#51 - Johnny Bucyk

Johnny Bucyk (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #51)

Adjusted Stats

1955-1956   Det          45 GP   1 goal      11 assists   13 points     0.29 PPG
1956-1957   Det          77 GP   13 goals   15 assists   28 points     0.36 PPG
1957-1958   Bos          80 GP   27 goals   40 assists  67 points     0.84 PPG
1958-1959   Bos          81 GP   30 goals   45 assists  75 points     0.92 PPG
1959-1960   Bos          66 GP   20 goals   44 assists  63 points     0.97 PPG
1960-1961   Bos          82 GP   23 goals   24 assists  47 points     0.57 PPG
1961-1962   Bos          78 GP   24 goals   48 assists  72 points     0.91 PPG
1962-1963   Bos          81 GP   33 goals   47 assists  80 points     0.99 PPG
1963-1964   Bos          73 GP   23 goals   47 assists  70 points     0.97 PPG
1964-1965   Bos          80 GP   33 goals   36 assists  69 points     0.87 PPG
1965-1966   Bos          74 GP   32 goals   36 assists  68 points     0.92 PPG
1966-1967   Bos          69 GP   22 goals   36 assists  58 points     0.84 PPG
1967-1968   Bos          80 GP   37 goals   48 assists  84 points     1.06 PPG
1968-1969   Bos          76 GP   27 goals   47 assists  73 points     0.97 PPG
1969-1970   Bos*        82 GP   35 goals   43 assists  79 points     0.96 PPG
1970-1971   Bos          82 GP   53 goals   67 assists  120 points   1.47 PPG
1971-1972   Bos*        82 GP   34 goals   54 assists  88 points     1.07 PPG
1972-1973   Bos          82 GP   39 goals   52 assists  92 points     1.12 PPG
1973-1974   Bos          80 GP   31 goals   45 assists  76 points     0.95 PPG
1974-1975   Bos          80 GP   27 goals   48 assists  75 points     0.93 PPG
1975-1976   Bos          79 GP   33 goals   43 assists  77 points     0.97 PPG
1976-1977   Bos          50 GP   19 goals   22 assists  41 points     0.81 PPG
1977-1978   Bos          54 GP   5 goals     12 assists  17 points     0.32 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1955-1956   Det           10 GP    1 goal      1 assist     2 points      0.20 PPG
1956-1957   Det           5 GP      0 goals     1 assist     1 point       0.20 PPG
1957-1958   Bos          12 GP     0 goals    4 assists    4 points     0.30 PPG
1958-1959   Bos          7 GP       2 goals    4 assists    6 points     0.80 PPG
1967-1968   Bos          3 GP       0 goals    2 assists    2 points     0.67 PPG
1968-1969   Bos          10 GP     5 goals    6 assists    11 points   1.09 PPG
1969-1970   Bos*        14 GP     10 goals  7 assists    18 points   1.26 PPG
1970-1971   Bos          7 GP       2 goals    5 assists    6 points     0.92 PPG
1971-1972   Bos*        15 GP     8 goals    10 assists  19 points   1.24 PPG
1972-1973   Bos          5 GP       0 goals    3 assists    3 points     0.53 PPG
1973-1974   Bos          16 GP     8 goals    10 assists  18 points   1.10 PPG
1974-1975   Bos          3 GP       1 goal      0 assists    1 point      0.31 PPG
1975-1976   Bos          12 GP     2 goals    7 assists    9 points     0.73 PPG
1976-1977   Bos          5 GP       0 goals    0 assists    0 points     0.00 PPG

Career - 1713 GP, 621 goals, 910 assists, 1532 points, 0.89 PPG
Career-Highs - 53 goals (70-71); 67 assists (70-71); 120 points (70-71); 1.47 PPG (70-71)
Avg. (23 seasons) - 74 GP, 27 goals, 40 assists, 67 points, 0.89 PPG
Peak Avg. (67-75) - 81 GP, 35 goals, 51 assists, 86 points, 1.07 PPG, 2 Cups

Playoff Career - 124 GP, 39 goals, 60 assists, 100 points, 0.81 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 10 goals (69-70); 10 assists (71-72); 19 points (71-72); 1.26 PPG (69-70)

Accolades - 2 Lady Byngs
All-Star Teams - 1-time 1st-team, 1-time 2nd-team
2-time Stanley Cup Champion

And now we can round out my Props For Sticking Around forward line: starting at center Ron Francis, at right-wing Mark Recchi, and at left-wing Johnny Bucyk.

For the first twelve years of Johnny Bucyk's career, he was a decent hockey player, but certainly not anyone who'd be mistaken for a Hall-of-Famer. He tended to get 20-25 goals and averaged about 60 points at left-wing...certainly very good, and coupled with his gritty style and hard-checking style, worthy of admiration, but too Darcy Tucker-like to be considered elite.

Then, at the age of 32, Bucyk began an eight-year run that saw him be named to two year-end all-star teams (1st in 1970-1971, 2nd in 1967-1968), finish top ten in league scoring four times, average 35 goals and 86 points and win two Stanley Cups. All between the ages of thirty-two and forty. Suddenly, what had been an above-average career morphed into one more-than-worthy of Hall-of-Fame consideration.

So what changed? Well, in two words: Bobby Orr. The greatest defencemen the game has ever seen passing tap-ins to you certainly helps pad the career statistics. And Bucyk certainly benefited from Orr's arrival, much like Phil Esposito did at center.  Should that diminish Bucyk's accomplishments (600+ career goals, the most points of any left-winger in history, and the most assists)? Well, maybe a little. But I prefer to view Bucyk's late-career ascendance as a deserved reward for putting forward a solid effort for all those seasons with the Bruins prior to Orr's arrival. Those teams were not particularly good, and were usually easily taken care of by the dominant Canadiens and Maple Leafs teams of the era. But Bucyk persevered, and his day eventually came.