie Geoffrion | 226 | 84 | 97 | 181 | 23 | 39 | 62 | 60 | 58 | 118 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.52 | 0.27
Phil Esposito | 235 | 74 | 100 | 174 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 61 | 80 | 141 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.60 | 0.12

Here are the numbers for the top scoring defencemen of this time. I've counted Mohns and Fleming as defencemen; I'm not sure when or how much they played each position.

Player | GP | G | A | PTS | PPG | PPA | PPP | ESG | ESA | ESP | SHG | SHA | SHP | ESP/G | PPG/G
Pierre Pilote | 377 | 44 | 224 | 268 | 19 | 77 | 96 | 23 | 141 | 164 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 0.44 | 0.25
Doug Mohns | 387 | 92 | 151 | 243 | 27 | 53 | 80 | 63 | 97 | 160 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.41 | 0.21
Harry Howell | 414 | 34 | 143 | 177 | 5 | 45 | 50 | 29 | 90 | 119 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.29 | 0.12
Tim Horton | 420 | 51 | 122 | 173 | 12 | 22 | 34 | 37 | 93 | 130 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0.31 | 0.08
J.C. Tremblay | 396 | 26 | 122 | 148 | 7 | 27 | 34 | 18 | 91 | 109 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.28 | 0.09
Reggie Fleming | 392 | 64 | 81 | 145 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 53 | 72 | 125 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0.32 | 0.04
Jean-Guy Talbot | 400 | 21 | 110 | 131 | 2 | 24 | 26 | 15 | 80 | 95 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0.24 | 0.07
Allan Stanley | 367 | 26 | 103 | 129 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 19 | 89 | 108 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0.29 | 0.04
Leo Boivin | 390 | 24 | 93 | 117 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 88 | 108 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0.28 | 0.02
Bill Gadsby | 323 | 18 | 94 | 112 | 0 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 76 | 93 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.29 | 0.05
Jacques Laperriere | 256 | 13 | 97 | 110 | 2 | 46 | 48 | 9 | 50 | 59 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0.23 | 0.19
Ted Green | 350 | 27 | 79 | 106 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 17 | 56 | 73 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.21 | 0.09
Doug Barkley | 247 | 24 | 80 | 104 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 18 | 59 | 77 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.31 | 0.09
Jim Neilson | 326 | 18 | 78 | 96 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 13 | 62 | 75 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.23 | 0.06
Marcel Pronovost | 386 | 16 | 75 | 91 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 71 | 84 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.22 | 0.01
Carl Brewer | 264 | 11 | 77 | 88 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 70 | 80 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.30 | 0.01
Kent Douglas | 283 | 20 | 65 | 85 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 6 | 32 | 38 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0.13 | 0.16
Albert Langlois | 320 | 19 | 62 | 81 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 56 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.23 | 0.03
Bob Baun | 333 | 14 | 65 | 79 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 61 | 75 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0.23 | 0.01
Pat Stapleton | 215 | 9 | 69 | 78 | 0 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 54 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.29 | 0.06
Moose Vasko | 323 | 10 | 66 | 76 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 57 | 66 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0.20 | 0.01

Discussion

Chicago appears to have played their stars on the power play a lot, which was probably the right thing to do. Mikita was the best power play producer of this time period, and Pilote was the most productive defenceman on the PP. Bobby Hull was also a big PP producer, of course, and Hay and Wharram each had good PP numbers. Phil Esposito was left out, as he had pretty good numbers at even-strength but didn’t get much of a chance on the power play. Ironically, he would go on to be one of the greatest power play scorers ever.

Gordie Howe was Detroit’s star on the power play – no surprise there. What’s surprising is that Norm Ullman outscored Howe at even-strength over this time period. Why didn’t Ullman produce more on the power play? Lack of opportunity, or was his game better suited to even-strength play?

