Pierre Pilote (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #97)
Adjusted Stats
1955-1956 Chi 23 GP 4 goals 7 assists 11 points 0.49 PPG
1956-1957 Chi 82 GP 4 goals 19 assists 23 points 0.28 PPG
1957-1958 Chi 82 GP 8 goals 31 assists 39 points 0.47 PPG
1958-1959 Chi 82 GP 9 goals 37 assists 46 points 0.56 PPG
1959-1960 Chi 82 GP 9 goals 46 assists 55 points 0.67 PPG
1960-1961 Chi* 82 GP 7 goals 35 assists 42 points 0.51 PPG
1961-1962 Chi 69 GP 8 goals 42 assists 50 points 0.73 PPG
1962-1963 Chi 69 GP 10 goals 22 assists 31 points 0.46 PPG
1963-1964 Chi 82 GP 9 goals 60 assists 69 points 0.84 PPG
1964-1965 Chi 80 GP 18 goals 56 assists 74 points 0.93 PPG
1965-1966 Chi 60 GP 2 goals 40 assists 43 points 0.71 PPG
1966-1967 Chi 82 GP 7 goals 56 assists 63 points 0.77 PPG
1967-1968 Chi 82 GP 1 goal 44 assists 45 points 0.55 PPG
1968-1969 Tor 74 GP 3 goals 20 assists 23 points 0.31 PPG
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1958-1959 Chi 6 GP 0 goals 2 assists 2 points 0.31 PPG
1959-1960 Chi 4 GP 0 goals 1 assist 1 point 0.26 PPG
1960-1961 Chi* 12 GP 3 goals 13 assists 17 points 1.41 PPG
1961-1962 Chi 12 GP 0 goals 7 assists 7 points 0.58 PPG
1962-1963 Chi 6 GP 0 goals 8 assists 8 points 1.32 PPG
1963-1964 Chi 7 GP 2 goals 6 assists 8 points 1.21 PPG
1964-1965 Chi 12 GP 0 goals 8 assists 8 points 0.64 PPG
1965-1966 Chi 6 GP 0 goals 2 assists 2 points 0.35 PPG
1966-1967 Chi 6 GP 2 goals 4 assists 6 points 1.03 PPG
1967-1968 Chi 11 GP 1 goal 3 assists 4 points 0.36 PPG
1968-1969 Tor 4 GP 0 goals 1 assist 1 point 0.25 PPG
Career - 1031 GP, 99 goals, 515 assists, 614 points, 0.60 PPG
Career-Highs - 18 goals (64-65); 60 assists (63-64); 74 points (64-65); 0.93 PPG (64-65)
Avg. (13 seasons) - 78 GP, 7 goals, 39 assists, 46 points, 0.60 PPG
Peak Avg. (59-67) - 76 GP, 9 goals, 45 assists, 53 points, 0.70 PPG, 1 Cup
Playoff Career - 86 GP, 8 goals, 55 assists, 64 points, 0.74 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 3 goals (60-61); 13 assists (60-61); 17 points (60-61); 1.41 PPG (60-61)
Accolades - 3 Norris Trophies
All-Star Teams - 5-time 1st-team, 3-time 2nd-team
1-time Stanley Cup Champion
Pierre Pilote has the distinction of being the best defenceman of the 1960s...that is, before Bobby Orr came along. Anchoring a Chicago Blackhawk team that featured Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita at forward, Pilote was an elite puck-moving defenceman who began putting up excellent assist numbers before Orr came along and the blew the doors off the record-books.
Pilote is remembered for his offensive contributions, but he was also excellent defensively. There is evidence in the fact that he won the 1963 Norris Trophy despite scoring just 31 points. That would be the first of three consecutive Norris trophies that Pilote would win, and the next two years are more understandable, since he put up 69 and 74 points (offensively, that's in the MacInnis/Leetch/Lidstrom area). Unlike some of the puck-movers who followed, Pilote also had quite a bit of sandpaper...he averaged almost 100 PIM a season, and in 1960-1961 (the year the Blackhawks won the Cup), he had 165 in just 70 games.
While we remember Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita helping the Blackhawks win the championship, the fact is that neither of them had remarkably productive regular seasons or postseasons in 1961. No, if anything, it was Pilote who was their most valuable player during the playoff run (along with of course Glenn Hall). In the playoffs, Pilote had 13 adjusted assists and 17 points in 12 games...the assist and point totals led the playoffs, remarkable for a defenceman in an era when they were not expected to contribute much offensively. If the Conn Smythe award had been invented, I think Pilote probably would have won it.
So you could say that Pilote, along with of course Doug Harvey, set the stage for what Orr would do to the league in a few years. I give extra points to Pilote for being a good scout, as well. When he saw Orr enter the league in 1966, he said "I'm glad I won the Norris trophy already, because now that this guy's in the league, he's going to win it for the next ten years". Good assessment, Pierre.
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