Top 10 Largest Team Improvements (Long read)

[-AJ-]

Being that it's the summer time and there's a lack of interesting topics, I thought I'd finish writing up one of my articles and share it here for anyone who's interested. This was originally written as two separate posts, but I decided to combine them into one for CDC this time. It also feels particularly relevant for us as Canuck fans as we are near the bottom of most power rankings and many of us would love to see a surprise drastic improvement like the ones many of these teams experienced.

 

If you'd like to read these articles on my blog (where they look more visually appealing) click here:

Part 1: https://hookedonhockeyhistory.wordpress.com/2017/07/23/top-10-largest-team-improvements/

Part 2: https://hookedonhockeyhistory.wordpress.com/2017/08/05/top-10-largest-team-improvements-5-1/

 

If you'd just rather read them here, read on below:

 

Often, it takes many years for a team to go from terrible to good, but occasionally, some teams hit the fast forward button and speed things up. Quite often, the acquisition of a young new superstar can quickly accelerate rebuilds and teams can change dramatically over the course of a single season. These ten teams saw the most dramatic improvements over the course of a single season.

 

10. Boston Bruins – 1966-67 to 1967-68

Phil Esposito, who was a huge part

   of the Bruins’ 1967-68 season

 

In the NHL’s last “Original Six” season, the 1966-67 Boston Bruins were terrible. They finished last out of the six teams with a 17-43-10 record for 44 points. The only bright spots were the steady veteran Johnny Bucyk and the young new star defender Bobby Orr. The change to the 12-team league seemed to help the Bruins greatly. They had an impressive improvement, with a record of 37-27-10 for 84 points and an amazing 40-point increase, albeit in 74 games compared to the 70-game season of 1966-67. The acquisition of Phil Esposito and Ken Hodge from the Black Hawks and the improvement of Boston’s goaltenders provided enough for a dramatic turnaround season.

 

9. Philadelphia Flyers – 2006-07 to 2007-08

                      Danny Briere was the big free agent acquisition who bolstered the Flyers

 

The most modern team on our list, the Philadelphia Flyers sank all the way to last in the NHL with a pitiful 56-point season and a 22-48-12 record. The Flyers had some young potential on their team, but none of it had been fully developed, so without any star players to carry the team, the Flyers lost many games. A lack of any solid goaltending was also a significant problem, as the Flyers used five different goaltenders throughout the season. The following summer, the Flyers made a huge splash by signing big ticket free agent Daniel Briere to a long contract. The Flyers also acquired a proven veteran NHL defenseman in Kimmo Timonen and signed him to a long extension. Along with Timonen came burgeoning young forward Scott Hartnell. All three proved to be huge factors in Philadelphia’s resurgent season as they propelled further to a 42-29-11 season. Hartnell surpassed 20 goals while providing a physical presence, Timonen was steady defensively and scored 44 points and Briere finished second on the team with 72 points. Other young players improved too, as Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, and Joffrey Lupul became capable offensive players with Richards leading the team with 75 points. In net Martin Biron stabilized things and helped the Flyers finish with 95 points and 5th in the Eastern Conference.

 

8. Winnipeg Jets – 1980-81 to 1981-82

Dale Hawerchuk, selected 1st Overall by the Jets in the 1981 NHL Draft

 

The Jets were a pretty bad team when they transferred to the NHL from the WHA in the 1979-80 season, but they were somehow even worse in the 1980-81 season. The Jets had a pitiful 9 wins and a lowly .200 point percentage. They were dead last in the NHL with the worst goals for and goals against in the league. They used five different goaltenders and lacked any big name players on their roster. The one positive to come out of the bad season was the opportunity to draft first overall–a pick with which they chose Dale Hawerchuk. The Jets, a team infused with youth, exploded onto the scene for the 1981-82 season. Propelled largely by their young offensive defender in Dave Babych and 18-year old phenom, Dale Hawerchuk, the Jets finished the season with a .500 record at 10th in the league out of 21 teams, their 33 wins being a drastic improvement over the previous year’s 9 wins.

 

7. Dallas Stars – 1995-96 to 1996-97

Sergei Zubov was a large part

      of the Stars for years

 

The 1995-96 Dallas Stars were a team with many championship pieces that weren’t yet known. Though they had many players who would become important in Dallas’ years of dominance to come, in the 1995-96 season, the Hatcher brothers and centre Mike Modano were the only particularly bright spots for the Stars. The Stars finished 23rd out of 26 teams and had 66 points during the 82-game season. The Stars went from one of the league’s worst to one of the best in the 1996-97 season. They finished with 104 points, good for 2nd in the entire NHL. The introduction of Darryl Sydor and Sergei Zubov dramatically bolstered Dallas’ defense, enabling them to allow few shots on to the Stars’ net. The Stars also had great defense from their forwards as Jere Lehtinen began to grow into his role as a premier shutdown forward. The improvement of Joe Nieuwendyk, received in the trade that sent Jarome Iginla to Calgary, helped the Stars as well as he scored 30 goals for the team.

