Had it not been for three lockouts, Teemu Selanne might be closing in on the top-five when it comes to the all-time goal scoring list. (Getty Images) |
When looking at goal and point totals for NHL players over the past 20 years, one thing that needs to be kept in mind is that a lot of these guys have had their careers impacted by three lockouts. The 1994-95 work stoppage cost the NHL half of its season, while the one in 2004-05 eliminated the entire year. So far in 2012-13 the league has lost (as of now) all games through the middle of December, or about 20 per team.
For players like Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne , Martin St. Louis, and Ray Whitney, veterans of all three lockouts (with the exception of St. Louis, who has only had to go through two) that's put a pretty significant dent in their career totals. Something that past players never had to deal with.
How much have they lost? Let's try to make some guesses. Obviously there is no absolute way to know for sure, and I'm assuming no games would have been lost due to injury (perhaps an unreasonable assumption). What I did was for the 1994-95 lockout was just expand on their points-per-game average for the shortened season for a full 82-game season. For the 2004-05 and 2011-12 lockouts, I looked at what each player averaged over three previous full seasons.
Let's take a look.
Teemu Selanne
Teemu Selanne: Estimated Goals And Points Lost To Lockouts | ||||||||
Year | Goals | Assists | Points | |||||
1994-95 | 40 | 47 | 87 | |||||
2004-05 | 24 | 26 | 50 | |||||
2011-12 | 8 | 10 | 18 | |||||
New Estimated Career Totals | 713 | 798 | 1511 |
That estimated 713 goal total would be sixth best all-time. Though, it should be pointed out that when it comes to Selanne it's possible that the 2004-05 lockout may have actually helped to prolong his career. He did not play overseas during that work stoppage and instead took the year off, which certainly couldn't have hurt a player already in his mid-30s.
Jaromir Jagr
Jaromir Jagr: Estimated Goals And Points Lost To Lockouts | ||||||||
Year | Goals | Assists | Points | |||||
1994-95 | 54 | 64 | 119 | |||||
2004-05 | 36 | 49 | 85 | |||||
2011-12 | 5 | 9 | 14 | |||||
New Estimated Career Totals | 728 | 1,072 | 1,801 |
The '94-95 season was one of Jagr's best and was what should have been the early part of his career prime. Had he not missed all those games due to lockouts, he would be closing in on the top-three on the all-time goal-scoring list and the all-time points list.
Martin St. Louis
Martin St. Louis: Estimated Goals And Points Lost To Lockouts | ||||||||
Year | Goals | Assists | Points | |||||
2004-05 | 32 | 42 | 74 | |||||
2011-12 | 7 | 15 | 22 | |||||
New Estimated Career Totals | 362 | 586 | 948 |
The 2004-05 lockout couldn't have come at a worse time for Martin St. Louis because he was coming off an MVP season (and a scoring championsihp) as he helped the Tampa Bay Lightning win their only Stanley Cup. Had it not been for work stoppages, he would be a slam dunk for at least 400 goals and 1,000 points, and perhaps an outside shot at 500 goals. He still has a shot to get to 400, but 500 will now never happen.
Ray Whitney
Ray Whitney: Estimated Goals And Points Lost To Lockouts | ||||||||
Year | Goals | Assists | Points | |||||
1994-95 | 27 | 25 | 52 | |||||
2004-05 | 22 | 46 | 68 | |||||
2011-12 | 5 | 10 | 15 | |||||
New Estimated Career Totals | 406 | 707 | 1113 |
Ray Whitney's career peaked later than most players, so losing half of the 1994-95 season didn't hurt as much as the 2004-05 season, or even the first part of this one. Assuming good health, there's a good chance he would have already topped 400 career goals at this point.
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