[GDT/PGT] Vancouver Canucks @ Edmonton Oilers l May 6, 6 p.m. l SNP | ROAD TO 100 EDITION

[bishopshodan]

Go Nucks.

 

[TNucks1]

2 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

Go Nucks.

 

[oldnews]

4 hours ago, wloutet said:

I'm trying to figure out who "Nurse Barrie" is on Edmonton's defence. Shouldn't he be helping out in a hospital ICU ward somewhere?

shoulda signed Ratched instead of Barrie.

[King Heffy]

Think I'll watch Canada vs Russia in the U18 instead to be honest.  Tons of high-end skill on both teams.

[4petesake]

3 hours ago, IBatch said:

False news.   Might as well say all the 2000's guys were pilons too, because both those guys made them look foolish when they were in their early prime.  Just go back and look at the highlights.   SP has gone up a whopping 5-8%.   Big deal.   It's still an incredible feat.  And back then we didn't have 31 teams.  Yes we had enforcers on the fourth line.  But they didn't go goon until the late 90's. 

 

Before that they could play for the most part as well.   Our team would get absolutely killed if they played back then under the same rules.    Hockey isn't the same.   But WG and Mario are never ever going to be compared to McDavid. Go watch the highlights if you weren't alive back then.    Mario usually had 1-4 penalties on each of his goal in today's game it was a total rodeo.   WG is and still considered - the most dominant player in sports history and would still be 70-100% ahead of the second place point scorer. 

I get such a kick out of these comparisons of different eras. Yes goalies were smaller and had smaller equipment but players could also get away with so much more. Esa Tikkanen earned his nickname “The Grate One” shadowing Gretzky, if you could call it that. He was often wrapped around Gretzky so tightly that he looked like a drowning victim holding on for dear life! G looked like he was skating around with a 180 backpack.

 

Nevertheless McD would likely be elite in any era, although I highly doubt he will surpass Wayne or Mario.

[bbllpp]

24 minutes ago, Petey_BOI said:

hmmmm, i wonder where this is going?

 

what that goalies in the 60 were pretty good too? back when they were playing with uncurved sticks?

Lol,I was not alive back then, just curious.  I watched these guys play and they were all great goalies and they’d be great goalies today.  There were a fair number of starters  with great sv% that year.

 

Did you look at the north save% most are pretty bad this year relative to the modern norm and below the top #1 goalies of 00-01

 

WPG starter: .915

TO starting duo: .909

VAN starting duo: .907

MTL staring duo: .905

CGY starter: .904

OTT starting duo: 0.888

 

00-01

 

20 goalies with 39+ games at >= 0.905

13 goalies with 39+ games at >= 0.910

7 goalies with 39+ games at >= 0.920

 

So in the context of your argument I would say Mario faced similar or better  goaltending than Conner this year without having to actually resort to the fact that I’ve experienced both eras and can tell you those guys were just as lights out as what we see today and arguably more so because they filled significantly less net and still achieved crazy numbers 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[King Heffy]

3 minutes ago, 4petesake said:

I get such a kick out of these comparisons of different eras. Yes goalies were smaller and had smaller equipment but players could also get away with so much more. Esa Tikkanen earned his nickname “The Grate One” shadowing Gretzky, if you could call it that. He was often wrapped around Gretzky so tightly that he looked like a drowning victim holding on for dear life! G looked like he was skating around with a 180 backpack.

 

Nevertheless McD would likely be elite in any era, although I highly doubt he will surpass Wayne or Mario.

Considering he was Gretzky's teammate when that nickname was coined, I would consider that unlikely.

[4petesake]

8 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

Go Nucks.

 

 

[4petesake]

3 minutes ago, King Heffy said:

Considering he was Gretzky's teammate when that nickname was coined, I would consider that unlikely.

You are right, it was coined before that but it got very popular in that series when Muckler matched him against Gretz. Here’s an excerpt from thehockeywriters.com

 

When he was traded to the Los Angeles Kings, shaking the NHL from its foundation, Gretzky went from being a linemate to an inmate. As in, Tikkanen had him locked down. On Gretzky’s first trip back to Edmonton in the 1988-89 season, Oilers coach John Muckler asked Tikkanen to shadow Gretzky, and The Grate One was born.

[Chris12345]

I don’t get the comparisons between eras myself.

 

McDavid is unreal, sit back, have a sixer and watch him handle the puck through the neutral zone.

 

Is he better than Mario or Wayne? Probably not. Do I care? Absolutely not. Is McDavid the best player in the league today? Without question.

[philtbc829]

Sums it up nicely me thinks ....

[philtbc829]

No doubt McJesus will be closer to 100 after tonight....if not reach his target...was really hoping he wouldn't do it against the Nucks.....

[bishopshodan]

My opinion is that the stars of today's sports would school those of the past.

Too much tech, knowledge and training. 

 

There are some debatable exceptions but in general  I believe this is the case.

Nhl hockey is hard to judge as the rules have changed and affected the game so much. 

[Dumb Nuck]

9 minutes ago, Chris12345 said:

I don’t get the comparisons between eras myself.

 

McDavid is unreal, sit back, have a sixer and watch him handle the puck through the neutral zone.

 

Is he better than Mario or Wayne? Probably not. Do I care? Absolutely not. Is McDavid the best player in the league today? Without question.

