Monday, April 29, 2013

Alums Among NHL Stat Leaders

St. Louis captures second career Art Ross Trophy; 10 alums lead their NHL teams in goals.

Alums Among NHL Stat Leaders
Former Vermont star Martin St. Louis is the only former NCAA player to lead the NHL in scoring.

Former Vermont star Martin St. Louis captured the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading scorer in 2013, headlining an impressive list of former NCAA players starring in the NHL.

It marks the second Art Ross Trophy for St. Louis, who played at Vermont from 1993-97. He also led the league in scoring in 2004 and is the only former college hockey player to win the Art Ross Trophy.

Several other alums made their statistical mark in the NHL this season. Ten NHL teams were led in goals by a former college player and eight were led in points.

Former college players represented:

  • Three of the top eight scorers in the league (St. Louis, Chris Kunitz, Phil Kessel)
  • Three of the top five players in plus/minus (Kunitz, Jonathan Toews, Derek Stepan)
  • Three of the top nine players in average ice time, including the overall leader (Ryan Suter, Jack Johnson, Paul Martin)
  • Three of the top 10 players in faceoff percentage (Toews, Travis Zajac, Jay Beagle)
  • Three of the top nine players in blocked shots (Greg Zanon, Ron Hainsey, Brooks Orpik)
  • Two of the co-leaders in shutouts (Jimmy Howard, Cory Schneider)
  • The leader in saves (Ryan Miller)
  • Four of the top 12 rookie scorers (Cory Conacher, Justin Schultz, Alex Killorn, Patrick Wiercioch)
  • The rookie assist leader (Schultz) and top two rookie defensemen in scoring (Schultz, Wiercioch)

Five former college players led their teams in both goals and points: Phil Kessel, Max Pacioretty, Zach Parise, Kyle Turris and Thomas Vanek. Five others led their team in goals – Curtis Glencross, Kunitz, Mark Letestu, Jonathan Toews and Blake Wheeler. Calgary’s co-leaders in points, Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak, were both NCAA alums, while Stepan and St. Louis also led their teams in points.

In addition, Toews – the former North Dakota star – had the No. 1 selling NHL jersey this season.