I'm all for providing my method, which is no great method at all & smth I would love for some of the stat heads on here to poke holes in & help tighten up:
Step 1: If ice time is not available, estimate it using a combination of three pieces:
(a) The NY Times' 1927-28 full season statistics, including shots and ice time (see full record below) as a relative marker (i.e., "If top-line players were getting between X and X minutes of ice per game in 1928, and in the modern era are getting between X and X minutes of ice per game, then...............");
(b) A visual inspection of the team roster on which X player played. At this stage era will be important. For example, in a modern four-line scenario, ice time would run roughly 20-16-14-10; in a three-line era it would run more along the lines of 26-20-14; in a bona fide two-line era it would become something like 38-22; and before that, in the pre-NHL leagues, you're looking at a 55-minutes-per-game for players with subs or (particularly going back even further) a full 60 with no subs.
(c) Any anecdotal evidence lying around in various old SIHR publications, books, or online.
Okay, so you arrive at a reasonable estimation of ice time for X player. Moving right along...
Step 2: So let's at this point say we're going to use Gordie Howe's monster 1952-53 season:
At this point, with his 26 minutes of estimated ice time in hand, we do the following:
1) We bring his numbers up to our "base" season - or the season we're going to "normalize" his stats to. In this case, let's go with
last season 2021-22, in which each team played 82 games:
From here, we find our league averages for both 1952-53 and 2021-22 (goals per game, assists per game, PiM per game):
1952-1953 | NHL | 4.79 | 7.20 | 19.16 |
2021-2022 | NHL | 6.20 | 10.48 | 17.24 |
(And yes, I know these averages
include the player being normalized, and this will provide a very slight skew; in the future I intend to have rough numbers, subtract players from the total, and calculate fresh league averages per exercise.....when I find more time lol)
Okay, so now we divide both Gordie Howe's goals and assists by the respective 1952-53 average (goals or assists per game) and then multiply these numbers by the 2021-22 averages. That leaves us with:
Final step is to take the above numbers and bring them to 2021-22 terms (focusing on ice time). In this instance, we have Howe's estimated 26 minutes a game. We divide both his goals and assists into 26 minutes and bring it down to a more 2022-like 20 minutes per game. That leaves us with our final numbers:
Where does that put Howe in 2021-22? Here:
Connor McDavid EDM C 80 44 79 123
Gordie Howe DET RW 82 57 60 117
Johnny Gaudreau CGY LW 82 40 75 115
Jonathan Huberdeau FLA LW 80 30 85 115
Leon Draisaitl EDM C 80 55 55 110
A perfect science? Far from it. No merit whatosever? Far from it. I think the best way to look at this is as a means of arriving at a rough snapshot of
just how good the old players were. It makes me sick that players from yesteryear are all but forgotten. I mean, we hear
so much about the big stars of the expansion era, but what about guys like Frank Frederickson or Fred "Cyclone" Taylor or Frank Nighbor or Duke Keats or Russell "Dubbie" Bowie? These guys would have been great in
any era, and thanks to normalization exercises like this one, we can splash a little colour on what is otherwise a very dry, black-and-white picture. What's the harm in doing
that?
BTW, here below is the full 1927-28 NY Times statistical record. Isn't it fascinating?
