Oates vs Selanne

[Big Phil]

As far as guiding the Mighty Ducks to the Finals, only one player on that team had a paddle in the water. None of the forwards deserve credit for being the best by default with 12-13 points.

We all know Giguere was responsible for getting them there but it is rather telling that Oates is arguably the next best player on a team that reached the final when he was 41. In 1998 he did the same thing, Kolzig was the most important cog in leading that team to the final but a 35 year old Oates was arguably the next best player

 

[Tom Brady]

selanne

 

[Sojourn]

I disagree here, Selanne is a definite lock for the Hall of Fame,also Selanne was better than Perry in the 07 playoffs and better than Perry and Getzlaf during the regular season outscoring them both by a fair margin.

I would disagree with that.

Perry had a more consistent positive impact in those playoffs than Selanne did. Not only did he score more goals, but the physical game he played, the way he got underneath the skin of the opposing team, went hard to the net... Perry simply did more for Anaheim in those playoffs.

Selanne wouldn't even be in my top 5 of most important players for Anaheim during their Cup run. I'll grant you it was a deep Anaheim team, but up front Getzlaf, Perry, and Pahlsson are forwards I'd clearly put ahead of him in regards to the impact they had. Elsewhere throughout the line-up there is Giguere, who was probably the biggest reason Anaheim overcame Detroit. On the blue line there was Niedermayer, Pronger, and Beauchemin. I'd rank all of those players as more important than Selanne in their playoff run. Their loss would probably have been more detrimental to Anaheim's ability to win the Cup.

Teemu Selanne had a good playoff run for Anaheim, but he just wasn't one of their studs throughout the playoffs. He was one of their better players, but not one of their best.

 

[seventieslord]

I would disagree with that.

Perry had a more consistent positive impact in those playoffs than Selanne did. Not only did he score more goals, but the physical game he played, the way he got underneath the skin of the opposing team, went hard to the net... Perry simply did more for Anaheim in those playoffs.

Selanne wouldn't even be in my top 5 of most important players for Anaheim during their Cup run. I'll grant you it was a deep Anaheim team, but up front Getzlaf, Perry, and Pahlsson are forwards I'd clearly put ahead of him in regards to the impact they had. Elsewhere throughout the line-up there is Giguere, who was probably the biggest reason Anaheim overcame Detroit. On the blue line there was Niedermayer, Pronger, and Beauchemin. I'd rank all of those players as more important than Selanne in their playoff run. Their loss would probably have been more detrimental to Anaheim's ability to win the Cup.

Teemu Selanne had a good playoff run for Anaheim, but he just wasn't one of their studs throughout the playoffs. He was one of their better players, but not one of their best.

You are absolutely right; this is consistent with what I saw as well.

 

[QnebO]

I also agree that Oates' defense is often overrated and mostly due to his amazing faceoff ability (which can definitely be a defensive skill). Even without faceoffs though, Oates was definitely better defensively than Teemu.

Just wanted to note, that Teemu is a great faceoff guy too (still) and takes lots of power play faceoffs for example instead of getzlaf.

 

[Derick*]

Adam Oates is one of the most underrated, underappreciated players of all time.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I aint givin you a lecture, your the one thats changing the topic of my poll.I was old enough to remember the 92-93 season and espcially the 94 season. I want to keep this back on topic between selanne and oates so dont change the topic of this poll.Jeremy roenick was just the young kid that was supposed to end up great, he was never top 5. I do find it pretty funny what you said, considering that you were probably just a 10 year old kid yourself when oates and hull were playing with each other. I dont think boston ever considered giving up oates for roenick, why would they sacrifice 30 points of offense.

I saw the entire 1999 playoffs, hull was invisible until he scored a goal that shouldnt have been allowed.

So, yeah back on topic. Another point that favours Oates over Selanne to me is longevity. Oates had 13 seasons as a top 35 scorer, selanne has 9. It puzzles me how he's still wating to get inducted, while selanne is a 'mortal lock'.

Brett Hull was playing with a groin injury during the 1999 playoffs. I remember seeing an interview with Modano about that Cup run in which he said that towards the end Hull couldn't do too much, but he was still effective because his shot was so good. I believe he also said that when Hull scored his (in)famous OT winner in Game 6 that it was his first shift of that period, which was nearly 15 minutes in.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Adam Oates is one of the most underrated, underappreciated players of all time.

Definitely underrated by the general public and apparently by the HHOF committee.

I think he tends to be overrated around here by stats-crunching, as a guy heavily reliant on assists to create his offense. Meaning that I don't see why a player who was 5th in points and 1st in assists was any better than a guy 5th in points and 5th in assists.