Punch Imlach appears to have distributed power play time fairly evenly for the Leafs’ forwards. Mahovlich scored less on the PP than one would expect, and a lot of players got PP points. On the blueline, Carl Brewer appears to have rarely played on the power play – surprising, considering his even-strength scoring record and his reputation as an offensively skilled defenceman. Kent Douglas was used almost as a power play specialist for a couple of years. Tim Horton was a consistent presence on the power play, while Allan Stanley scored 11 PP points in 1961-62 and then never more than 2 after that.

Andy Bathgate played the point on the power play for the Rangers, which explains his high assist numbers. Camille Henry was the scorer up front on the PP.

In Boston, John Bucyk and Doug Mohns were both fine PP producers. Bucyk would, of course, excel on the PP later in his career with Orr and Esposito. Did Mohns play the point?

I think the Montreal numbers are the most interesting of all.

• Henri Richard had the 4th most even-strength points over this time period, ahead of Gordie Howe and well ahead of his teammates. However, he didn’t score a lot on the power play, as Jean Beliveau was the first-unit centre.
• Beliveau had the 4th most power play points in this time period, but was only 15th in even-strength points.
• Ralph Backstrom also outscored Beliveau at even-strength, and scored at a similar rate to Delvecchio and Keon. What kind of numbers would he have had with some power play time?
• Bobby Rousseau was an excellent power play producer, leading the league with 37 power play points in 1966 – the highest single-season mark of this time period.
• Yvan Cournoyer was used as a power play specialist in his first two years, scoring 52 of 69 points on the PP in 1966 and 1967.
• On the blueline, Jacques Laperriere was a big point producer on the PP in his younger years, Jean-Guy Talbot had a big year on the PP in 1962, and J.C. Tremblay was a consistent power play producer.

Several defencemen put up fair to good scoring numbers at even-strength while rarely playing on the power play during this time. Carl Brewer is the best example of this category. Leo Boivin, Bill Gadsby, Marcel Pronovost also fit here, and Albert Langlois, Bob Baun, and Moose Vasko all rarely played on the PP.

More fuel for the Henri Richard Debates.
Very nice research Overpass

 

[pitseleh]

Great work overpass.

An interesting point I think this raises relates to the sixties Hawks who are often looked down upon for only winning one cup with three of the greatest players to ever lace them up. Depth is usually brought up as a big difference between the Hawks and the Canadiens and Leafs and I think these numbers support that. You look at even strength production, and Montreal had depth players like Backstrom, Provost, Rousseau, and Goyette and Toronto had depth players like Pulford, Armstrong, and Nevin who were scoring at similar even strength rates as players like Wharram, Hay, and Esposito when you factor in that they were probably getting less ES ice time.

Henri Richard looks great by these numbers.

 

[overpass]

More fuel for the Henri Richard Debates.

As you probably remember, I was on the other side of those debates during the HOH top-100. Next time around, I'm not sure. Lately I've been suspecting that Richard was the #1 centre at even-strength for much of his career, and this confirms it. I think if plus-minus was available for his whole career he would score very well.

Another thing that I noticed but forgot to mention in the discussion: Clearly the role of defencemen on the power play was very different in the '60s. Pierre Pilote is the only defenceman who has the power play numbers of a modern "power play quarterback", and even then he is still well back of the top forwards in PP scoring.

I know the received wisdom in hockey history is that there were no "rushing defencemen" before Bobby Orr, but Pilote and other defencemen scored well enough at even-strength by moving the puck. The top defencemen today don't score that many more points at even-strength than in the '60s. The biggest difference is on the power play.

I haven't seen enough old video to comment knowledgeably about this (I'd like to hear from those who can!), but my guess is that the role of the point man wasn't as directly important to scoring on the power play back then, particularly since the slap shot was just being popularized. Another factor would be that some teams played their forwards with big shots on the points (Bathgate, Geoffrion).

Would it be accurate to say that the modern power play with a high-scoring defenceman on the point began with Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins?

