Someone is going to have to alert the Parity Police stationed at NHL Headquarters that the model is broken and there are more bottom-feeders than at any time since the salary cap was adopted in 2005-06.
For the first time in this era, there are three teams playing at a percentage of .326 or lower, these particular cellar-dwellers existing in Columbus, Chicago and Anaheim. For the second time — and for the second straight season — five teams are playing below a .400 clip.
There were only two cap seasons prior to 2021-22 in which as many as three clubs could not hit the .400 bar. Indeed, in 13 of the 14 seasons from 2006-07 through 2019-20, no more than one team fit under that cutoff.
The Blackhawks, as tainted an organization as has ever existed in the NHL, is at the bottom by design in making good on management’s warped intention to dive as deep into the tank as possible. The Ducks actually spent some cash in the offseason to add a cadre of vets who might have made the club a more presentable outfit, but failed to do that. The Blue Jackets did not sign Johnny Gaudreau with any conceivable notion that they would not only be in the running for Connor Bedard, but would also be in pole position just past the halfway mark.
The cap was supposed to smooth out the extremes. The NHL was supposed to be an Any Given Sunday League. Instead, the league is in its second straight season with a subset of historically bad teams.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Bruins (32-5-4 before play Saturday) are playing at an .829 pace that would eclipse the fabled 1976-77 Canadiens’ .825 mark, which represents the NHL’s highest winning percentage in the The modern era that began with the introduction of the center red line in 1944-45. That was the Canadiens team that went 60-8-12 in winning the second of its four straight Stanley Cups to close out the decade.
The 1977-78 Habs, who went 59-10-11 (.806), are the only other modern-era team to hit. 800 in a full season, although the 2012-13 Blackhawks finished at .802 in an asterisked 48-game schedule truncated by Owners’ Lockout III.
It is safe to say that the Devils are the greatest pleasant surprise in the league. But the Bruins, who didn’t have Brad Marchand or Charlie McAvoy for just about the first month of the season, are running a very close second.
At this juncture, the only award more certain that Connor McDavid’s presumptive Hart Trophy would be Jim Montgomery’s presumed Adams as coach of the year for the B’s.
The all-time record for winning percentage would seem to be out of reach. The Bruins would have to go the equivalent of 36-1-4 the rest of the way to get 144 points and .878 to eclipse their own 1929-30 ancestors’ record of .875 achieved with a 38-5-1 season.
That was the Boston team that included Eddie Shore, Dit Clapper, Tiny Thompson, Cooney Weiland and Lionel Hitchman. All but Hitchman are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Those B’s, by the way, did not win the Stanley Cup. They were beaten by the decidedly ordinary 21-14-9 (.579) Canadiens two straight in the best-of-three final.
No, the history lesson is not over.
I came across a clip on YouTube of a Rangers-Canadiens game at the Garden from the 1935-36 season in which players lined up east-west, facing the boards, for faceoffs.
That stunned me. I had no idea that sort of thing had ever existed, much less when the league directed players to line up north-south for draws. So I enlisted help, from the NHL, whose personnel were initially baffled before tracking down helpful information; and from Stan Fischler, who reached out to noted historian Eric Zweig.
According to the league and Zweig, the change was made in advance of the 1942-43 season. Zweig referenced a 1996 book called The Rules of Hockey by James Duplacey with Dan Diamond.
This is from Page 116-117: “A major change in the face-off rule affected the position of the players taking the draw and coincided with the introduction of the red line in 1942-43. Prior to that season players taking the draw would line up facing the side boards. Many coaches employed a strategy that required the players taking the face-off to actually ignore the puck and instead on the other face-off man, allowing a teammate to come in and take the puck. Under the amended rules, players taking the face-off rotated 90 degrees so that they are facing the ends of the rink with their backs towards their own goals. The intent of this legislation was to speed up play by placing greater emphasis on cleanly winning the draw.”
There is a slight discrepancy here, given that the red line was introduced a year later in 1943-44. So it seems as if the faceoff change was not enacted in 1942-43, but rather in 1943-44.
An article forwarded by Zweig from the Aug. 17, 1943 edition of the Montreal Gazette, written by Owen Griffith, says this:
“While the main item was setting in the two-inch red line across the center of the ice…players must face their opponents’ goal instead of having their left side toward the rival’s net, for face-offs.”
Now you can take this information to a bar and win a bet or be smart like the Matt Damon character in “Good Will Hunting.”
In recognition of Jake Leschyshyn’s anticipated Rangers debut at the Garden Sunday, rating our three teams’ top five No. 15s.
1. John MacLean, Devils (and Rangers); 2. Jim Neilson, Rangers; 3. Billy Harris, Islanders; 4. Anders Hedberg, Rangers; 5. Jamie Langenbrunner, Devils. Honorable Mention: Cal Clutterbuck, Islanders; Mention: Jeff Taffe, Rangers.
Finally, it’s just a shame how quickly Henrik Lundqvist descended into obscurity in his retirement, isn’t it?
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