Catching Up on Some Numbers

Since we've started looking at career Point Allocation records for some players, we should catch up with the players previously discussed here who haven't had their records published. Don't forget to refer to this post to get an idea of the scale of TPAK rates: above 5.0 are the superstars, above 4.0 are the elite players. Zero is defined as a replacement-level player (in terms of the modern NHL).

Tom Paton

Season	Club	League	Position	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1885	Montreal Winged Wheelers	MWC	G	80	4800	0.0	20.2	0.0	20.2	4.21
1886	Montreal Winged Wheelers	MHT	G	65	3871	0.0	3.3	0.0	3.3	0.85
1887	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	G	22	1267	0.0	-1.6	0.0	-1.6	-1.26
1888	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	G	80	4800	0.0	22.7	0.0	22.7	4.73
1889	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	G	80	4800	0.0	24.9	0.0	24.9	5.19
1890	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	G	80	4800	0.0	22.2	0.0	22.2	4.63
1891	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	G	70	4200	0.0	20.8	0.0	20.8	4.95
1892	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	G	64	3840	0.0	13.9	0.0	13.9	3.62
1893	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	G	80	4800	0.0	22.1	0.0	22.1	4.60
Career				621	37178	0.0	148.5	0.0	148.5	3.99

James Stewart

Season	Club	League	Position	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1884	Montreal Crystals	MWC	1	27	675	-0.9	4.4	0.0	3.5	5.19
1885	Montreal Crystals	MWC	1	27	675	-0.5	0.6	0.0	0.1	0.15
1886	Montreal Crystals	MHT	1	60	1500	-1.3	8.3	0.0	7.0	4.67
1887	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	53	1325	-0.8	4.7	0.0	3.9	2.94
1888	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	80	2000	-1.6	10.2	0.0	8.6	4.30
1889	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	80	2000	-0.3	8.6	0.0	8.3	4.15
1890	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	80	2000	-1.1	8.3	0.0	7.2	3.60
1891	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	80	2000	0.0	11.2	0.0	11.2	5.60
1892	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	48	1200	-0.3	1.7	0.0	1.4	1.17
1893	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	70	1750	0.2	7.9	0.0	8.1	4.63
1894	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	32	800	0.5	3.8	0.0	4.3	5.38
Career				637	15925	-6.1	69.7	0.0	63.6	3.99

Allan Cameron

Season	Club	League	Position	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1885	Montreal Crystals	MWC	9	27	540	-0.9	-0.8	0.0	-1.7	-3.15
1886	Montreal Crystals	MHT	2	80	2000	-1.0	9.6	0.0	8.6	4.30
1887	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	2	53	1325	-0.2	4.4	0.0	4.2	3.17
1888	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	2	57	1425	-1.8	5.7	0.0	3.9	2.74
1889	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	2	69	1725	-0.5	7.8	0.0	7.3	4.23
1890	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	2	70	1750	1.4	5.5	0.0	6.9	3.94
1891	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	2	60	1500	1.6	6.9	0.0	8.5	5.67
1892	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	2	16	400	-0.1	0.6	0.0	0.5	1.25
1893	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	2	80	2000	0.9	8.4	0.0	9.3	4.65
1894	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	1	56	1400	0.2	7.2	0.0	7.4	5.29
1895	Montreal Winged Wheelers	AHAC	21	70	1750	-0.4	5.7	0.0	5.3	3.03
Career				638	15815	-0.8	61.0	0.0	60.2	3.81

Jack Campbell

Season	Club	League	Position	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1884	Montreal Wanderers	MWC	9	27	540	-1.0	-0.4	0.0	-1.4	-2.59
1885	Montreal Footballers	MWC	2	27	675	-0.9	0.5	0.0	-0.4	-0.59
1887	Montreal Victorias	AHAC	2	80	2000	4.2	5.4	0.0	9.6	4.80
1888	Montreal Victorias	AHAC	2	80	2000	9.1	2.8	0.0	11.9	5.95
1889	Montreal Victorias	AHAC	2	64	1600	-0.2	3.0	0.0	2.8	1.75
1890	Montreal Victorias	AHAC	2	80	2000	1.4	4.7	0.0	6.1	3.05
1891	Montreal Victorias	AHAC	2	20	500	-0.3	0.4	0.0	0.1	0.20
Career				378	9315	12.3	16.4	0.0	28.7	3.08