 

6. San Jose Sharks – 1992-93 to 1993-94

                                Sandis Ozolinsh, a great defenseman for the Sharks in the early 90s

 

An utter lack of any sort of cohesion and star power left the San Jose Sharks with one of the worst seasons in NHL history. They finished with an 11-71-2 record, setting the NHL record in losses that remains unbroken to this day. An infusion of Russian legends in Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov bolstered the Sharks dramatically in the 1993-94 season along with the entrance of Sandis Ozolinsh into the NHL. Ozolinsh scored 26 goals and 64 points. Ozolinsh paired up with Jeff Norton to help Arturs Irbe help defend the Sharks’ net. Although the Sharks still weren’t good, they were good enough to make the playoffs and heavily upset the Detroit Red Wings in a 7-game first round series, though they would lose to the Toronto Maple Leafs in another surprisingly close series. The Sharks went from 71 losses down to 35 in just one season.

 

Part 2

 

The top five on our list of largest improvements saw extremely unprecedented improvements from one year to the next. These are the kind of changes that many fans always dream of and hope for. The lucky fans of these teams got to experience that dramatic improvement.

 

5. New York Islanders – 2000-01 to 2001-02

              Alexei Yashin, a big signing that helped the Islanders improve in the 2001-02 season

 

The 2000-01 Islanders had an absolutely terrible team, finishing dead last at 30th in the NHL with a 21-51-7-3 record for a paltry 52 points. Mariusz Czerkawski scored 30 goals and Roman Hamrlik had an impressive 16 goals and 46 points on defense, but aside from that the only other note-worthy offensive forces were Dave Scatchard who was the only other 20-goal scorer, and an injured Brad Isbister, who played in just 51 games, scoring 18 goals. There was no solid goaltending anywhere, even when the Islanders tried to use their 19-year old Rick Dipietro in net.

 

The Islanders had a busy off-season acquiring many new players to bolster their roster, such as Alexei Yashin, Mark Parrish, and Michael Peca. All three of these forwards provided a huge boost to the offense of the Islanders and helped them rocket up the standings. In addition, the Islanders picked up Chris Osgood and signed Garth Snow as a capable backup. The combination of their much more solid goaltending and strong offense led to a 44-point surge up to 96 points and 42 wins on the season, launching from 30th to 8th in the NHL. Unfortunately for the Islanders, their moves to acquire Yashin and Parrish cost them too much and they would pay for their sacrifices in the coming years.

 

4. Montreal Canadiens – 1925-26 to 1926-27

                  George Hainsworth, the hero of the Canadiens in the late 20s

 

The Montreal Canadiens weren’t always dominant. The 1925-26 Canadiens finished dead last in 7th place with an 11-24-1 record. They had Howie Morenz and Aurel Joliat for star power on the front lines, but lacked any great defensemen, and with the sudden death of Georges Vezina, had to fill the goaltending gap with very little time to find a good substitute.

 

The improvement that the Canadiens experienced going into the 1926-27 season can be explained almost entirely with one name: George Hainsworth. Hainsworth immediately made an impact in the NHL, winning the first ever Vezina trophy and bringing Montreal’s goal against to the lowest in the NHL. The Canadiens went from last place all the way up to 2nd place in the NHL on the back of Hainsworth’s great goaltending, bringing their point percentage from .319 to .659.

 

3. Montreal Canadiens – 1942-43 to 1943-44

Bill Durnan, perhaps the biggest X-factor in Montreal’s huge 1943-44 season

 

Unlike many of the teams on this list, the 1942-43 Montreal Canadiens weren’t actually a bad team, they were just average. Literally. They finished with a 19-19-12 record for a .500 point percentage. They had offensive stars in Toe Blake and Elmer Lach and defensive support from a young Emile Bouchard, but lacked goaltending support, as Paul Bibeault was a below-average goaltender. As a result, the Canadiens finished an uninspiring 4th in the first “Original Six” season.