 

[pitseleh]

I haven't seen enough old video to comment knowledgeably about this (I'd like to hear from those who can!), but my guess is that the role of the point man wasn't as directly important to scoring on the power play back then, particularly since the slap shot was just being popularized. Another factor would be that some teams played their forwards with big shots on the points (Bathgate, Geoffrion).

Would it be accurate to say that the modern power play with a high-scoring defenceman on the point began with Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins?

From what I've seen from the pre-expansion era, most teams have at least one forward on the point on the power play.

Keep in mind that the term power play originated from the fact that teams would put five forwards out to attack during the man advantage. I know it's what every team did during the pre-war era but I'm not sure when that stopped.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

From what I've seen from the pre-expansion era, most teams have at least one forward on the point on the power play.

Keep in mind that the term power play originated from the fact that teams would put five forwards out to attack during the man advantage. I know it's what every team did during the pre-war era but I'm not sure when that stopped.

Just out of curiosity, do you know if Toronto and Boston also did this? I'd think guys like Clancy and Shore were as good offensively as their 5th best forward.

 

[pitseleh]

Just out of curiosity, do you know if Toronto and Boston also did this? I'd like guys like Clancy and Shore were as good offensively as their 5th best forward.

Not offhand. I'll see if I can dig something up for you later.

 

[Dark Shadows]

As you probably remember, I was on the other side of those debates during the HOH top-100. Next time around, I'm not sure. Lately I've been suspecting that Richard was the #1 centre at even-strength for much of his career, and this confirms it. I think if plus-minus was available for his whole career he would score very well.

Another thing that I noticed but forgot to mention in the discussion: Clearly the role of defencemen on the power play was very different in the '60s. Pierre Pilote is the only defenceman who has the power play numbers of a modern "power play quarterback", and even then he is still well back of the top forwards in PP scoring.

I know the received wisdom in hockey history is that there were no "rushing defencemen" before Bobby Orr, but Pilote and other defencemen scored well enough at even-strength by moving the puck. The top defencemen today don't score that many more points at even-strength than in the '60s. The biggest difference is on the power play.

I haven't seen enough old video to comment knowledgeably about this (I'd like to hear from those who can!), but my guess is that the role of the point man wasn't as directly important to scoring on the power play back then, particularly since the slap shot was just being popularized. Another factor would be that some teams played their forwards with big shots on the points (Bathgate, Geoffrion).

Would it be accurate to say that the modern power play with a high-scoring defenceman on the point began with Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins?

His +/- would certainly be very good. He was one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, always matched up against the opposing teams top lines

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

You don't need to go out of your way, I was just kinda curious.

 

[reckoning]

Excellent work overpass

I'm shocked that Laperriere was so productive on the powerplay. I never would've guessed that he would have more PP points than J.C. Tremblay.

Henri Richard's relatively small amount of PP time makes you wonder how his career would've been perceived on a team where he was the top centre and had all the PP time. Probably less Cups, but a lot more points.

Gordie Howe tied for the most shorthanded points; in addition to all his other talents. Was there anything he couldn't do?

 

[pitseleh]

You don't need to go out of your way, I was just kinda curious.

No worries, it only took a couple minutes of searching.

I turned up an article where it mentioned that Babe Siebert took a penalty and that the Leafs scored on a Conacher deflection of a Clancy shot and another article that mentions that Shore, Clapper, and Stewart stormed Lorne Chabot's net in a game against Toronto after Hap Day took a penalty. It's obviously not thorough but both were used on the PP at some point.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

No worries, it only took a couple minutes of searching.

I turned up an article where it mentioned that Babe Siebert took a penalty and that the Leafs scored on a Conacher deflection of a Clancy shot and another article that mentions that Shore, Clapper, and Stewart stormed Lorne Chabot's net in a game against Toronto after Hap Day took a penalty. It's obviously not thorough but both were used on the PP at some point.

Cool. Thanks.

Makes sense that teams would put their 5 best scorers on the ice, regardless of position.

