Invalid expansion - Buffalo/Vancouver, 1970. CRAZY stats as a result.

gosens · 05-25-2013, 12:25 AM

Well this one is pretty crazy.

Somehow there was no proper expansion for Buffalo and Vancouver in 1970. Checking the 1969/70 history page, the two teams are listed, with 0 GP, and after that there is no expansion draft. So on Sept. 26, 1970 both teams suddenly had to sign all its players, taking a full roster of inferior fictional players.

The results are predictably tragic.

(Below is really for interest's sake, the issue is already stated above. But there might be some lessons here in how the engine is working in extreme circumstances.)

Buffalo went 1-76-1 in its inaugural season, getting is only win and tie against Vancouver. They scored 55 goals in 78 games, allowing 687. Aside from Vancouver, they were 0-72, scoring 38 goals and allowing 665.

Vancouver fared a little better, going 1-70-1 aside from Buffalo games, eking out a 0-0 tie against Pittsburgh and a 2-1 win over Minnesota (the worst "other" team in the league). In those 72 non-Buffalo games they scored 49 goals and allowed 578.

Only one game ended with a 21-0 score, but there were some 17-0's and a lot of 13-0's and 15-1's. There were only five games where Buffalo scored more than a single goal (aside from against Vancouver) and never did they score more than three.

Buffalo's top scorer had 10 goals, 20 points, and had a +/- of -194. The best +/- for a player playing the whole year was -92, the worst -208.

Their 8 goalies had GAA's ranging from 6.64 to 9.32 but save percentages were a somewhat respectable .873 or so, seeing as they were facing an average of 65 shots per game (and often over 80).

League-wide scoring spiked! Finally we had some more scoring, but this is not how we likely wanted it to happen. But Bill Goldsworthy had 55 goals and 110 points! Two others (Ratelle, Gilbert) also had 100+ point seasons!

But aside from Buffalo/Vancouver, only one goalie with 15 or more games played was over 3.00 GAA (3.15), while a dozen had less than 2.00. So scoring was actually quite low, just thanks to the two amateur teams we had some scoring.

Now that said, you would think that with games like 15-0 and 21-0 etc. that there might be some scoring records broken. Well not quite, the scoring was usually pretty balanced across the winning teams' rosters. I only found one 8-point game and I don't think I even saw a 5-goal game for any players. Usually there were four or five players with 6 or 7 pts each, 3G-4A or something like that. This is just FYI but worth noting.

Well that is all, I will continue simming and see if they manage to improve with draft picks and free agent signings over the years! I'm not taking the GM job though... that would be like taking the job as Rob Ford's chief of staff...

gosens · 05-25-2013, 02:48 AM

A little further info on this. In fact this happens every expansion year. Expansion teams do not get stocked, they sign unsigned rookie free agents and proceed to have an abysmal first season.

After the season all their players disappear from their roster after their 1-year contract is up. Then in late September all the players appear back on their roster for another 1 year contract.

Suddenly with the same players a year later, they are competitive, playing somewhere near .500 or better.

And then they start to sign their players to longer term contracts and off they go.

Every expansion team follows the same pattern. 1979-80 was interesting with four new teams.

05-25-2013, 12:25 AM	#1
gosens Minors (Single A) Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 66	Invalid expansion - Buffalo/Vancouver, 1970. CRAZY stats as a result. Well this one is pretty crazy. Somehow there was no proper expansion for Buffalo and Vancouver in 1970. Checking the 1969/70 history page, the two teams are listed, with 0 GP, and after that there is no expansion draft. So on Sept. 26, 1970 both teams suddenly had to sign all its players, taking a full roster of inferior fictional players. The results are predictably tragic. (Below is really for interest's sake, the issue is already stated above. But there might be some lessons here in how the engine is working in extreme circumstances.) Buffalo went 1-76-1 in its inaugural season, getting is only win and tie against Vancouver. They scored 55 goals in 78 games, allowing 687. Aside from Vancouver, they were 0-72, scoring 38 goals and allowing 665. Vancouver fared a little better, going 1-70-1 aside from Buffalo games, eking out a 0-0 tie against Pittsburgh and a 2-1 win over Minnesota (the worst "other" team in the league). In those 72 non-Buffalo games they scored 49 goals and allowed 578. Only one game ended with a 21-0 score, but there were some 17-0's and a lot of 13-0's and 15-1's. There were only five games where Buffalo scored more than a single goal (aside from against Vancouver) and never did they score more than three. Buffalo's top scorer had 10 goals, 20 points, and had a +/- of -194. The best +/- for a player playing the whole year was -92, the worst -208. Their 8 goalies had GAA's ranging from 6.64 to 9.32 but save percentages were a somewhat respectable .873 or so, seeing as they were facing an average of 65 shots per game (and often over 80). League-wide scoring spiked! Finally we had some more scoring, but this is not how we likely wanted it to happen. But Bill Goldsworthy had 55 goals and 110 points! Two others (Ratelle, Gilbert) also had 100+ point seasons! But aside from Buffalo/Vancouver, only one goalie with 15 or more games played was over 3.00 GAA (3.15), while a dozen had less than 2.00. So scoring was actually quite low, just thanks to the two amateur teams we had some scoring. Now that said, you would think that with games like 15-0 and 21-0 etc. that there might be some scoring records broken. Well not quite, the scoring was usually pretty balanced across the winning teams' rosters. I only found one 8-point game and I don't think I even saw a 5-goal game for any players. Usually there were four or five players with 6 or 7 pts each, 3G-4A or something like that. This is just FYI but worth noting. Well that is all, I will continue simming and see if they manage to improve with draft picks and free agent signings over the years! I'm not taking the GM job though... that would be like taking the job as Rob Ford's chief of staff...

05-25-2013, 02:48 AM	#2
gosens Minors (Single A) Join Date: Mar 2013 Posts: 66	A little further info on this. In fact this happens every expansion year. Expansion teams do not get stocked, they sign unsigned rookie free agents and proceed to have an abysmal first season. After the season all their players disappear from their roster after their 1-year contract is up. Then in late September all the players appear back on their roster for another 1 year contract. Suddenly with the same players a year later, they are competitive, playing somewhere near .500 or better. And then they start to sign their players to longer term contracts and off they go. Every expansion team follows the same pattern. 1979-80 was interesting with four new teams.