Vezina v. Benedict

Quick one today. Who was better: Georges Vezina or Client Benedict?

Two very much contemporary goaltenders, both Hall-of-Famers, both rightly considered among the best of their time, or indeed any time. So who was better?

Well, we can have a look at what the Point Allocation system suggests, which certainly isn't the answer, but is an answer. And a good one at that.

Georges Vezina

Season	Club	League	Pos	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1911	Montreal Canadiens	NHA	G	80	4785	0.0	19.1	-0.1	19.0	3.97
1912	Montreal Canadiens	NHA	G	80	4800	0.0	20.3	-0.1	20.2	4.21
1913	Montreal Canadiens	NHA	G	80	4800	0.0	19.5	-0.1	19.4	4.04
1914	Montreal Canadiens	NHA	G	80	4788	0.0	20.1	-0.1	20.0	4.18
1915	Montreal Canadiens	NHA	G	80	4789	0.0	16.1	-0.1	16.0	3.34
1916	Montreal Canadiens	NHA	G	80	4800	0.0	20.9	0.0	20.9	4.35
1917	Montreal Canadiens	NHA	G	80	4800	0.0	19.4	0.0	19.4	4.04
1918	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	20.3	0.0	20.3	4.23
1919	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	18.0	0.0	18.0	3.75
1920	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	18.2	0.0	18.2	3.79
1921	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	21.1	0.0	21.1	4.40
1922	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	20.1	0.0	20.1	4.19
1923	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	22.2	0.0	22.2	4.63
1924	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	21.9	0.0	21.9	4.56
1925	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	20.6	0.0	20.6	4.29
1926	Montreal Canadiens	NHL	G	1	44	0.0	0.4	0.0	0.4	9.09
				1201	72006	0	298.2	-0.5	297.7	4.13

Clint Benedict

Season	Club	League	Pos	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1912	Ottawa New Edinburghs	IPAHU	G	80	4778	0.0	16.2	-0.2	16.0	3.35
1913	Ottawa Senators	NHA	G	15	854	0.0	4.4	0.0	4.4	5.15
1914	Ottawa Senators	NHA	G	31	1825	0.0	6.0	0.0	6.0	3.29
1915	Ottawa Senators	NHA	G	79	4713	0.0	19.8	0.0	19.8	4.20
1916	Ottawa Senators	NHA	G	79	4735	0.0	19.4	0.0	19.4	4.10
1917	Ottawa Senators	NHA	G	73	4329	0.0	22.4	0.0	22.4	5.17
1918	Ottawa Senators	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	16.3	0.0	16.3	3.40
1919	Ottawa Senators	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	20.3	0.0	20.3	4.23
1920	Ottawa Senators	NHL	G	80	4793	0.0	23.5	-0.1	23.4	4.88
1921	Ottawa Senators	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	23.1	0.0	23.1	4.81
1922	Ottawa Senators	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	22.5	0.0	22.5	4.69
1923	Ottawa Senators	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	24.3	0.0	24.3	5.06
1924	Ottawa Senators	NHL	G	74	4410	0.0	21.5	0.0	21.5	4.88
1925	Montreal Maroons	NHL	G	80	4795	0.0	10.5	0.0	10.5	2.19
1926	Montreal Maroons	NHL	G	80	4800	0.0	18.6	0.0	18.6	3.88
1927	Montreal Maroons	NHL	G	79	4697	0.0	20.0	0.0	20.0	4.26
1928	Montreal Maroons	NHL	G	79	4730	0.0	14.3	0.0	14.3	3.02
1929	Montreal Maroons	NHL	G	67	4015	0.0	7.3	0.0	7.3	1.82
1930	Montreal Maroons	NHL	G	23	1332	0	1.3	0	1.3	0.98
				1319	78806	0	311.7	-0.3	311.4	3.95

Oh dear, that didn't help much did it? Vezina has a better career average (though that might be due to missing stats for his pre-Montreal days), but Benedict had better best seasons. Vezina was strikingly consistent, which is quite a tribute given the shoddy defences he often played behind in his early years. Benedict generally benefited from better teams in front of him, but was still remarkable in his own right.

If I had to choose, I'd probably go with Vezina, since you would know exactly what you were going to get. Benedict could often be better, but sometime noticeably worse as well. Hard to complain about either of them.

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.