Gordie Howe tied for the most shorthanded points; in addition to all his other talents. Was there anything he couldn't do?

No. That's why he's Mr. Hockey.

But what surprised me more was that it was Don Marshall he tied with. I was also surprised by how few SH points Mikita had.

 

[overpass]

Howe and Marshall were actually tied for second in shorthanded points in this time period. Eric Nesterenko was first, with 11 goals, 5 assists, and 16 points. He didn't make my cutoff to get his numbers posted.

Most of the other leaders in SH points have their numbers posted.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Explanations

Here are the numbers for the top scoring defencemen of this time. I've counted Mohns and Fleming as defencemen; I'm not sure when or how much they played each position.



Discussion

Chicago appears to have played their stars on the power play a lot, which was probably the right thing to do. Mikita was the best power play producer of this time period, and Pilote was the most productive defenceman on the PP. Bobby Hull was also a big PP producer, of course, and Hay and Wharram each had good PP numbers. Phil Esposito was left out, as he had pretty good numbers at even-strength but didn’t get much of a chance on the power play. Ironically, he would go on to be one of the greatest power play scorers ever.

Gordie Howe was Detroit’s star on the power play – no surprise there. What’s surprising is that Norm Ullman outscored Howe at even-strength over this time period. Why didn’t Ullman produce more on the power play? Lack of opportunity, or was his game better suited to even-strength play?

Punch Imlach appears to have distributed power play time fairly evenly for the Leafs’ forwards. Mahovlich scored less on the PP than one would expect, and a lot of players got PP points. On the blueline, Carl Brewer appears to have rarely played on the power play – surprising, considering his even-strength scoring record and his reputation as an offensively skilled defenceman. Kent Douglas was used almost as a power play specialist for a couple of years. Tim Horton was a consistent presence on the power play, while Allan Stanley scored 11 PP points in 1961-62 and then never more than 2 after that.

Andy Bathgate played the point on the power play for the Rangers, which explains his high assist numbers. Camille Henry was the scorer up front on the PP.

In Boston, John Bucyk and Doug Mohns were both fine PP producers. Bucyk would, of course, excel on the PP later in his career with Orr and Esposito. Did Mohns play the point?

I think the Montreal numbers are the most interesting of all.

• Henri Richard had the 4th most even-strength points over this time period, ahead of Gordie Howe and well ahead of his teammates. However, he didn’t score a lot on the power play, as Jean Beliveau was the first-unit centre.
• Beliveau had the 4th most power play points in this time period, but was only 15th in even-strength points.
• Ralph Backstrom also outscored Beliveau at even-strength, and scored at a similar rate to Delvecchio and Keon. What kind of numbers would he have had with some power play time?
• Bobby Rousseau was an excellent power play producer, leading the league with 37 power play points in 1966 – the highest single-season mark of this time period.
• Yvan Cournoyer was used as a power play specialist in his first two years, scoring 52 of 69 points on the PP in 1966 and 1967.
• On the blueline, Jacques Laperriere was a big point producer on the PP in his younger years, Jean-Guy Talbot had a big year on the PP in 1962, and J.C. Tremblay was a consistent power play producer.

Several defencemen put up fair to good scoring numbers at even-strength while rarely playing on the power play during this time. Carl Brewer is the best example of this category. Leo Boivin, Bill Gadsby, Marcel Pronovost also fit here, and Albert Langlois, Bob Baun, and Moose Vasko all rarely played on the PP.

Mohns(with Chicago) and Fleming were forwards for the vast majority of the time during the period in question. Listing them as d-men skews your chart.

The Canadiens had three solid lines. The Beliveau line whatever it was drew the attention of the other team's checking line. The Richard line usually with Claude Provost drew the other teams offensive line. While the Backstrom line drew the remaining line which when it came down to playing Boston , New York was not much.
Hence Backstrom's even strength numbers. Keon and Delvecchio used to draw the other team's top line. Backstrom rarely did.

Ullman and Backstrom were on the small side so they were not in front of the net types for the power play.

