Penalty-Killing Reliance - 2010-11

I took the goals allowed while short-handed and divided the number into total goals allowed. Phoenix had the highest percentage, while Florida had the lowest. What does that mean? I'm not too sure. My guess is that the Coyotes would be greatly improved if they picked up a penalty-killer or two. Here's the complete list:

Team – PPGA – GA – Pct.
Anaheim – 57 – 235 – 24.2
Atlanta – 64 – 269 – 23.8
Boston – 46 – 195 – 23.6
Buffalo – 51 – 229 – 22.2
Calgary – 53 – 237 – 22.4
Carolina – 51 – 239 – 21.3
Chicago – 53 – 225 – 23.6
Colorado – 75 – 288 – 26.0
Columbus – 62 – 258 – 24.0
Dallas – 55 – 233 – 23.6
Detroit – 53 – 241 – 22.0
Edmonton – 74 – 269 – 27.5
Florida – 41 – 229 – 17.9
Los Angeles – 40 – 198 – 20.2
Minnesota – 53 – 233 – 22.7
Montreal – 51 – 209 – 24.4
Nashville – 41 – 194 – 21.1
New Jersey – 40 – 209 – 19.1
N.Y. Islanders – 52 – 264 – 19.7
N.Y. Rangers – 42 – 198 – 21.2
Ottawa – 48 – 250 – 19.2
Philadelphia – 54 – 223 – 24.2
Phoenix – 64 – 226 – 28.3
Pittsburgh – 45 – 199 – 22.6
San Jose – 56 – 213 – 26.3
St. Louis – 51 – 234 – 21.8
Tampa Bay – 49 – 240 – 20.4
Toronto – 62 – 251 – 24.7
Vancouver – 45 – 185 – 24.3
Washington – 43 – 197 – 21.8

That's all the categories from last season. I'll have to think up some more before getting to April. Thanks for reading.

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Most Points Ahead of Second Place in Overall Standings

Vancouver had a 10 point margin in 2010-11, not enough to crack this list:

Team – Year – Pts.
Detroit Red Wings - 1995-96 - 27
Boston Bruins - 1929-30 - 26
Montreal Canadiens - 1943-44 - 25
Montreal Canadiens - 1955-56 - 24
Detroit Red Wings - 1951-52 - 22
Montreal Canadiens - 1976-77 - 20
Montreal Canadiens - 1957-58 - 19
Montreal Canadiens - 1958-59 - 18
Chicago Blackhawks - 1966-67 - 17
Boston Bruins - 1938-39 - 16

Montreal Canadiens - 1977-78 - 16
Detroit Red Wings - 1952-53 - 15
Edmonton Oilers - 1983-84 - 15
Detroit Red Wings - 2001-02 - 15
Montreal Canadiens - 1944-45 - 13
Montreal Canadiens - 1959-60 - 13
Montreal Canadiens - 1961-62 - 13
Montreal Canadiens - 1972-73 - 13
Boston Bruins - 1970-71 - 12
Detroit Red Wings - 1949-50 - 11
Detroit Red Wings - 2005-06 - 11

At the other end, Edmonton was only six points out of next to last:

Team - Year - Pts.
Chicago Blackhawks 1953-54 37
Quebec Nordiques 1989-90 33
New York Rangers 1943-44 26
Chicago Blackhawks 1950-51 26
Winnipeg Jets 1980-81 24
Boston Bruins 1961-62 22
Pittsburgh Pirates 1929-30 20
Los Angeles Kings 1969-70 20
California Seals 1973-74 20
Washington Capitals 1974-75 20

Ottawa Senators 1993-94 20
Tampa Bay Lightning 1997-98 19
New York Rangers 1942-43 19
Oakland Seals 1967-68 19
New York Islanders 1972-73 18
New York Rangers 1952-53 17
Chicago Blackhawks 1951-52 16
New York Rangers 1959-60 15
Atlanta Thrashers 1999-00 15
Boston Bruins 1966-67 14
Detroit Red Wings 1985-86 14

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Goal-Scoring Leaders by Year of Birth

We have a couple of new leaders here, one by a big year, one by a mistake by me. Martin St. Louis, I'm sorry.