1970/71 Point Allocation

Last time we looked at the 1985/86 NHL Point Allocation results, in order to examine the upper limits of player performance. Wayne Greztky's 215-point season came in at a TPAK of 7.00. Now let's see how good Bobby Orr's +124 season, in 1970/71. Unsurprisingly, he was the best in the league that season:

Player	Club	Pos	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
ORR, Bobby	BOS	3	80	2000	8.6	6.5	-0.3	14.8	7.40
PLANTE, Jacques	TOR	G	57	3362	0.0	22.5	0.0	22.5	6.69
WHITE, Bill	CHI	3	69	1725	1.4	9.2	-0.2	10.4	6.03
ESPOSITO, Phil	BOS	5	80	1600	7.8	1.1	-0.3	8.6	5.38
BUCYK, John	BOS	6	80	1600	7.7	0.9	0.0	8.6	5.38
PLAGER, Bob	STL	3	72	1800	1.2	8.8	-0.4	9.6	5.33
KEON, Dave	TOR	5	78	1560	5.8	2.4	0.0	8.2	5.26
ROBERTS, Jimmy	STL	3	74	1850	1.9	8.1	-0.3	9.7	5.24
BELIVEAU, Jean	MTL	5	72	1440	6.9	0.8	-0.2	7.5	5.21
COURNOYER, Yvan	MTL	7	67	1340	6.1	0.7	-0.1	6.7	5.00
HULL, Bobby	CHI	6	80	1600	6.0	2.0	-0.1	7.9	4.94
TREMBLAY, J-C	MTL	3	78	1950	4.2	5.5	-0.1	9.6	4.92
SELING, Rod	NYR	3	70	1750	1.7	7.0	-0.1	8.6	4.91
MAGNUSON, Keith	CHI	3	78	1950	1.2	8.8	-0.7	9.3	4.77
SMITH, Dallas	BOS	3	75	1875	2.7	6.5	-0.3	8.9	4.75
CHEEVERS, Gerry	BOS	G	58	3465	0.0	16.2	0.0	16.2	4.67
ANGOTTI, Lou	CHI	5	67	1340	2.1	4.3	-0.2	6.2	4.63
PARK, Brad	NYR	3	70	1750	3.0	5.5	-0.4	8.1	4.63
NEILSON, Jim	NYR	3	79	1975	1.7	7.7	-0.3	9.1	4.61
SANDERSON, Derek	BOS	5	73	1460	4.5	2.8	-0.6	6.7	4.59
WESTFALL, Ed	BOS	7	80	1600	4.0	3.4	-0.2	7.2	4.50
HODGE, Ken	BOS	7	80	1600	6.6	0.9	-0.5	7.0	4.38
ULLMAN, Norm	TOR	5	75	1500	5.5	1.1	-0.1	6.5	4.33
STAPLETON, Pat	CHI	3	78	1950	2.7	5.7	-0.1	8.3	4.26
RATELLE, Jean	NYR	5	80	1600	5.5	1.4	-0.1	6.8	4.25
MIKITA, Stan	CHI	5	76	1520	4.7	1.7	-0.3	6.1	4.01

Orr and Gretzky, in their primes, probably put up 7.00 TPAK seasons as a matter of course, while other players can only dream of approaching that number once in their careers. We could call this the Gretzky-Orr Threshold, or maybe Gretzorr (which sounds like a hockey-themed Masters of the Universe villain, so maybe we shouldn't call it that). Let's stick with the Gretzky-Orr Threshold, and use it to see which historical players had this type of singular performance.

1985/86 Point Allocation

With any new valuation system, it's important to establish baselines that allow people to interpret the results. It's all fine and good to say Joe Power had a 4.81 TPAK season, but unless you know how good that is, it's basically meaningless. One way to help modern hockey fans to understand the results of historical seasons is to show the equivalent numbers for more recent years.

The Point Allocation results for the 1967/68 NHL season have already been published here, and I'm going to show a couple more seasons, specifically to discuss the upper bounds of performance. What better place to examine that than Wayne Gretzky's 215-point season? So let's look at 1985/86.

First, here are the results of the Edmonton Oilers, who recorded 119 points on the strength of scoring 72 more goals (close to a full goal per game) than the second-best offence in the league. It's no surprise that Gretzky is on top. It should also be no surprise that his TPAK score of 7.00 is the highest we've seen so far. A rate of 6.00 is the level of the superstar; beating that by a full point (standings point, not scoring point) per 1,000 minutes puts you in the absolute upper stratosphere of hockey performance.

