NHL history full of big scoring seasons wasted
When Wayne Gretzky scored the record-breaking 92 goals — the same season in which he had 50 in 39 games — the Edmonton Oilers did not advance beyond the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
When Teemu Selanne and Alex Mogilny scored 76 goals apiece 31 years ago — the most recent players to score more than 70 goals in an NHL season — they both played for teams that didn’t advance beyond the opening round of the playoffs.
When Phil Esposito scored 76 goals, Lanny Mcdonald scored 66 and Alexander Ovechkin scored 65 in their top scoring seasons, none of their teams made it to the second round of the playoffs.
And when Auston Matthews scored 60 goals and won the Hart Trophy just two seasons back, the Maple Leafs were eliminated in the opening round.
Goal-scoring numbers are wonderful to celebrate and easily appreciated, especially in this season in which Matthews
is putting on his own tour de force. He may do the impossible and score 70 goals. He may even wind up as the Hart winner.
And based on the history of the greatest scorers in the game, it may not mean anything when it matters most.
No doubt, Gretzky’s four Stanley Cup-winning seasons mean more to him than the 92-goal year. No doubt, Esposito’s Stanley Cups and the victory over the Soviet Union in 1972 mean more than his 76 goals.
The years that mean the most to Selanne and Mogilny were those spent with others teams, seasons in which they won championships.
Matthews is scoring at 54goal pace since entering in the NHL, which is mind-boggling by itself. But he’s scoring at only a 36-goal pace in the post-season, with a personal playoff series record won-lost record of 1-7.
That’s what has to change between now and May.
THIS AND THAT
Toronto is an odd sports town. It isn’t a blue-collar city but it seems to love bluecollar athletes. It falls in love with Tie Domi and Darcy Tucker, with John Mcdonald at shortstop for the Blue Jays and Jerome Williams banging the boards with the Raptors. Yet, it’s not necessarily in love with the magnificently skilled Mitch Marner, who has contributed greatly to Matthews’ goal scoring. You watch: If Bobby Mcmann continues to bang and crash and contribute for the Leafs, he will become the new favourite, without fighting, in the Domi-tucker mode … If Matthews scores 70 goals, he will win the Hart Trophy. I have heard that said many times in recent weeks. I don’t necessarily agree. The candidates are so strong this season. Leading scorer Nikita Kucherov has 36 more points than anyone else the Tampa Bay Lightning. David Pastrnak has 30 more points than anyone else in Boston. Matthews has one point more than William Nylander. Those numbers have to mean something … Six times in his career, Mats Sundin had at least 20 points more than anyone else on his Leafs team. The highest difference was 34 points … Two lucky aspects of my career: I got to cover some of Mike Bossy’s 50-in-50 season in 1981, with Don Lever shadowing him, and a few games of the Gretzky 50-in-39 run one year later … When Bob Johnson was coaching in the NHL, he figured the best way to shut down Gretzky was to ignore him. This came after years of trying to shadow him. Instead of shadowing Gretzky, Johnson chose to shadow linemate Jari Kurri instead. The strategy worked at the time … If NHL hockey can’t sustain itself in Winnipeg, then commissioner Gary Bettman will have no choice but to move the team to one of the many American cities that could. The Jets have the wealthiest owner in the NHL. But losing money and trending in the wrong direction isn’t the way to go. Bettman will fight forever to keep hockey in money-losing Arizona. And while he’s fought for Edmonton and Calgary before, we’re not sure he has it in him to do it one more time in Canada.