Paul Kariya finally admits he wouldn't be in the Hall of fame without Selanne

[PoutineSp00nZ]

Have you been sitting here over the years, just waiting for Kariya to say something like this?

How glorious this must be for you on your incredibly odd campaign.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Can't believe people still fall for Mulletman threads.

I read the post before looking at the OP's name, and halfway through the first comment I realized...

 

[KevinRedkey]

He probably thought you quoted all Selanne's games with the Ducks. It's obvious by looking at the totals that you didn't, but if one makes that mistake then it's understandable to say what the poster said.

Ohhh my bad. I see what you mean. I'll edit the post.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Kariya and Selanne were equals. Almost identical stats in their time together in Anaheim.

 

[GarbageGoal]

FINALLY. And to think Selanne had to sit there and listen to Kariya call him a plug all those years he finally gets his due.

 

[Shakey Rustie]

Ducks with Kariya but not Selanne = 0 Cups

Ducks with Selanne but not Kariya = 1 Cups

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

I think at his peak he was up there in the top 3; he would have been a legit MVP candidate on a better team around '96 or '97. Problem is, his peak only lasted about 2-3 years. After that, the combo of concussion fears and his continual one-year qualifying offer deals pretty much forced him into being a perimeter player only, since he had no long-term contractual security.

I also think the shrinking of the neutral zone hurt him more than people realize, because his best strength was his speed on the rush forcing defenders to back up, and not so much about having extra room in the offensive zone.

After his peak he was still really good, but no longer MVP caliber.

Kariya was a top 5ish player in the league from 95-96 (108 points) to 99-00 (4th in scoring 86 points in 74 games), a good 5 years. That's a reasonable peak/prime for any HOFer. He declined hard after the Stevens hit, no doubt.

 

[NewUser293223]

Selective stats of the entire time they played together?

And please explain how Kariya's stats being better while they were together somehow proves Selanne is actually better? lol

Like the one above me said. But they didn't play that entire time together anyway. Selanne spent two thirds of 97/98 without Paul, Kariya missed a decent portion during 96/97 too. You're simply wrong. Selanne was the more skilled and more lethal. Look at Kariya's stats before Teemu's arrival. Compare with Teemu's stats before and after the trade. Kariya did benefit more because Selanne was the better player.

 

[Claypool]

I don't think he should be in the Hall of Fame WITH Selanne.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Guys say positive stuff about other guys all the time. Kariya didn't need Selanne, he was awesome on his own.

 

[missionAvs]

Finally the truth comes out! I'm so happy that it can now be settled that Kariya basically rode on Teemu's back to a HoF induction! Or we can settle for what he said as a classy, humble statement from an amazing player giving props to another amazing player.

 

[authentic]

Like the one above me said. But they didn't play that entire time together anyway. Selanne spent two thirds of 97/98 without Paul, Kariya missed a decent portion during 96/97 too. You're simply wrong. Selanne was the more skilled and more lethal. Look at Kariya's stats before Teemu's arrival. Compare with Teemu's stats before and after the trade. Kariya did benefit more because Selanne was the better player.

Kariya was a rookie before Selanne's arrival. There is no real way to say one was clearly better than the other when they played together considering their stats are almost identical, as well as the eye test. Infact, I would argue that Kariya appeared to be the more skilled player with better shot and vision. Difference is Selanne's knees could be fixed but Kariya's brain couldn't.

 

[HanSolo]

Humility as a springboard to try to rag on a player's career.

Gotta love HF

 

[Coily]

Ducks with Kariya but not Selanne = 0 Cups

Ducks with Selanne but not Kariya = 1 Cups

Gretzky

LA with Wayne = 0 cups
Without = 2

Therefore Gretzky was not great. K.

 

[NewUser293223]

Kariya was a rookie before Selanne's arrival. There is no real way to say one was clearly better than the other when they played together considering their stats are almost identical, as well as the eye test. Infact, I would argue that Kariya appeared to be the more skilled player with better shot and vision. Difference is Selanne's knees could be fixed but Kariya's brain couldn't.

Kariya was a sophomore before Selanne's arrival. You should really look at how that year which eventually ended up being Kariya's career best looked before Selanne joined the Ducks.

 

[Zegs2sendhelp]

I mean to be fair he did almost end his career on the # we do not speak of.... so if he didn't get off said # neither might be in the HOF today.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Ridiculous statement. Absolutely ridiculous statement. They are both in the HHOF because they gelled so well together. It's really rare that you find two superstar talents like this that are capable of gelling in the way that they did. I'm going to go ahead and argue that if either of these guys didn't play together neither of them would have made the hall, but that's about as ludicrous as the op.

 

[Shakey Rustie]

Gretzky

LA with Wayne = 0 cups
Without = 2

Therefore Gretzky was not great. K.

Exactly. When in a MulletMan thread, you gotta go with the flow.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Another classic Mulletman hot take.

Kariya was an elite player with or without Selanne. Just because they both benefited from playing with one another doesn't mean either wasn't elite on his own.

 

[Super Hans]

Did all those HOFers from the 80s Oilers share the same sentiments about Wayne Gretzky?

 

[KevinRedkey]

Like the one above me said. But they didn't play that entire time together anyway. Selanne spent two thirds of 97/98 without Paul, Kariya missed a decent portion during 96/97 too. You're simply wrong. Selanne was the more skilled and more lethal. Look at Kariya's stats before Teemu's arrival. Compare with Teemu's stats before and after the trade. Kariya did benefit more because Selanne was the better player.

The dates I put include only their seasons together. Except I made the mistake of including the full 95-96 season for Kariya, but Selanne only got there for the last 20-something games of the season.

Either way, their stats together are pretty much identical. Kariya's stats before Selanne were worse but only because he was a Rookie. They both did well after their time in Colorado, once they parted ways. Kariya went on to have a great season in Nashville, and Selanne put up a bunch of great ones in Anaheim again.

 

[Martinez]

I bet if you watch a bunch of hall of fame speeches you'll hear many players say similar statements regarding their teammates

 

[authentic]

Kariya was a sophomore before Selanne's arrival. You should really look at how that year which eventually ended up being Kariya's career best looked before Selanne joined the Ducks.

He joined during his sophomore year and scored at a lesser pace than he did in Winnipeg that season, and had nearly the same stats as Kariya during their time together in Anaheim. Also did you not watch them play? Did one stand out to you or look like they were carrying the other? Part of what made them such a great duo was not only their great chemistry but how equal they were to one another in speed, skill and hockey IQ. Similar to what we've seen with Stamkos/St. Louis and now Stamkos/Kucherov.

 

[DDRhockey]

Selanne was overrated.

 

[Arthuros]

This is what we call in hockey parlance a "shot-disturber".