NHL: The Magic Number

Hockey is a game of numbers, in the NHL the numbers mean everything. The most famous number is 99, 'the Great One' Wayne Gretzky adorned these double digits through 21 NHL seasons, before retiring in 1999. His 1487 regular season games, 894 goals and 1963 assists totalling a remarkable 2857 points remains the benchmark for every player to ever grace the ice. There are so many incredible numbers in the NHL, but what is the magic number?

1917 marked the inaugural season of the NHL, in the 98 years that have followed the number of teams have chopped and changed. From 1917-1935, long before the 'Original 6' franchises, 9 additional teams (5 franchises) would compete in the league alongside New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins.

1967 would mark the expansion of the NHL and the introduction of 6 new franchises: California Seals and Minnesota North Stars (who, through a series of relocations and a merger would both eventually become the Dallas Stars), Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and St Louis Blues. 1967 would also mark the final year that the Toronto Maple Leafs would win the Stanley Cup. A shame for a fan base that the Hockey News ranked as number 1 in a 2014 poll. It would also mark the first season that the NHL would see a man by the name of William Scott 'Scotty' Bowman - we'll get to him later.

From 1970-1992 the league would grow from 12 to 22 franchises merging with the WHA for the beginning of the 1979 season. 51 year old Gordie Howe would adorn his famous number 9 jersey in the NHL for the final time that season, while an 18 year old Wayne Gretzky would embark on his first season. Both would play 80 games, Howe scored 15 goals finishing his career with 801, Gretzky would score 51 goals - well on his way to surpassing Howe and all that stood before him.

From 1992 through to the present day the team count would rise from 22 to the 30 that we all know now. This era is perhaps most marred by the 2004-05 lockout season that lead to the NHL missing an entire season for the first time in 88 years - even World War 2 didn't halt the league. All in, the lockout would last 10 months and 6 days. At this point a new set of numbers would be introduced to NHL fandom, namely the Salary Cap. Linked to league revenue, the cap was designed to protect teams from losing money (a reported $273million lost in 2002-03 season) and also to prevent players being overpaid. Remember that, the Cap was to prevent salaries getting out of hand - the compliance buyouts allowed after the partial lockout in 2012-13 (in which the 82 game season was reduced to 48) may say otherwise! Numbers like cap-hit and annual average (AAV) became so important. The idea that teams hire 'capologists' to balance the books and to be a General Manager you are better to be a lawyer or an accountant than ex-player or a scout. Ilya Kovalchuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen and Marian Hossa (among others) signed long term deals in order for the team to factor in a lower cap hit to allow them to remain competitive. Sidney Crosby born 7th August 1987 (8/7/87 in American date nomenclature) wears the 87 jersey with pride, guess what his cap hit is..... that's right $8.7million.

In recent years, the study of the game have ramped up. The introduction of analytics to game have revolutionized the way that the game is looked at. The numbers are being crunched to break down the performance of teams and individuals alike. The Corsi numbers are a measure of shots for and against a team while a player is on the ice, it is used as a guide for puck possession. A player with a high Corsi number will indicate that his team is possession more often than not when he is on the ice. The use of such data allows scouts, general managers and coaches to better use their roster. Numbers rule in the NHL, but some coaches will say that you can't measure heart, desire and stick-to-itiveness (whatever that is).

The thing is: goals and games; shots and salaries mean nothing, there is only 1 thing that matters in the NHL that is the Stanley Cup. First awarded in 1893, the Stanley Cup was originally rewarded to the winner of challenge matches. The annual award of the cup did not start until 1915, with multiple challenges occurring the 22 years that preceded this. Indeed in 1908, the cup was awarded on 5 occasions - each time the Montreal Wanderers were victorious. In the NHL era, the Montreal Canadiens lead the way having won the cup on 23 occasions - having also won in 1916, in the National Hockey Association - their 24 cups are far and away the most won. With 24 finals appearances and 11 cup wins the Detroit Red Wings rank second, although the Toronto Maple Leafs have won 13 in 21 final appearances. The Leafs have 1 season if they do not wish to match the 49 years that the Chicago Blackhawks went between cup wins (1961-2010). With 17 wins, Jean Beliveau has won the most cups individually - 10 as a player and 7 as an executive with the Montreal Canadiens. From 1973 to 1979, the Canadiens would win 5 cups, their coach was Scotty Bowman. Bowman would win a further 2 with the Pittsburgh Penguins, a further four with the Red Wings and two with the Blackhawks - totalling 13 cups over 40 years.

