Gretzorr in the past

We've pretty well established a TPAK value of around 7.00 as the Gretkzy/Orr threshold, the type of number that only one of the absolute best players of all time can reach. You can't really fluke a season that good, and you have to be in the upper stratosphere of historic hockey talent to produce at such a level on a regular basis, someone like Wayne Gretzky or Bobby Orr.

All this talk about recent players is leaving a bad taste in my mouth, though. Let's look at some golden oldies. Are there any players who produced at a Gretzorr level in the early years of hockey history? Here are the best seasons, as measured by TPAK, up to 1927/28.

Player	Season	Club	League	Pos	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
BOWIE, Russell	1901	Montreal Victorias	CAHL	4	70	1400	11.4	-0.2	0.0	11.2	8.00
BOWIE, Russell	1903	Montreal Victorias	CAHL	4	70	1400	10.6	-0.2	-0.1	10.3	7.36
ROUTH, Havilland	1895	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	4	80	1600	12.0	-0.3	0.0	11.7	7.31
HOOPER, Art	1902	Montreal Winged Wheelers	CAHL	4	80	1600	11.3	-0.1	0.0	11.2	7.00
TRIHEY, Harry	1899	Montreal Shamrocks	CAHL	5	70	1400	9.6	-0.2	0.0	9.4	6.71
MALONE, Joe	1913	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	5	80	1600	10.0	0.9	-0.4	10.5	6.56
BOWIE, Russell	1905	Montreal Victorias	CAHL	4	80	1600	10.8	-0.2	-0.2	10.4	6.50
SMITH, Harry	1908	Pittsburgh Bankers	WPHL	5	67	1340	10.0	-1.4	0.0	8.6	6.42
MORENZ, Howie	1928	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	5	78	1560	9.6	0.8	-0.4	10.0	6.41
RUSSELL, Ernie	1907	Montreal Wanderers	ECAHA	5	72	1440	10.0	-0.3	-0.5	9.2	6.39
McGOLDRICK, Joe	1886	Montreal Crystals	MHT	9	80	1600	11.0	-0.8	0.0	10.2	6.38
TAYLOR, Fred	1918	Vancouver Millionaires	PCHA	4	80	1600	8.9	1.3	0.0	10.2	6.38
SMITH, Tommy	1913	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	7	76	1520	8.9	1.0	-0.3	9.6	6.32
BRADLEY, Reg	1892	Ottawa Generals	AHAC	7	80	1600	9.4	0.7	0.0	10.1	6.31
McDOUGALL, Bob	1896	Montreal Victorias	AHAC	7	60	1200	7.0	0.5	0.0	7.5	6.25
PHILLIPS, Tommy	1907	Kenora Thistles	MHL	6	80	1600	11.5	-0.9	-0.7	9.9	6.19
NIGHBOR, Frank	1917	Ottawa Senators	NHA	5	76	1520	7.6	2.0	-0.3	9.3	6.12
BOWIE, Russell	1900	Montreal Victorias	CAHL	4	70	1400	9.1	-0.5	0.0	8.5	6.07
SMITH, Tommy	1914	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	6	80	1600	9.0	1.1	-0.4	9.7	6.06
SMITH, Harry	1906	Ottawa Senators	ECAHA	6	64	1280	8.5	-0.2	-0.6	7.7	6.02
McNAUGHTON, Archie	1890	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	4	80	1600	9.6	0.0	0.0	9.6	6.00
CAMPBELL, Jack	1888	Montreal Victorias	AHAC	2	80	2000	9.1	2.8	0.0	11.9	5.95
McDOUGALL, Bob	1897	Montreal Victorias	AHAC	7	80	1600	9.0	0.4	0.0	9.4	5.88

The appearance of Russell "Dubby" Bowie at the top of the list should come as little surprise to any versed in hockey history. The Montreal Vics superstar rover, who played senior hockey from 1898/99 to 1909/10, is arguably the greatest natural goal-scorer of all time. But the five-time "major-league" goal-scoring champ is underrated today - people may realize he was pretty great, but not how great he really was.

Not only does he possess the top two seasons up to 1927/28, his best season (1900/01) is almost surely the greatest single-season performance ever. He's credited with a TPAK of 8.00, but this is just an arbitrary figure. Knowing that Wayne Gretzky's performances are around 7.00, there's no way anyone could be too far above that, even in a relatively short season such as this (eight games, though bear in mind Bowie was playing 60 minutes per game). The actual calculations have Bowie with a TPAK of close to 9, but I rejiggered it to 8.00 to be more reasonable.

Bowie led the Canadian Amateur Hockey League (CAHL) in 1900/01 with 24 goals, despite his missing one of his team's eight matches. The next-best player had 10 goals. Hall-of-Fame forwards like Harry Trihey, Art Farrell, Rat Westwick, Bruce Stuart and Blair Russel could manage no more than 10 goals, yet Bowie put in 24. Bowie scored more goals than the entire Quebec hockey club did. Like Gretzky and Orr at their best, Bowie was playing the game at a different level.

Havilland Routh and Art Hooper also pass the Gretzky-Orr threshold, but only for a single season each.  Bowie possessing three of the top seven seasons here demonstrates that his appearance at the top of the list is no fluke. He had three seasons that were better than anything Howie Morenz or Cyclone Taylor ever did. It doesn't matter how great you believe Russell Bowie was; you're probably still underrating him.