 

If ever there was a dream season, the 1943-44 season was it for the Montreal Canadiens. Maurice Richard exploded onto the scene, scoring 32 goals, instantly becoming Montreal’s top scorer. He teamed up with Blake and Lach, the latter who led the Canadiens in points with 72 in 48 games. The Canadiens dominated with an incredible 38-5-1 record and a 25-0 record at home. They had the best offense in the league by a small margin, but their defense was in an entirely different league. Their goals-against-per-game was at 2.18 while their closest competition in the Maple Leafs had 3.48. The reason? The Canadiens replaced Bibeault with Bill Durnan, who would hold Montreal’s primary netminding duties for several great years to come.

 

2. Quebec Nordiques – 1991-92 to 1992-93

Mats Sundin, the biggest star for the Nordiques in the early 90s

 

The 1991-92 Quebec Nordiques finished second last in the NHL with a 20-48-12 record and a .325 point percentage. The Nordiques had young burgeoning stars in Joe Sakic, Owen Nolan, and Mats Sundin, but had no offensive depth beyond that. They also lacked any top-end defensemen and lacked any stability in net, playing four different goaltenders throughout the season, none playing more than 30 games.

The Nordiques had the second largest season-to-season improvement in terms of points in NHL history, doubling from 52 points up to 104 points. From 21st out of 22 teams, Quebec launched all the way up to fourth out of 24 teams in the 1992-93 season. Both Mats Sundin and Joe Sakic absolutely exploded, both surpassing 100 points for the first time with Sundin leading the way at 114 points. Steve Duchesne, who was acquired in the Peter Forsberg/Eric Lindros trade, set a new personal best of 82 points in 82 games, incredible numbers for a defenseman. In net, some more stability was added as Ron Hextall took the majority of the games and Stephane Fiset stepped up his game to be a capable backup. The Nordiques unfortunately lost in the 1st round of the playoffs.

 

1. Pittsburgh Penguins – 2005-06 to 2006-07

Evgeni Malkin was a huge part of the dramatic improvement the Penguins saw in the 2006-07 season

 

Despite acquiring the biggest name draft pick since Eric Lindros, the Pittsburgh Penguins were still terrible in the 2005-06 season. Sidney Crosby scored an impressive 102 points for the Penguins, but beyond Crosby, they lacked any star power up front. Mark Recchi played adequately, but he was held to just 63 games and was beginning to age at nearly 40. The Penguins also had Sergei Gonchar on the blue line and youngster Marc-Andre Fleury in net. While the Penguins had some young pieces, they were still predominately run by older players. They finished 29th in the NHL with a 22-46-14 record.

 

The Penguins had many players break out in the 2006-07 season, the largest of which was new rookie phenom, Evgeni Malkin. Despite getting on in years, Gonchar had an incredible 67-point season. Ryan Whitney had a solid 59-point season, giving the Penguins a solid offensive d-corps. On the defensive side, Brooks Orpik held the fort along with the help of a steadily improving Fleury. While Malkin stole the show, another rookie was making his impact as well. Jordan Staal began to make his mark as a formidable two-way player in his first season. Crosby’s 84 assists and 120 points are both marks that haven’t been passed since that season. The Penguins went from 58 points and 29th place to 105 points and 9th place.

 

Honourable Mention: Buffalo Sabres – 1973-74 to 1974-75

The Sabres went from 32-34-12 up to an extremely dominant 49-16-15 record team in this stretch, finishing as part of a three-way tie with 113 points for first place. This improvement was largely due to the improvement of many players already in the Sabres’ system.

 

Honourable Mention: Edmonton Oilers – 1980-81 to 1981-82

After a mediocre .463 point percentage for the Oilers in their sophomore NHL season, they had a strong improvement in the 1981-82 season, going up to a .694 percentage. Like with the Sabres, the improvement of many players within the system was the main reason for this improvement. Grant Fuhr’s strong rookie season didn’t hurt either.

 

 

*For any of those curious, the largest improvement I found in Canucks history was from the 1990-91 season to the 1991-92 season, when Quinn won the Jack Adams for turning the team around.

[ReggieBush]

Soon to be the 2017-18 Vancouver Canucks 

[JayCanuck10]

I'm surprised that 2013-14 Avalanche team wasn't even mentioned. 

[-AJ-]

14 minutes ago, JayCanuck10 said:

I'm surprised that 2013-14 Avalanche team wasn't even mentioned. 

That one was definitely on my radar, but it's hard to determine how much to weigh a 48-game season (the year prior). I probably should have looked at it closer for an honourable mention at least.

[Western Red]

Very nice writing AJ, thanks for the trip down memory lane, I liked the Nordiques write up the best. That was the year I first took interest in hockey, 1992-93.

[Diamonds]

Another great article. I love reading about history in the game, in all of its aspects.