Year – Player – Goals
1882 – Joe Hall – 15; 1883 – Didier Pitre – 63; 1885 – Rusty Crawford – 10
1886 – Hamby Shore – 3; 1888 – Newsy Lalonde – 124; 1889 – Harry Mummery – 33
1890 – Joe Malone – 143; 1891 – Odie Cleghorn – 94; 1892 – Punch Broadbent – 122
1893 – Frank Nighbor – 137; 1894 – Corb Denneny – 103; 1896 – Bill Cook – 223
1897 – Cy Denneny – 246; 1898 – Babe Dye – 202; 1899 – Carson Cooper – 110

1900 – Bill Burch – 137; 1901 – Aurel Joliat – 270; 1902 – Nels Stewart – 324
1903 – Bun Cook – 158; 1904 – Cooney Wieland – 173; 1905 – Hooley Smith – 200
1906 – P. Thompson – 153; 1907 – Dit Clapper – 228; 1908 – Ceese Dillon – 167
1909 – Doc Romnes – 67; 1910 – Charlie Conacher – 225; 1911 – Busher Jackson – 241
1912 – Toe Blake – 235; 1913 – Bryan Hextall – 188; 1914 – Gord Drillon – 155

1915 – Syl Apps – 201; 1916 – Roy Conacher – 226; 1917 – Red Hamill – 128
1918 – Milt Schmidt – 229; 1919 – Edgar Laprade – 108; 1920 – Max Bentley – 244
1921 – Maurice Richard – 544; 1922 – Bill Quackenbush – 62; 1923 – Harry Watson – 236
1924 – Cal Gardner – 154; 1925 – Ted Lindsay – 379; 1926 – Bert Olmstead – 181
1927 – Red Kelly – 282; 1928 – Gordie Howe – 801; 1929 – Andy Hebenton – 189

1930 – George Armstrong – 296; 1931 – Jean Beliveau – 507; 1932 – Dean Prentice – 391
1933 – Camille Henry – 279; 1934 – Don McKenney – 237; 1935 – John Bucyk – 556
1936 – Henri Richard – 358; 1937 – Ralph Backstrom – 278; 1938 – Frank Mahovlich – 533
1939 – Bobby Hull – 610; 1940 – Stan Mikita – 541; 1941 – Rod Gilbert – 406
1942 – Phil Esposito – 717; 1943 – Yvan Cournoyer – 438; 1944 – Ken Hodge – 328

1945 – Jean Pronovost – 391; 1946 – Pete Mahovlich – 288; 1947 – Garry Unger – 413
1948 – Bobby Orr – 270; 1949 – Butch Goring – 375; 1950 – Gil Perreault – 512
1951 – Marcel Dionne – 731; 1952 – Steve Shutt – 424; 1953 – Lanny McDonald – 500
1954 – Danny Gare – 354; 1955 – Dave Taylor – 431; 1956 – Bryan Trottier – 524
1957 – Mike Bossy – 573; 1958 – Bobby Smith – 357; 1959 – Mike Gartner – 707

1960 – Dino Ciccarelli – 608; 1961 – Wayne Gretzky – 894; 1962 – Geoff Courtnall – 365
1963 – Dave Andreychuk – 640; 1964 – Brett Hull – 741; 1965 – Steve Yzerman – 692
1966 – Luc Robitaille – 668; 1967 – Vincent Damphousse – 432; 1968 – Mark Recchi – 563; 1969 – Brendan Shanahan – 656

1970 – Teemu Selanne – 636
1971 – Mats Sundin – 564
1972 – Jaromir Jagr – 646
1973 – Alex Kovalev – 428
1974 – Paul Kariya – 402