Player	Pos	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
GRETZKY, Wayne	5	80	1600	9.2	2.1	-0.1	11.2	7.00
COFFEY, Paul	3	79	1975	7.7	4.4	-0.3	11.8	5.97
KURRI, Jari	7	78	1560	6.6	1.6	-0.1	8.1	5.19
MESSIER, Mark	5	63	1260	5.3	1.4	-0.2	6.5	5.16
ANDERSON, Glenn	7	72	1440	6.1	1.1	-0.3	6.9	4.79
MOOG, Andy	G	64	3796	0.0	13.4	0.0	13.4	3.52
FUHR, Grant	G	52	3112	0.0	11.8	0.0	11.8	3.29
NAPIER, Mark	6	80	1600	4.7	0.5	0.0	5.2	3.25
HUNTER, Dave	6	62	1240	3.0	1.1	-0.3	3.8	3.06
MacTAVISH, Craig	5	74	1480	3.3	1.4	-0.3	4.4	2.97
FOGOLIN, Lee	3	80	2000	2.1	4.1	-0.6	5.6	2.80
GREGG, Randy	3	64	1600	1.4	3.0	-0.1	4.3	2.69
SMITH, Steve	3	55	1375	2.3	1.9	-0.7	3.5	2.55
HUDDY, Charlie	3	76	1900	1.7	3.2	-0.2	4.7	2.47
KRUSHELNYSKI, Mike	6	54	1080	2.3	0.4	-0.1	2.6	2.41
LUMLEY, Dave	7	46	920	1.8	0.5	-0.2	2.1	2.28
SUMMANEN, Raimo	6	73	1460	2.7	0.4	-0.2	2.9	1.99
LOWE, Kevin	3	74	1850	0.8	3.3	-0.5	3.6	1.95
McCLELLAND, Kevin	5	79	1580	3.4	0.7	-1.3	2.8	1.77
TIKKANEN, Esa	7	35	700	0.9	0.2	-0.2	0.9	1.29
JACKSON, Don	3	45	1125	0.5	1.2	-0.5	1.2	1.07
McSORLEY, Marty	7	59	1180	1.7	0.4	-1.0	1.1	0.93
SEMENKO, Dave	6	69	1380	0.2	0.5	-0.8	-0.1	-0.07

And now, the league leaders in TPAK for 1985/86. Gretzky's Number One, of course, but the Number Two in this case is surprisingly close:

