#53 - Syl Apps

Syl Apps (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #53)

Adjusted Stats

1936-1937   Tor        82 GP   34 goals   62 assists   96 points     1.17 PPG
1937-1938   Tor        80 GP   44 goals   60 assists   104 points   1.29 PPG
1938-1939   Tor        75 GP   31 goals   52 assists   83 points     1.10 PPG
1939-1940   Tor        46 GP   27 goals   36 assists   63 points     1.37 PPG
1940-1941   Tor        70 GP   39 goals   47 assists   86 points     1.23 PPG
1941-1942   Tor*      65 GP   30 goals   39 assists   69 points     1.07 PPG
1942-1943   Tor        48 GP   32 goals   24 assists   56 points     1.17 PPG
1945-1946   Tor        66 GP   36 goals   24 assists   60 points     0.92 PPG
1946-1947   Tor*      74 GP   33 goals   32 assists   65 points     0.88 PPG
1947-1948   Tor*      75 GP   37 goals   39 assists   76 points     1.01 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1936-1937   Tor         2 GP     0 goals     2 assists     2 points       0.76 PPG
1937-1938   Tor         7 GP     1 goal      5 assists     6 points       0.90 PPG
1938-1939   Tor         10 GP   3 goals    8 assists     11 points     1.11 PPG
1939-1940   Tor         10 GP   7 goals    3 assists      9 points      0.93 PPG
1940-1941   Tor         7 GP     4 goals    3 assists      6 points      0.91 PPG
1941-1942   Tor*       13 GP   5 goals    10 assists   15 points     1.14 PPG
1946-1947   Tor*       11 GP   5 goals    1 assist       6 points       0.58 PPG
1947-1948   Tor*       9 GP     4 goals    4 assists     8 points       0.86 PPG

Career - 681 GP, 343 goals, 415 assists, 758 points, 1.11 PPG
Career-Highs - 44 goals (37-38); 62 assists (36-37); 104 points (37-38); 1.37 PPG (39-40)
Avg. (10 seasons) - 68 GP, 34 goals, 42 assists, 76 points, 1.11 PPG
Peak Avg. (36-46) - 67 GP, 34 goals, 43 assists, 77 points, 1.11 PPG, 1 Cup

Playoff Career - 69 GP, 29 goals, 36 assists, 63 points, 0.91 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 7 goals (39-40); 10 assists (41-42); 15 points (41-42); 1.14 PPG (41-42)

Accolades - Lady Byng, Calder
All-Star Teams - 2-time 1st-team, 3-time 2nd-team
3-time Stanley Cup Champion

Apps fits snugly between Peter Forsberg and Eric Lindros on the "what might have been" list of centers. During his ten-year career, Apps only twice averaged less than a PPG, and his 1.11 career mark is in the area of a Brett Hull or a Steve Yzerman. But those guys played twice as many games as Apps, so the comparisons end there.

Still, big props to Apps for leaving the NHL in his prime to serve for Canada during World War II. This wasn't a case of injuries or frailty costing a player games...it was a matter of the fight against fascism, something a little more serious than Stanley Cups or scoring titles. However, it should also be noted that even when Apps played before the war, he was, Lindros-like, perpetually plagued by injuries that cost him 10-15 games a season.

In spite of that, Apps still had a remarkably successful career. In nine of his ten seasons, he scored 30+ adjusted goals, averaging nearly a half a goal per game (quite high for a center). He of course captained the Toronto Maple Leafs to three Stanley Cups, albeit before the Ballard era turned a story franchise into a laughingstock. And after his career had ended, Apps entered the realm of politics and became a Conservative MP. I won't hold that against him, though...the Progressive Conservatives of the 1970s seem like the Green Party by today's standards.

Apps falls behind Forsberg on the Pyramid because I've only seen him play four or five times on NHL Vintage, and that can't compare in my eyes to seeing Forsberg's dominance year-in and year-out. But I place him ahead of Lindros because Apps achieved team success and was generally considered the best center of the 1940s. Well, that and the fact that it's hard to put a war hero behind someone who sulked at the thought of going to Quebec.