1975 – Martin St. Louis – 298
1976 – Milan Hejduk – 357
1977 – Jarome Iginla – 484
1978 – Olli Jokinen – 269
1979 – Marian Hossa – 388

1980 – Vincent Lecavalier – 351
1981 – Dany Heatley – 325
1982 – Marian Gaborik - 283
1983 – Ilya Kovalchuk - 369
1984 – Rick Nash – 259

1985 – Alex Ovechkin – 301
1986 – Evgeni Malkin – 158
1987 – Sidney Crosby – 215
1888 – Jonathan Toews - 115
1989 – Sam Gagner – 59

1990 – Steven Stamkos – 119
1991 – Matt Duchene – 51
1992 – Jeff Skinner - 31

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Playoff Series Leads

Time for the annual update of the most useful list on the site, at least at playoff time. What are the odds of a team coming back from 3-1 when they are the lower seed? About 6.3 percent, at least since 2004. Here is the list, with the "F" being the team with home-ice advantage in the seventh game:

Series – Favorite Wins
0 – 0: 65-45 - .590
1 – 0 F: 51 – 20 - .718
1 – 0 U: 14 – 20 - .412
1 – 1: 23 – 21 - .523
2 – 0 F: 39 - 6 – .867
2 – 0 U: 3 –13 - .188
2 – 1 F: 35 – 15 - .700
2 – 1 U: 12 – 15 - .444
2 – 2: 23 – 16 - .589
3 – 0 F: 19 – 1 – .950
3 – 0 U: 0 – 9 - .000
3 – 1 F: 31 – 5 - .861
3 – 1 U: 1- 15 - .063
3 – 2 F: 34 – 9 – .790
3 – 2 U: 3 – 17 - .150
3 – 3: 14 - 14– .500

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Parity Index

Take the winning percentage of the best team in the league (points/possible points), and compare it to the winning percentage of the league's worst team. The difference is the parity index, at least in my world.

Here are the biggest numbers since 1940:

Year – Best Team (Pct.) – Worst Team (Pct.) – Difference
1943-44 – Montreal (.830) – N.Y. Rangers (.170) - .670
1975-76 – Montreal (.794) – Washington (.200) - .594
1972-73 – Montreal (.769) – N.Y. Islanders (.192) - .577
1974-75 – Three teams (.706) – Washington (.131) - .575
1976-77 – Montreal (.825) – Detroit (.256) - .569
1992-93 – Pittsburgh (.708) – Two teams (.143) - .565
1995-96 – Detroit (.799) – Ottawa (.250) - .549
1977-78 – Montreal (.806) – Minnesota (.281) - .525
1983-84 – Edmonton (.744) – Pittsburgh (.239) - .505
1985-86 – Edmonton (.744) – Detroit (.250) - .494

By the way, the Canadiens went 7-0-1 against the Rangers in 1943-44. I wonder how the Rangers got the tie.

Now, the smallest numbers, which as you'd expect are dominated by the original six era:

Year – Best Team (Pct.) – Worst Team (Pct.) – Difference
1948-49 – Detroit (.625) – N.Y. Rangers (.392) - .233
1958-59 – Montreal (.650) – Detroit (.414) - .236
1949-50 – Detroit – (.629) – Chicago (.386) - .243
1947-48 – Toronto (.642) – Chicago (.383) - .259
1945-46 – Montreal (.610) – N.Y. Rangers (.350) - .260
1941-42 – N.Y. Rangers (.625) – Brooklyn (.365) - .260
1986-87 – Edmonton (.663) – Two teams (.400) - .263
1963-64 – Montreal (.607) – Boston (.343) - .264
1962-63 – Toronto (.586) – Boston (.321) - .265
2007-08 – Detroit (.701) – Two teams (.433) - .268

Now let's go back to the expansion era, starting in 1967. The big numbers:

