Bob Gainey (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #115)
Adjusted Stats
1973-1974 Mtl 69 GP 3 goals 7 assists 10 points 0.15 PPG
1974-1975 Mtl 82 GP 16 goals 18 assists 34 points 0.42 PPG
1975-1976 Mtl* 80 GP 14 goals 12 assists 26 points 0.32 PPG
1976-1977 Mtl* 82 GP 13 goals 18 assists 31 points 0.38 PPG
1977-1978 Mtl* 68 GP 14 goals 15 assists 30 points 0.44 PPG
1978-1979 Mtl* 81 GP 18 goals 16 assists 34 points 0.42 PPG
1979-1980 Mtl 66 GP 13 goals 17 assists 30 points 0.45 PPG
1980-1981 Mtl 80 GP 19 goals 20 assists 39 points 0.48 PPG
1981-1982 Mtl 81 GP 16 goals 19 assists 35 points 0.44 PPG
1982-1983 Mtl 82 GP 10 goals 15 assists 24 points 0.30 PPG
1983-1984 Mtl 79 GP 14 goals 18 assists 31 points 0.39 PPG
1984-1985 Mtl 81 GP 15 goals 11 assists 26 points 0.32 PPG
1985-1986 Mtl* 82 GP 16 goals 18 assists 34 points 0.42 PPG
1986-1987 Mtl 48 GP 7 goals 7 assists 14 points 0.29 PPG
1987-1988 Mtl 80 GP 9 goals 9 assists 19 points 0.23 PPG
1988-1989 Mtl 50 GP 8 goals 6 assists 14 points 0.29 PPG
Adjusted Playoff Stats
1973-1974 Mtl 6 GP 0 goals 0 assists 0 points 0.00 PPG
1974-1975 Mtl 11 GP 2 goals 4 assists 5 points 0.50 PPG
1975-1976 Mtl* 13 GP 1 goal 3 assists 4 points 0.30 PPG
1976-1977 Mtl* 14 GP 4 goals 1 assist 4 points 0.31 PPG
1977-1978 Mtl* 15 GP 2 goals 7 assists 9 points 0.58 PPG
1978-1979 Mtl* 16 GP 5 goals 9 assists 15 points 0.91 PPG
1979-1980 Mtl 10 GP 1 goal 1 assist 2 points 0.17 PPG
1980-1981 Mtl 3 GP 0 goals 0 assists 0 points 0.00 PPG
1981-1982 Mtl 5 GP 0 goals 1 assist 1 point 0.16 PPG
1982-1983 Mtl 3 GP 0 goals 0 assists 0 points 0.00 PPG
1983-1984 Mtl 15 GP 1 goal 4 assists 5 points 0.36 PPG
1984-1985 Mtl 12 GP 1 goal 2 assists 3 points 0.25 PPG
1985-1986 Mtl* 20 GP 4 goals 4 assists 9 points 0.43 PPG
1986-1987 Mtl 17 GP 1 goal 3 assists 4 points 0.21 PPG
1987-1988 Mtl 6 GP 0 goals 1 assist 1 point 0.13 PPG
1988-1989 Mtl 16 GP 1 goal 3 assists 4 points 0.27 PPG
Career - 1191 GP, 205 goals, 226 assists, 431 points, 0.36 PPG
Career-Highs - 19 goals (80-81); 20 assists (80-81); 39 points (80-81); 0.48 PPG (80-81)
Avg. (16 seasons) - 74 GP, 13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points, 0.36 PPG
Peak Avg. (74-82) - 78 GP, 15 goals, 17 assists, 32 points, 0.42 PPG, 4 Cups
Playoff Career - 182 GP, 23 goals, 43 assists, 66 points, 0.36 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 5 goals (78-79); 9 assists (78-79); 15 points (78-79); 0.91 PPG (78-79)
Accolades - 4 Selke Trophies, Conn Smythe
All-Star Teams - None
5-time Stanley Cup Champion
There really was no point in typing out Bob Gainey's statistics, because more than any other player on the Pyramid (even Scott Stevens and Tim Horton), the statistics with Gainey are meaningless. This is a left-winger who never scored more than 20 goals or cracked 40 points. By what possible means should he be considered one of the greats to play the game? Well, for the simple reason that if they invent a trophy for you (in this case, the Selke trophy as best defensive forward), it means you made an impact.
It's well known that Gainey was the preeminent shutdown forward of his generation, and the winner of the first four Selke trophies to be handed out. What's interesting is that, despite playing his entire career for the Montreal Canadiens, one of the winningest organizations in hockey, his career +/- is a solid but not mind-blowing +14 per 82 games played. One has to consider though that Gainey played on Montreal's third and fourth line and thus got less playing time...his role wasn't to score, it was to shutdown the opponents on those rare occasions where the Canadiens' lead was precarious. And few did it better.
Is Gainey something of a Robert Horry-esque beneficiary of playing for excellent teams throughout his career? Yes, but he also contributed immensely to those teams, both on the ice with his solid two-way play, and off, where he was a quiet leader admired and respected by all who played with him. He won five Stanley Cups, and although he was never one of the three or four best players on those teams, he was in his own way indispensable. Think of the 1985-1986 team which, much like the 92-93 Habs, didn't really have much firepower but instead relied on winning close games, shutting down opponents, and getting timely goaltending from Patrick Roy. Gainey was the identity of that team.
To be sure, the Habs of the late 1970s had one of the most stacked defensive groups ever: Robinson, Dryden, Lemaire, Savard, Lapointe. Of all of them, Gainey may have been the best at pure defence. It's no accident that he was named to two Canada Cup teams, in 1976 and in 1982...and the Russians claim that Gainey was the biggest thorn in their side of all the players they had to deal with. That's high praise when you consider how stacked those teams were.
Although Gainey's offensive numbers are laughably low, it should be noted that when he was required to, Gainey could step it up. He didn't score a lot because that wasn't his role on the Canadiens. But in one playoff, 1979, Gainey delivered offensively, scoring 15 points in 16 games and winning the Conn Smythe trophy as the Habs won their fourth Cup in a row (and final one of the late-1970s dynasty). Gainey, like Robert Horry in basketball, did what was necessary for his team to win. He got it. I suppose you could snipe and claim that Gainey wasn't noticeably superior to, say, Mike Peca or John Madden in the modern era (and Madden by the way also has three Stanley Cups to his name). Perhaps that's true. But Gainey earns a spot on the Pyramid because he was the first prototype of the defensively sound forward. Five Stanley Cups, four Selkes and a Conn Smythe is just too much to ignore...with Gainey, it's those accomplishments that matter more than mere numbers.
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