Player	Club	Pos	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
GRETZKY, Wayne	EDM	5	80	1600	9.2	2.1	-0.1	11.2	7.00
HOWE, Mark	PHI	3	77	1925	4.9	8.2	-0.1	13.0	6.75
COFFEY, Paul	EDM	3	79	1975	7.7	4.4	-0.3	11.8	5.97
ROBINSON, Larry	MTL	3	78	1950	4.0	7.0	-0.1	10.9	5.59
McCRIMMON, Brad	PHI	3	80	2000	2.8	8.4	-0.3	10.9	5.45
KURRI, Jari	EDM	7	78	1560	6.6	1.6	-0.1	8.1	5.19
MESSIER, Mark	EDM	5	63	1260	5.3	1.4	-0.2	6.5	5.16
BOURQUE, Ray	BOS	3	74	1850	3.6	6.0	-0.2	9.4	5.08
HRUDEY, Kelly	NYI	G	61	3652	0.0	18.1	0.0	18.1	4.94
BOSSY, Mike	NYI	7	80	1600	6.2	1.5	0.0	7.7	4.81
ANDERSON, Glenn	EDM	7	72	1440	6.1	1.1	-0.3	6.9	4.79
HAJT, Bill	BUF	3	58	1450	0.9	5.9	-0.1	6.7	4.62
LEMIEUX, Mario	PIT	5	79	1580	6.1	1.1	-0.1	7.1	4.49
POTVIN, Denis	NYI	3	74	1850	3.6	5.0	-0.3	8.3	4.49
WAMSLEY, Rick	STL	G	60	3586	0.0	15.8	0.0	15.8	4.40
CHELIOS, Chris	MTL	3	41	1025	1.8	2.9	-0.2	4.5	4.39
MURRAY, Troy	CHI	5	80	1600	5.4	1.9	-0.3	7.0	4.38
MURPHY, Larry	WAS	3	78	1950	3.8	4.9	-0.2	8.5	4.36
LANGWAY, Rod	WAS	3	71	1775	0.7	7.2	-0.2	7.7	4.34
FROESE, Bob	PHI	G	65	3887	0.0	16.9	0.0	16.9	4.34
NASLUND, Mats	MTL	6	80	1600	5.5	1.4	0.0	6.9	4.31
RAMAGE, Rob	STL	3	77	1925	3.0	5.6	-0.4	8.2	4.26
LOOB, Hakam	CGY	7	68	1360	4.5	1.4	-0.1	5.8	4.26
FRANCIS, Ron	HAR	5	53	1060	3.5	1.1	-0.1	4.5	4.25
SAVARD, Denis	CHI	5	80	1600	6.4	0.8	-0.4	6.8	4.25
PROPP, Brian	PHI	6	72	1440	3.9	2.3	-0.1	6.1	4.24
HAWORTH, Alan	WAS	5	71	1420	4.7	1.5	-0.2	6.0	4.23
QUENNEVILLE, Joel	HAR	3	71	1775	1.5	6.4	-0.4	7.5	4.23
GUSTAFSSON, Bengt-Ake	WAS	5	70	1400	3.7	2.3	-0.1	5.9	4.21
CHRISTIAN, Dave	WAS	7	80	1600	4.0	2.7	0.0	6.7	4.19
MALARCHUK, Clint	QUE	G	64	3786	0.0	15.9	-0.1	15.8	4.18
MacINNIS, Al	CGY	3	77	1925	4.2	4.0	-0.2	8.0	4.16
POULIN, Dave	PHI	5	79	1580	3.3	3.4	-0.2	6.5	4.11
BABYCH, Dave	HAR	3	81	2025	3.2	5.2	-0.1	8.3	4.10
TROTTIER, Bryan	NYI	5	78	1560	4.5	2.2	-0.3	6.4	4.10
SINISALO, Ilkka	PHI	7	74	1480	4.2	1.9	-0.1	6.0	4.05
STASTNY, Peter	QUE	5	76	1520	5.3	1.0	-0.2	6.1	4.01
STEVENS, Scott	WAS	3	73	1825	2.5	5.3	-0.5	7.3	4.00
PATRICK, James	NYR	3	75	1875	2.5	5.4	-0.4	7.5	4.00
LUDWIG, Craig	MTL	3	69	1725	0.0	7.1	-0.2	6.9	4.00
DINEEN, Kevin	HAR	7	57	1140	3.8	1.1	-0.4	4.5	3.95
CARBONNEAU, Guy	MTL	5	80	1600	2.7	3.8	-0.2	6.3	3.94
BEAUPRE, Don	MIN	G	73	4378	0.0	17.3	-0.1	17.2	3.93
MOLLER, Randy	QUE	3	69	1725	1.1	6.1	-0.5	6.7	3.88
MIDDLETON, Rick	BOS	7	49	980	2.1	1.7	0.0	3.8	3.88
LINSEMAN, Ken	BOS	5	64	1280	3.7	1.5	-0.3	4.9	3.83
MANTHA, Moe	PIT	3	78	1950	3.3	4.4	-0.3	7.4	3.79
FRASER, Curt	CHI	6	61	1220	4.4	0.6	-0.4	4.6	3.77
TIPPETT, Dave	HAR	6	80	1600	1.9	4.2	-0.1	6.0	3.75

Mark Howe is certainly an underappreciated player, but I don't think anyone realizes how good he really was. Now, although Howe is only 0.25 TPAK behind Gretzky in this season, you do have to remember it's only one season. Gretzky was putting up seasons like this all the time at this point in his career, while this was clearly Howe's best. He scored over a point per game while being the top defenceman for a dominant defensive team. In the six seasons from 1981/82 to 1986/87, the league leader in plus-minus was an Oiler (Gretzky four times and Charlie Huddy once); only Mark Howe was able to take spot for another team in 1985/86.

Howe was a First-Team All-Star, but it seems he deserved the Norris Trophy as well, over Coffey.