I hated Gretzky for most the ‘80s and really didn’t watch him, I regret that now, I think McDavid is the most exciting player right now and I’ll take any opportunity to watch him play.

 

Comparing eras is tough, different equipment, training, etc., but take a look how much better Gretzky was than whoever finished behind him in scoring. McDavid is just now starting to put up decent gaps on the field. Time will tell but he is headed for being one of the best ever.

Edited May 6, 2021 by Dumb Nuck

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[IBatch]

46 minutes ago, 4petesake said:

I get such a kick out of these comparisons of different eras. Yes goalies were smaller and had smaller equipment but players could also get away with so much more. Esa Tikkanen earned his nickname “The Grate One” shadowing Gretzky, if you could call it that. He was often wrapped around Gretzky so tightly that he looked like a drowning victim holding on for dear life! G looked like he was skating around with a 180 backpack.

 

Nevertheless McD would likely be elite in any era, although I highly doubt he will surpass Wayne or Mario.

Yes.  That's how i feel too.  McDavid is like this generations Crosby or Ovi.  Remarkable players.   Will he win a cup?  Hard to say.   Stastny and Hawerchuk were the next level down guys in the 80's.    Why i used them as comps, Hawerchuk in particular.   If there was no WG and late Mario then these guys would of battled out the next best.   It's so easy to compare eras anyways.   IF the guys in their 30's are still on par or better then the guys 5-10 years younger then them ... what does that say?  Certain players like Lidstrom, Zubov, Iginla, and especially Jagr give you a gauge.   Pronger, Niedermayer and Selanne too.  Even Sundin who some on here feel took the Sedins to the next level.    I've personally felt that Lidstrom is one of the most overrated D's the last 20 years because he couldn't beat the guys who were ten years older then him until they retired.   Also feel that Thornton was the best the 2000's produced because really he was.   Every decade isn't made the same.   And hate the slant that the athletes today are so much better.  WG is way too modest.   Coffey at least isn't and acknowledged that he'd kill it today too, and a lot easier to play when guys aren't hitting the way they used too.   Game has changed.  I challenge anyone to go watch Lindros or Mario highlights and it won't take long to see why.   Players were bigger, meaner and stronger back then.   As far as the 80's go that was the decade of excess.  Steroids.   Coke.   Arnie, Sly, Gibson and Willis... everyone was hitting the gym.   I know guys who played back then who's workouts would probably make some of the guys today cry.   But for some reason, some folks seem to think they weren't as good.  Just stupid.   Howe.   Don't even get me talking about him.    The best spots doctor in the world went through the paces and his physicality was like a prize fighters.   I suppose some think Liston, Ali, Foreman, Frazier were chumps too, even though it's regarded as the greatest collection of heavyweights ever.  Which is exactly what the 80's were for hockey. 

 

Hockey historians don't think of 2010 Olympics when they think of the best tourney ever.  The 90's cup won by the US and Richter either.   It's the 87 Canada Cup and that won't ever change.  Imagine the league with 21 teams right now.   Yes there were 4th lines with enforcers but they could actually play the game too.  Semenko could as could Probert.   As could Fraser as could Butcher.   Same with Williams.  Then add the massive group of power forwards.   Wilson wouldn't pull his crap for long back then... yes Brown was around.   And a few other heavys.   Tochett, Neely, Gilles, ... and it carried over and amped up in the 90's that way even more.     And the goalies were small with smaller equipment, didn't butterfly but had superb rebound control and athlecism.  .888 - .908 ... well guess what that means Gretzky's 215 points goes down to 194 or something.  Good grief.  Yes McDavid is good.   But it's been a long time since we've had a guy break 130 points.  Even longer since 150.   It's possible.  Maybe McDavid can do it.   Even so, his best year to date is still less the WG and Mario's average after you take some points off.   WG made hyperbole seem understated.   Anyone who was there to witness it, knows this. 

Edited May 6, 2021 by IBatch

[Jack in the box]

[IBatch]

8 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

My opinion is that the stars of today's sports would school those of the past.

Too much tech, knowledge and training. 

 

There are some debatable exceptions but in general  I believe this is the case.

Nhl hockey is hard to judge as the rules have changed and affected the game so much. 

Nope.  That's agism thinking.    Bure says hi.   

[bbllpp]

1 minute ago, IBatch said:

Nope.  That's agism thinking.    Bure says hi.   

Funny how these guys only think backwards, think what the greats of the past could do with today’s tech, knowledge and training 

[IBatch]

2 minutes ago, bbllpp said:

Funny how these guys only think backwards, think what the greats of the past could do with today’s tech, knowledge and training 

Yep.   AL Mac with his wooden stick..same with Bobby Hull .. chumps. 

 

To me it's really simple.   We can look at each group of stars in their 30's and how they did against the stars coming up in their 20's and evaluate them all the way back to when Shore was playing.   It's easier when you've seen them play.  If Smithers Joe wants to pipe in i'd listen to what he has to say as in folks who've seen these guys play.  Game now is faster without a doubt.  Removing the goons and the redline is almost all of that from what i've seen.  Gartners time still hasn't been beat, even by McDavid, because McDavid hasn't skated the same circle yet.  He's a couple feet closer to the middle.   

Edited May 6, 2021 by IBatch