Henri Richard's line used to generate offensive production from strong defensive play.

Bobby Rousseau replaced Bernie Geoffrion as the Canadiens point man on the power play, a role he played for the remainder of his career with the Canadiens. Hence the power play numbers.

Jacques Laperriere had the OHA record for goals by d-men until Bobby Orr came along. At the NHL level it took him too long to shoot and once J.C. Tremblay established himself as the partner to Bobby Rousseau on the Canadiens power play the other d-men saw little power play time. Talbot played the point the year after Doug Harvey was traded.

Yvan Cournoyer was a power play sniper his first two seasons in the NHL.

Imlach with the Leafs like keeping his defensive pairings intact in the era of the four d-men plus a sub. Stanley's power play time diminished as he grew older. Horton was the quarterback while Douglas was a bit of a specialist.

Gadsby quarterbacked the Rangers power play but had alot less power play time with the Red Wings once Doug Barkley established himself.

Players like Vasko, Langlois, Harper, Ted Harris, etc were not good puck handlers so they had little power play time if any.

 

[Canadiens1958]

I haven't seen enough old video to comment knowledgeably about this (I'd like to hear from those who can!), but my guess is that the role of the point man wasn't as directly important to scoring on the power play back then, particularly since the slap shot was just being popularized. Another factor would be that some teams played their forwards with big shots on the points (Bathgate, Geoffrion).

Would it be accurate to say that the modern power play with a high-scoring defenceman on the point began with Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins?

No in the early fifties with Kelly, Harvey, Gadsby. Era when the full two minutes of the penalty had to be served. Ended after the 1955-56 season since the Canadiens dominated, at times scoring 2 and even 3 goals during one penalty/power play.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Penalty Killing

Cool. Thanks.

Makes sense that teams would put their 5 best scorers on the ice, regardless of position.



No. That's why he's Mr. Hockey.

But what surprised me more was that it was Don Marshall he tied with. I was also surprised by how few SH points Mikita had.

Penalty killing strategies were very different during the post WWII era. First consider that thru the 1955-56 season the complete two minutes had to be served regardless of the number of power play goals scored. This resulted in fewer marginal calls but you had different PK strategies.

Since penalty killing is physically demanding not all the teams used their star player to kill penalties. Detroit with Howe and Delvecchio was one of the few that did.

The Canadiens especially under Toe Blake would use the 10th forward/ 5th d-man
as the PK forwards. mainly Don Marshall and Bob Turner. Others in the mix would be players like Floyd Curry, John McCormack, Billy Reay etc.

The Hawks would use Glen Skov, Earl Balfour, Reg Fleming, Eric Nesterenko.

The Leafs because of their team defensive style had more variety, Keon, Pulford, Ron Stewart, George Armstrong,

 

[pappyline]

I was also surprised by how few SH points Mikita had.

Mikita didn't play that much on the PK during that time frame. The prime PKers were Hull & Nesterenko.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Mikita didn't play that much on the PK during that time frame. The prime PKers were Hull & Nesterenko.

Did he play later in his career? My dad used to tell me stories about his penalty killing skills, but, I didn't think to ask time frame.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Chico Maki

Mikita didn't play that much on the PK during that time frame. The prime PKers were Hull & Nesterenko.

Chico Maki enjoyed a fair amount of PK time as well.

 

[nik jr]

Did he play later in his career? My dad used to tell me stories about his penalty killing skills, but, I didn't think to ask time frame.

yes

in the greatest PKers thread (from a year or 2 ago), pnep posted the top 3 PK teams for every season since expansion.
he then posted the top 2 F and top 2 D for each those teams in SHTOI for each particular season.

mikita was 1st for chicago (which was 1st in PK) in '70. but i don't remember more than that.