Tommy Smith - All-Rounder

Like his brother Harry, Tommy Smith was a hockey mercenary. He had played exactly one season of high-level senior hockey in his hometown of Ottawa before going to Pittsburgh to play for pay. He played for seven different clubs in the next seven seasons, before finally settling down (mostly) in Quebec for a few years, where he had his greatest success in terms of the Stanley Cup.

Although Joe Malone is today the best-known player on the great Bulldog teams of the 1910s, there seems little doubt to me that Smith was actually their best player. As it happens, Malone was four years' Smith's junior, and as such was able to hang around long enough to produce in the NHL, rather than the NHA, and as such is known to even some less-than-hardcore fans as the man who scored 2.2 goals per game in the current league's inaugural season. No disrespect intended to Malone, of course, who was a great player in his own right. But Smith doesn't get the respect today that he deserves.

Tommy Smith scored buckets of goals, wherever he went. have a look at his Point Allocation results. He scored in Ottawa, he scored in Pittsburgh, he scored in Brantford, he scored in Galt, he scored in Moncton, he scored in Toronto, and he especially scored in Quebec. He led three separate leagues in goals (the Federal Amateur Hockey League, the Ontario Professional Hockey League, and the National Hockey Association twice), missed leading the Maritime Professional Hockey Association by one goal in 1911/12, and would surely have also led the Western Pennsylvania league in 1908/09 had the team he was playing for not folded halfway through the schedule (his goals-per-game was over twice that of the man who actually led the league, and only his brother Harry was close on a per-game basis).

Season	Club	League	Pos	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1906	Ottawa Victorias	FAHL	7	80	1600	7.2	-1.0	-0.6	5.6	3.50
1906	Ottawa Senators	ECAHA	6	24	480	1.9	0.3	-0.2	2.0	4.17
1907	Pittsburgh HC	IHL	4	77	1540	3.5	1.1	-0.4	4.2	2.73
1908	Pittsburgh Lyceums	WPHL	5	80	1600	8.9	-1.5	0.0	7.4	4.63
1909	Brantford Indians	OPHL	5	65	1300	7.0	-0.1	-0.6	6.3	4.85
1909	Pittsburgh Lyceums	WPHL	5	32	640	4.7	-0.3	0.0	4.4	6.88
1909	Haileybury Miners	TPHL	6	10	200	0.8	-0.1	-0.1	0.6	3.00
1910	Brantford Indians	OPHL	5	8	160	-0.3	0.0	0.0	-0.3	-1.88
1911	Galt Redshirts	OPHL	5	80	1600	7.8	-0.4	0.0	7.4	4.63
1912	Moncton Victorias	MPHA	5	80	1600	6.1	-0.3	-0.6	5.2	3.25
1913	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	7	76	1520	8.9	1.0	-0.3	9.6	6.32
1914	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	6	80	1600	9.0	1.1	-0.4	9.7	6.06
1915	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	5	36	720	4.5	0.1	-0.4	4.2	5.83
1915	Toronto Shamrocks	NHA	6	40	800	3.7	0.4	-0.2	3.9	4.88
1916	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	5	73	1460	4.8	1.2	-0.5	5.5	3.77
1917	Montreal Canadiens	NHA	5	56	1120	1.2	1.8	-0.6	2.4	2.14
1920	Quebec Bulldogs	NHL	5	33	660	-1.1	0.6	-0.2	-0.7	-1.06
Career				930	18600	78.6	3.9	-5.1	77.4	4.16

Offensively, Smith was a beast, there's no doubt about it. Any time you produce a TPAK of over 6, you're in very rarified air, one of the very best players of all time. But it seems Tommy Smith was not just about filling the opponent's net.

Tommy Smith was good both on attack and defence and is one of the best all around players on the team. (Quebec Chronicle, 2 Jan 1913)

[Tommy] Smith, unlike his brother Harry, is a speed merchant and is always in the thick of the fray. (Quebec Chronicle, 20 Jan 1913)

Here Smith is noted for his speed and two-way play, and for always being involved in the action. However, that opinion was not unanimous:

[Tommy] Smith, while he loafs almost all the time, never fails to be on the job for a pass, and his shooting is a feature of the forward line. (Toronto Star, 9 Feb 9 1914)

Tommy [Smith] was always ready to join in any Quebec rush if some one else would carry the puck three-quarters of the way up the rink to where he was usually loafing. (Toronto Star, 12 Feb 1914)

A player who "loafs off-side" is basically what we'd call a "floater" today. When the puck was in his own zone he would wait up the ice for his mates to retrieve it and start a rush. Hobey Baker was a loafer, as were many of the best offensive players at this time. But how do we reconcile the differing opinions of the Quebec and Toronto writers? One says he's good defensive and is involved in the play, while the other dismisses him as a floater.

