Here's the Hextall quote:
http://articles.mcall.com/1987-05-31/sports/2574254_1_ron-hextall-puck-greatest-hockey-player
This isn't the quote I'm looking for -
it's hard to dig up random quotes from the 80's & 90's made during press conferences after games even with the glory that is the internet - but here's a clip from 1997 where Gretzky says that if Kariya & Selanne were playing in 1982 that they'd break the records. It's at the very end. It isn't egregious, but it still is another example of him heaping praise on guys.
Thanks for the quote and the video. As far as the latter goes, I agree that it's not an egregious claim at all. And you can also see what difference it makes saying that he thinks they'd break his records in
their era vs. saying he thinks they'd break his records
playing together in
his era. Prior to you posting the video, I've only seen people on these boards claim that he said the former. But that doesn't seem to be true and is a blatant attempt at trying to portray him as a guy that will say just anything by taking his quotes entirely out of context.
As for the bolded, it's even harder to accurately remember what has been said during those conferences if one doesn't have a source to check every so often to refresh their memory. If you look at studies on memory, you'll see how false memories get created, and the above Kariya thing is a perfect example. So I'm definitely not taking HF posters' words when they report on him saying something without an actual quote. There's a greater chance that they just made it up or misrepresented it entirely than that it's correct.
Even if we ignore his past quotes, him saying that someone's a top 3 player doesn't automatically make it so. It's one persons opinion, the fact that he was a great hockey player doesn't increase the validity of his statements.
I never said it did, and sure it's just one person's opinion. But he's been involved with the game longer and at a higher level than you, me or anyone else on these boards. So he's what you'd call an expert. Same as when someone gets a Ph.D. with a dissertation on something. Then they're experts on that thing. Can they be wrong when discussing a particular relating to it? Sure. But you don't go into a debate with them saying "oh, haha, here's me, I don't have your expertise, but my opinion here is equally as valid, because we're both just people". Not because the latter is untrue, but because an expert draws on his accumulated knowledge and uses it to form his opinion, even if he then doesn't express everything he drew on explicitly. That's not argument by authority, because I'm not saying he's definitely right.
But the point here was that some people here were saying how overrated Toews is, and I just pointed to an example of an expert and a non-poster that rates him even higher than the posters who are supposed to be overrating him. I'm also unsure of how overrated he really is on these boards. People are just saying he's really good, and if they say he's better than Giroux, an argument can be made for that. That's not being overrated, because the general sentiment isn't that he wipes his ass with Giroux. It's just that he's better. If you or anyone else disagrees (an a lot do), fine. But if he's winning a poll where the two are pitted against one another, then that doesn't automatically make him overrated.
Media plays a LARGE role in pushing certain players. Look at the media attention Tavares got for finishing 17th in league scoring....Hart nomination. He 100% earned it this year! but not that year.
Look how LITTLE amount of attention Benn is getting for winning the Art Ross. If that was Tavares, all of the Toronto media would be talking how this in now Tavares's league.
Yeah, I agree, media plays a large role and sometimes it does turn into a snowball effect. But even that snowball has to start from something, and it's not like they just take a random player and hype him up. For example, the Islanders finally made the playoffs that year, and the Hart is about value to the team. Datsyuk was tenth on the scoring list and had two more points. A lot of players close to him in points also had an arguably better supporting cast. So maybe I still wouldn't put him as a top 3 player in that regard, but I certainly don't see it as all hype no substance. I can see the argument for it, even though I'd err on not having him there.