 

[foame]

yes

in the greatest PKers thread (from a year or 2 ago), pnep posted the top 3 PK teams for every season since expansion.
he then posted the top 2 F and top 2 D for each those teams in SHTOI for each particular season.

mikita was 1st for chicago (which was 1st in PK) in '70. but i don't remember more than that.

http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=628138

But he wasn't the teams best pk:er 70-71 or 71-72 (according to the numbers)

 

[overpass]

Top 5 in ES Scoring and PP scoring by year

1961-62 Even-Strength Scoring

Player | Team | ESG | ESA | ESP
Bobby Hull | CHI | 39 | 25 | 64
Frank Mahovlich | TOR | 32 | 28 | 60
Andy Bathgate | NYR | 24 | 36 | 60
Ralph Backstrom | MON | 23 | 37 | 60
Stan Mikita | CHI | 18 | 34 | 52

1961-62 Power Play Scoring

Player | Team | PPG | PPA | PPP
Stan Mikita | CHI | 7 | 18 | 25
Andy Bathgate | NYR | 4 | 20 | 24
Bill Hay | CHI | 8 | 15 | 23
Bernard Geoffrion | MON | 7 | 16 | 23
Gordie Howe | DET | 9 | 12 | 21
Johnny Bucyk | BOS | 5 | 16 | 21

1962-63 Even-Strength Scoring

Player | Team | ESG | ESA | ESP
Andy Bathgate | NYR | 30 | 30 | 60
Henri Richard | MON | 21 | 39 | 60
Frank Mahovlich | TOR | 29 | 27 | 56
Gordie Howe | DET | 26 | 30 | 56
Stan Mikita | CHI | 21 | 33 | 54

1962-63 Power Play Scoring

Player | Team | PPG | PPA | PPP
Gordie Howe | DET | 12 | 18 | 30
Parker MacDonald | DET | 14 | 8 | 22
Stan Mikita | CHI | 9 | 11 | 20
Jean Beliveau | MON | 8 | 12 | 20
Andy Bathgate | NYR | 5 | 15 | 20

1963-64 Even-Strength Scoring

Player | Team | ESG | ESA | ESP
Stan Mikita | CHI | 23 | 31 | 54
Bobby Hull | CHI | 28 | 24 | 52
Ken Wharram | CHI | 25 | 24 | 49
Phil Goyette | NYR | 19 | 30 | 49
Murray Oliver | BOS | 19 | 30 | 49

1963-64 Power Play Scoring

Player | Team | PPG | PPA | PPP
Stan Mikita | CHI | 15 | 19 | 34
Jean Beliveau | MON | 12 | 18 | 30
Bobby Hull | CHI | 11 | 19 | 30
Gordie Howe | DET | 12 | 17 | 29
Andy Bathgate | NYR/TOR | 4 | 20 | 24

1964-65 Even-Strength Scoring

Player | Team | ESG | ESA | ESP
Stan Mikita | CHI | 20 | 42 | 62
Norm Ullman | DET | 32 | 26 | 58
Bobby Hull | CHI | 26 | 24 | 50
Alex Delvecchio | DET | 19 | 24 | 43
Gordie Howe | DET | 14 | 29 | 43

1964-65 Power Play Scoring

Player | Team | PPG | PPA | PPP
Gordie Howe | DET | 13 | 18 | 31
Stan Mikita | CHI | 8 | 18 | 26
Norm Ullman | DET | 9 | 16 | 25
Alex Delvecchio | DET | 6 | 18 | 24
Rod Gilbert | NYR | 10 | 13 | 23
Phil Goyette | NYR | 5 | 18 | 23

1965-66 Even-Strength Scoring

Player |Team| ESG| ESA| ESP
Bobby Hull | CHI | 34 | 24 | 58
Norm Ullman | DET | 24 | 30 | 54
Henri Richard | MON | 19 | 30 | 49
Jean Beliveau | MON | 16 | 33 | 49
Claude Provost | MON | 17 | 31 | 48