Year – Best Team (Pct.) – Worst Team (Pct.) – Difference
1975-76 – Montreal (.794) – Washington (.200) - .594
1972-73 – Montreal (.769) – N.Y. Islanders (.192) - .577
1974-75 – Three teams (.706) – Washington (.131) - .575
1976-77 – Montreal (.825) – Detroit (.256) - .569
1992-93 – Pittsburgh (.708) – Two teams (.143) - .565
1995-96 – Detroit (.799) – Ottawa (.250) - .549
1977-78 – Montreal (.806) – Minnesota (.281) - .525
1983-84 – Edmonton (.744) – Pittsburgh (.239) - .505
1985-86 – Edmonton (.744) – Detroit (.250) - .494
1973-74 – Boston (.724) – California (.231) - .493

And the small numbers, which are filling in these days:

Year – Best Team (Pct.) – Worst Team (Pct.) – Difference
1986-87 – Edmonton (.663) – Two teams (.400) - .263
2007-08 – Detroit (.701) – Two teams (.433) - .268
1996-97 – Colorado (.652) – Boston (.372) - .280
2003-04 – Detroit (.664) – Pittsburgh (.354) - .310
1967-68 – Montreal (.635) – Oakland (.318) - .317
2002-03 – Ottawa (.689) – Carolina (.371) - .318
2009-10 – Washington (.658) – Edmonton (.337) - .321
2010-11 – Vancouver (.713) – Edmonton (.378) - .335
1987-88 – Calgary (.656) – Minnesota (.319) - .337
2008-09 – San Jose (.713) – N.Y. Islanders (.372) - .341

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Second-Place Finishes for Goals in a Season

Here are a couple of silly lists, from someone who made up a CD of his favorite songs that made it to #2 on the charts.

Gordie Howe did a lot of scoring over the years, and won titles. He also finished second in goals more than anyone else; Steven Stamkos was last season's runner-up:

Name – Number
Gordie Howe – 5
Frank Mahovlich- 4
Jaromir Jagr – 4
Mike Bossy – 3
Guy Lafleur – 3
Stan Mikita – 3
Roy Conacher – 3
10 tied at 2

Not much new for the list of biggest leads for the goal-scoring champion, either.

Leader – Year – Diff.
Brett Hull – 1990-91 – 35
Wayne Gretzky – 1983-84 – 31
Wayne Gretzky – 1981-82 – 28
Phil Esposito – 1970-71 – 25
Bobby Hull – 1965-66 – 22
Maurice Richard – 1944-45 – 18

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More Career Losses than Wins by Retired Goalies

Nothing new here. Ron Low remains the leader, a fine example of a decent goalie playing for bad teams:

Name – Difference
Ron Low – 101
Gary Smith - 88
Gilles Meloche - 81
Bill Beveridge – 79
Jeff Hackett – 78
Jim Rutherford – 76
Dunc Wilson – 70
Chuck Rayner - 70
Greg Millen - 69
Cesare Mantiago – 67

Marc Denis - 67
Al Rollins - 64
Joe Miller – 63
Pete LoPresti - 59
Michel Dion – 58
Roy Worters – 58
Kevin Weekes – 58
Denis Herron – 57
Mike Karakas – 55
Ron Tugnutt - 53

On the other side, the new entry to the list is Chris Osgood. He knocked Glenn Hall out of the top 20.

Osgood is going to be an interesting Hall of Fame candidate. He never seemed like one during much of his career ... but somebody won those games, as well as championships.

Name – Difference
Patrick Roy – 236
Ken Dryden – 201
Jacques Plante – 191
Chris Osgood - 185
Dominik Hasek - 166
Ed Belfour - 164
Andy Moog - 163
Gerry Cheevers – 128
Tony Esposito – 117
Terry Sawchuk – 117

Mike Vernon – 112
Grant Fuhr – 108
Curtis Joseph - 102
George Hainsworth – 101
Bill Durnan – 96
Tom Barrasso – 92
Pete Peeters – 91
Michel Laroque - 91
Tiny Thompson - 90
Ron Hextall – 82

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