Yesterday, we learned that the Kings did not petition to have Andrei Loktionov’s name engraved on the Stanley Cup. How unusual is that? I decided to find out.

As I said I would in my last post on Loktigate, I went back and looked at the rosters of past Cup-winning teams, to see which players that did not play the minimum 41 regular season games or one finals game were (a) petitioned to the league for inclusion, and (b) approved by the league. So far I’ve only gone back as far as the 2005 lock-out.

We’ll start with this:

Since 2006, only eight players who played at least one playoff game did not meet the NHL criteria for inclusion. That is, eight players played at least one post-season game, played on cup-winning teams, and did not qualify to have their names on the cup according to the NHL’s criteria.

Teams petitioned the league on behalf of seven of those players. Guess who the single omission was?

That’s right. It’s Andrei Loktionov.

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	RS	P	PET	CUP
Josef Vasicek	Canes	2006	23	8	yes	yes
George Parros	Ducks	2007	32	5	yes	yes
Mark Hartigan	Wings	2008	23	4	yes	no
Bryan Bickell	Hawks	2010	16	4	yes	no
Shane Hnidy	Bruins	2011	3	3	yes	no
Andrei Loktionov	Kings	2012	39	2	no	no
Mark Hartigan	Ducks	2007	7	1	yes	no
Aaron Rome	Ducks	2007	1	1	yes	no

RS is regular season games-played. P is playoff games. PET is whether or not the team petitioned the league. CUP is whether or not the league said yes.

The league said yes in two cases and no in five. Strangely, in 40% of the cases in which the league said no, the player was Mark Hartigan (but that’s just weird, not the point of this post). Three of the petitions were for players who played (total of regular season and playoffs)  8, 6 and 2 games, respectively. We’ll call those “long-shots.” The remaining two rejections were for players who played a total of 27 and 20 games, respectively. Not even close to the contribution of Loktionov, who played 41 games.

In fact, no one on this list played more games than Loktionov. But now, let’s expand the list to include all the players that teams petitioned, all the players the teams wanted to include despite not meeting the NHL criteria. I have also included Loktionov, for comparison. The chart is sorted by games-played.

Fifteen players were petitioned. The league approved nine, rejected six.

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	RS	P	PET	CUP
Andrei Loktionov	Kings	2012	39	2	no	no
Steven Kampfer	Bruins	2011	38	0	yes	no
Andrew Hutchinson	Canes	2006	36	0	yes	yes
George Parros	Ducks	2007	32	5	yes	yes
Derek Meech	Wings	2008	32	0	yes	yes
Kevin Westgarth	Kings	2012	25	0	yes	yes
Marc Savard	Bruins	2011	25	0	yes	yes
Josef Vasicek	Canes	2006	23	8	yes	yes
Mark Hartigan	Wings	2008	23	4	yes	no
Mike Zigomanis	Pens	2009	22	0	yes	yes
Anton Babchuk	Canes	2006	22	0	yes	yes
Bryan Bickell	Hawks	2010	16	4	yes	no
Davis Drewiske	Kings	2012	9	0	yes	yes
Mark Hartigan	Ducks	2007	7	1	yes	no
Shane Hnidy	Bruins	2011	3	3	yes	no
Aaron Rome	Ducks	2007	1	1	yes	no

Now, how about we look at the players teams chose not to petition for inclusion? These are players who played at least one game for a cup-winning team, did not qualify to get their names on the cup according to the NHL criteria, and were not petitioned.

There are 39 names on this list. All but 13 played fewer than 10 games. Only six players played more than 20 games, including Loktionov. None of the players played in a single playoff game, except of course Loktionov. And none of the players played more games than Loktionov.

It appears that it is standard practice for teams to petition on behalf of players who played in at least one playoff game. I would have to go digging through teams’ playoff rosters, but I’m pretty sure Loktionov is the only player on this list who was actually on the team’s active roster during the finals (excluding Black Aces, if you don’t mind).

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	RS	P	PET	CUP
Andrei Loktionov	Kings	2012	39	2	no	no
Ethan Moreau	Kings	2012	38	0	no	no
Trent Hunter	Kings	2012	28	0	no	no
Jordan Caron	Bruins	2011	23	0	no	no
Chris Minard	Pens	2009	20	0	no	no
Dany Sabourin	Pens	2009	19	0	no	no
Bill Thomas	Pens	2009	16	0	no	no
Tim Wallace	Pens	2009	16	0	no	no
Paul Bissonnette	Pens	2009	15	0	no	no
Tim Brent	Ducks	2007	15	0	no	no
Dustin Jeffrey	Pens	2009	14	0	no	no
Todd Fedoruk	Ducks	2007	10	0	no	no
Scott Parse	Kings	2012	9	0	no	no
Kim Johnsson	Hawks	2010	8	0	no	no
Jeff Taffe	Pens	2009	8	0	no	no
Jonathan Ericsson	Wings	2008	8	0	no	no
Janne Pesonen	Pens	2009	7	0	no	no
Keith Aucoin	Canes	2006	7	0	no	no
Matt Bartkowski	Bruins	2011	6	0	no	no
Jack Skille	Hawks	2010	6	0	no	no
Kyle Quincey	Wings	2008	6	0	no	no
Luca Caputi	Pens	2009	5	0	no	no
Jim Howard	Wings	2008	4	0	no	no
Mike Wall	Ducks	2007	4	0	no	no
Zach Hamill	Bruins	2011	3	0	no	no
Jake Dowell	Hawks	2010	3	0	no	no
John Curry	Pens	2009	3	0	no	no
Bjorn Melin	Ducks	2007	3	0	no	no
Ryan Stone	Pens	2009	2	0	no	no
Ben Lovejoy	Pens	2009	2	0	no	no
Garrett Stafford	Wings	2008	2	0	no	no
Justin Abdelkader	Wings	2008	2	0	no	no
Mattias Ritola	Wings	2008	2	0	no	no
Jamie Arniel	Bruins	2011	1	0	no	no
Radek Smolenak	Hawks	2010	1	0	no	no
Connor James	Pens	2009	1	0	no	no
Ian Moran	Ducks	2007	1	0	no	no
Sebastien Caron	Ducks	2007	1	0	no	no
David Gove	Canes	2006	1	0	no	no

