Playoff Heroes & Zeroes

With five seasons in the books for my historical hockey league, there's enough data to start looking at interesting trends. I was curious about which players have tended either to shine or falter in the playoffs, and after reviewing the data, I've found that we have some clear playoff heroes and zeroes. (Note: For the purposes of this post, I'm focusing solely on outliers and ignoring guys whose playoff performances have been consistent with their regular-season performances.)

Heroes

• Frank Rankin: This three-time Creighton Cup champion now ranks second in career playoff goals and points, and he's first in career playoff games played. Although he's had more opportunities to compile playoff stats than any other player, Rankin has definitely turned it up a notch in these high-leverage games; he's posted 0.64 goals per game and 1.14 points per game in playoff action, compared to 0.37 goals per game and 0.87 points per game during the regular season.
• Mike Grant: Small sample size alert! Grant has played only six postseason games, but he's absolutely dominated during those contests, such that he sits third all-time in playoff goals and points. The guy is rocking out at 1.0 goals per game (vs. 0.31 in the regular season) and 2.17 points per game (vs. 1.19 in the regular season). Those numbers are on par with the regular-season and playoff scoring pace of Cyclone Taylor, the league's best player.

Zeroes

• George Richardson: It pains me to write this passage, because Richardson is a quiet star in this league (and, in real life, a war hero who died in battle in World War I). In the playoffs, however, this steady point producer has struggled. Despite 0.47 goals per game and 1.03 points per game in regular-season play, he's produced just 0.13 goals per game and 0.38 points per game in the playoffs.
• Riley Hern: The award for worst playoff performer ever goes to star goalie Riley Hern. He's second all-time in regular-season wins and has put up great stats (.908 save percentage, 2.93 goals-against average), but in the playoffs he really stinks up the joint (.873 save percentage, 3.78 goals-against average). His record of one win against eight losses only adds to the ignominy; in fact, Hern all by himself has racked up 47% of all playoff losses in league history!