Saturday, February 5, 2011

#49 - Mark Recchi

Mark Recchi (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #49)

Adjusted Stats

1988-1989   Pit         15 GP   1 goal      1 assist       2 points      0.11 PPG
1989-1990   Pit         76 GP   26 goals   32 assists   57 points    0.76 PPG
1990-1991   Pit*       80 GP   36 goals   67 assists   103 points  1.29 PPG
1991-1992   Pit/Phi   82 GP   39 goals   49 assists   83 points    1.07 PPG
1992-1993   Phi        82 GP   44 goals   58 assists   102 points  1.24 PPG
1993-1994   Phi        82 GP   37 goals   62 assists   99 points    1.21 PPG
1994-1995   Phi/Mtl  84 GP   28 goals   56 assists   84 points    1.01 PPG
1995-1996   Mtl       82 GP    27 goals   49 assists   76 points    0.93 PPG
1996-1997   Mtl       82 GP    36 goals   49 assists   84 points    1.03 PPG
1997-1998   Mtl       82 GP    37 goals   49 assists   86 points    1.05 PPG
1998-1999   Mtl/Phi 71 GP    19 goals   43 assists   62 points    0.87 PPG
1999-2000   Phi       82 GP    31 goals   71 assists   102 points  1.24 PPG
2000-2001   Phi       69 GP    30 goals   56 assists   86 points    1.25 PPG
2001-2002   Phi       80 GP    26 goals   49 assists   75 points    0.94 PPG
2002-2003   Phi       79 GP    23 goals   37 assists   60 points    0.76 PPG
2003-2004   Phi       82 GP    31 goals   59 assists   90 points    1.09 PPG
2005-2006   Pit/Car* 83 GP  28 goals   37 assists   65 points    0.78 PPG
2006-2007   Pit        82 GP    26 goals   47 assists   73 points    0.89 PPG
2007-2008   Pit/Atl  72 GP    16 goals   38 assists   54 points    0.75 PPG
2008-2009   TB/Bos 80 GP   25 goals   41 assists   66 points    0.82 PPG
2009-2010   Bos      81 GP    20 goals   27 assists   47 points    0.58 PPG
2010-2011   Bos*    81 GP    16 goals   38 assists   54 points    0.67 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1990-1991   Pit*      24 GP     9 goals    20 assists    29 points    1.21 PPG
1995-1996   Mtl       6 GP       3 goals    3 assists      6 points      0.96 PPG
1996-1997   Mtl       5 GP       4 goals    2 assists      6 points      1.26 PPG
1997-1998   Mtl       10 GP     4 goals    9 assists      13 points    1.34 PPG
1998-1999   Phi        6 GP       0 goals    1 assist       1 point        0.18 PPG
1999-2000   Phi        18 GP     7 goals    14 assists   22 points     1.20 PPG
2000-2001   Phi        6 GP       2 goals    2 assists     5 points       0.78 PPG
2001-2002   Phi        4 GP       0 goals    0 assists     0 points       0.00 PPG
2002-2003   Phi        13 GP     8 goals    4 assists     12 points     0.92 PPG
2003-2004   Phi        18 GP     5 goals    3 assists     8 points       0.43 PPG
2005-2006   Car*     25 GP     7 goals    9 assists     16 points     0.64 PPG
2006-2007   Pit         5 GP       0 goals    5 assists     5 points       0.91 PPG
2008-2009   Bos       11 GP     3 goals    3 assists     6 points       0.56 PPG
2009-2010   Bos       13 GP     6 goals    4 assists     9 points       0.72 PPG
2010-2011   Bos*     25 GP     5 goals    9 assists     14 points     0.56 PPG

Career - 1689 GP, 602 goals, 1015 assists, 1615 points, 0.95 PPG
Career-Highs - 44 goals (92-93); 71 assists (99-00); 103 points (90-91); 1.29 PPG (90-91)
Avg. (21 seasons) - 80 GP, 29 goals, 48 assists, 77 points, 0.95 PPG
Peak Avg. (90-98) - 82 GP, 36 goals, 55 assists, 90 points, 1.10 PPG, 1 Cup

Playoff Career - 189 GP, 63 goals, 88 assists, 152 points, 0.80 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 9 goals (90-91); 20 assists (90-91); 29 points (90-91); 1.34 PPG (97-98)

Accolades - None
All-Star Teams - 1-time 2nd-team
3-time Stanley Cup Champion

Chugging along well into his forties, scoring 54 points in his twenty-first season, The Wrecking Ball moved up the list of all-time adjusted points in NHL history. He's now improbably in the top ten, incredibly ahead of Mario Lemieux and closing in on Stan Mikita. It's a truly remarkable career for a diminuitive player who has bounced around so much, particularly of late, that it's often forgotten how consistently productive he's been.

Incredibly considering his size, Recchi is a very durable player. During his peak years from 1990 to 1998, he played 656 out of a possible 656 games. And Recchi is no shrinking violet, either...for a short man, he's incredibly compact, and loves to throw his weight around with the odd hit in the corners.

Recchi has never been the best player on a contending team, but he's always one of the five best, including being a key member of the Penguins' during the 1991 championship run (he was actually ahead of young Jaromir Jagr for the status of top-line right-winger) and adding much-needed veteran presence to the 2006 Hurricanes championship team as well as the 2011 Boston Bruins.

I had remembered Recchi's years in Montreal as being somewhat disappointing, but that may have been due to the fact that expectations were too high: he still tended to get around 30 goals and 80 points each year. Still, Recchi was at his best with the Philadelphia Flyers, with whom he had two of his three career 100+ point seasons. Recchi's lone appearance on an all-star team occurred with the Flyers as well, in 1991-1992.

Recchi is very much the right-winger equivalent to Ron Francis at center: 80 points a year for 20 years, without missing any time, and all of a sudden a player who everyone always respected and thought highly of but never considered elite is way up there on the career scoring list. For that reason, he's on the Props For Sticking Around 1st all-star team at RW (Howe would be, but he would have been an all-time even if he retired ten years earlier).  He's been an immensely likeable personality for years now, and his size makes it easy to relate to him and cheer the small underdog on against his larger opponents.

Recchi found the perfect way to end his career. He enjoyed another decently productive season with the Bruins, but was a little bit of a ghost during the Bruins' run to the Stanley Cup finals. But Recchi demonstrated his veteran scoring presence when it was needed most, chipping in 8 points in the Bruins' seven-game upset win over the Vancouver Canucks. In the post-game celebration, Recchi didn't mince words: "This is it for me", and he rode off into the sunset as a champion (like John Elway, and like Michael Jordan should have done). When the Hall of Fame doors open, you can bet Recchi will be welcome.

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