To a certain degree we can attribute the Quebec opinion to homerism; however, in the same respect we can attribute the Toronto opinion to anti-homerism, if you will, or beating up on opposing players while dressing up your own. So the truth is likely somewhere in the middle.

My interpretation is that Smith had some defensive skill, but did not use it all the time, as a tactical decision. He was most valuable on offence, so did not spend too much energy on defence. However, both when in Quebec and Moncton, at least, he was noted for always being in the thick of it. I interpret that to mean that while he did not necessarily backcheck, he was an aggressive forechecker.

Smith was quite a durable player - he never missed a significant number of games due to injury; it took typhoid fever to knock him out for most of the 1909/10 season. He was also apparently excellent at taking faceoffs, something not often noted at the time, despite playing wing when he was teamed with Malone.

Paddy Moran - the Wandering Goalie

I wrote about Paddy Moran in the last post, and promised to give him a proper profile. Here it is.

Patrick Joseph Alexander "Paddy' Moran was born in Quebec City on March 11, 1877. By 1900 he was playing intermediate hockey, the level just below senior, with the Quebec Crescents. In the 1901/02 season he began his long career with the Quebec Athletics/Bulldogs, playing with them until 1916/17, with the exception of a single season. As discussed last time, Moran is a Hall-of-Famer with some numbers that are, at times, decidedly unimpressive.

However, when we look at his Point Allocation results, we can see that his numbers can quite reasonably be made to fit a Hall-of-Fame career, and that's what we do. Whenever possible, we assume that contemporary accounts and those who witnessed a player's play at a high level are correct in their assessments of that player's ability. If we had to break, rather than bend, the Point Allocation system to make Moran look like a high-quality netminder, that would be one thing, but although he certainly had a few down seasons, he certainly produced some very good years:

Season	Club	League	Pos	GP	MIN	OP	DP	PP	TPA	TPAK
1901	Quebec Athletics	CAHL	G	71	4224	0.0	3.5	0.0	3.5	0.83
1902	Quebec Athletics	CAHL	G	80	4800	0.0	10.8	0.0	10.8	2.25
1903	Quebec Athletics	CAHL	G	80	4766	0.0	3.7	-0.3	3.4	0.71
1904	Quebec Athletics	CAHL	G	80	4800	0.0	16.7	0.0	16.7	3.48
1905	Quebec Athletics	CAHL	G	80	4800	0.0	18.7	0.0	18.7	3.90
1906	Quebec Bulldogs	ECAHA	G	80	4777	0.0	12.2	0.0	12.2	2.55
1907	Quebec Bulldogs	ECAHA	G	48	2862	0.0	-0.8	0.0	-0.8	-0.28
1908	Quebec Bulldogs	ECAHA	G	80	4776	0.0	17.5	-0.2	17.3	3.62
1909	Quebec Bulldogs	ECHA	G	80	4800	0.0	14.2	0.0	14.2	2.96
1910	Haileybury Miners	NHA	G	67	4007	0.0	10.5	0.0	10.5	2.62
1910	Montreal All-Montreals	CHA	G	14	800	0.0	1.8	0.0	1.8	2.25
1910	Montreal Allis-Chambers	MMHL	G	8	480	0.0	0.5	0.0	0.5	1.04
1911	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	G	80	4800	0.0	12.1	0.0	12.1	2.52
1912	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	G	80	4778	0.0	21.4	-0.2	21.2	4.44
1913	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	G	80	4800	0.0	23.0	0.0	23.0	4.79
1914	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	G	80	4800	0.0	21.5	0.0	21.5	4.48
1915	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	G	80	4800	0.0	16.8	0.0	16.8	3.50
1916	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	G	74	4419	0.0	18.0	0.0	18.0	4.07
1917	Quebec Bulldogs	NHA	G	21	1248	0.0	2.2	0.0	2.2	1.76
Career				1263	75537	0.0	224.3	-0.7	223.6	2.96

But here at Hockey Historysis, we're interested in more than just numbers and results. It's fine to say that Moran was an outstanding goaltenders. The question is: why? What made him unique?

