Doug Gilmour (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #80)
Adjusted Stats
1983-1984 Stl 82 GP 20 goals 22 assists 42 points 0.52 PPG
1984-1985 Stl 80 GP 17 goals 29 assists 46 points 0.58 PPG
1985-1986 Stl 76 GP 20 goals 22 assists 42 points 0.55 PPG
1986-1987 Stl 82 GP 36 goals 54 assists 90 points 1.10 PPG
1987-1988 Stl 74 GP 31 goals 42 assists 73 points 0.99 PPG
1988-1989 Cgy* 74 GP 22 goals 50 assists 72 points 0.97 PPG
1989-1990 Cgy 80 GP 21 goals 57 assists 78 points 0.97 PPG
1990-1991 Cgy 80 GP 18 goals 56 assists 74 points 0.92 PPG
1991-1992 Cgy/Tor 80 GP 24 goals 55 assists 79 points 0.99 PPG
1992-1993 Tor 81 GP 26 goals 79 assists 105 points 1.30 PPG
1993-1994 Tor 81 GP 25 goals 78 assists 103 points 1.27 PPG
1994-1995 Tor 75 GP 18 goals 40 assists 58 points 0.77 PPG
1995-1996 Tor 81 GP 31 goals 39 assists 70 points 0.87 PPG
1996-1997 Tor/NJ 81 GP 23 goals 63 assists 87 points 1.07 PPG
1997-1998 NJ 63 GP 15 goals 47 assists 62 points 0.98 PPG
1998-1999 Chi 72 GP 19 goals 47 assists 65 points 0.91 PPG
1999-2000 Chi/Buf 74 GP 28 goals 54 assists 82 points 1.11 PPG
2000-2001 Buf 71 GP 8 goals 35 assists 42 points 0.60 PPG
2001-2002 Mtl 70 GP 12 goals 36 assists 48 points 0.69 PPG
2002-2003 Mtl/Tor 62 GP 13 goals 22 assists 35 points 0.56 PPG
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1983-1984 Stl 11 GP 2 goals 8 assists 10 points 0.89 PPG
1984-1985 Stl 3 GP 1 goal 1 assist 2 points 0.50 PPG
1985-1986 Stl 19 GP 8 goals 10 assists 18 points 0.96 PPG
1986-1987 Stl 6 GP 2 goals 2 assists 4 points 0.60 PPG
1987-1988 Stl 10 GP 2 goals 11 assists 13 points 1.28 PPG
1988-1989 Cgy* 22 GP 9 goals 9 assists 19 points 0.86 PPG
1989-1990 Cgy 6 GP 3 goals 1 assist 3 points 0.56 PPG
1990-1991 Cgy 7 GP 1 goal 1 assist 2 points 0.24 PPG
1992-1993 Tor 21 GP 8 goals 21 assists 29 points 1.37 PPG
1993-1994 Tor 18 GP 6 goals 22 assists 28 points 1.53 PPG
1994-1995 Tor 7 GP 0 goals 5 assists 5 points 0.76 PPG
1995-1996 Tor 6 GP 1 goal 7 assists 8 points 1.27 PPG
1996-1997 NJ 10 GP 0 goals 4 assists 4 points 0.42 PPG
1997-1998 NJ 6 GP 6 goals 2 assists 8 points 1.30 PPG
1999-2000 Buf 5 GP 0 goals 1 assist 1 point 0.24 PPG
2000-2001 Buf 13 GP 2 goals 5 assists 7 points 0.54 PPG
2001-2002 Mtl 12 GP 5 goals 7 assists 12 points 0.99 PPG
Career - 1519 GP, 427 goals, 927 assists, 1353 points, 0.89 PPG
Career-Highs - 36 goals (86-87); 79 assists (92-93); 105 points (92-93); 1.30 PPG (92-93)
Avg. (20 seasons) - 76 GP, 21 goals, 46 assists, 68 points, 0.89 PPG
Peak Avg. (86-94) - 79 GP, 25 goals, 59 assists, 84 points, 1.07 PPG, 1 Cup
Playoff Career - 182 GP, 56 goals, 117 assists, 173 points, 0.95 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 9 goals (88-89); 22 assists (93-94); 29 points (92-93); 1.53 PPG (93-94)
Accolades - Selke
All-Star Teams - None
1-time Stanley Cup Champion
Fans of the Maple Leafs have a way of chronically misjudging the players who play for their favourite team...sometimes too favourably, sometimes too unfavourably. They inexplicably turn on players who should never have been given such high expectations in the first place (Bryan McCabe, Larry Murphy), elevate good players to the status of Gods for unknown reasons (Wendel Clark, Darcy Tucker) and tend to think that their goaltenders are the only ones who come up with big saves, which must make them the best in the league (Felix Potvin, Curtis Joseph).