1965-66 Power Play Scoring

Player | Team | PPG | PPA | PPP
Bobby Rousseau | MON | 9 | 28 | 37
Bobby Hull | CHI | 19 | 17 | 36
Stan Mikita | CHI | 11 | 24 | 35
Jean Beliveau | MON | 13 | 15 | 28
Yvan Cournoyer | MON | 16 | 9 | 25

1966-67 Even-Strength Scoring

Player | Team | ESG | ESA | ESP
Stan Mikita | CHI | 27 | 41 | 68
Bobby Hull | CHI | 33 | 24 | 57
Phil Esposito | CHI | 18 | 33 | 51
Norm Ullman | DET | 23 | 27 | 50
Ken Wharram | CHI | 26 | 21 | 47

1966-67 Power Play Scoring

Player | Team | PPG | PPA | PPP
Yvan Cournoyer | MON | 19 | 8 | 27
Stan Mikita | CHI | 7 | 19 | 26
Bobby Rousseau | MON | 5 | 21 | 26
Bobby Hull | CHI | 18 | 5 | 23
Gordie Howe | DET | 8 | 13 | 21

The numbers posted may deviate slightly from official NHL stats due to recording error, but should in most cases be correct.

Stan Mikita has the biggest even-strength year in 1967-68 with 68 points. Bobby Rousseau had the biggest power play year in 1965-66, with 37 points.

 

[Peter9]

Ended after the 1955-56 season since the Canadiens dominated, at times scoring 2 and even 3 goals during one penalty/power play.

This comment is appropriately guarded in its use of "at times." It has become a myth that the Canadiens of 1955-56 often scored two and three goals on a single power play. I was around at the time as a Canadiens fan, and my memory is that they scored three once on a single power play, Beliveau getting all three against Sawchuk of the Bruins. And I bet that the number of times they scored two on a single power play is very low. The goals total scored by Montreal in 1955-56 was 222 in 70 games, just over 3.0 per game, hardly the stuff of a team that often scored two or three goals on a single power play.


It was fear of what might happen in the future that prompted the rule change after the 1955-56 season. Beliveau had been an overwhelming force that season, and it was thought that he would go on to much bigger numbers. It was feared that the Canadiens power play would become unstoppable. Look at the goals scored figures for the NHL teams in 1955-56 and succeeding seasons. The rule change had little effect.


When the game summaries become available, I think you will find that it's a myth even that the Canadiens power play "at times" scored two and even three goals on a single power play.

 

[Peter9]

As you probably remember, I was on the other side of those debates during the HOH top-100. Next time around, I'm not sure. Lately I've been suspecting that Richard was the #1 centre at even-strength for much of his career, and this confirms it. I think if plus-minus was available for his whole career he would score very well.

Another thing that I noticed but forgot to mention in the discussion: Clearly the role of defencemen on the power play was very different in the '60s. Pierre Pilote is the only defenceman who has the power play numbers of a modern "power play quarterback", and even then he is still well back of the top forwards in PP scoring.

I know the received wisdom in hockey history is that there were no "rushing defencemen" before Bobby Orr, but Pilote and other defencemen scored well enough at even-strength by moving the puck. The top defencemen today don't score that many more points at even-strength than in the '60s. The biggest difference is on the power play.

I haven't seen enough old video to comment knowledgeably about this (I'd like to hear from those who can!), but my guess is that the role of the point man wasn't as directly important to scoring on the power play back then, particularly since the slap shot was just being popularized. Another factor would be that some teams played their forwards with big shots on the points (Bathgate, Geoffrion).

Would it be accurate to say that the modern power play with a high-scoring defenceman on the point began with Bobby Orr and the Boston Bruins?

__________________________

If memory serves, Sam Pollock, the Canadiens' illustrious manager of the Sixties and Seventies, said that game in and game out, Henri Richard was the most valuable player on the team. Considering that Richard rarely had a place on the power play and that he was often assigned defensive duties because he was a superb skater, harrier and puck carrier (along with Backstrom), these statistics lean heavily in favour of Pollock's judgment. I saw Henri play more often than any other NHL player (because I saw most of my NHL games in the Sixties through the Seventies and because he played from 1955 through 1975), and my judgment was the same as Pollock's. There were many players who outshone him in a single game or two, but over the long haul, I'd go with Henri for the Sixties.