Horace Gaul

Season	Club	League	Position	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1905	Ottawa Senators	FAHL	5	10	200	0.8	0.0	0.0	0.8	4.00
1906	Brooklyn Skaters	AAHL	9	10	200	0.0	-0.1	0.0	-0.1	-0.50
1907	Pittsburgh HC	IHL	7	60	1200	1.0	2.0	-0.5	2.5	2.08
1908	Renfrew Creamery Kings	UOVHL	7	80	1600	1.0	1.8	-0.2	2.6	1.63
1908	Brockville HC	FAHL	7	20	400	1.7	-0.3	0.0	1.4	3.50
1909	Haileybury Miners	TPHL	7	80	1600	1.7	0.5	-0.9	1.3	0.81
1909	Pittsburgh Duquesnes	WPHL	7	27	540	-0.6	-0.2	0.0	-0.8	-1.48
1910	Haileybury Miners	NHA	7	80	1600	4.6	1.2	-0.8	5.0	3.13
1911	Berlin Dutchmen	OPHL	4	25	500	-0.4	0.0	0.0	-0.4	-0.80
1911	Ottawa Senators	NHA	5	15	300	-0.9	0.9	-0.2	-0.2	-0.67
1912	New Glasgow Cubs	MPHA	7	71	1420	-0.2	2.7	-0.5	2.0	1.41
1913	Toronto Tecumsehs	NHA	7	68	1360	0.8	2.1	-0.7	2.2	1.62
Career				546	10920	9.5	10.6	-3.8	16.3	1.49

Harry Smith

Season	Club	League	Position	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1905	Smiths Falls Mic-Macs	OHA	5	80	1600	10.0	-1.8	-0.8	7.4	4.63
1906	Ottawa Senators	ECAHA	6	64	1280	8.5	-0.2	-0.6	7.7	6.02
1907	Ottawa Senators	ECAHA	5	72	1440	4.9	0.4	-1.0	4.3	2.99
1908	Pittsburgh Bankers	WPHL	5	67	1340	10.0	-1.4	0.0	8.6	6.42
1909	Haileybury Miners	TPHL	5	80	1600	7.4	-0.8	-0.3	6.3	3.94
1909	Pittsburgh Bankers	WPHL	5	37	740	2.9	-0.4	0.0	2.5	3.38
1909	Montreal Wanderers	ECHA	5	27	540	2.0	0.5	-0.4	2.1	3.89
1910	Cobalt Silver Kings	NHA	7	53	1060	5.4	-0.2	-0.4	4.8	4.53
1910	Haileybury Miners	NHA	5	20	400	0.9	0.3	0.0	1.2	3.00
1911	Waterloo Colts	OPHL	5	61	1220	1.1	-0.2	0.0	0.9	0.74
1912	Schreiber Colts	NOHL	65	65	1300	7.8	-0.7	-0.4	6.7	5.15
1913	Toronto Tecumsehs	NHA	5	60	1200	2.6	1.0	-0.6	3.0	2.50
1914	Ottawa Senators	NHA	5	12	240	0.4	0.4	-0.2	0.6	2.50
Career				698	13960	63.9	-3.1	-4.7	56.1	4.02

Hall of Famers from the Earliest Years

In a previous post I wrote that players from the earliest days of organized hockey have largely been left out of the Hall of Fame, not because they are undeserving, but because those voting players into the Hall were unfamiliar with them. The 1890s (and before) have more to offer than Graham Drinkwater, Dan Bain and Mike Grant.