As a non-Leaf fan, the temptation is high to take their sentiments with a grain of salt. And so, it would be tempting to snivel at the now-canonized run of two seasons that Doug Gilmour had in 1992-1993 and 1993-1994. But dammit, even looking at it now, those were two impressive seasons. When the numbers are adjusted, they emerge as just slightly over 100 point campaigns (still excellent enough). But when you factor in that Gilmour was a Selke Trophy winner in 1993 and probably could have won it again in 1994, they take on the feel of the seasons put together by Bobby Clarke or Bryan Trottier in the mid 1970s...in other words, the pantheon of two-way center production.
It adds to Gilmour`s legend that the previously-doormat Maple Leafs also made it to the Western Conference Finals in back-to-back seasons at the height of Gilmour`s excellence. Many Leaf fans have the, I`ll just say it, retarded notion that if not for a blown call by Kerry Fraser (in which he missed a high-stick by Wayne Gretzky on Gilmour), the Leafs would have won the Cup that year (give it up Leaf fans! You`re worse than Buffalo fans! Referee mistakes happen. Good teams win anyway. Never mind the fact that Gilmour should have been suspended for his head-butt, or that the Kings themselves were on the power-play when the non-call happened, or that the Kings had had a 4-2 lead and outplayed the Leafs the entire game!). This is why, despite the fact that he played almost as many games as a St. Louis Blue, and won the Stanley Cup as a Calgary Flame, Gilmour is remembered primarily as a Maple Leaf. If Gilmour had had an entire career like his two peak years, he`d be in the discussion of the all-time great centers.
Was he an all-time great center? No. His peak average of 84 points puts him in the Hawerchuk-Perreault range, and his career average of 68 points is lower than even those players. Now, granted, Gilmour was far better defensively than either of those two centers, but he still doesn't quite belong in the conversation with Trottier, Clarke, or for that matter even Francis. Even in his excellent seasons from 1992 to 1994, Gilmour didn't crack a year-end all-star team (some goons named Gretzky and Lemieux happened to be playing).
Gilmour was very good with the Flames, but certainly not one of the most memorable contributors to their championship, although he did have 19 adjusted points in 22 playoff games (in this regard, he's somewhat like Mark Recchi on the Penguins...probably the 4th-best player on the Cup team). But Gilmour's transcendent run with the Maple Leafs, when he took Toronto by storm, extended to the postseason as well...in the Leafs' 1993 run, he had an astounding 29 adjusted points in 21 playoff games and was +16, while in 1994 he followed it up with 28 in 18. Gilmour always seemed to step it up come postseason time (he's one of the few players on the Pyramid who has a higher playoff PPG than regular season one), and there is no doubt that his legend was built with those two runs to the Conference final in Toronto.
After he departed the Leafs, Gilmour had some solid years, but basically bounced around from team to team, never regaining the glory of his past. It's indicative of how delusional Maple Leaf fans can be that when Gilmour was traded back to the Leafs, there was a level of excitement more appropriate to if the team was acquiring the Gilmour of ten years ago. That was short-lived though, as Gilmour was involved in a knee-on-knee collision mere seconds after stepping onto the ice in his debut (something that could only happen to the Leafs).
Gilmour currently stands on the outside of the Hall of Fame looking in. For the reasons discussed, he'd certainly get my vote. 1353 career points in 1500 games for a defensively-sound center, a Stanley Cup ring, and the intangible bonus of galvanizing the hockey-mad city of Toronto. Sounds good enough to me. Perhaps he hasn't yet been voted in because, like me, many of the hockey writers are suspicious that Gilmour's legend is just a product of a delusional Leafs nation. But look beyond that, and you see a career worthy of recognition.
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