Your question should be when did the practice of using two defencemen on the points in the power play begin? The answer is that sometimes teams played with two defencemen on the power play even in the Fifties and Sixties. But generally they played with a high-scoring defenceman on one of the points and a booming shooter, usually a forward, on the other. The practice of using a forward on one of the points did decline, as you indicate, when Orr came along.

 

[overpass]

1960-61 Stats

The 1960-61 stats have been posted at the Hockey Summary Project, so here are the scoring leaders by game state for that season. First, the team numbers.

Team Stats

Team|ESG|PPG|SHG
MON | 182 | 64 | 8
TOR | 188 | 40 | 6
NYR | 164 | 34 | 6
CHI | 157 | 35 | 6
DET | 153 | 35 | 7
BOS | 140 | 28 | 8

Montreal had far and away the best power play in the league this season. Toronto scored more goals at even strength, but couldn't keep up on the PP. Montreal's dominance shows up in the individual stats also.

Top PP scorers

Player | Team | PPG | PPA | PPP
Geoffrion | MON | 16 | 22 | 38
Beliveau | MON | 13 | 19 | 32
Moore | MON | 14 | 12 | 26
Olmstead | TOR | 9 | 14 | 23
Bathgate | NYR | 5 | 17 | 22
Howe | DET | 7 | 14 | 21
Mahovlich | TOR | 7 | 13 | 20
Hay | CHI | 3 | 15 | 18
Harvey | MON | 1 | 16 | 17
Richard | MON | 4 | 12 | 16
Henry | NYR | 8 | 8 | 16
Hebenton | NYR | 8 | 8 | 16

Geoffrion and Beliveau were the stars of the excellent Montreal power play, and their production here propelled them to the league scoring lead. Geoffrion, Beliveau, and Moore scored more PP goals together than any other team.

It's worth noting that this was Doug Harvey's final year in Montreal, and the Habs' power play dropped back to the pack in the following years. Coincidence? Probably not.

Top Even Strength Scorers

Player | Team | ESG | ESA | ESP
Mahovlich | TOR | 41 | 23 | 64
Geoffrion | MON | 34 | 23 | 57
Beliveau | MON | 19 | 38 | 57
Bathgate | NYR | 23 | 31 | 54
Ullman | DET | 23 | 31 | 54
Kelly | TOR | 16 | 36 | 52
Richard | MON | 20 | 31 | 51
Delvecchio | DET | 21 | 26 | 47
Howe | DET | 14 | 32 | 46
Nevin | TOR | 15 | 31 | 46

Frank Mahovlich was the class of the league at even-strength. If he had played on Montreal he likely would have won the Art Ross this year.

This seems like a good place to note that Toronto's power play consistently underperformed in the 1960s. From 1960-61 to 1966-67, Toronto scored as many even-strength goals as Chicago and was close behind Montreal. However, they had the second least power play goals in the league, well behind Montreal and Chicago and ahead of only lowly Boston. Why was this the case? It appears that Imlach spread the power play time around more than Montreal and Chicago did, for one. How does this reflect on Imlach's coaching? Does the power play record reflect their talent, and Imlach was getting them to overachieve at even strength? Or was Imlach a poor power play coach? Whatever the case was, it worked in the playoffs.

Shorthanded Scoring

Player | Team | SHG | SHA | SHP
Howe | DET | 3 | 2 | 5
Marshall | MON | 3 | 2 | 5
Toppazzini | BOS | 2 | 3 | 5
Burns | BOS | 4 | 1 | 5
Kelly | TOR | 1 | 3 | 4

Once again, Gordie Howe and Don Marshall were the most dangerous on the penalty kill. Finally a couple of Boston players appear.