1971-72 NHL Regular Season
Early returns on the
Bobby Clarke, Marcel Dionne duo are very positive.
Pittsburgh goes 8-4 during the first month of the season, and the two combined for 25 points over that time.
Clarke is 22 years old, while
Dionne is just 20! NHL watch out!!!
Teammates!
I forgot to update
Serge Savard. After last season’s trade back to the
Bruins, I speculated that
Savard is running out of time. He was close to being a bust. His first season in his 2nd
Bruins stint was actually a bit of a breakout. He had 41 assists, and 51 points, a game rating of 67, and his skills improved to a 3.5 level. He’s close to becoming that big time defenseman the
Bruins need right now. 70/71 was a important year for him, and he came through!
Savard improved alot last year!
At New Years,
Gordie Howe just recorded his 1600th point. He has 790 goals, and 810 assists! He’s just 10 goals away from the 800 mark! He’s got 11 this year in his 31 games. So the pace is a tad slower then it use to be, but the man is turning 44 in 3 months!!
Howe still going strong!
The
Maple Leafs are doing it again. Approaching the trade deadline, with about a month to go, they are 51-6-7! More ties then losses! This group of forwards has a lot of game both on offense and in their own zone. The defense keeps improving. Two records are within reach. They are 10 wins and 18 points away from matching their record 1968 season.
Bobby Hull also has 48 goals, which puts him just 4 goals behind
Gordie Howe's record 52!!
Leafs are in their golden age!
While
Gordie Howe looks like he will lose one of his records, he just reached a milestone!
Howe scored a goal on Feb 22nd, against
Toronto, which was the 800th goal of his career. 5 days later, he matched his real life NHL total with his 801st career goal!! I keep forgetting, but here is the career goal scoring leaders in NHL history.
219 more goals then anyone else! Amazing!
Here’s a look at the highest paid player in the
NHL. Haven’t looked at this in a while.
Bobby Orr hasn't been the real life
Bobby Orr. He's a great player, puts up points, but he's hurt all the time, and isn't changing the game! Still the highest paid player in the league!
On March 4th, against the
LA Kings, Bobby Hull scores his 50th goal of the season during the first period. The 4th player ever to accomplish this! Early in the third, he then scored his 51st, followed by his 52nd, to tie
Gordie Howe's record!! He wasn’t done.
Hull got his 53rd a minute later. His 4th goal of the night, and the record breaking marker!!
The trade deadline comes and goes without a single deal this year. Nothing major or minor. Nothing from
Chicago and their two star goalies!! They will have one more chance to move them once the cup final ends.
They can't keep both!
Final Standings
The
Leafs fall 2 points short of their 127 point record, but still only lose 9 times in 78 games!! Is this
Leaf team, this run they are on, the best in league history? They need a few more cups before I can say that, but they are in the conversation!
The
Blackhawks, with a healthy
Phil Esposito and great goaltending win the West easily. With the crossover though, their road to the Stanley Cup won’t be that easy.
Bobby Hull finishes with 56 goals, obviously, a new league record!
Bobby Clarke gets 71 points, while teammate
Marcel Dionne finishes with 78! These guy together are gonna be something!
Pittsburgh finishes in 2nd place, way behind
Chicago.
Serge Savard puts together his 2nd straight very strong seasons with 39 points and a 66 game rating. He’s safely out of the danger area and officially a very good defenseman!
The now 44 year old
Gordie Howe has his worst statistical season ever when playing a full season. 28 goals and 24 assists. That’s not bad at all, just isn’t a place
Howe has ever been too!