I am now going to discuss two Original Six era players: Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, and try to answer the question: Who's Better?
Gordie Howe, superstar for the Detroit Red Wings in the Original Six era of the NHL, scored 801 goals, 1049 assists, and 1850 points during his incredible 26 year career. He had a GPG of .45 and an APG of .59, and a PPG of 1.05. He has 747 Goals Created, and a .46 GCPG over his entire career. His point shares are as follows: 186.6 OPS, 30.5 DPS, 217.1 PS. Per season, they average to 7.17 OPS per season, 1.17 DPS per season, and 8.35 PS per season. Over 157 playoff games, Gordie Howe amassed 68 goals, 92 assists, and 160 points. This means he had a playoff GPG of .433, a playoff APG of .585, and a playoff PPG of 1.01. He won 6 point scoring titles, led the league in goals 5 times, 3 times led the league in assists, and won 4 Stanley Cups during his career.
Bobby Hull, Chicago Blackhawks hero, scored 610 NHL goals and racked up 560 assists for 1170 total points during his career. He had 485 Goals Created as well. Over the course of 16 seasons, Bobby Hull recorded a GPG of .57, and APG of .53, and a PPG of 1.10. He also had a GCPG of .46, identical to Howe's. Bobby Hull's Point Share statistics are as follows: 115.9 OPS, 19.7 DPS, and 135.7 PS. This, per season, is 7.24 OPS per season, 1.23 DPS per season, and 8.48 PPS per season. Over the course of 119 playoff games, Bobby Hull scored 62 goals and had 67 assists for 129 points. This gives him a playoff GPG of .52, a playoff APG of .56, and a playoff PPG of 1.1. He won 3 point scoring titles, led the league in goals 7 times, and won one Stanley Cup during his career.
But what does this all mean? Looking at all these statistics, we can see that Bobby Hull, although he did not score as many goals as Howe, had a higher GPG than Howe did. If Bobby Hull had played as many seasons as Howe did, he would have been likely to pass up Howe in total goals scored. However, Howe does have the assist advantage over Bobby Hull. The PPG advantage goes to Hull. Hull beats Howe in 2 of those 3 categories. In terms of Point Shares Per Season, the two are very close. Howe's 7.17 OPS falls short of Hull's 7.24, but only by .07. Hull has a higher average DPS per season as well as a higher PS per season, winning all 3 categories, albeit by slim margins. Looking at playoff performance, we see that Hull averages more goals and points than Howe, but not more assists, very similar to the regular season. Statistically, Hull seems to have the advantage over Howe from a per game and per season standpoint.
Now, something needs to be said of Gordie Howe's longevity. The man played 26 NHL seasons, as well as 6 WHA seasons. That is 32 professional hockey seasons. He retired from pro hockey at the age of 51, the oldest NHL player in history. He still managed to score 15 goals and have 26 assists at age 51, which is simply incredible. This being said, Hull's 16 seasons are nothing to scoff at. Howe also won 3 more Cups than Hull, but again, just like Crosby vs Ovechkin, it takes a TEAM to win the Stanley Cup, not just one player.
