Mika Zibanejad, greatest goal scorer in Rangers history

But not the best Ranger ever

While Zibanejad is the greatest goal scorer in modern team history, there is one player who exceeded even his numbers.  That was Bill Cook of the Rangers of the 1930s.  To call him a prolific scorer is an understatement.  In the 1930-31 season he scored 30 goals in 44 games, good for second place in the NHL.  He averaged .682 goals per game.

The next season, he exceeded those numbers, scoring 33 goals in 48 games, a .688 average, again finishing second in the NHL goal scoring race.   Here’s is what is amazing.  The NHL averaged 4.80 goals per game in 1930-31 and 4.98 goals per game in 1931-32.  That’s over a goal a game less than the current NHL.

If you adjust Cook’s goals per game to 2019-20 levels, it would increase to .847 goals per game in 1930-31 and .824 goals per game the next season.  In 57 games, he would have scored 48 and 46 goals, exceeding Zibanejad, Ratelle and all other Ranger immortals.

In fact, in a full 82 game season scoring at the 2019-20 rate, Cook would finish with 69 goals.

50 goals in a season is a magic number, but taking into consideration the constant changes in the NHL, Mika Zibanejad’s 2019-20 season has to go down as one of the best, if not the best in franchise history. Ranger fans are lucky to have him.  Let’s hope that he is just getting started.