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Offensive Dominance: Goal Scored Percentage

By Hawerchuk Updated

This post came out of a neat idea from the guys at Copper n Blue who, like me, have no team to cheer for anymore, and have turned their energy to the entire league.  They wondered which players were involved in the highest percentage of their team's goals.  I'm going to go through a series of these tables over the next little while, and I wanted to start with players who recorded points on the highest percentage of their team's goals when they were on the ice:

Player Season TEAM GP Pts TGF PCT
Stan Mikita 1972-73 CBH 57 83 90 92.2
Nils Ekman 2003-04 SJS 82 55 61 90.2
Wayne Gretzky 1979-80 EDM 79 137 155 88.4
Sidney Crosby 2006-07 PIT 79 120 137 87.6
Mario Lemieux 2002-03 PIT 67 91 104 87.5
Bill Hicke 1968-69 OAK 67 61 70 87.1
Rick Nash 2008-09 CBJ 78 79 91 86.8
Wayne Gretzky 1987-88 EDM 64 149 172 86.6
Patrick Elias 2003-04 NJD 82 81 94 86.2
Ivan Boldirev 1976-77 CBH 80 62 72 86.1
Scott Gomez 2002-03 NJD 80 55 64 85.9
Gerry Meehan 1972-73 BUF 77 60 70 85.7
Peter McNab 1976-77 BOS 80 86 101 85.1
Don Luce 1973-74 BUF 75 57 67 85.1
Glen Sharples 1976-77 MNS 80 57 67 85.1
Alex Mogilny 2000-01 NJD 75 83 98 84.7
Kelly Buchberger 1991-92 EDM 79 44 52 84.6
Danny Grant 1968-69 MNS 75 65 77 84.4
Ken Linseman 1981-82 PHI 79 92 109 84.4
Don Luce 1972-73 BUF 78 43 51 84.3
Ivan Boldirev 1977-78 CBH 80 80 95 84.2
Rick Nash 2007-08 CBJ 80 69 82 84.1
Alexei Yashin 1993-94 OTT 83 79 94 84.0
Hilliard Graves 1972-73 CGS 75 52 62 83.9
Joe Thornton 2006-07 SJS 82 114 136 83.8

 

That's right, people.  The offense runs through Nils Ekman.  Overall, it's an interesting mix: great offensive players on a mix of good and bad teams, as well as unheralded players on some very bad expansion teams.

Those totals can be heavily-influenced by power-play time, so I thought it would be interesting to look at players who scored the highest percentage of even-strength and short-handed goals recorded when they were on the ice.  Reggie Leach really stands out:

 

Player Season TEAM GP ES/SH G TGF/A PCT
Reggie Leach 1975-76 PHI 80 51 139 36.7
Reggie Leach 1979-80 PHI 76 45 99 34.6
Reggie Leach 1974-75 PHI 80 33 113 34.0
Bobby Hull 1971-72 CBH 78 42 126 33.9
Petr Bondra 1995-96 WSH 67 41 102 33.6
Stephane Richer 1989-90 MTL 75 42 111 33.6
Petr Bondra 1997-98 WSH 76 41 103 33.1
Derek Sanderson 1968-69 BOS 61 25 62 32.5
Marian Hossa 2002-03 OTT 80 31 97 32.3
Pavel Bure 1992-93 VAN 83 47 140 31.5
Simon Gagne 2005-06 PHI 72 35 115 31.5
Phil Kessel 2008-09 BOS 70 28 80 31.5
Jarome Iginla 2003-04 CGY 81 33 92 31.4
Steve Shutt 1976-77 MTL 80 52 159 31.3
Stephane Richer 1987-88 MTL 72 34 103 30.9
Danny Gare 1975-76 BUF 79 42 113 30.9
Pavel Bure 1999-00 FLA 74 47 118 30.7
Mark Napier 1982-83 MTL 73 37 82 30.3
Eric Vail 1974-75 ATF 72 33 79 30.3
Bobby Schmautz 1977-78 BOS 54 23 73 30.3
Steve Vickers 1972-73 NYR 61 28 74 30.1
Petr Klima 1990-91 EDM 70 33 97 30.0
Joe Nieuwendyck 1997-98 DAL 73 25 88 29.8
Brett Hull 1990-91 STL 78 57 170 29.5
John Madden 2000-01 NJD 80 23 51 29.5

 

And finally, players who simply scored the highest percentage of their own team's even-strength and short-handed goals:

 

Player Season TEAM GP ES/SH G ES/SH GF PCT
Wendel Clark 1985-86 TOR 66 30 50 60.0
Eric Vail 1974-75 ATF 72 33 55 60.0
Marian Hossa 2002-03 OTT 80 31 52 59.6
Petr Bondra 1997-98 WSH 76 41 69 59.4
Petr Bondra 1995-96 WSH 67 41 70 58.6
Mike Bossy 1986-87 NYI 63 30 52 57.7
Bobby Crawford 1983-84 HAR 80 31 55 56.4
Nelson Emerson 1993-94 WPG 83 29 52 55.8
Stephane Richer 1987-88 MTL 72 34 61 55.7
Mike Modano 1993-94 DAL 76 32 58 55.2
Richard Martin 1973-74 BUF 78 44 80 55.0
Mike Donnelley 1991-92 LAK 80 29 53 54.7
Pat Lafontaine 1989-90 NYI 74 41 75 54.7
Lanny Mcdonald 1982-83 CGY 80 49 90 54.4
Bill Guerin 2001-02 BOS 78 31 57 54.4
Teemu Selanne 1997-98 MDA 73 42 78 53.8
Ilya Kovalchuk 2007-08 ATL 79 36 67 53.7
Brett Hull 1991-92 STL 73 50 94 53.2
Teemu Selanne 1992-93 WPG 84 52 98 53.1
Reggie Leach 1979-80 PHI 76 45 85 52.9
Rick Nash 2007-08 CBJ 80 28 53 52.8
Pavel Bure 1999-00 FLA 74 47 89 52.8
Brett Hull 1990-91 STL 78 57 108 52.8
Stephane Richer 1989-90 MTL 75 42 80 52.5
Brad Boyes 2007-08 STL 82 32 61 52.5

 

Some of the same names come up here. 

There's more to come in the weeks ahead...