THE WINNER:
Gordie Howe. This one was tough. I was thinking about Bobby Hull due to his higher averages, but then I noticed: the two have the SAME Goals Created Per Game at .46. This means that over 26 seasons, Gordie Howe was able to create the same average of goals per season as Bobby Hull did over 16 seasons. This clearly show's Howe's unmatched consistency and longevity in a tough league. His 4 Stanley Cups and assisting abilities also helped him win this round, although again it was very close.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Daniel Alfredsson Returns For Another Year
The Ottawa Senators have announced that Daniel Alfredsson will return for thr upcoming season. Alfredsson scored 27 goals and added 32 assists last year in 75 games for his Senators. He had 23 Goals Created (a stat I discussed in my last post) and an Offensive Point Share of 5.7, as well as a Defensive Point Share of 1.8 for a total Point Share of 7.5. Alfredsson has 416 Goals and 666 Assists in his career. He also has 408 Goals Created, a career OPS of 97.4 and a DPS of 27.8 for a total PS of 125.2
Monday, July 30, 2012
Who's Better? Ovechkin or Crosby REVISED
Who's Better? Ovechkin or Crosby
While the debate has been going on for years, I still think it is relevant in today’s game, and I will attempt to dissect the two players and let YOU decide who is better. Let’s start with goals. Ovechkin, in his career, has never dipped below thirty goals, has dipped below 40 only twice, and has hit 65 in one season. He led the league in goals twice in a row, with 65 and 56. He has 339 career goals in 553 career games, giving him a GPG of .613, placing him at number 6 all-time, and ahead of Wayne Gretzky. Crosby has dipped below thirty goals, albeit only twice, and both times he was injured for at least 29 games. He scored 51 goals in 2010, giving him that year’s scoring title. Crosby has scored 223 goals in 434 games, for a GPG of .513, making him 18th all-time. Now let’s move to assists. Ovechkin has only dipped below 40 assists one time, when he had 27 last year. He has never led the league in assists. He has 340 assists in 553 career games, giving him an APG of .614, 52nd all-time. Crosby has dipped below 40 assists twice, but he was injured for at least half of the season when these drops occurred. Crosby has hit 84 assists in one season, but has never led the league in assists. He has 386 assists in 434 career games for an APG of .889, good for 5th all time. Points wise, Ovechkin has broken the 100 point barrier 4 times in his career, his highest being a league-leading 112 points, the only time he has led the league in that category. He has 679 points in 553 career games for a PPG of 1.23, good for 13th all-time. Crosby has broken the 100 point barrier 4 times as well, his highest being 120 points, which led the league. This is the only time he has led the league in points. He has 609 points in 434 career games, giving him a PPG of 1.40, good for 4th all time. Given these statistics, it is hard to say who is the better player. While Ovechkin scores more goals than Crosby by a wide margin, Crosby also racks up more assists, by a wider margin, giving him a higher PPG than Ovechkin. But is that a clear indicator that Crosby is better? Let’s try another statistic. This one is called Goals Created. Goals created is a statistic calculated by adding goals to 0.5 times assists, then multiplying by team goals divided by team goals plus 0.5 times team assists. It is a helpful tool in determining how valuable a player is to their team. When looking at these two players’ GC’s, we see that Ovechkin has led the league in Goals Created 3 years, all of them in a row, with 48, 45, and 43 goals created. He has 278 Goals Created in his career in 553 career games, giving him a GCPG of .503. Crosby has never led the league in goals created, and has 222 in his career in 434 games, for a GCPG of .511. Crosby has a slight edge over Ovechkin in this regard as well! In addition, Ovechkin has never won the Stanley Cup, while Crosby has (Although keep in mind it takes a whole team to win the Cup, not just one player!) Crosby has reached the Finals twice, while Ovechkin has not made it past the second round. Again, the same thing applies, it takes a whole team to win the Cup, not just one player. Let us now look at playoff performance from these two players. Ovechkin has 30 Goals in 51 Playoff games, for a Playoff GPG of .588, while Crosby boasts a .485 Playoff GPG. However, we see again that Crosby leads in APG and PPG even in the playoffs, with .838 and 1.32, respectively to Ovechkin’s .568 and 1.16, respectively. There are a few final statistics we can utilize to see who is the better player. These are called Point Shares. There are Offensive, Defensive, and Total Point Shares. A Point Share is best described as an estimate of the number of points contributed by a player, due to their offense, defense, or both. Visit here to learn about how to calculate a point share. To make things quick, here are the Offensive, Defensive, and Total Point Shares for each player:
Ovechkin: OPS=75.8, DPS=14.5, PS=90.3
Crosby: OPS=61.2, DPS=12.6, PS=73.8
Here, we see that Ovechkin is better in all three categories!
So who is the the better player? That is for YOU to decide!
