#90 - Milt Schmidt

Milt Schmidt (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #90)

Adjusted Stats

1936-1937   Bos        44 GP   4 goals     17 assists   21 points     0.48 PPG
1937-1938   Bos        75 GP   27 goals   29 assists   56 points     0.75 PPG
1938-1939   Bos*      70 GP   31 goals   35 assists   66 points     0.95 PPG
1939-1940   Bos        82 GP   46 goals   63 assists   109 points   1.34 PPG
1940-1941   Bos*      77 GP   25 goals   49 assists   74 points     0.97 PPG
1941-1942   Bos        62 GP   24 goals   35 assists   59 points     0.96 PPG
1945-1946   Bos        79 GP   20 goals   27 assists   47 points     0.59 PPG
1946-1947   Bos        81 GP   36 goals   47 assists   82 points     1.02 PPG
1947-1948   Bos        45 GP   13 goals   24 assists   37 points     0.83 PPG
1948-1949   Bos        60 GP   15 goals   34 assists   50 points     0.82 PPG
1949-1950   Bos        80 GP   25 goals   29 assists   54 points     0.68 PPG
1950-1951   Bos        73 GP   29 goals   52 assists   81 points     1.12 PPG
1951-1952   Bos        81 GP   29 goals   40 assists   69 points     0.86 PPG
1952-1953   Bos        80 GP   17 goals   35 assists   51 points     0.64 PPG
1953-1954   Bos        73 GP   21 goals   27 assists   48 points     0.66 PPG
1954-1955   Bos        27 GP   6 goals     11 assists   17 points     0.64 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1936-1937   Bos         3 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points      0.00 PPG
1937-1938   Bos         3 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points      0.00 PPG
1938-1939   Bos*       12 GP   4 goals     4 assists     8 points      0.69 PPG
1939-1940   Bos         6 GP     0 goals     0 assists     0 points      0.00 PPG
1940-1941   Bos*       11 GP   6 goals     8 assists     14 points    1.27 PPG
1945-1946   Bos         10 GP   3 goals     4 assists     7 points      0.69 PPG
1946-1947   Bos         5 GP     3 goals     1 assist       4 points     0.86 PPG
1947-1948   Bos         5 GP     2 goals     5 assists     7 points     1.36 PPG
1948-1949   Bos         4 GP     0 goals     2 assists     2 points     0.58 PPG
1950-1951   Bos         6 GP     0 goals     1 assist       1 point      0.23 PPG
1951-1952   Bos         7 GP     3 goals     1 assist       4 points    0.61 PPG
1952-1953   Bos         10 GP   5 goals     1 assist       6 points    0.61 PPG
1953-1954   Bos         4 GP     1 goal       0 assists     1 point     0.33 PPG

Career - 1089 GP, 368 goals, 554 assists, 921 points, 0.85 PPG
Career-Highs - 46 goals (39-40); 63 assists (39-40); 109 points (39-40); 1.34 PPG (39-40)
Avg. (16 seasons) - 68 GP, 23 goals, 35 assists, 58 points, 0.85 PPG
Peak Avg. (38-49) - 70 GP, 26 goals, 39 assists, 66 points, 0.94 PPG, 2 Cups

Playoff Career - 86 GP, 27 goals, 27 assists, 54 points, 0.63 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 6 goals (40-41); 8 assists (40-41); 14 points (40-41); 1.36 PPG (47-48)

Accolades - MVP Award
All-Star Teams - 3-time 1st-team, 1-time 2nd-team
2-time Stanley Cup Champion

Milt Schmidt was ranked #27 in the 1998 Hockey News list of the all-time great NHL players, and ridiculously, as the eleventh best center in THN's 2010 poll, ahead of, get this: Bryan Trottier, Syl Apps, Peter Forsberg, Marcel Dionne, and Sidney Crosby. Puhlleeease. Suffice it to say, with all due respect to Schmidt's career and his remarkable life, I don't see it when it comes to ranking him that high. I realize that with some players, the numbers don't tell the whole story, but there have to be at least some numbers to back things up.

By all accounts, Schmidt was an aggressive force, much like Ted Lindsay at LW a decade or so later, so there's no doubt that his game was more than just goals and assists. Still, the offensive numbers don't stack up with contemporaries like teammate Bill Cowley. A peak average of just 26 goals and 66 points, even when adjusted, doesn't strike me as particularly impressive, nor does the fact that only three times in a sixteen-year career did Schmidt top 80 points (incidentally, those were the three years in which Schmidt made 1st-team all-star).

Schmidt did have one transcendent year, in 1939-1940, when he scored 109 points. The next spring, he led the playoffs in scoring as the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, their second in three seasons. Then the war came, and Schmidt was called upon for service, cutting into his prime years. But given the fact that Schmidt was still scoring only about 0.95 PPG during those seasons, I don't think I'd be much more impressed with his offensive totals if Schmidt had enjoyed a full career.

Still, despite the fact that I think his place in the game is somewhat overrated, there's no doubt that Schmidt deserves to be on the Pyramid. The two Stanley Cup rings and three 1st-team all star selections are great accomplishments, and the fact that he played sixteen seasons even after missing three due to the war is remarkable considering he was playing in an era when drinking, smoking and poor fitness were the norm. Even if the offensive numbers don't stack up, I also have to give some weight to the fact that the old fogies at The Hockey News thought highly enough of Schmidt's game to rank him as highly as they did. His legend may be overblown by people who are nostalgic for a bygone era, but he still deserves a place on the Pyramid, even if it's on the low end.