In this next chart, we look at every player on a cup-winning team who played 20 games or fewer (and no finals games). You will notice that all of the petitioned players played in at least one playoff game, except one. Davis Drewiske. Except in that one case, it appears it is standard procedure not to petition on behalf of players who have played 20 or fewer games and have not played in any playoff games.

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	RS	P	PET	CUP
Chris Minard	Pens	2009	20	0	no	no
Dany Sabourin	Pens	2009	19	0	no	no
Bryan Bickell	Hawks	2010	16	4	yes	no
Bill Thomas	Pens	2009	16	0	no	no
Tim Wallace	Pens	2009	16	0	no	no
Paul Bissonnette	Pens	2009	15	0	no	no
Tim Brent	Ducks	2007	15	0	no	no
Dustin Jeffrey	Pens	2009	14	0	no	no
Todd Fedoruk	Ducks	2007	10	0	no	no
Davis Drewiske	Kings	2012	9	0	yes	yes
Scott Parse	Kings	2012	9	0	no	no
Kim Johnsson	Hawks	2010	8	0	no	no
Jeff Taffe	Pens	2009	8	0	no	no
Jonathan Ericsson	Wings	2008	8	0	no	no
Mark Hartigan	Ducks	2007	7	1	yes	no
Janne Pesonen	Pens	2009	7	0	no	no
Keith Aucoin	Canes	2006	7	0	no	no
Matt Bartkowski	Bruins	2011	6	0	no	no
Jack Skille	Hawks	2010	6	0	no	no
Kyle Quincey	Wings	2008	6	0	no	no
Luca Caputi	Pens	2009	5	0	no	no
Jim Howard	Wings	2008	4	0	no	no
Mike Wall	Ducks	2007	4	0	no	no
Shane Hnidy	Bruins	2011	3	3	yes	no
Zach Hamill	Bruins	2011	3	0	no	no
Jake Dowell	Hawks	2010	3	0	no	no
John Curry	Pens	2009	3	0	no	no
Bjorn Melin	Ducks	2007	3	0	no	no
Ryan Stone	Pens	2009	2	0	no	no
Ben Lovejoy	Pens	2009	2	0	no	no
Garrett Stafford	Wings	2008	2	0	no	no
Justin Abdelkader	Wings	2008	2	0	no	no
Mattias Ritola	Wings	2008	2	0	no	no
Aaron Rome	Ducks	2007	1	1	yes	no
Jamie Arniel	Bruins	2011	1	0	no	no
Radek Smolenak	Hawks	2010	1	0	no	no
Connor James	Pens	2009	1	0	no	no
Ian Moran	Ducks	2007	1	0	no	no
Sebastien Caron	Ducks	2007	1	0	no	no
David Gove	Canes	2006	1	0	no	no

Finally, here are the nine players since the lock-out who didn’t meet the NHL criteria but got their names on the cup. Notice that Drewiske has played the fewest games by a mile.

PLAYER	TEAM	YEAR	RS	P	PET	CUP
Andrew Hutchinson	Canes	2006	36	0	yes	yes
George Parros	Ducks	2007	32	5	yes	yes
Derek Meech	Wings	2008	32	0	yes	yes
Kevin Westgarth	Kings	2012	25	0	yes	yes
Marc Savard	Bruins	2011	25	0	yes	yes
Josef Vasicek	Canes	2006	23	8	yes	yes
Mike Zigomanis	Pens	2009	22	0	yes	yes
Anton Babchuk	Canes	2006	22	0	yes	yes
Davis Drewiske	Kings	2012	9	0	yes	yes

In conclusion:

• If you play in at least one playoff game, your team will petition to get your name on the cup. This has happened in every instance since the lock-out. Except one: Andrei Loktionov.
• Even if you only played a handful of games total, if you played in one playoff game, your team goes to bat for you. Except if you’re Andrei Loktionov.
• If you played fewer than 20 games, and you didn’t play in the playoffs at all, your chances of getting your name on the cup are exactly zero. Unless you’re Davis Drewiske.
• Davis Drewiske must be a really popular and supportive teammate.
• There are zero instances of teams passing over players who have played more games in favor of players who have played fewer, except in a handful of instances in which the player who has played MORE games didn’t play in the playoffs, while the player who had played FEWER games did appear in the playoffs. I say “zero instances,” but of course I mean except for the case of Loktionov and Drewiske.