First, Moran was not afraid to use his stick for more than just playing the puck. According to Without Fear: Hockey's 50 greatest goaltenders (Chicago: Triumph Books, 2002), Moran was very aggressive in defending the goal area, gladly using his stick to dissuade opponents from getting too close, his play being described as attempts to "slash [opposing players'] heads off with lightning strokes of his blade." Legends of Hockey agrees, noting that "Moran played in the days prior to a goal crease being painted in front of the net and guarded his area like a stray dog with a bone. His quick stick was used for more than just deflecting shots and opposition players soon developed a healthy respect for Paddy's self-created 'crease.'" 

But Moran's playing style was notable for more than his willingness to use his stick on his opponents. He was also noted for leaving the goal area, and even rushing opposing players to prevent scoring chances: 

Moran in goal was really wonderful. Time and again he stopped what seemed impossible shots, and not only stopped the shots, but stopped those terrible rushes for which the Victoria players are noted...The way Moran met some of the individual rushes of a maroon shirted player, with one of his own rushes, was a caution and Paddy wasn't always underneath. (Quebec Chronicle, 4 Feb 1904)

For Quebec, Moran gave an exception exhibition of goal-keeping. He was steady and sure, and he saved many a possible score. On one occasion, he gave a really sensational display, when he ran out and blocked two Shamrock men who had got inside the defence and were apparently bound to deliver the goods. (Quebec Chronicle, 14 Feb 1908)

We need to reconcile some of Moran's poor performances, especially early in his career, with his contemporary reputation of being an outstanding netminder:

The irrepressible Paddy Moran, in goals, gave an exhibition that was worth the whole price of admissions to witness. Paddy has acquired a well-deserved reputation for performing sensational stunts, and last evening he treated the crowd to a number that were well-worth seeing and he saved the situation on several occasions by his quick-wit in realizing the situation. (Quebec Chronicle, 7 Jan 1909)

You might think that perhaps Moran was too reckless in his wanderings. Although many times he might be able to intercept an incoming attacker, being too far away from his posts could leave him out of position as well. This play certainly didn't always work out for him:

In endeavoring to save a score Moran made a spectacular rush out of goals and fell on the puck, necessitating a face right in front of Quebec's poles, Ward batting the rubber in and giving the visitors their second tally. (Quebec Chronicle, 7 Jan 1909)

So perhaps he just reigned in his proclivity for rushing the attackers himself later in his career, and that's what allowed him and his team to capture league championships in 1912 and 1913. But I don't think so; even in those championship years he was still leaving his posts with regularity:

The hero of the match was undoubtedly Paddy Moran, who never played a better game in his life than he did last night. Time after time when the visitors' forwards had penetrated the Quebec defence Paddy sailed out and robbed them. (Quebec Chronicle, 6 Feb 1913)

So I think with Moran, you had to take the bad with the good. Surely he did put himself out of position at times when he left the goals. However, I think this tendency also gives us a clue as to why he was as good as he was. Check out this quote from 1908:

“Paddy” Moran...is almost impregnable against a shot from fair range...and the Vics only rolled up a big score by taking the rubber disc right to the mouth of the cage. (Quebec Chronicle, 13 Jan 1908)

So we have a goalie who is especially good at handling longer-range shots, and who is known for charging out of the crease. To me, this indicates a goaltender who cut down the angles better than anyone of his time. I suspect that was Moran's biggest advantage: his natural aggressiveness resulted not only in his being able to block the attackers himself, but give them less room to shoot at should they get a shot away before he got to them. Modern goalies can be aggressive by coming out of their nets to cut down a shooter's angle, and I suspect Moran did the same. He didn't just leave his post to challenge the shooter directly, he did so to make their shot more difficult as well.

Paddy Moran - A Mediocre Hall of Famer?

Patrick 'Paddy' Moran is one of the more interesting goaltenders in the Hall of Fame. He played senior-level hockey from 1901/02 to 1916/17, playing for Quebec with the exception of the 1909/10 season, when that club did not operate for a full season. Although inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958, a cursory look at Moran's career numbers raises more questions than it answers. His won-lost-tied record is 99-107-2, and in 16 seasons he led his league in goals-against average only once. Now, he played in leagues of between only four and six teams throughout his career, which makes a below-average winning percentage more understandable, but which also makes his GAA record less impressive, since he has fewer teams to beat.