Matchup of the Day: 2008 Red Wings vs 1997 Red Wings
Two Stanley Cup winning Red Wings teams go head to head in this whatifsports.com matchup. Here's who comes out on top:
| GAME 1 | 1997 | 2008 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Pavel Datsyuk assisted by Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom | 0 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Valtteri Filppula assisted by Brett Lebda and Matt Ellis | 0 | 2 |
| Johan Franzen shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Tomas Holmstrom | 0 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Darren McCarty assisted by Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan | 1 | 3 |
| GAME 2 | 1997 | 2008 |
| Goal scored by Vladimir Konstantinov assisted by Darren McCarty and Igor Larionov | 1 | 0 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Brendan Shanahan assisted by Darren McCarty and Viacheslav Fetisov | 2 | 0 |
| Henrik Zetterberg shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Pavel Datsyuk | 2 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Steve Yzerman assisted by Darren McCarty and Brendan Shanahan | 3 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Brian Rafalski assisted by Mikael Samuelsson and Pavel Datsyuk | 3 | 2 |
| GAME 3 | 1997 | 2008 |
| Goal scored by Nicklas Lidstrom assisted by Johan Franzen and Brian Rafalski | 0 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Sergei Fedorov assisted by Bob Rouse and Vladimir Konstantinov | 1 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Jiri Hudler assisted by Brian Rafalski | 1 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Sergei Fedorov assisted by Viacheslav Fetisov and Tomas Sandstrom | 2 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Mikael Samuelsson assisted by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg | 2 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Henrik Zetterberg assisted by Pavel Datsyuk and Brad Stuart | 2 | 4 |
| Goal scored by Henrik Zetterberg assisted by Brian Rafalski and Nicklas Lidstrom | 2 | 5 |
| GAME 4 | 1997 | 2008 |
| Goal scored by Bob Errey assisted by Igor Larionov and Martin Lapointe | 1 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Pavel Datsyuk assisted by Mikael Samuelsson and Henrik Zetterberg | 1 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Henrik Zetterberg assisted by Chris Chelios and Brad Stuart | 1 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Brendan Shanahan assisted by Vladimir Konstantinov and Tim Taylor | 2 | 2 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Pavel Datsyuk assisted by Tomas Kopecky and Henrik Zetterberg | 2 | 3 |
| GAME 5 | 1997 | 2008 |
| Goal scored by Henrik Zetterberg assisted by Pavel Datsyuk and Daniel Cleary | 0 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Sergei Fedorov assisted by Viacheslav Fetisov and Tomas Sandstrom | 1 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Daniel Cleary assisted by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg | 1 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Mikael Samuelsson assisted by Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom | 1 | 3 |
| Shorthanded - Goal scored by Brendan Shanahan assisted by Vladimir Konstantinov and Nicklas Lidstrom | 2 | 3 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Pavel Datsyuk assisted by Henrik Zetterberg | 2 | 4 |
| THE 2008 RED WINGS WIN THE SERIES 4-1 | ||
| MVP: Henrick Zetterberg with 5 Goals and 6 Assists |
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Matchup of the Day: 1972 Bruins vs 2011 Bruins
Today's matchup pits the two most recent Stanley Cup winning Bruins teams against each other to see who reigns supreme. Here are the results:
| GAME 1 | 1972 | 2011 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Bobby Orr assisted by Fred Stanfield and Ed Westfall | 1 | 0 |