This is one issue that historical Point Allocation results can really help us address. We can use Point Allocation records to develop a career rating system, to determine who likely merits induction into the Hall of Fame. There's no way to develop a definitive answer, of course. On top of the flaws inherent in numerical player valuation systems such as Point Allocation, there's also the balance between peak value and career value to be considered. What's better: having a few truly exceptional seasons, or having a lengthy career full of merely very good seasons? There's no one answer to that question.  As such, we have to strike an arbitrary balance between these two aspects of a player's career, something that seems right while bearing in mind we can never get it objectively right.

The Hall of Fame by Point Allocation system (HOFPA, or "Jimmy"), is made up of four parts:

1. The player's Total Points Allocated per Thousand Minutes (TPAK), for his senior-level career, times five.

2. The player's single-season best TPAK, times four.

3. The sum of the player's five best seasons by TPAK.

4. The player's career TPAK times his senior-level effective games played, divided by 120.

Add these up, and you get the HOFPA score. Let's have a look at the players whose careers were primarily in the 1890s to begin with, since we don't have any actual Hall-of-Famers from the 1880s. (The Hall? column indicates whether the player is currently in the Hall of Fame.)

1890s Players Meriting Induction

Rank	Player	Seasons	Position	Score	Hall?
1	McDougall, Bob	1894-1899	7	98.2	No
2	Bain, Dan	1895-1902	5	86.4	Yes
3	Grant, Mike	1894-1902	2	81.1	Yes
4	Swift, Dolly	1887-1899	45	78.7	No
5	Young, Weldy	1891-1899	2	78.0	No
6	Routh, Havilland	1892-1897	4	77.6	No
7	McKerrow, Clare	1896-1899	4	76.5	No
8	Howard, Atty	1891-1906	72	76.0	No

The player with the most notable career in the 1890s, by this method, is Montreal Victorias right winger Bob McDougall. Dan Bain and Mike Grant, who are both in the Hall, come next. They are good selections. The five remaining players on the above list should have been given good, long looks for the Hall, and should probably be in. (There is no realistic chance of them getting in now - the process for induction requires someone on the current committee to champion a player to even get them on the ballot, and no one really cares about players from this era anymore.)

All of the men mentioned here will get profiles on this site eventually. This post is just laying groundwork.

1890s Players Possibly Meriting Induction

Rank	Player	Seasons	Position	Score	Hall?
9	Armytage, Jack	1891-1901	45	74.8	No
10	Trihey, Harry	1898-1902	5	73.2	Yes
11	Davidson, Cam	1896-1900	5	71.1	No
12	Russell, Herb	1892-1902	62	70.6	No

Another 1890s Hall-of-Famer, Harry Trihey, is a maybe here. He's probably deserving, which means we should also include the Winnipeg Vics' Jack Armytage, who was essentially Dan Bain before there was a Dan Bain. I would personally draw the line below Trihey. This, of course, would exclude...

1890s Players Probably Not Meriting Induction

Rank	Player	Seasons	Position	Score	Hall?
13	Drinkwater, Graham	1893-1899	4	68.1	Yes
X	Farrell, Art	1897-1901	7	58.9	Yes

Drinkwater is certainly close enough that his selection is not a terrible one, seen through the lens of this method. Art Farrell, of course, wrote the first real hockey book (Hockey: Canada's Royal Winter Game), which I've quoted from frequently here. He played with Trihey on the mighty Shamrocks from the turn of the century, and his authorship made him a well-known name. Being a well-known name can often be enough to get you inducted when you played a long time ago, as we'll see as we get into later years.

So the Hall of Fame committee seems to have only produced one real false positive from the 1890s, but of course they also overlooked seven players who probably deserve the honour, including the single most outstanding player of the decade. They could have done much worse, but also so much better.

