Stats Corner | Sports Perspectives

STATS CORNER: PRICE AND HALAK COMPARED

February 13, 2010 By exposrip Leave a Comment

Two years ago, in response to an e-mail from someone at Faceoff-Factor about M-A Fleury’s poor start, I stated that:
There are very few 19-22 year old goal tenders (or players for that matter) in the league. For the most part players usually hit a peak at the age of 24 (players still get better each year until 30, but at a much slower rate). Most young goalies cannot compete with back-ups currently in the league so they’re relegated to the AHL until they are older. Here are a few of the young goalies I found. Pay attention to the development as opposed to comparing statistics (In Roy’s days 0.900 was great goaltending).Things have changed a little since then with:Mason, Backstrom, Rask, Pavelec and Varlamov also taking the #1 (or close) spots on the roster. Some are doing well while others are getting by.

I write this because Price continues to receive substantial amount of criticism from the Montreal media. This isn’t new in Montreal, they’ve been complaining about Price from day one. Prior to the 2009 playoffs these comments were quite common: “Will somebody please tell Bob Gainey to put Halak in nets before we are swept by Boston”. I’m not sure if Montreal fans expects every goalie they draft to be the next Roy, but you cannot expect the same performance from a 22 year Price as 25 year old Price (or 24 year old Halak). Further to that here’s

the data for Price and Halak.As a result of management’s insistence, Price has 126 games experience vs. Halak’s 80.

One important part of developing a NHL player is experience. Halak and Price are at near equal performance levels (despite the age gap) and it would be wise to invest in the player you have for another 4 years rather than the one you’ll lose in two (or sooner). Giving games to Price is a wise choice because he is and will be your number one for a while. Halak does not want to be a number two and will move on as soon as he can. Why Montreal is holding onto two young goalies doesn’t make sense to me. They really should choose one trade the other and get an experienced goalie to help Carey out.

That said, there’s no question in my mind that Price will have a better career (assuming no injury issues) compared to Halak and it doesn’t matter if you choose to measure performance based on games played, save percentage or wins or whatever else. Sure, there are growing pains, but overall Carey Price is a great goalie. However, Halak’s done a little better so far.

Filed Under: Featured Articles, Hockey, Stats Corner Tagged With: Carey Price, goalies, Hockey, Jaroslav Halak, Montreal Canadiens, NHL

Stats Corner: Competitive Balance For Basketball, Soccer And Hockey

January 6, 2010 By exposrip Leave a Comment

Ever wonder how what the percentage of countries who win international tournaments is relative to the number of members in a particular federation?

Though not.

Too bad. I’m still gonna write about it.

Specifically, I was interested in how many countries have actually won a tournament or (where applicable) earned a medal or reached as far as the semis (in the case of World Cup soccer). I selected basketball, hockey and soccer because those sports have high profile and wildly popular international tournaments. Continental tournaments were not included and only men’s senior teams were considered. I added the Olympics because most members of a federation usually participate in the Olympics. Unless they’ve gone rogue under the dictatorship of a villain bent on world domination and are hence a menace to the international system (and even then), they’re going to the Olympics.

Here we go:

FIBA: 213

Olympics: 15 countries (7%) have won a medal but only four (2%) have hogged the gold medal.

World Championships: 13 (6%) nations have won a medal and seven (3%) have won the tournament outright.

Overlap where countries have won both: 7 . For both competitions 21 countries (10%) have won medals – only seven (3%) have won. Just four (USA, Yugloslavia, Argentina and Soviet Union) have won both. Or if you prefer, just 10% of the members have won a medal. Only 3% have won one of the tournaments and 1% both.

It’s hard to win in basketball!

FIFA: 208

World Cup: 7 countries (3%) won the title. 11 (5%) reached finals while 24 (12%) hit the top four.

Olympics: 26 (13%) countries have won a medal; 16 (8%) of which won gold – including Canada!

Don’t forget the overlap: 19 different countries (9%) have won a gold and World Cup. 36 (17%) countries have reached the semis or earned a medal.

It’s hard to win in soccer!

IIHF: 64

Olympics: Six countries struck gold (9%) and 10 (16%) have been medalists.

World Championships: 8 (13%) have been golden and 11 (17%) winning a medal of some colour.