Team(s) Player Pos GP G A Pts S ToI
MtlC Howie Morenz C 43 33 18 51 387 1840
MtlC Aurele Joliat LW 44 28 11 39 418 1761
Det George Hay LW 42 22 13 35 191 1451
NYR Frank Boucher C 44 23 12 35 202 1674
MtlM Nels Stewart C 41 27 7 34 252 1561
MtlC Art Gagne RW 44 20 10 30 251 1614
NYR Bun Cook LW 44 14 14 28 318 1646
Tor Bill Carson C 32 20 6 26 167 1150
Ott Frank Finnigan RW 38 20 5 25 203 1407
NYR Bill Cook RW 43 18 6 24 267 1630
Chi-Det Duke Keats C 37 14 10 24 178 1181
Ott Hec Kilrea LW 43 19 4 23 322 1762
Pit Hib Milks C 44 18 3 21 275 1674
Chi Mickey MacKay C 36 17 4 21 161 1291
Det Johnny Sheppard C 44 10 10 20 115 1170
Bos-Tor Jimmy Herberts C 43 15 4 19 213 1273
MtlM Hooley Smith C 34 14 5 19 209 1552
NYA Normie Himes C 44 14 5 19 224 1437
Bos Harry Oliver RW 43 13 5 18 267 1619
Det Carson Cooper RW 43 15 2 17 275 1243
NYA Lionel Conacher D 35 11 6 17 180 1563
Bos Eddie Shore D 43 11 6 17 152 2339
Tor Hap Day LW/D 22 9 8 17 126 1087
MtlM Babe Siebert LW/D 39 8 9 17 200 1786
Det Larry Aurie RW 44 13 3 16 298 1551
NYR Ching Johnson D 42 10 6 16 136 2319
Tor Butch Keeling C/LW 43 10 6 16 242 1326
Pit Harold Darragh RW 44 13 2 15 281 1620
Tor Danny Cox LW 41 9 6 15 131 1067
Ott King Clancy D 39 8 7 15 297 1867
MtlC Sylvio Mantha D 43 4 11 15 79 1552
Bos Frank Fredrickson C 41 10 4 14 168 1466
Det Reg Noble LW/D 44 6 8 14 109 1979
Ott Alex Smith D 44 9 4 13 125 1325
MtlM Joe Lamb C/RW 21 8 5 13 55 366
MtlC Albert Leduc D 42 8 5 13 81 1038
Ott Frank Nighbor C 42 8 5 13 187 1985
MtlM Red Dutton D 42 7 6 13 139 2029
Chi Charley McVeigh RW 43 6 7 13 184 995
NYA Billy Burch C 32 10 2 12 242 1146
MtlM Jimmy Ward RW 42 10 2 12 172 1379
Pit Baldy Cotton LW 42 9 3 12 196 1193
Tor Ace Bailey RW 43 9 3 12 274 1534
Bos Dutch Gainor LW 42 8 4 12 125 948
MtlM Merlyn Phillips RW 40 7 5 12 178 1179
Tor Art Duncan D 43 7 5 12 132 2037
Ott George Boucher D 43 7 5 12 230 2406
Tor Gerry Lowrey C 25 6 5 11 108 509
Bos Percy Galbraith LW 42 6 5 11 256 1625
Chi-Tor Eddie Rodden 42 3 8 11 171 1152
MtlM Russell Oatman C 43 7 4 11 150 866
Pit-Tor Bert McCaffrey D 44 7 4 11 96 1581
Bos Harry Connor LW 42 9 1 10 124 726
NYR Murray Murdoch C/LW 44 7 3 10 115 849
Pit Herb Drury LW 44 6 4 10 171 1154
Chi-MtlC Ty Arbour LW 39 5 5 10 194 1362
Chi Cy Wentworth D 43 5 5 10 87 1968
NYA Leo Reise D 43 8 1 9 123 1872
Det Frank Foyston C/LW 23 7 2 9 126 775
Chi Dick Irvin C 12 5 4 9 78 478
MtlC Leo Gaudreault C 32 6 2 8 60 652
Tor Art Smith D 15 5 3 8 54 397
Pit Duke McCurry LW 44 5 3 8 88 1052
Bos Lionel Hitchman D 44 5 3 8 194 2295
NYR Paul Thompson LW 42 4 4 8 112 715
NYR Leo Bourgeault D/RW 37 7 0 7 114 1525
NYR Alex Gray C 43 7 0 7 138 878
NYA Red Green LW 40 6 1 7 177 1227
MtlM Dunc Munro D 43 5 2 7 94 1882
NYA Billy Boucher RW 43 5 2 7 200 1000
MtlC Herb Gardiner D 44 4 3 7 92 2112
Pit Tex White RW 44 5 1 6 152 1142
