The deeper you dig into Ryan Getzlaf’s NHL accomplishments, the stronger his Hall of Fame candidacy becomes.
Getzlaf, who recently announced he is retiring, has 282 goals over 17 seasons. That probably won’t impress the selection committee members. He’s always been more of a playmaker than a scorer. He is 51st on the NHL’s all-time assist list with 731. He boasts 1,013 points in 1,150 games, and always raised his performance level in the postseason.
But here are the factors that will land him into the Hall of Fame:
* One of 12 players to win two Olympic gold medals (2010 and (2014) and a Stanley Cup (2007)
* One of 11 players to record 1,000 or more points for a team they captained. You are talking about players like Steve Yzerman, Jean Beliveau, Mario Lemieux and Joe Sakic.
* Also helped Canada win an Under-18 World championship (2003), World Junior Championship (2005) and a World Championship (2016).
* Holds the NHL record of 25 assists on overtime goals.
* Been the face of the Anaheim Ducks for much of its history.
This week's Notebook:
2. Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau has a mountain of impressive statistics this season, including leading the NHL with 76 even-strength points. But this statistic wows me: he’s leading the NHL in plus-minus at +51.
3. Paul Bissonette was a marginal NHL player, but he is an impact performer on TNT’s television coverage. Appreciate his entertaining approach. He offers freshness and insight. Not everyone loves his style, but he brings something different than the standard hockey dialogue. There’s room for straight hockey talk and something different on television coverage.
4. Will we see Paul Maurice back in the NHL next season? If teams make a coaching change, the GM at least has to talk to Maurice.
5. What Detroit general manager Steve Yzerman will be looking for this summer: A No. 2 center and a polished second pairing defenseman in his mid-20s.
6. The Buffalo Sabres have missed the playoffs for the 11th consecutive season, but there is hope here. GM Kevin Adams is learning on the job, but has the team pointed in the right direction finally. Don Granato has done an exceptional job behind the bench. You can see his impact in the seasons Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner have had this season. Owen Power will also help move the needle for this team.
7. The NHL has two players named Sebastian Aho. The Finnish Aho is a star forward for the Carolina Hurricanes. The Swedish Aho is a part-time defenseman for the New York Islanders. One of the odd facts of this season is that they scored within a minute of each other in different games on March 31. According to Sportsnet, the Islanders’ Aho scored a 7:14:40 ET, and the Hurricanes’ Aho found the net 34 seconds later. That’s almost creepy.
8. Have to believe coach Jon Cooper is concerned about how the Lightning are playing. We only have 24 days left in the regular season and the two-time defending champion Lightning are not sharp. They have lost three in a row and are 6-9 in their last 15. They have given up 15 goals in their last three losses, and one of those losses was against the Montreal Canadiens. Cue up the debate about whether a strong team can just start playing championship-style hockey when the playoffs arrive.
9. Speaking of Skinner, he is having one of his better NHL seasons with 29 goals and 51 points in 69 games. Confidence and a coach having faith in him seems to be Skinner’s recipe for success.
10. NHL goalies have an average save percentage of .908 and a goals-against average of 2.89. That probably represents the worst season for NHL goalies since 2005-06 when the league save percentage was .901 and the GAA was 2.92. That was the season after the lost season when the NHL reformed the rules to open up the offense.
11. Boston’s Patrice Bergeron ranks seventh iin shots on goal with 251, but that has only resulted in 19 goals. That’s because his 7.6% shooting percentage is his worst in five seasons. Over the past four seasons, his shooting percentages have been 13.4, 15.6, 15.3 and 12.6.
12. To appreciate how the NHL draft has changed through the year, consider that the 64th pick is now at the bottom of the second round. In the 21-team NHL days, No. 64 was a fourth-round pick.
13. In light of Getzlaf retiring from the only NHL team he ever played for, here are other players I would like to see retire with their only team: Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay), Patrice Bergeron (Boston), Alex Ovechkin (Washington), Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh).
14. Ninety-four years ago today, April 7, 1928, 44-year-old New York Rangers coach Lester Patrick had to play in goal in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final because his regular goalie Lorne Chabot suffered an eye injury. The opposing team, the Montreal Maroons, would not allow the Rangers to use another NHL goalie who happened to be at the game. The Maroons also vetoed the Rangers’ use of their minor league goalie. Patrick had never played goal before. But he had the last laugh when the Rangers won in overtime. That was Patrick’s only game in an NHL net. The Rangers were allowed to use New York Americans goalie Joe Miller in the remainder of the series and won the Stanley Cup
15. If you had to pick one NHL coach to be an emergency goalie today, who would you go with? My choice would be Detroit’s Jeff Blashill who played four seasons in net for Ferris State in the 1990s. If I had to use an NHL coach with no experience in goal like Patrick. I’d go with Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour because he is in incredible shape and he is the ultimate competitor.
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