Overlap – 8 gold; 11 medals

I didn’t add the WJHC and World/Canada Cup because it wouldn’t have impacted the numbers much. It’s the same circle of countries who win in hockey with (seemingly) little chance for others to ever win. The hockey powers being: Canada, United States, Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland and Slovakia; with Switzerland winning the odd bronze here and there.

Nonetheless, you know what’s coming; it’s hard to win in hockey!

Overall, naturally, hockey has the smallest number of members whereas basketball (surprised?) has the highest. Both FIBA and FIFA have more members than the UN which currently stands at 192.

In each case, the number of championship teams is four to seven with the notable exception of Olympic soccer where 16 countries have won gold.

So next time you’re team doesn’t win, don’t be too hard on them. It’s hard to win anything in sports.

Filed Under: Featured Articles, Stats Corner

Stats Corner: Forgotten Stampeders Were Perfect In 1948

September 22, 2009 By exposrip Leave a Comment

A couple of years back, the New England Patriots came within whiskers of becoming the second team in NFL history to go undefeated after the ’72 Miami Dolphins. The Pats from Boston had to settle for going 18-1 with their only loss coming where it counts and hurts most: In the Super Bowl against the New York Giants.

Before the Super Bowl era, the ’34 and ’42 Chicago Bears flirted with perfection only to lose to the New York Giants (them again) and Washington Redskins. The legendary Cleveland Browns of the AAFC did go undefeated in 1948 with a 15-0 record. In fact, they won 27 games without recording a loss between 1947 and 1949.

stampsta 300x300 Stats Corner: Forgotten Stampeders Were Perfect In 1948

Perfection Canadian Style: '48 Stamps Celebrate Grey Cup Win

The talk and mystique of undefeated seasons really is restricted to football. Can you see any baseball, hockey or basketball pro team – 162, 82 and 82 game schedules respective not including the playoffs- going through a season without a loss? Of course not.If you have these visions, consider yourself delusional and seek help immediately. You have realism issues.

So it’s a football thing.

However, the Fish and Browns aren’t the only ones to have gone undefeated. In the CFL, the Calgary Stampeders did it in 1948 and for some reason are rarely, if ever, discussed. Marketing never was the CFL’s strong suit. Anyway, under the guidance of the great head coach Les Lear, the Stamps went 15-0. Today’s teams, by contrast, would be required to go 20-0 0r 21-0 (depending if you get a bye).

The closest any team has come to that mark is when the Edmonton Eskimos went 14-1-1 in 1981. In fact, the Esks have gone 14-2 three times in 1955, 1957 and 1979.

Close but no cigar.

For now, in the annals of perfection, the Miami Dolphins and Calgary Stampeders stand alone.

Image from Calgary Herald.

Filed Under: Football, Pro Football, Stats Corner Tagged With: Calgary Stampeders, CFL, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Edmonton Eskimos, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, NFL

Stats Corner: Breaking Down Dany Heatley

September 15, 2009 By exposrip 1 Comment

By Chris Boersma

“This is a straight hockey decision. I have nothing against the fans of Ottawa, or the city of Ottawa. I would like the opportunity to go somewhere where I can play to the best of my capabilities and be the player that I can be.” [Heatley]

I found the story about Heatley just a little bit troubling. As you are likely aware, several months ago Heatley requested to be traded. Ironically he had requested a no trade clause when he signed his extension meaning that Heatley would have to be consulted first before any trade could be made (that is to say Heatley would have to waive his no trade clause). There is a long list of comments in the article many of which are hoping that he ends up in their city.

However, I do not want him on my team: Vancouver. Or if you’re a fan of any team you shouldn’t want this player. I wish this article wasn’t about his character as a person, but Heatley from his past and now his present his actions show he is a selfish player off the ice, I assume these tendancies are seen on the ice, but I haven’t seen enough of him to know.

My complaint with Heatley is best summarized by Murray:

“We signed [Heatley] to a long-term deal and we expect him to honour it,” Murray said on Tuesday. “At this point in time he’s a Senator.”

I can only imagine what people would think, if they signed the best contractor to work on their house and two weeks into a 2 month project the guy comes to you and tells you that you just can’t get along and he wants to have his contract traded to a different home to do the same work.