| Blake Wheeler shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Tomas Kaberle | 1 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Rich Peverley assisted by Zdeno Chara | 1 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Milan Lucic assisted by Nathan Horton | 1 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Patrice Bergeron assisted by Tomas Kaberle and Milan Lucic | 1 | 4 |
| Goal scored by Wayne Cashman assisted by Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge | 2 | 4 |
| GAME 2 | 1972 | 2011 |
| Goal scored by Carol Vadnais assisted by Phil Esposito | 1 | 0 |
| Brad Marchand shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Shawn Thornton | 1 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Zdeno Chara assisted by Tomas Kaberle and Nathan Horton | 1 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Ed Westfall assisted by Garnet Bailey | 2 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Phil Esposito assisted by Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman | 3 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Mike Walton assisted by Garnet Bailey and Bobby Orr | 4 | 2 |
| GAME 3 | 1972 | 2011 |
| Goal scored by Bobby Orr assisted by Reggie Leach and Mike Walton | 1 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Derek Sanderson assisted by Dallas Smith and Bobby Orr | 2 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Tomas Kaberle assisted by Zdeno Chara and Blake Wheeler | 2 | 1 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Ivan Boldirev assisted by Bobby Orr and Dallas Smith | 3 | 1 |
| GAME 4 | 1972 | 2011 |
| Dallas Smith shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Phil Esposito | 1 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Gregory Campbell assisted by Mark Recchi and Chris Kelly | 1 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Mike Walton assisted by Reggie Leach and Don Awrey | 2 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Wayne Cashman assisted by Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais | 3 | 1 |
| Shorthanded - Rick Smith shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Don Awrey | 4 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Phil Esposito assisted by Carol Vadnais and Wayne Cashman | 5 | 1 |
| GAME 5 | 1972 | 2011 |
| Goal scored by Gregory Campbell assisted by Tomas Kaberle and Zdeno Chara | 0 | 1 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Tyler Seguin assisted by Nathan Horton | 0 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Milan Lucic assisted by Tomas Kaberle and Nathan Horton | 0 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Phil Esposito assisted by Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman | 1 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Carol Vadnais assisted by Phil Esposito and Ed Westfall | 2 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Brad Marchand assisted by Shawn Thornton and Blake Wheeler | 2 | 4 |
| GAME 6 | 1972 | 2011 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Tyler Seguin assisted by David Krejci and Nathan Horton | 0 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Milan Lucic assisted by Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara | 0 | 2 |
| GAME 7 | 1972 | 2011 |
| Goal scored by John Bucyk assisted by Bobby Orr and Terry O'Reilly | 1 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Andrew Ference assisted by Mark Recchi and Chris Kelly | 1 | 1 |
| Goal scored by John Bucyk assisted by Derek Sanderson and Dallas Smith | 2 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Mark Recchi assisted by Dennis Seidenberg and Chris Kelly | 2 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Zdeno Chara assisted by Tomas Kaberle and Blake Wheeler | 2 | 3 |
| Empty net goal scored by Matt Hunwick assisted by Dennis Seidenberg and Rich Peverley | 2 | 4 |
| THE 2011 BRUINS WIN THE SERIES 4-3 | ||
| MVP:Tim Thomas with 4 Wins and a Shutout |
Friday, July 27, 2012
Matchup of the Day: 2009 Penguins vs 1992 Penguins
My whatifsports.com matchup of today showcases both Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby in an epic showdown between two very offensively powered Penguins teams. Who will come out on top?