If the Stanley Cup is the Holy Grail and reigns supreme, then what is the NHL's magic number? 30 teams start the season with 82 games ahead of them. Of the 30 teams 16 teams will embark on a playoff run. 8 of 16 teams from the East and 8 of 14 in the West will vie for Lord Stanley's Cup. At the beginning of the playoffs all 16 teams look eagerly at the prospect of 4 best of 7 series. A slog that will only end when a team reaches 4 wins. After the 1st round the victorious team's reward is that they get to do it all again. All in, a team will need to win 16 times through 4 rounds in order to reach the euphoria of lifting the greatest trophy in sports. So, 30 times battle to be one of 16 to chase the cup through the playoffs. First to 16 wins will taste glory? What is the NHL's magic number? It's 16.

GB against Estonia: Post-match

With the late drama of yesterday's victory over Croatia still sinking in, Team GB were once again in action in Eindhoven. Today's opposition were the lowest ranked Estonia - fresh from a 7:3 defeat at the hands of ex-Panther, Jim Paek's South Korea. Estonia were keen to eliminate the memories of this loss and Team GB were hoping to build on the impressive victory over the loaded Croatian team.

The first period started in a frenetic manner with both teams looking to assert their authority. The Estonians would have the better of the opening minutes going on the powerplay twice in quick succession. Robert Dowd called for a weak hooking call and Matt Haywood being called for interference, for what at first glance looked like a clean hit. The transition from EIHL play to IIHF refs is not something that GB have coped with so far. Team GB would see some powerplay time, moving the puck around the zone well but - in what is seeming a flaw in powerplay system - Estonia's Robert Rooba got a breakaway. The defense tried admirably to disrupt the huge body of Rooba, the referee would rule that this disruption was unfair and a penalty shot was awarded. Rooba would pull an excellent move, however, Ben Bowns stood tall and kept the game even.

Shortly after this, Team GB opened the scoring through Davey Phillips. A quick transition from end to end resulted in a deserved lead. The ageless Jonathan Weaver playing the cross-ice pass for Phillips to rocket passed the netminder from the right-hand side. The opening four goals from GB all going to defensmen, but this was not through a lack of trying from the forward corps. The line of Robert Dowd, Matthew Myers and Robert Farmer putting immense pressure on the net of Roman Shumukhin. The first period ended with a too many men call against GB, which thankfully did not yield a goal from the man advantage for Estonia. While Team GB played a physical game that the Estonians cowered from, goalscorer Davey Phillips was lucky not to get called on a check to the head on Roman Andrejev.

The second period would continue with Team GB playing heavy on the forecheck. The energy line of Prince, Garside and Boxill were effective as they piled chances on Roman Shumukhin's net in the early moments of the period. This pressure would continue as Pete Russell's men looked for an insurance marker. The Andrei Makrov breakaway served as a reminder of the danger of the Estonian top line, although despite the high energy Team GB couldn't make their territory count. In the final 10 minutes of the period a Ben O'Connor turnover lead to Robert Rooba finishing through a screen from the high slot as the Estonian top line were rewarded with a goal for their efforts.

With a 20 minute game and all to play for, Team GB redoubled their efforts to get the three points that they deserved. The top line of Robert Dowd, Matthew Myers and Robert Farmer were involved in almost every good chance in the final stanza, as the excellent Jonathan Weaver and Ben O'Connor continued to be influential on the blue line. At 54:10 the top line's effort would pay off with Robert Farmer shovelling home the rebound from Weaver's shot. The goal came on a delayed penalty and GB with the sixth attacker took full advantage. The desire that Pete Russell has talked about shone through as the players dug deep to take advantage of the extra skater. The final minutes would play out with Estonia desperately looking for an equaliser in the same manner that GB did in the game before against Croatia. Alas, there were no late heroics from the men from the Baltics. Team GB played an aggressive high fore-check forcing the Estonians in to their zone. Indeed, they may have added another if icing had not been called late on as Jonathan Boxill raced all alone in to the zone chasing the loose puck. Not perhaps the goal-fest that some expected but a vital and well deserved 3 points.