You would be stuck trying to offload this crummy annoying contractor to someone else: who would want him? So my argument goes: by requesting a trade he is hurting his own value as a player, but more importantly he is hurting the value of his current contract with Ottawa and thereby hurting Ottawa the most. Certainly Ottawa would get a better trade offer if instead Heatley was traded when it best suited Ottawa not when it best suited Heatley.

Anyway to the main point. Heatley’s argument: I was relegated to smaller role on the team. “I want to be #1. No one is better than me!”

Does Heatley have a point or was Clouston redistributing talent to try to balance an unbalanced team? Well lets look at the breakdown:

What I find most enlightening is the “Team minus Heatley” numbers. Clouston improves scoring efficiency by 30% at even strength and 60% for the power play by shifting Heatley around without affecting Heatley’s offensive numbers (some even go up). There of course is not enough information to distinguish whether these results are correct or simply random variations.

However, these results do not surprise me. A while ago I did a study that absolute offense generally doesn’t change much as a result of small changes in ice time. It looks like Heatley might be a bit of a selfish player; caring about his own performance more than that of the team. That’s a guy I really want.

Even if Heatley is right, who wants a player who leaves as soon as things go south?

Filed Under: Hockey, Stats Corner Tagged With: Bryan Murray, Dany Heatley, Ottawa Senators, San Jose Sharks

Stats Corner: A Most Amazing Accomplishment

September 7, 2009 By exposrip 3 Comments

Some statistics are just that impressive.

Consider Derek Jeter who sits just three hits behind Lou Gehrig on the New York Yankees all-time list. Jeter has 2718 hits in 2115 at-bats while Gehrig needed 2164 to knock in his 2721. So Jeter will likely have done it in less at-bats – I doubt he’ll go into a severe slump.

Note: Figures above originally published in error: not at-bats but games played. We regret the error and the person responsible has been killed.

Jeter has had to surpass the likes of Babe Ruth (3rd), Mickey Mantle (4th), Joe DiMaggio (6th), Yogi Berra (8th); names revered in Yankees folklore.

His contemporary and team mate during the Yankees dynasty of the 1990s,, Bernie Williams, sits in a 5th spot with 2336. Imagine that.

If he stays healthy, Jeter will become the first Yankee to reach 3000 hits.

***

I was looking over the list of hit leaders by team and a couple hit me:

An American of French-Canadian heritage, Napoleon Lajoie remains the Cleveland Indians all-time leader with 2046. Lajoie played early in the 20th century, when it was still fashionable (I’m guessing) to name your kid Napoleon. Prior to this it was Charlemagne. I kid.

In any event, it’s been a long-time sits the Indians have had a new chief, cough, in town.

Another one that hit me – deliberate pun notwithstanding – was Ty Cobb’s 3900 hits for the Detroit Tigers. I know we should never say never but man, that’s going to be one tough record to crack.

It’s like the Edmonton Oilers and the records Wayne Gretzky owns.

I wonder how many more Roberto Clemente would have clocked. He’s the all-time Pittsburgh Pirates leader with 3000. These are rough times for the Pirates, what, with them having the most consecutive losing seasons with 17 of all the four major pro sports in North America. They passed the Philadelphia Phillies who held that record for 16 straight seasons from 1933-1948. Good times for Philadelphia, eh?

The all-time hits leader and eternally wallowing in baseball purgatory, Pete Rose leads the Cincinnati Reds with 3358.

dCtYca4o Stats Corner: A Most Amazing Accomplishment

T'es encore cool, Eli!

As for the Canadian (teams) Tony Fernandez leads with 1583 for the Toronto Blue Jays. That record should fall at some point. Too bad Roy Halladay can’t hit.

And my beloved Expos – now Nationals – were led by one of my favorite Expos ever Tim Wallach with 1694 hits.

Filed Under: Baseball, Stats Corner Tagged With: Babe Ruth, Bernie Williams, Cleveland Indians, Derek Jeter, Detroit Tigers, Edmonton Oilers, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, MLB, Montreal Expos, Napoleon Lajoie, New York Yankees, Pete Rose, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Roberto Clemente, Roy Halladay, Tim Wallach, Tony Fernandez, Toronto Blue Jays, Ty Cobb, Washington Nationals, Wayne Gretzky, Yogi Berra

Tiny Tidbits: Arguello, McNair, Wimbledon, Douches And The Confederations Cup

July 5, 2009 By exposrip Leave a Comment

***Man, it has not been a good July for boxing and football. First, Nicaraguan boxing legend Alexis Arguello allegedly commits suicide and then former Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Steve McNair was violently slain in his home.

