1976-77 NHL Regular Season
The NHL has gotten to be a bit of a rough place. I forgot to show this stat last year, but lets lead off the season with it. Last season,
Terry O’Reilly led the NHL with a record 432 penalty minutes! That’s over 5 mins a game! Infact, 4 of the 5 most penalized players came from the 75/76 season. The highest PIM’s not occurring in the 70s belongs to
Fred Glover, who spent 236 minutes in the box during the 53/54 season. That’s now the 50th highest total! Here is a list of the top 5 PIM seasons of all time!
Here is an example in the difference in talent between the
NHL and the
WHA.
Billy Harris just finished a four year stint with the
Minnesota Fighting Saints, who just folded. He had 294 points in 308 games over that span, which is a pretty nice stretch. He’s coming off a career high 83 points. He signed on with the
Buffalo Sabres, the team that owned his rights after picking him 19th four years ago.
Harris, probably the best player on the
Fighting Saints, will start the season with the
AHL’s Hersey Bears, and on their second line. He’s not even close to the NHL team!! Franchise player to after thought prospect!
WHA to AHL
Blockbuster trade early in the season
Off to a 17-3 start in
Cleveland, the champs, shake things up, sending 4 star defenseman,
Ron Stackhouse, to the
St. Louis Blues.
Stackhouse, whose 27, is coming off a fantastic 72 point season. With him,
Potvin and
Salming, the defense for the
Barons was probably best in the league. I’m surprised they would deal any of them.
Cleveland gets back former
Sabre star
Ron Schock.
Shock ended up playing 98 games in
St. Louis, scoring 26 goals, and dishing out 52 assists. That’s 78 points, which is pretty solid, but man, dealing an in his prime defenseman who just helped you win a cup, putting up a monster season, for a 33 year old center, probably on the decline!! Great deal for the
Blues!
Stackhouse heads to St. Louis.
Last year it was the
Atlanta Flames who were just horrible, and it got them
Bryan Trottier, who is already making a difference. This season, the
Washington Capitals have started the season 2-30-4! That is awful, obviously!
Washington’s 2nd overall selection in this years draft,
Randy Carlyle, signed with the
Phoenix Roadrunners of the WHA. He would be the
Caps top defenseman. I think
Washington’s roster is probably worse then the
Flames last year. They have
Denis Maruk, and that’s it in terms of impact players or potential. Here’s a look at the train wreck!
Toronto’s veteran defenseman,
Bill White just got his 500th career assist! The 37 year old is the 24th player in NHL history to hit that mark, and the 2nd defenseman. He trails
Pierre Pilote by just 7 assists now, so by the end of the season, he should hold the mark.
White has become a Hall of Famer with his play since joining
Toronto a decade ago. Whether the assist mark is held by
White or
Pilote going forward, it’s only a matter of time until
Bobby Orr takes it.
Orr is currently at 480 career assists, and 14 months from the age of 30!
500 assists for Bill White!
Another milestone has been reached.
Phil Esposito has scored his 500th goal!! That’s a lot! He is the 6th player to get to that milestone, edging out
Dave Keon, who got his 500th goal a month later.
Esposito accomplished this feat faster then anyone other then
Gordie Howe.
Esposito has alot more goals in him!
Montreal hasn’t had a lot of team success since expansion, but it looks like they just developed a star.
Don Lever, a 24 year old winger, has emerged as the most talented
Canadien in years. Drafted 12th overall in 1970,
Lever always had talent, and has always scored some. He had 49 points as a rookie, and a career high 84 points 2 years ago, but this year, he’s taking it too a different level. Through 54 games,
Don Lever leads the NHL in goals, with 42! He’s also got 38 assists, and leads the league in points with 80! With 26 games remaining, will he erase
Marcel Dionne’s goal scoring record just a year after being set?
Lever should hit 50 easily
Bobby Orr just made history. He’s become the first defenseman to eclipse the 100 point mark! It’s actually only been 17 years since
Dickie Moore first hit 100 points. Since then, it’s been accomplished 47 more times.
Bobby Orr is now a member of that club, and, like I said, the only defenseman.
Orr deserves the Hart Trophy this year. He’s been the best player in hockey this year, and his team has excelled.
100 points for Bobby Orr!
Final Standings
The
Rangers finish with the best record in the league, while the defending champs put up their best regular season in their new home!
Atlanta improves from 7 wins to 30 wins!
Bryan Trottier deserves a lot of that credit. He deserves a Hart Trophy, maybe more the Orr, for how he’s effected his team.
The
Capitals end up with 11 wins, four more then
Atlanta last year. They are still horrible.
Don Lever doesn’t set any records, but still leads the league in goals with 54, which is a lot!
Billy Harris finished the year with 40 points in 55 games, in the AHL! Maybe the AHL is a better league then the WHA?
Terry O’Reilly only had 317 PIM’s this year. Over 100 minutes less then last year. He’s pretty much an angel these days!
Ron Stackhouse was not great in
St. Louis. His offense dried up a bit, as he put up just 36 points, but he still played good defensively. He couldn’t get his team into the playoffs. I still think it’s a great trade for the
Blues. Ron Schock had 42 points in 62 games for the first place
Barons. Good secondary scoring, he’s not a first liner anymore.