British Hockey League - Goal maddness

No hate in this one, just a crazy hockey league that opporated in the UK for 15 years.

The British Hockey League 1980 - 96.

For some reason I became obsessed with the British Hockey League today. Basically because it seemed to be a very big league that had ridiculously inflated individual statistics. The goals made me laugh the most. In what was usually a 20 to 30 game season it was not uncommon for each team to have a 100 goal scorer or TWO!

I first stumbled onto these stats because I was a huge Garry Unger fan (I think he deserves some consideration for the Hall of Fame). He had a great career, He had 2 forty goal seasons, 9 thirty plus and 10 twenty plus sesons (when stats like that mattered) see for yourself...

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=5518

So I was looking at his stats and his last three season of pro hockey jumped off the screen. As a 40 year old man, Unger went to this strange league and had a ridiculous run (200 goals and 450 points in 90 games). In his best season he was a hat trick a game player. His team scored a ridiculous 426 goals in 30 games that season. Another team int he league that season also had 400 goals. Imagien the NHL with 2 four hundred goal teams (in 80 games!). In history the Gretzky Oilers are the only team to top 400 goals. League wide that season in the BHL out of 26 teams, 10 had more than 300 goals. Imagine a league where your team AVERAGED 10 goals a game. That is why this league interested me...becasue of silly stuff like that.

In total, there was no more than one or two other real NHLers who ever played in the league. They had a few who got a peak at teh NHL (12 games give or take), but for the most part this league was made up of second and third line CHLers, first liners under five foot ten and people from the British Isles. That's what got me really interested because the only decent British players I can think of were Steve Thomas, Ken Hodge and the Irishman Owen Nolan. If there were others I apologize, but I find it weird that this league had guys regularly potting 100 goals in a 30 game season and none of them got a sniff form the NHL. You could accept it if there was one guy in total over the 16 years, but there was at least 20 guys who did it at least once and countless guys who scored 80 or more. One played 3 seasons and averaged 110 goals and just dropped off the face of the earth.

It was pretty typical for a guy to play only one season in the league and have 80 goals and 127 points. I don't know for a fact, but you have to suspect that they found the hockey a little beneth them and just left. Garry Unger's Stats are evidence of that if nothing else. A 40 year old man whose career was definitely over in the NHL strapped them on and averaged 2 goals and 4 points a game over three years. Of course some players stayed and had Hall of Fame worthy numbers in only 300 career games. I wish there was film of some of these games. It must have been a sight.

Anyway, I looked in vain for career leaders in this league and found nothing. The league has since changed names, split, folded and been reborn, so I don't think anyone is in a rush to print the stats, but as curious as I am, I did a little leg work and came up with this ROUGH list of BHL career goal scoring leaders.

Before you start here is a bit of stuff on the league that may be of interest.

Season by season stats for the league (click a team and you will get a full roster)
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/bhl1997.html

The most background I can find...sadly
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Hockey_League

So here are the goal scoring leaders (not complete by any stretch, but I think I got the top ten down, the rest are as close as I could get)

NOTE: all of this information was taken for the greatest free site in the world - Hockeydb.com

GAMES / GOALS / ASSISTS / POINTTS
Tony Hand - 943 / 1090 / 1845 / 2935 (actually Scottish born)
Kevin Conway - 368 / 901 / 803 / 1704
Rick Fera - 363 / 835 / 901 / 1736
Fred Perlini - 283 / 800 / 553 / 1353
Rick Smith - 252 / 733 / 414 / 1147
Hilton Ruggles - 312 / 679 / 535 / 1214
Steve Moria - 308 / 670 / 824 / 1494
Rick Brebant - 322 / 666 / 833 / 1499
Gary Stefan - 423 / 658 / 549 / 1207
Daryl Lipsey - 346 / 637 / 536 / 1173
Scott Morrison - 340 / 614 / 731 / 1443
Mark Mackie - 344 / 607 / 707 / 1314
Doug McEwen - 364 / 606 / 597 / 1203
Jamie Crapper - 281 / 598 / 631 / 1229
Patrick Scott - 269 / 597 / 503 / 1100 (Record Season - 56 Games / 180 goals / 139 assists / 319 points)
Paul Adey - 317 / 567 / 468 / 1035
Todd Bidner - 354 / 552 / 567 / 1119
Luc Chabot - 226 / 534 / 504 / 1167
Doug McEwen - 334 / 529 / 494 / 1023
Scott Neil - 439 / 520 / 457 / 977
Gord Jeffery - 206 / 511 / 391 / 902
Ian Cooper - 407 / 509 / 557 / 1066
Chuck Taylor - 414 / 504 / 529 / 1033
John Lawless - 308 / 470 / 608 / 1078
Tim Salmon - 199 / 466 / 737 / 1203
Frank Morris - 315 / 464 / 394 / 858
Don Yewchin - 131 / 448 / 288 / 736 (basically 3.3 goals a game)
Ronnie Wood - 361 / 421 / 416 / 837
Mark Stokes - 213 / 417 / 327 / 744

An impressive local guy (Arnprior) who almost made the list and our friend Gary Unger.

Darin Fridgen - 93 / 365 / 225 / 590 (Played 3 and 1/2 years and had three straight 100 plus goal season, averaging over 3.9 goals a game)

Do you think after a while he was sad when he didn't score a hat trick?

Garry Unger - 97 / 218 / 235 / 453 (Best season - 30 Games / 95 goals / 143 Assists / 238 points)