180px 82oct Tiny Tidbits: Arguello, McNair, Wimbledon, Douches And The Confederations Cup

Arguello: Prolific punching power

Nicknamed “The Explosive Thin Man,” Arguello, 57, was a former WBA Featherweight, WBC Super Featherweight and WBC Lightweight champion won between 1974 and 1983. He was considered to be pound for pound one of the most vicious fighters of his time , ranked 20th in Ring Magazine’s top 100 punchers of all time.

An extremely popular athlete who helped stabilize the Titans organization, Steve McNair had a solid career leading the Titans within whiskers (literally one yard) of sending the 2000 Super Bowl into overtime in what is perhaps one of the most painfully memorable “coming up short” moment in football (even sports) history. The famous play took place with 48 seconds left to play when McNair threw a complete pass to Kevin Dyson who was tackled just short of the end zone. The St.Louis Rams prevailed in that game 23-16.

In his career, McNair through for 31 304 yards, 174 TD’s and 119 interceptions with a 82.8 QB rating. He was also a co-MVP winner in 2003. McNair was 36.

Sad stuff.

*** Let’s see. Oh, Roger Federer won his 15th Grand Slam and 6th Wimbledon title after an epic five-set, four-plus marathon against Andy Roddick. Federer finally broke Roddick in the final set winning it 16-14. With his 15th title, Federer surpasses Peter Sampras on the all-time list. We can leave “who’s the greatest ever” debate for another time.

What a weirdo and creep

***Bernie Eccelstone is a douche. Here, read this. And come back here. What a prize, right? And these guys make so much money. How in this world anyone on any intellectual or spiritual level can cite Hitler and Hussein as “getting things done” or being able “to control” is beyond me. Very disturbing that a person in his position can think this way. If you think this way, you’re a douche as well. More sad stuff indeed.

F1 got rid of one idiot and now needs to purge itself of another.

***Ottawa Senators forward Dany Heatley is a douche as well – albeit a far less reprehensible one in comparison to Eccelstone. Heatley decided he wanted to be traded. It was going to be hard to move his fat contract but the Edmonton Oilers came knocking. It seemed like a win-win situation until Heatley refused to waive his no-trade clause. Let me see if I get this straight Dany boy, you ask to be traded and then nix it because you don’t like the destination? bent. I don’t mean to remind you since it’s a painful memory, but you do realize you’re lucky to be playing hockey, right?

*** La Tour de France is under way. Of course, coming into the race, all eyes and eyes were focused on Lance Armstrong. Armstrong, who finished 53rd at the Giro d’Italia, currently sits in 10 spot overall after two stages. Fabian Cancellara is the yellow jersey holder. Re Armstrong, will the French doping authorities leave him alone?

***Rob Hughes weighs in with this piece about Italy’s early exit at the Confederations Cup (Confederawhat to some) tournament. The United States provided the biggest shock after they beat Spain 2-0 thus ending Spain’s 35 game unbeaten streak. Both Italy and the U.S. should have a sense of what their teams are like in preperation for the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. Italy coach Marcello Lippi must make some adjustments (Sebastian Giovinco, Mario Balotelli and Robert Aquafresca each impressed at the U-21 UEFA championships and most certainly deserve a fair shot at the senior national team).

2847372483 olympics beijing olympic games 2008 200x300 Tiny Tidbits: Arguello, McNair, Wimbledon, Douches And The Confederations Cup

Giovinco: He belongs.

The Americans always knew they had character. It’s just that they never could convert it to wins against heavyweight soccer powers. After the Spain win, they took a stunning 2-0 lead into the second half in the final against mighty Brazil. That lead soon evaporated as Brazil scored three unanswered goals for a 3-2 victory. If anything, the Americans need to learn how to hold on to leads. Landon Donovan in particular played excellent-ly and even mustered enough chutzpah to blast David Beckham in his book. Poor David Posh, all marketing and no heart.

As for Spain and Brazil, I wouldn’t worry if I were Spain. And I would be cautious in anointing Brazil as the main favorites in 2010. Quite frankly, any number of nations are legitimate contenders but one still has to put Spain ahead based on recent form. But a lot can happen until the World Cup.

