Lidstrom says Lemieux was the best he played against

[One87]

http://www.nhl.com/ice/m_news.htm?id=775678

Click to read more...

 

[#66]

That says a lot.

One of the few times I remember seeing Lemieux absolutely dominated was against the Red Wings. Federov had 4 goals and the Pens couldn't touch the Russian 5.

 

[Fordy]

he's right

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Correct.

 

[BIitz]

 

[oilwave]

I mean Gretzky's last >100 point season was in Lidstrom's rookie season. So it's not like he saw Gretzky in his prime.

 

[Beauner]

Nevermind the fact that he scored, it's ridiculous how he was able to protect the puck from his blue line to bottom of the other teams' faceoff circle while being obstructed literally every stride.

 

[Captain Hook]

I see it similar to how Lidstrom describes it. Mario had better individual talent. He was much bigger, faster and stronger than Wayne. Even Wayne admitted in an interview that I saw once that Mario had more pure hockey talent than him. Wayne obviously had tremendous talent too but the thing that always made him special to me was his hockey IQ. Wayne was like Einstein on skates.

 

[UnrealMachine]

I mean Gretzky's last >100 point season was in Lidstrom's rookie season. So it's not like he saw Gretzky in his prime.

Gretzky won the scoring title in the 93-94 season - Lindstrom's 3rd full season in the NHL.

 

[Penguinator]

I see it similar to how Lidstrom describes it. Mario had better individual talent. He was much bigger, faster and stronger than Wayne. Even Wayne admitted in an interview that I saw once that Mario had more pure hockey talent than him. Wayne obviously had tremendous talent too but the thing that always made him special to me was his hockey IQ. Wayne was like Einstein on skates.

Mario's offensive I.Q. was way up there, he could play the game before it unraveled too. Also played with crappy players at times while Gretzky always had good to great support + enforcers protection.

 

[Jacob]

Man.. How does that guy sleep at night.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

It used to piss me off to see Mario get players hanging off him like that while Wayne never had that, people would pull the ******** of "Wayne was elusive!!" no, Wayne had people that would pummel the crap out of people that did that to him so they kept their distance to a degree, Mario didn't because he was 6'4" on a **** team and Marty McSorely didn't like him.

 

[wgknestrick]

Nevermind the fact that he scored, it's ridiculous how he was able to protect the puck from his blue line to bottom of the other teams' faceoff circle while being obstructed literally every stride.

I count 4 minor penalties (2 hooks, and 2 holdings) on that play. NHL hasn't changed a bit.

The point is that Mario was unstoppable. You couldn't just foul him because he was so big that he skated right through it. You just aren't going to intimidate him either.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

I'm going to start calling Lidstrom captain obvious.

 

[Penguinator]

I'm going to start calling Lidstrom captain obvious.

"Obviously." - Mario Lemieux

(dunno if he still does it but he used to say that a lot)

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

It used to piss me off to see Mario get players hanging off him like that while Wayne never had that, people would pull the ******** of "Wayne was elusive!!" no, Wayne had people that would pummel the crap out of people that did that to him so they kept their distance to a degree, Mario didn't because he was 6'4" on a **** team and Marty McSorely didn't like him.

Most stars had enforcers. Yzerman played on a line with Probert. Why did people hit Yzerman?

Gretzky played years above his age group ever since he could hold a hockey stick, so he was always the smallest, wispiest guy on the team. Being hard to hit was a matter of survival - and he processed the game at a speed where he rarely had to hold the puck for long. Mario was just so damn big and strong that he didn't have to be elusive. A guy like Sid thrives because he's a tank who can hang onto the puck until he finds the right play. Wayne was simply different.

It isn't just Gretzky fanboys saying this sort of thing either:

“Gretzky saw the ice better than any human being I ever saw play hockey. Until someone comes along he was absolutely the smartest hockey player ever. People ask me ‘Why couldn’t anyone hit him?’ You can’t hit what you can’t catch – not that he was fast, but he was so smart. Even when he lost a step when he got older, mentally he was just as sharp.” - Phil Esposito

http://cambridgecitizen.ca/could-anyone-hit-wayne-gretzky/

Like the article says, this is the guy who played with Bobby friggin' Orr for a decade.

Do you really believe teams like the Islanders or Flyers wouldn't hit Gretzky on account of Semenko? C'mon man. I'm sure rough and tumble guys like Clark Gillies, Denis Potvin, and Bryan Trottier aren't hitting Gretzky because they're scared he'll beat them all up.

Speaking of which:

Defensemen found Gretzky a most elusive target. Fellow Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin compared attempting to hit Gretzky to "wrapping your arms around fog. You saw him but when you reached out to grab him your hands felt nothing, maybe just a chill."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Gretzky

He was exceptionally hard to hit.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Anyway, it makes sense that Lidstrom would pick Lemieux. Lidstrom's such a cerebral player that he'd shut most players down by flawless positioning and a surgeon's precison with his stick. But it really doesn't matter if you do everything exactly right against Lemieux, because if all else fails he's still 6'4" and can move the puck 10 feet in either direction in a flash.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Go Lemeuix

 

[Gold Diamond]

Who is #9?

 

[Nakawick]

My first hockey memories involved watching Mario and Wayne play on the same line in the 1987 Canada Cup. Mario is the reason why I am a Pens and closet Oilers fan in a family of habs fans.

I have to admit though, I passed kids playing street hockey in the last couple days where the goalie covered more of the net than the one in the GIF,..lol

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Full disclosure, Yzerman was my favourite non-Jets player growing up. Crosby's similarities to him (exceptionally skilled but always driven to improve his whole game) are why I became a Pens fan.

Mario's the man, but everything seemed so goddamn easy for him. He wasn't a guy to be emulated because he couldn't be emulated.

 

[Burgs]

Who is #9?

Apparently it was Marc Fortier, some no name center on those awful Nordiques teams.



But Mario did things like that to people like Ray Bourque, too.

 

[Gooch]

Lemieux always made the incredibly difficult look amazingly easy. He'll always be the greatest ever player to me. Circumstances of health and the era that he played in played a huge part in his statistics.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Watch this 27 minute condensed Detroit - Pittsburgh game from 1997 if you get a chance. The star power is ridiculous. Lemieux, Jagr, Francis, Yzerman, Fedorov, Lidstrom, etc all on the same sheet of ice. Not to mention it was a great game, one I remember watching live. Lemieux definitely gets Lidstrom pretty good a few times in this one.

 

[td_ice]

What Mario did with such an inferior roster was incredible.

For example in '85, Mario had 141 points playing with garbage teammates.

He had a good player in Mike Bullard, but they only played together on the PP.

Here is the rest of the players, Moe Mantha, Terry Ruskowski, Doug Shedden, John Chabot, Doug Bodger, Dave Hannan, Willy Lidstrom, Mike Blaisdell, it gets much worse from there.

That is more impressive to me than what Gretz putting up 200 point season on a hall of fame laden dynasty roster.

For me Mario > Wayne.

Best player ever. That is taking nothing away from Gretz, who was incredible, but I think Mario was the better player.