Now we can go back into the 1880s. As it turns out, there are really only three players from that decade to have the value and consistency required to rank highly by this system. They should be familiar names to regular readers by now:

1880s Players Meriting Induction

Rank	Player	Seasons	Position	Score	Hall?
1	Stewart, James	1884-1894	1	86.4	No
2	Cameron, Allan	1885-1895	2	86.1	No
3	Paton, Tom	1885-1893	G	84.5	No

We've discussed each of Stewart, Cameron and Paton before. It seems you can add "should-be Hall-of-Famers" to their resumes.

1880s Players Possibly Meriting Induction

Rank	Player	Seasons	Position	Score	Hall?
4	Arnton, Jack	1884-1890	19	64.9	No
5	Campbell, Jack	1885-1891	2	62.3	No
6	Hodgson, Billy	1885-1888	9	55.9	No

We've also talked about Jack Campbell. Although he had a very high peak value, said peak was very short, too short to merit real consideration for the Hall of Fame. These players are so far behind the three Winged Wheelers mentioned above that that triumvirate are the only deserving men from the 1880s.

In coming posts we'll look at the 1900s and 1910s in terms of Hall of Fame players as well. The committee did a better job with these later players, which makes a good deal of sense when you're relying solely on personal knowledge of the players involved.

The AAA's Defence

Previously I've written a bit about the Big Three on defence for the Montreal Winged Wheelers of the 1880s and early 1890s, a defensively dominant team: goaltender Tom Paton, point James Stewart and cover-point Allan Cameron. We know that Paton excelled not only at stopping the puck but especially at clearing it after a save; we known that Cameron was noted both for his transition game and his aggressive defence; and we know that while Stewart was less celebrated than the other two, he was still known as a top defender. However, we also saw a quote which called Stewart out for leaving his position in front of the goal too much, for not playing as a point should.

But it doesn't make much sense that this team, with a point that played out of position so often, would be able to prevent goals as well as they did. The point was the second-most important defensive position on the ice, and if he abandoned his position so much, that would cost his team goals. Unless, of course, leaving his post actually helped his team keep the puck out of the net...

I believe that Stewart's aggressiveness, relative to how the point position was "supposed" to be played at the time, was in fact a tactical choice, and one that was very effective. Cameron was known to challenge opponents, instead of waiting for them to come to him, and I suggest that Stewart did the same to great effect. This is from a game report in the March 8, 1892 edition of the Montreal Gazette:

Paton had many stops to make, nevertheless, but they were of the free and easy order and he cleverly drove the puck out of his territory. Stewart and Cameron swooped around after the puck in admirable style.

So both Cameron and Stewart went after the enemy puck-carriers (something points especially were not really expected to do). They did not play passively, allowing the opponents time to enter the zone and set up a combination play. I believe this is one of the main reasons the Winged Wheelers were so good at preventing goals: Cameron and Stewart were able to play aggressively, stripping the puck from opponents before they could make a play. Not everyone could do this, of course; you'd need the instincts and ability to pull it off.

This style of play, done effectively, was especially beneficial in the era that Stewart and Cameron played in. Why? Because there was no forward passing. When making an offensive rush, you had to stay behind the puck carrier to be eligible to receive a pass. So rushes were akin to what you see in rugby, with a line of forwards skating ahead. This is why the point played behind the cover-point rather than side-by-side like modern blueliners do; opponents came in using individual rushes, because they were not allowed to pass the puck ahead.

I believe this is also what allowed Cameron and Stewart to be so effective by being aggressive. If you challenged an enemy puck carrier, you were not in as much danger of getting into a bad position as you would be in the modern game, because if the opponent passed the puck before you get to him, he could at best do it laterally, and it will often be behind him. As such, if you could read the play quickly enough (which Cameron and Stewart surely could), when the opponent passed the puck you were be able to adjust your trajectory to intercept that player instead, because he simply could not be behind you.

As such, I think Cameron and especially Stewart were simply ahead of their time, realizing the advantage on defence that playing aggressively could bring. While some other defences waiting for puck carriers to come to them, the Winged Wheelers focused on stopping the opponents advances as soon as they could. And this is one reason they were so very good at keeping the puck out of the net.