#32 - Eddie Shore

Eddie Shore (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #32)

Adjusted Stats

1926-1927   Bos          75 GP   34 goals   17 assists   52 points     0.69 PPG
1927-1928   Bos          80 GP   33 goals   18 assists   51 points     0.64 PPG
1928-1929   Bos*        73 GP   47 goals   27 assists   75 points     1.03 PPG
1929-1930   Bos          78 GP   23 goals   37 assists   60 points     0.77 PPG
1930-1931   Bos          82 GP   36 goals   38 assists   74 points     0.90 PPG
1931-1932   Bos          77 GP   19 goals   27 assists   46 points     0.60 PPG
1932-1933   Bos          82 GP   18 goals   62 assists   81 points     0.99 PPG
1933-1934   Bos          51 GP   4 goals     22 assists   26 points     0.51 PPG
1934-1935   Bos          82 GP   15 goals   54 assists   69 points     0.84 PPG
1935-1936   Bos          77 GP   7 goals     39 assists   46 points     0.60 PPG
1936-1937   Bos          34 GP   6 goals     2 assists     9 points       0.25 PPG
1937-1938   Bos          82 GP   6 goals     29 assists   35 points     0.43 PPG
1938-1939   Bos*        75 GP   8 goals     29 assists   37 points     0.50 PPG
1939-1940   Bos/NYA 24 GP  8 goals     8 assists     17 points      0.70 PPG

Adjusted Stats

1926-1927    Bos          8 GP    2 goals     2 assists      4 points       0.44 PPG
1927-1928    Bos          2 GP    0 goals     0 assists      0 points       0.00 PPG
1928-1929    Bos*        5 GP    2 goals     2 assists      5 points       0.95 PPG
1929-1930    Bos          6 GP    1 goal       0 assists      1 point        0.25 PPG
1930-1931    Bos          5 GP    3 goals      1 assist       4 points       0.84 PPG
1932-1933    Bos          5 GP    1 goal       0 assists      1 point        0.28 PPG
1934-1935    Bos          4 GP    0 goals      2 assists      2 points      0.42 PPG
1935-1936    Bos          2 GP    1 goal       1 assist        2 points      1.11 PPG
1937-1938    Bos          3 GP    0 goals      1 assist        1 point       0.42 PPG
1938-1939    Bos*        12 GP  0 goals      6 assists      6 points      0.46 PPG
1939-1940    NYA        3 GP    0 goals     3 assists      3 points       0.89 PPG      

Career - 972 GP, 264 goals, 409 assists, 678 points, 0.70 PPG
Career-Highs - 47 goals (28-29); 62 assists (32-33); 81 points (32-33); 1.03 PPG (28-29)
Avg. (14 seasons) - 69 GP, 19 goals, 29 assists, 48 points, 0.70 PPG
Peak Avg. (27-35) - 76 GP, 24 goals, 36 assists, 60 points, 0.80 PPG, 1 Cup

Playoff Career - 55 GP, 10 goals, 18 assists, 29 points, 0.53 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 3 goals (30-31); 6 assists (38-39); 6 points (38-39); 1.11 PPG (35-36)

Accolades - 4 MVP awards
All-Star Teams - 7-time 1st-team, 1-time 2nd-team
2-time Stanley Cup Champion

As I'll say for every pre-WWII player, it's extremely difficult to figure out where they stand on the pyramid of greats. Go back and read my entry on Howie Morenz...everything that needs saying about the context of the era should be said there.

OK, now that that's out of the way:

What is it with those Bruin defencemen? Ray Bourque, then before him Bobby Orr, and (WAY) before him Eddie Shore. No defenceman in league history has more MVP awards than Eddie Shore. Granted, it was in a bygone era, but four MVP awards is still four MVP awards.

They say the numbers don't tell the whole story with Shore, but the numbers are still pretty fucking good, even to an uncomprehending onlooker like me. During his peak, Shore averaged 60 points while routinely cracking the top three in the league in penalty minutes. So he was an offensive force, a defensive stalwart by all accounts, played nearly the entire game with a few moments on the bench for breathers, and was a mean SOB to top things off.

Shore's meanness wasn't just directed at opponents: gregarious Milt Schmidt often mentions that Shore treated him, and for that matter everyone else, in a noticeably brusque and cold manner. Maybe that's what made Shore great: his competitiveness and focus, his unwillingness to let the niceties of life get in the way of the pursuit of excellence. Or maybe he was just an asshole. Either one's good.

It doesn't matter that I don't quite see it when it comes to Shore's four MVP seasons. The point is, the people who were watching hockey at the time saw it. And to them, it was Shore and Howie Morenz...those were the league's stars. Shore was even referred to as the "Babe Ruth of hockey", an indication of how far-reaching his stardom was.

Can I say much more about him? Nope. I didn't see him play, so I can't directly judge him. How does Shore not crack Level 5 despite his four MVP awards? Well, there's the fact that those seasons are pretty much all Shore has to his credit, the fact that he only won two Stanley Cups in a primarily six or eight-team league, and the evolutionary punishment that he (and many of the other greats of his era) suffer from in my estimation (in other words, they get docked a few points for playing when hockey was in its infancy and the players were, let's face it, not as talented).

Then why does Morenz make it? Well, Morenz had the scoring dominance, another championship to his name, by all accounts truly blazing speed that may have held up even in later eras, and a story (his death following a hockey-related injury) that tugs at the heartstrings. Shore on the other hand was a dick. He was one of the two best players of his era and certainly the best defenceman. But given that it's an era that's nearly impossible to judge, Shore has to settle for the high end of Level 4.