#102 - Jean Ratelle

Jean Ratelle (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #102)

Adjusted Stats

1960-1961   NYR        4 GP     2 goals     1 assist       4 points       1.03 PPG
1961-1962   NYR        36 GP   5 goals     10 assists   14 points      0.40 PPG
1962-1963   NYR        56 GP   13 goals   11 assists   24 points      0.43 PPG
1963-1964   NYR        18 GP   0 goals     9 assists     9 points        0.52 PPG
1964-1965   NYR        63 GP   18 goals   26 assists   44 points      0.69 PPG
1965-1966   NYR        78 GP   25 goals   36 assists   60 points      0.77 PPG
1966-1967   NYR        48 GP   7 goals     6 assists     13 points      0.28 PPG
1967-1968   NYR        82 GP   39 goals   56 assists   95 points      1.16 PPG
1968-1969   NYR        81 GP   36 goals   51 assists   87 points      1.07 PPG
1969-1970   NYR        81 GP   37 goals   48 assists   85 points      1.04 PPG
1970-1971   NYR        82 GP   27 goals   48 assists   75 points      0.91 PPG
1971-1972   NYR        66 GP   49 goals   66 assists   115 points    1.74 PPG
1972-1973   NYR        82 GP   40 goals   52 assists   93 points      1.13 PPG
1973-1974   NYR        71 GP   28 goals   39 assists   68 points      0.95 PPG
1974-1975   NYR        81 GP   33 goals   51 assists   84 points      1.03 PPG
1975-1976   NYR/Bos 82 GP   33 goals   64 assists   97 points      1.18 PPG
1976-1977   Bos          80 GP   31 goals   58 assists   89 points      1.12 PPG
1977-1978   Bos          82 GP   24 goals   56 assists   80 points      0.98 PPG
1978-1979   Bos          82 GP   24 goals   41 assists   65 points      0.79 PPG
1979-1980   Bos          69 GP   25 goals   40 assists   65 points      0.95 PPG
1980-1981   Bos          48 GP   9 goals     21 assists   30 points      0.63 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1966-1967   NYR         4 GP    0 goals     0 assists      0 points       0.00 PPG
1967-1968   NYR         6 GP    0 goals     4 assists      4 points       0.67 PPG
1968-1969   NYR         4 GP    1 goal      0 assists       1 point        0.25 PPG
1969-1970   NYR         6 GP    1 goal      3 assists      4 points       0.62 PPG
1970-1971   NYR         13 GP  2 goals     8 assists     10 points     0.78 PPG
1971-1972   NYR         6 GP    0 goals     1 assist       1 point        0.16 PPG
1972-1973   NYR         10 GP  2 goals     6 assists      8 points      0.80 PPG
1973-1974   NYR         13 GP  2 goals     4 assists      6 points      0.45 PPG
1974-1975   NYR         3 GP    1 goal       5 assists      5 points     1.83 PPG
1975-1976   Bos         12 GP   8 goals     8 assists     16 points    1.29 PPG
1976-1977   Bos         14 GP   4 goals     11 assists   15 points    1.07 PPG
1977-1978   Bos         15 GP   3 goals     7 assists     10 points    0.65 PPG
1978-1979   Bos         11 GP   6 goals     5 assists     12 points    1.07 PPG
1979-1980   Bos         3 GP     0 goals     0 assists      0 points     0.00 PPG
1980-1981   Bos         3 GP     0 goals     0 assists      0 points     0.00 PPG


Career - 1372 GP, 505 goals, 790 assists, 1296 points, 0.94 PPG
Career-Highs - 49 goals (71-72); 66 assists (71-72); 115 points (71-72); 1.74 PPG (71-72)
Avg. (20 seasons) - 68 GP, 25 goals, 39 assists, 65 points, 0.94 PPG
Peak Avg. (69-77) - 78 GP, 35 goals, 53 assists, 88 points, 1.13 PPG, 0 Cups

Playoff Career - 123 GP, 30 goals, 62 assists, 92 points, 0.75 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 8 goals (75-76); 11 assists (76-77); 16 points (75-76); 1.83 PPG (74-75)

Accolades - 2 Lady Byngs
All-Star Teams - 1-time 2nd-team
Never Won Stanley Cup

Some players, like Henri Richard, saw their production drop off heavily when the league expanded and the "Original Six" era ended. Jean Ratelle was the exact opposite. In his first seven seasons with the New York Rangers, he cracked 40+ points only twice, and his high watermark was sixty. Not exactly #1 center production. But as soon as the league expanded, Ratelle began an eleven-year stretch that saw him best 80 points nine times.

Did Ratelle benefit from the league's expansion watering down his opponents? Perhaps, but then the same charge could be leveled against Phil Esposito and a host of other stars who blossomed in the post-expansion era. Whatever the causes, Ratelle took advantage and became something of the Mats Sundin of his era: the good soldier on a mediocre team, putting up 80 or 90 points and leading his team to the Conference finals, but never beyond. He didn't disappear come playoff time, but he didn't exactly elevate his game either.

Ratelle's legacy has faded because he was overshadowed during the era by Phil Esposito and Bobby Clarke, and later by Bryan Trottier. He did have one ridiculously productive season, though, in 1971-1972, when he put up 49 goals and 115 points in only 66 games. The 1.74 adjusted PPG mark ranks as one of the best non-Gretzky or Lemieux averages of the post-Original Six era.

I've seen NHL Classic games with Ratelle, and what strikes you is the combination of his imposing size, his playmaking vision, and his smooth skating style. It's indicative of the level of respect Ratelle had achieved that he was traded, along with fellow great Brad Park, to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Phil Esposito (in what is surely one of the biggest trades in NHL history, even if the repercussions were minimal). With Orr out of the picture, Ratelle and Park helped lead the Bruins to two consecutive Stanley Cup finals, and Ratelle was integral in the 1977 run, scoring 15 adjusted points in 14 playoff games.

Unfortunately for Ratelle and the Bruins, their opponent in both years was the Montreal Canadiens' dynasty of the late 1970s. And so Ratelle, one of the league's classiest centers, an earlier generation's Ron Francis, retired without a Stanley Cup. He remains one of the better players on my Pyramid not to have a championship to his credit.