30 years ago today.

Oct. 31, 1981...hockey was just a little bit different than it is today. Below are the standings from exactly 30 years ago today.

To illustrate the amazing difference in goal scoring, the 1981 Colorado Rockies with 30 goals in 11 games would rank 10th in scoring today. Today's leaders, Philadelphia and their 41 goals would have ranked 15th out of 21 teams in 1981. On the other end of the spectrum, Montreal's league best 28 goals allowed in 11 games would be merely tied for 13th today.


On the individual front Phil Kessel, today's NHL leader with 18 points would have been 15th overall on the same date in 1981, one point behind Oilers defenceman Risto Siltanen and one ahead of St.Louis Blue Mike Zuke. Kessel's league best 10 goals would be only 9th in 1981.


In all honestly, comparing today's scoring to that from 30 years ago is more of a fun thing. There really is no comparison as I've shown. In 1981/82 there was just over an average of 8.00 goals scored per game, as of today it is 5.38 per game...just about exactly two-thirds.






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