The Confederations Cup is a minor tournament but a good one to use as preperation for nations. Enjoy it for what it is.

Filed Under: Basketball, Hockey, More Sports, Motor Racing, Pro Football, Soccer, Stats Corner, Tennis Tagged With: Alexis Arguello, Andy Roddick, Baltimore Ravens, Bernie Eccelstone, Boxing, Brazil, Confederations Cup, Dany Heatley, Edmonton Oilers, England, Formula One, Giro d'Italia, Italy, Kevin Dyson, Landon Donovan, NFL, NHL, Nicaragua, Ottawa Senators, Pete Sampras, Ring Magazine, Roger Federer, Sebastian Giovinco, Spain, St. Louis Rams, Steve McNair, Super Bowl, Tennessee Titans, Tennis, Tour de France, United States, Wimbledon

Stats Corner: Looking At Garret Anderson

June 27, 2009 By exposrip 1 Comment

I caught the last inning of the Braves/Red Sox game today. De Sawx won 1-zippo.

But I don’t care about that so much. What interested me is a comment made by Thom Brennanananman about Garret Anderson. Something to the effect of “he’s been one of the best hitters in all of baseball over the last 15 years”.

I was bored and decided to check out Garret’s shtatishtics.

In a career mostly played in Anaheim with the Angels (he’s now with Atlanta), he’s been a .296 hitter. He’s slugged .467 with an OBP of . 327. He has 275 career HRs.

They’re alright I guess. But the “among the best”?

Really?

Shoot, his OPS is a very average .793.

Filed Under: Baseball, Stats Corner Tagged With: Anaheim Angels, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Garret Anderson, MLB

Stats Corner: Top Performing NHL Goalies

June 24, 2009 By exposrip Leave a Comment

By Chris Boersma; Hockey Numbers.

I have been compiling goaltending data since 2003-2004 and felt now was a good time to join it all together in one large database so I can produce statistics that you see below. The tables below include data from playoffs and regular season from ~~2003-2004~~ 2005-2006 to 2008-2009 ~~(excluding the 2003-2004 playoffs)~~. The database contains over 300,000 shots in over 6000 games.

Top 10 – Total Shots Against.

N	Name	SQN	SV	S	G	EG	D
1	Miikka Kiprusoff	0.907	0.912	9208	808	830	22
2	Roberto Luongo	0.917	0.919	8923	723	835	112
3	Martin Brodeur	0.912	0.918	8223	678	738	60
4	Ryan Miller	0.902	0.913	8201	717	705	-12
5	Henrik Lundqvist	0.916	0.916	8060	680	778	98
6	Tomas Vokoun	0.919	0.921	7513	597	709	112
7	Marc-andre Fleury	0.905	0.909	7505	682	688	6
8	Marty Turco	0.903	0.905	7500	713	707	-6
9	Cam Ward	0.909	0.905	7329	693	728	35
10	Tim Thomas	0.916	0.919	7167	580	665	85

Top 10 – Goals Prevented.

N	Name	SQN	SV	S	G	EG	D
1	Tomas Vokoun	0.919	0.921	7513	597	709	112
2	Roberto Luongo	0.917	0.919	8923	723	835	112
3	Henrik Lundqvist	0.916	0.916	8060	680	778	98
4	Tim Thomas	0.916	0.919	7167	580	665	85
5	Cristobal Huet	0.916	0.919	5454	444	507	63
6	Martin Brodeur	0.912	0.918	8223	678	738	60
7	Dominik Hasek	0.918	0.915	3898	332	390	58
8	Jonas Hiller	0.927	0.926	2303	171	225	54
9	J.S. Giguere	0.910	0.913	6738	588	630	42
10	Niklas Backstrom	0.913	0.922	5030	391	431	40

Top 10 – Save Percentage (+3000 shots)

N	Name	SQN	SV	S	G	EG	D
1	Niklas Backstrom	0.913	0.922	5030	391	431	40
2	Tomas Vokoun	0.919	0.921	7513	597	709	112
3	Cristobal Huet	0.916	0.919	5454	444	507	63
4	Roberto Luongo	0.917	0.919	8923	723	835	112
5	Tim Thomas	0.916	0.919	7167	580	665	85
6	Martin Brodeur	0.912	0.918	8223	678	738	60
7	Henrik Lundqvist	0.916	0.916	8060	680	778	98
8	Dominik Hasek	0.918	0.915	3898	332	390	58
9	Manny Fernandez	0.913	0.915	3557	304	334	30
10	Ilja Bryzgalov	0.905	0.914	5635	487	495	8

