Calderon
Registered User
- Mar 24, 2006
- 1,148
- 748
Some people don't hold power play scoring in as high regard as even strength scoring. I tend to mostly agree. One element of it is that PP time is not distributed evenly, like, at all. Some quality players in deep teams may get some garbage time PP minutes (or seconds) if they are lucky while some hardly have to mind getting replaced by the second unit (guys like Mario Lemieux and Alex Ovechkin). An additional case for the supremacy of EV scoring is that PP opportunities tend to diminish once the playoffs start. Furthermore, if we liken hockey to a street fight, wouldn't you be more impressed, assuming all participants are of equal skill and stature, if a group of five beats another group of five than a group of five succesfully beating a group of four? Sure, hockey is not physical combat (in this context) and a goal is a goal is a goal -- they are all worth the same. Yada yada yada.
So... anyway. Rocket winners tend to be high in PP goal totals but looking at EV goals you'll be more likely to find names that don't sniff the Rocket Richard Trophy. Take Glen Murray, EVG co-winner in 2002-03, 5th in overall goals; or Jason Pominville in 2006-07, T-2nd in EVG and T-24th in G; or Joel Eriksson Ek in 2020-21, T-7th in EVG and T-41st in G. I was intrigued by the question, who has the most single season EVG victories. I tried Statmuse and ChatGPT, both failed. By checking the usual suspects I compiled the following list by hand:
Charlie Conacher played in the 1930s and it seems that EVG data pre 1933 doesn't exist or isn't readily available but C.C. has two outright wins. Thus, for the benefit of the doubt (=having two retro Rockets before that) I'll slot him before Frank Mahovlich, Phil Esposito, Guy Lafleur, Reggie Leach, Teemu Selänne and Corey Perry, all of which have two outright wins. At least the top 6 in the table is likely accurate info as per my findings but there might be some rather obscure players with 2-3 total titles that I've overlooked. They don't, however, include the following players: Beliveau, Stamkos, Kurri, Mario, McDavid (current season being ongoing, has one total title), Bossy, Bure, Iginla, Yzerman, Fedorov, Pastrnak, Lecavalier, K. Tkachuk, Shutt, Markus Näslund (some of these don't really warrant a mention but oh well).
In the table:
EVG SSR means the player's even strength goals single season record (actual raw number);
co-titles1 means co-titles where the total is the same but the player would lose the tie-break by having more games played - The Rocket Richard Trophy has co-winners so I think this column is justified;
co-titles2 means co-titles where the total is the same and the games played between the leaders are the same ie. it's a perfect tie;
co-titles3 means co-titles where the total is the same but the player would win the tie-break by having fewer games played.
GST means the number of goal scoring titles ie. Rocket Richard Trophies, be it real or retro, ties are treated as outright wins for the purpose of this topic.
A couple notions drawn from the data: Bobby Hull is strong, additional PP time might've benefited more in terms of career value (I haven't actually delved into his PP data at all)? Ovechkin crushes the competition in Rockets as the power play prowess (all time PP goal record at 299 and counting) clearly hasn't gone unnoticed, he's certainly no slouch at EV either, though. Having said that, for me he's gradually cementing his status as the greatest overall goal scorer of all time. Seems like Matthews could use a boost from a more effective PP or more PP ice time, in EV he's pacing well. Of other notable all-time goal scoring legends Mario fares poorly, his 85 goal season included a pedestrian 41 EVG which doesn't even make top25 all time; personal best is at 47 (92-93 season). Esposito owns six retro Rockets and five unofficial PP goal titles, compared to that his EVG scoring is a bit lacking.
As for the near future, the time of Ovi getting another EVG title is likely over. McDavid is close to getting his second this year and with his newly-found passion for goal scoring we might see even more, but Matthews is holding his own. Bedard will likely make this very interesting and I wouldn't be surprised to see him make the above table in timely fashion (though I actually have no clue of his goal distribution in terms of special teams).
Might add some data columns down the line (such as PP goals and maybe broaden the whole topic to reflect the distribution of goal-scorers' goals).
So... anyway. Rocket winners tend to be high in PP goal totals but looking at EV goals you'll be more likely to find names that don't sniff the Rocket Richard Trophy. Take Glen Murray, EVG co-winner in 2002-03, 5th in overall goals; or Jason Pominville in 2006-07, T-2nd in EVG and T-24th in G; or Joel Eriksson Ek in 2020-21, T-7th in EVG and T-41st in G. I was intrigued by the question, who has the most single season EVG victories. I tried Statmuse and ChatGPT, both failed. By checking the usual suspects I compiled the following list by hand:
| Name | EVG SSR | co-titles1 | co-titles2 | co-titles3 | outright titles | total | GST |
| Bobby Hull | 41 | 6 | 6 | 7 | |||
| Alex Ovechkin | 43 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | ||
| Maurice Richard | 39 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 5 | |
| Gordie Howe | 41 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| Wayne Gretzky | 68 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| Auston Matthews | 44 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Brett Hull | 57 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||
| Jaromir Jagr | 41 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Charlie Conacher played in the 1930s and it seems that EVG data pre 1933 doesn't exist or isn't readily available but C.C. has two outright wins. Thus, for the benefit of the doubt (=having two retro Rockets before that) I'll slot him before Frank Mahovlich, Phil Esposito, Guy Lafleur, Reggie Leach, Teemu Selänne and Corey Perry, all of which have two outright wins. At least the top 6 in the table is likely accurate info as per my findings but there might be some rather obscure players with 2-3 total titles that I've overlooked. They don't, however, include the following players: Beliveau, Stamkos, Kurri, Mario, McDavid (current season being ongoing, has one total title), Bossy, Bure, Iginla, Yzerman, Fedorov, Pastrnak, Lecavalier, K. Tkachuk, Shutt, Markus Näslund (some of these don't really warrant a mention but oh well).
In the table:
EVG SSR means the player's even strength goals single season record (actual raw number);
co-titles1 means co-titles where the total is the same but the player would lose the tie-break by having more games played - The Rocket Richard Trophy has co-winners so I think this column is justified;
co-titles2 means co-titles where the total is the same and the games played between the leaders are the same ie. it's a perfect tie;
co-titles3 means co-titles where the total is the same but the player would win the tie-break by having fewer games played.
GST means the number of goal scoring titles ie. Rocket Richard Trophies, be it real or retro, ties are treated as outright wins for the purpose of this topic.
A couple notions drawn from the data: Bobby Hull is strong, additional PP time might've benefited more in terms of career value (I haven't actually delved into his PP data at all)? Ovechkin crushes the competition in Rockets as the power play prowess (all time PP goal record at 299 and counting) clearly hasn't gone unnoticed, he's certainly no slouch at EV either, though. Having said that, for me he's gradually cementing his status as the greatest overall goal scorer of all time. Seems like Matthews could use a boost from a more effective PP or more PP ice time, in EV he's pacing well. Of other notable all-time goal scoring legends Mario fares poorly, his 85 goal season included a pedestrian 41 EVG which doesn't even make top25 all time; personal best is at 47 (92-93 season). Esposito owns six retro Rockets and five unofficial PP goal titles, compared to that his EVG scoring is a bit lacking.
As for the near future, the time of Ovi getting another EVG title is likely over. McDavid is close to getting his second this year and with his newly-found passion for goal scoring we might see even more, but Matthews is holding his own. Bedard will likely make this very interesting and I wouldn't be surprised to see him make the above table in timely fashion (though I actually have no clue of his goal distribution in terms of special teams).
Might add some data columns down the line (such as PP goals and maybe broaden the whole topic to reflect the distribution of goal-scorers' goals).
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