Ilya Kovalchuk, The Worst Season in History?

Is New Jersey's Ilya Kovalchuk in the midst of the worst single season for a forward in NHL history? At his current pace, he will finish with 79 games, 16 goals, 19 assists, 35 points and a minus 47 +/- rating. If so, he will be only the 12th man in history to have 16 or less goals and a +/- so low (remember +/- didn't become an official stat until 1967). A truly awful season for Kovy, especially considering the money he is getting paid.

Below are a few more seasons that would be in the running for worst all-time.

Jude Drouin,
Winnipeg Jets 1979/80
78-8-16-24, -38
At 31 years old in 79/80, Drouin was near the end of the line and would indeed play only 7 more games the following season. Drouin had just three years prior tallied 24 goals, and the year before 62 points. He topped out with 27 goals and 73 points in 72/73.

Eddie Joyal,
Los Angeles & Philadelphia 1971/72
70-14-7-21, -43
This would be Joyal's last year in the NHL after having seasons of 33 goals one year and 57 points another with the Kings. He jumped to the WHA in 72/73 and spent the last four years of his career with the Alberta/Edmonton Oilers.

Alexandre Daigle,
Ottawa 1995/96
50-5-12-17, -30
The first overall pick a mere two years prior to this clunker of a season, Daigle was at this point well on his way to fashioning what very well may be one of the worst careers ever in NHL history.
Pat Boutette,
Pittsburgh 1983/84
73-14-26-40, -58
Boutette had scored the previous three years 28, 27 and 23 goals. In 83/84 he would record the third worst +/- rating by a forward in NHL history. He would retire after 47 games the following year.
Dwight Foster,
Colorado 1981/82
70-12-19-31, -53
Foster had tallied 24 goals and 52 points with the Bruins the previous year before this clunker. He would also score 17 with a +/- of only -9 the next year. Must have just had some real bad luck in '82.
Bob Bourne,
Los Angeles 1987/88
72-7-22-18, -31
A once integral part of a Cup dynasty, Bourne had three 30 goal years with the Isles and had scored 17 just two years before this, the last one of his career.
Johan Garpenlov,
Atlanta 1999/00
73-2-14-16, -30
This one may be the actual worst of all-time...2 (TWO) goals for a guy who had scored 18 as a rookie with Detroit and years of 22, 18 and 23 with San Jose and Florida. Somehow, Garpenlov was given over 15 minutes of ice time per game this season.
Brian Sutter,
St. Louis 1977/78
78-9-13-22, -38
Sure he was only 21 years old this season and sure the Blues were pretty awful this year but for a guy who would score 41 the following year, this one is simply brutal.

Merlin Malinowski
New Jersey & Hartford 1982/83
80-8-25-33, -40
This one has it all, a player who scored 25 goals just two years earlier notching a mere 8 in 80
games. Plus he had a -40 rating. This would be Merlin's last NHL season at the age of 24 as he went to Switzerland and played until he was 31. He even represented Canad in the 1988 Olympics.





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ron Hextall and the stolen Conn Smythe Trophy

Image
Ron Hextall did not deserve the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1987....there, I said it. I recently caught game seven of the '87 finals on ESPN Classic, where the Oilers beat the Flyers 3-1. Hextall was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy to the disdain and boos of the Northlands Coliseum. Hextall was (and remains) the fourth player to win the trophy in a losing cause. Even as a teenager following these playoffs as they happened, I thought this was an injustice. Upon further inspection, I believe he only won because he was a rookie, and was the "sexy" pick as opposed to the proper pick. When looking at his numbers, it's hard to figure why he won. Hextall finished with 15 wins, 11 losses and a GAA of 2.77. Oilers, Grant Fuhr went 14 and 5 with an average of 2.46. I realize that stats cannot tell the whole story, but even if we dig further the award doesn't seem justified. His .908 Save Pct was the same as Fuhr's and tied for third behind Ken Wregget and Kelly Hrudey. Also,...
Read more

WHA Ottawa Civics, The Two Week Franchise

Image
Tom Earl, Daryl Maggs, Mark Lomenda, Gary MacGregor, Garry Swain "Please let the fans make up their own minds," Henry Feller told a press gathering. "Let them decide if they want pro hockey here. We have to average 7,000 or 8,000 in the remaining 19 home games for a break-even point." Feller was a director of the Founders Club who had interest in buying the WHA's Denver Spurs club. Ivan Mullinex, owner of the Spurs had brought his team to Ottawa in an attempt to drum up interest and save his investment. The date was January 2, 1976 and Mullinex was in debt to a Denver bank to the tune of $1 million dollars. This same day, the newly christened Civics lost their first game under the new moniker by a score of 2-1 at Cincinnati. Star of the team, Ralph Backstrom said after the game, "Our first official notice of the move hit us when we entered the Cincinnati rink and the names on the big scoreboard read: Stingers and Civics. Until that moment we were un...
Read more

Team Canada 1972, What Might have Been

Image
Guy Lafleur, if he had played in the 72 Summit Series "No way. Can you imagine what our fans would say if we allowed Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito to play for Canada in that series and either...suffered an injury that might prevent them from playing with us for a year or more?" This was the concern of Weston Adams Jr, president of the Boston Bruins as quoted on April 20, 1972. After being speculated and discussed since February 1972 at the Olympics in Sapporo Japan, the series was set to go. Early on however, controversy stirred as to who exactly would be representing Canada. Bruins GM, Milt Schmidt agreed with his boss saying, "My only interest would be to see the Russians play the Bruins for the world championship...or whatever team wins the Stanley Cup." In the Vancouver Sun a few days later, the legendary Jim Coleman responds to the American naysayers suggesting that Team Canada should be made up strictly of players from Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal ...
Read more