| GAME 1 | 1992 | 2009 |
| Shorthanded - Mario Lemieux shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Kevin Stevens | 1 | 0 |
| Powerplay(2) - Goal scored by Sidney Crosby assisted by Alex Goligoski and Evgeni Malkin | 1 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Mario Lemieux assisted by Kevin Stevens and Rick Tocchet | 2 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Ron Francis assisted by Ulf Samuelsson and Gordie Roberts | 3 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Larry Murphy assisted by Joe Mullen and Phil Bourque | 4 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Mario Lemieux assisted by Kevin Stevens and Rick Tocchet. | 5 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Petr Sykora assisted by Chris Kunitz and Evgeni Malkin | 5 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Petr Sykora assisted by Chris Kunitz and Evgeni Malkin | 5 | 3 |
| GAME 2 | 1992 | 2009 |
| Goal scored by Mario Lemieux assisted by Rick Tocchet and Gordie Roberts | 1 | 0 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Sidney Crosby | 1 | 1 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin | 1 | 2 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Max Talbot assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby | 1 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Ulf Samuelsson assisted by Kevin Stevens and Rick Tocchet | 2 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Petr Sykora assisted by Chris Kunitz and Brooks Orpik | 2 | 4 |
| Goal scored by Chris Kunitz assisted by Sidney Crosby and Brooks Orpik | 2 | 5 |
| Powerplay - Sidney Crosby shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Evgeni Malkin | 3 | 6 |
| Goal scored by Joe Mullen | 3 | 6 |
| Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin assisted by Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang | 3 | 7 |
| Goal scored by Kris Letang assisted by Miroslav Satan | 3 | 8 |
| Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin assisted by Petr Sykora. | 3 | 9 |
| GAME 3 | 1992 | 2009 |
| Goal scored by Joe Mullen | 1 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Mario Lemieux assisted by Larry Murphy and Grant Jennings | 2 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Chris Kunitz assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Hal Gill | 2 | 1 |
| Jordan Staal shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Miroslav Satan | 2 | 2 |
| Shorthanded - Goal scored by Mario Lemieux assisted by Kevin Stevens | 3 | 2 |
| Shorthanded - Goal scored by Mario Lemieux assisted by Kevin Stevens and Ulf Samuelsson. | 4 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Mark Recchi assisted by Larry Murphy | 5 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Petr Sykora assisted by Chris Kunitz and Evgeni Malkin | 5 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Kevin Stevens assisted by Mario Lemieux | 6 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Bill Guerin assisted by Ruslan Fedotenko | 6 | 4 |
| GAME 4 | 1992 | 2009 |
| Goal scored by Kevin Stevens assisted by Mario Lemieux and Gordie Roberts | 1 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Jordan Staal assisted by Miroslav Satan and Brooks Orpik | 1 | 1 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Mark Recchi assisted by Gordie Roberts and Bob Errey | 2 | 1 |
| Powerplay - Evgeni Malkin shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Sergei Gonchar | 2 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Mario Lemieux assisted by Kevin Stevens and Gordie Roberts | 3 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Grant Jennings assisted by Mario Lemieux and Rick Tocchet | 4 | 2 |
| Kevin Stevens shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Paul Coffey | 5 | 2 |
| Powerplay - Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin assisted by Sidney Crosby and Alex Goligoski | 5 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Chris Kunitz assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora | 5 | 4 |
| Goal scored by Joe Mullen assisted by Paul Coffey and Phil Bourque | 6 | 4 |
| GAME 5 | 1992 | 2009 |
| Goal scored by Miroslav Satan assisted by Kris Letang | 0 | 1 |
| Goal scored by Petr Sykora assisted by Chris Kunitz | 0 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Evgeni Malkin assisted by Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang | 0 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Larry Murphy assisted by Kevin Stevens and Rick Tocchet | 1 | 3 |
| GAME 6 | 1992 | 2009 |
| Goal scored by Joe Mullen assisted by Larry Murphy | 1 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Kevin Stevens assisted by Mario Lemieux and Rick Tocchet | 2 | 0 |
| Goal scored by Chris Kunitz assisted by Sidney Crosby and Brooks Orpik | 2 | 1 |
| Kris Letang shoots and scores on the rebound assisted by Evgeni Malkin | 2 | 2 |
| Goal scored by Jordan Staal assisted by Matt Cooke and Mark Eaton | 2 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Rick Tocchet assisted by Kevin Stevens and Gordie Roberts | 3 | 3 |
| Goal scored by Phil Bourque assisted by Ulf Samuelsson and Bryan Trottier | 4 | 3 |
| Empty net goal scored by Bob Errey | 5 | 3 |
| THE 1992 PENGUINS WIN THE SERIES 4-2 | ||
| MVP: Mario Lemieux with 8 Goals and 3 Assists |
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Matchup of the Day: 1961 Blackhawks vs 2010 Blackhawks
| Using whatifsports.com and their NHL simulation, I set up a matchup between the 2010 Blackhawks and the 1961 Blackhawks, two Stanley Cup winning teams. Here is how the 7 game series played out: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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