But we can look at his career in more detail. From 1910/11 to 1915/16, Moran (or more properly Moran's team) had the best goals-against average in the league only once. However, it's probably worth noting that the starting goaltender of nearly every team he finished behind is also a Hall-of-Famer, and that he finished ahead of several Hall-of-Famer seasons as well. Being in the middle of the pack amongst Hall-of-Famers is hardly a point against you.

Here are the GAA leaders, in order, for each of these seasons, finishing with the lowest-ranked Hall-of-Famer that season. Non-Hall-of-Famers are in brackets.

1910/11: Georges Vezina, Percy LeSueur, Riley Hern, Paddy Moran
1911/12: Georges Vezina, Paddy Moran, Percy LeSueur
1912/13: Paddy Moran, Georges Vezina, [Art Boyce], Percy LeSueur, Hap Holmes
1913/14: Georges Vezina, Hap Holmes, Percy LeSueur, Paddy Moran
1914/15: Clint Benedict, [Charlie McCarthy], Georges Vezina, Paddy Moran, Hap Holmes, Percy LeSueur
1915/16: Clint Benedict, Georges Vezina, Paddy Moran, Percy LeSueur

Of the 12 team-seasons that were ahead of Moran, 11 were recorded by Hall-of-Famers. And Moran finished ahead of seven other Hall-of-Famer seasons as well.

If this was the case throughout his career, there would be no mystery to Moran's reputation. However, earlier in his lengthy career, the same analysis shows much different results:

1901/02: [Bill Nicholson], Bouse Hutton, [Archie Lockerby], Paddy Moran
1902/03: [Bill Nicholson], Bouse Hutton, [Jim Nichol], [Patrick O'Reilly], Paddy Moran
1903/04: Bouse Hutton, Paddy Moran
1904/05: [Nathan Frye], [Oliver Waugh], Paddy Moran
1905/06: [Henri Menard], [Billy Hague], [Fred Brophy], [Nathan Frye], Paddy Moran
1906/07: Riley Hern, Percy LeSueur, [Nathan Frye], [George White], Paddy Moran
1907/08: [Bill Nicholson], Percy LeSueur, Riley Hern, Paddy Moran

These results don't make Moran's case seem very strong. He was behind all kinds of other netminders, only one of which (Big Bill Nicholson) has anything close to resembling a Hall-of-Fame career. But the fact is, if Moran was really that bad, he wouldn't have lasted at this level long enough to record the more impressive results he did in his later seasons. Moran played for some bad teams, especially early in his career. And even when he had a good team in front of him, it tended to be a team focused on defence rather than offence, so he was often the last line of defence when his skaters had abandoned him in an effort to fill the other net. It is easy to overstate this effect, though. For his Quebec career his team had a tendency towards offence, but not a huge one. Here are Quebec's Marginal Goals score (MG), Marginal Goals Saved (MGS) and the percentage that MG is of the total (MG%):

Season	MG	MGS	MG%
1901	5.4	4.9	.524
1902	10.9	11.3	.491
1903	13.4	5.2	.720
1904	28.8	26.8	.518
1905	47.2	39.6	.544
1906	25.5	24.5	.510
1907	24.3	25.3	.490
1908	47.6	26.2	.645
1909	36.6	18.2	.668
1911	23.1	28.9	.444
1912	38.3	49.1	.438
1913	68.7	55.1	.555
1914	68.0	56.0	.548
1915	42.0	44.2	.487
1916	43.9	43.3	.503
Average			.539

However, one could certainly argue that if Moran was a lesser netminder, this percentage would be even higher than it is. Perhaps they only saved as many goals as they did because of their spectacular goalie.

So to a certain extent, it appears that the responsibility for Quebec goal prevention was left to Moran, while his mates went forward in search of goals. On top of that was Moran's unique style, which we'll discuss in the next post when we give Moran a proper profile. We've already seen that Moran likely deserves his spot in the Hall of Fame, which means the Point Allocation system can reasonably be bent to agree with the his reputation. As such we have no reason to refute the opinion that he was a great goalie. Next time, we'll see just how good the system thinks he is.