Chi-Det Gord Fraser D 41 4 2 6 130 964
NYA Alex McKinnon RW 43 3 3 6 235 1719
Pit John McKinnon D 43 3 3 6 52 832
Det Jack Walker C 43 2 4 6 75 1053
Chi Corb Denneny C 18 5 0 5 95 462
MtlC Pit Lepine C 20 4 1 5 80 476
Bos Dit Clapper RW/D 40 4 1 5 73 478
Ott Punch Broadbent RW 43 3 2 5 129 1034
Bos Fred Gordon F 43 3 2 5 69 755
MtlC Gizzy Hart LW 44 3 2 5 88 717
NYR Bill Boyd RW 43 4 0 4 95 546
MtlC Wildor Larochelle RW 40 3 1 4 66 517
Det Percy Traub D 44 3 1 4 97 1626
Bos Sprague Cleghorn D 37 2 2 4 20 288
Det Pete Palangio LW 14 3 0 3 20 202
Ott Cy Denneny LW 44 3 0 3 144 682
Pit-MtlC Marty Burke D 46 2 2 4 111 1913
NYA Clarence Boucher D 36 2 1 3 55 1008
Det Clem Loughlin D 43 1 2 3 82 953
Ott Len Grosvenor C 43 1 2 3 62 568
Chi Cecil Browne LW 13 2 0 2 25 336
Chi Eddie McCalmon RW 23 2 0 2 55 521
NYA Joe Simpson D 24 2 0 2 100 981
Det Stan Brown D 24 2 0 2 13 311
MtlM Bill Touhey LW/C 29 2 0 2 23 208
Chi-MtlC Leo Lafrance C/LW 29 2 0 2 25 441
Det Frank Sheppard C 8 1 1 2 2 44
Chi Earl Miller LW 21 1 1 2 32 449
Chi Ralph Taylor RW 22 1 1 2 22 584
Chi Amby Moran D 23 1 1 2 37 506
Tor-MtlC George Patterson RW 28 1 1 2 37 313
Chi Bob Trapp D 38 0 2 2 49 1134
Tor Beattie Ramsay D 43 0 2 2 59 1235
NYA Marty Barry C 9 1 0 1 14 112
Chi Nick Wasnie RW 14 1 0 1 26 223
MtlM Fred Brown D 19 1 0 1 3 34
Chi Ted Graham D 19 1 0 1 9 393
Bos Hago Harrington LW 22 1 0 1 22 182
NYA Edmond Bouchard LW 39 1 0 1 151 835
Pit Rodger Smith D 43 1 0 1 57 748
Ott Al Shields D 7 0 1 1 3 16
MtlM Hap Emms LW/D 10 0 1 1 4 87
Chi Val Hoffinger D 18 0 1 1 36 554
Tor Ed Gorman D 19 0 1 1 20 330
MtlM Frank Carson RW 21 0 1 1 21 204
NYR Clarence Abel D 23 0 1 1 32 612
NYR Laurie Scott LW 23 0 1 1 26 193
Chi Barney Stanley F 1 0 0 0 1 16
Chi Bobby Burns LW 1 0 0 0
MtlM Flat Walsh 1 0 0 0 0 6
Tor Joe Primeau C 2 0 0 0 0 10
Pit Odie Cleghorn C 2 0 0 0 0 22
Bos Martin Lauder D 3 0 0 0 7 42
Pit Mickey McGuire D 4 0 0 0 0 23
Bos Nobby Clark D 5 0 0 0
Ott Gene Chouinard D 8 0 0 0 0 1
Chi Babe Dye RW 10 0 0 0 20 84
MtlC Marty Burke D 11 0 0 0 111 1913
Ott Milt Halliday F/D 13 0 0 0 2 48
NYA-Pit Sam Rothschild D 17 0 0 0 52 271
Ott Sam Godin W 24 0 0 0 9 60
NYR Patsy Callighen D 36 0 0 0 37 602
Pit-MtlC Charlie Langlois D 40 0 0 0 30 799
Team(s) Goalie GP Mins W L SO Sv SA Pct
Tor Joe Ironstone 1 1 44 44 1.000
NYA Normie Himes 1 9 9 1.000
Tor Ace Bailey 1 1 1 1.000
MtlC George Hainsworth 44 1371 1419 .966
Ott Alex Connell 44 1401 1458 .961
Pit Roy Worters 44 1635 1711 .956
Bos Hal Winkler 44 1399 1469 .952
NYR Lorne Chabot 44 1542 1621 .951
Det Hap Holmes 44 1381 1460 .946
Tor John Ross Roach 43 1522 1610 .945
MtlM Flat Walsh 1 17 18 .944
MtlM Clint Benedict 44 1273 1349 .944
NYA Earl Miller 28 1085 1162 .934
NYA Jake Forbes 16 714 765 .933
Chi Charlie Gardiner 40 1372 1486 .923
Chi Hugh Lehman 4 125 145 .862