Top 10 – Shot Quality Neutral Save Percentage (+3000 shots)

N	Name	SQN	SV	S	G	EG	D
1	Tomas Vokoun	0.919	0.921	7513	597	709	112
2	Dominik Hasek	0.918	0.915	3898	332	390	58
3	Roberto Luongo	0.917	0.919	8923	723	835	112
4	Cristobal Huet	0.916	0.919	5454	444	507	63
5	Henrik Lundqvist	0.916	0.916	8060	680	778	98
6	Tim Thomas	0.916	0.919	7167	580	665	85
7	Niklas Backstrom	0.913	0.922	5030	391	431	40
8	Manny Fernandez	0.913	0.915	3557	304	334	30
9	Martin Brodeur	0.912	0.918	8223	678	738	60
10	J.S. Giguere	0.910	0.913	6738	588	630	42

All the data for all goalies can be found here.
SQN – shot quality neutral save percentage – a save percentage that adjusts for the difficulty of the shots (If a goalie faces a lot of easier shots then their SQN will be lower than their save percentage. Similarly, if a goalie faces more difficult shots (rebounds, powerplay, etc.) they will have a higher SQN than their Save percentage
SV – Save percentage = 1-Goals/Shots
S – Shots against
G – Goals against
EG – Expected goals – The number of goals that should be scored against a goalie given how difficult the shot is to stop.
D = EG – G – Goals Prevent – how many goals a goalie stopped compared to how many you would expect him to stop.

Pic from custode.com

Filed Under: Hockey, Stats Corner Tagged With: goalies, NHL

Stats Corner: Carrying Offensive Loads

June 7, 2009 By exposrip Leave a Comment

I was curious about something. With everyone talking about how Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin (soon to be joined by Ryan Getzlaf?) being the future of hockey, I took a peek at what percentage of their respective team’s goal output they represented over the last couple of seasons. Before I disclose the results, here’s a list of select players and their results. I only considered players who were in the top 10 in scoring during their careers (number in brackets next to each name) starting with the 1949-50 season. Obviously, this will have an impact on the percentage alongside various factors like injuries and line mates. Nevertheless, I simply calculated the numbers.

Wayne Gretzky (16) .46 – Incredibly consistent.
Mario Lemieux (10).45 – Played in a clutch and grab era and dealt with injuries.
Eric Lindros (3).43 – Averaged 1.1. ppg in his injury riddled career.
Jaromir Jagr (9).41 – One of the most dominating players of his generation.
Pavel Bure (4) .41 – Electrifying – and under rated. Another player plagued by injuries.
Marcel Dionne (8).41 – Unfortunate he never got to hoist the Cup.
Andy Bathgate (9).40 – Hart trophy winner in 1959.
Joe Sakic (9).39 – Captain Canada never won the Art Ross during a brilliant career.
Steve Yzerman (6) .39 – From dreadful Dead Wings to helping orchestrate its dynasty.
Gordie Howe (20) .38 – 20 top 10 finishes!
Phil Esposito (10) .37 – One of the greatest point producers ever.
Stan Mikita (9) .37 – 22 years: All with the Blackhawks.
Peter Stastny (6) .37 – Sometimes regarded as the second best player of his era: Behind 99.
Guy Lafleur (6) .36 – Lafleur’s six peak years were small compared to some but he made it count.
Bobby Hull (11) .36 – He and Mikita led the Blackhawks (then Black Hawks) to last Cup in 1961.
Mike Bossy (8).35 – Greatest pure scorer ever?
Maurice Richard (11).34 – Greatest pure scorer ever?
Bryan Trottier (6) .34 – Stan Fischler and Al Arbour once thought he was the best player in hockey.
Ron Francis (5) .34 – Didn’t reach a top 10 until 1994-95.
Bobby Clarke .34 - Won the Hart trophy three times.
Jean Beliveau (12) .33 – One of the greatest centers of all-time.
Mark Messier (6).33 – 1 887 points. Second all-time behind 99. No Art Ross trophy.