Amonte vs Gaborik

[Neutrinos]

Both were known as speedy wingers who could put the puck in the net

Their production during their primes was remarkably similar

Who was better?

Click to read more...

 

[seventieslord]

OTOH, Amonte. I would not be surprised if numbers showed Gaborik to be a better per-game scorer, but I think Amonte stayed healthy and accomplished a lot more.

 

[VanIslander]

Gaborik > Amonte

Gabbie was more talented at skating (mobility to change directions, accelerate, pivot) and stickhandling, and creativity and if it wasn't for injuries, he'd have some 50-goal seasons.

Amonte was more of an up-down winger, like a less speedy Gartner, and had a hard shot, played a lot of full seasons and maximized his production. His ceiling was lower and he reached it.

Gabbie easily led the Kings in playoff goals in their 2014 Stanley Cup championship postseason. He was a 2nd team all star with the Rags in 2012 (it was the only time in his 17-year career that he played a full 82-game season).

Gabbie also has constantly produced for Slovakia against much better teams in the world championships and Olympics.

Amonte accomplished the same number of 40-goal seasons and one more 30-goal season, less than 100 more career assists (significantly less game winners). Amonte was on two teams that went on a conference final run and he didn't contribute much either time. He represented USA in international competition but produced much less than Gabbie did, though Amonte was on the silver medal 2002 Olympic team and he was a secondary scorer (not top 5 on his team) in the 1996 World Cup victory. (I guess that is close to what Gabbie accomplished in the Stanley Cup, but not really.)

 

[Michael Farkas]

Gaborik's lone form of offense on the 2003 Wild is worthwhile. A team that just dumped 50 pound bags of sand on the rink, had Gabby to score the only goal necessary for them to make it to the WCF...he was more impactful in a shorter (I assume) amount of time than Amonte...

 

[hypereconomist]

It's a close comparison, but it's hard to argue against Gaborik on this one:

More top 10 finishes in goals (3 vs 2)
Better AST voting (2-3-4 vs 4-4-5)
Better playoff record (Amonte has nothing that compares to Gaborik's 13-14 run)
He passes the eye test better than Amonte does

Gaborik would probably be on the same tier as Palffy if he wasn't injured for close to half of his prime (05-06 to 10-12)

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Gaborik:

1035 GP

407 G

408 A

815 P

[TFOOT] [/TFOOT]

Amonte:

1174 GP

416 G

484 A

900 P

[TFOOT] [/TFOOT]

The stats say it's close but Gaborik's A game was superior, IMO.

 

[The Pale King]

Gaborik was more skilled and more effective in a vacuum but at least you knew Amonte was going to be on the ice for you every night. Loads of respect though for what Gabbo did with the Kings in '14, and for the thankless uncountable miles he put on his frame as the only offensive threat for the Wild for all those years. He's still only 37.

I have this skewed perception of Amonte as being grittier than he actually was, in part because he looked like Rambo (mullet, black-eye, partial beard) in Athlon's 99 or 00 season preview. Looked a bit like Chris Simon or something, not altogether un-Bertuzzi-esque. But he was pretty clean as a player, no notable outbursts to my memory. Played his peak right through the DPE, with a handful of 40 goal seasons. Pretty impressive, really.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Amonte was more of an up-down winger, like a less speedy Gartner, and had a hard shot, played a lot of full seasons and maximized his production. His ceiling was lower and he reached it.

this is a great comparison. and keenan dumped both of them en route to the cup in '94.

i kind of always thought of amonte as a bad team scorer. if the entire game plan is just for alex zhamnov to feed him the puck, then sure he can score 40 DPE goals. and that's great. but you would want a 32 and 33 year old amonte to not fade into the background on those deep philly teams. gaborik certainly didn't when he joined the kings.

 

[The Pale King]

but you would want a 32 and 33 year old amonte to not fade into the background on those deep philly teams. gaborik certainly didn't when he joined the kings.

That's a fair point. I always thought there was something off about those Philly teams of the early 00s. Maybe Lindros' shadow hanging over them or something? Ghosts of missed opportunities in '97 and beyond... Certainly an excellent regular season team. Weird mix of personalities from the look of it.

Those teams gave us one of the more public scape-goatings of a goal-tender, with Roenick absolutely throwing Roman Cechmanek under the bus:
“He would look good in the regular season, and then the playoffs would start and suddenly he was giving up bad goals. In 2000-01, he had a 2.01 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage in the regular season. Then, his playoff numbers were 3.11 and .896. The way he performed in the playoffs made me believe he had come to the NHL just for the money and not to play with the world’s best players and win the Stanley Cup. To me he seemed like a phony, a true fraud. I had no use for him.”

This is from a guy with 7 playoff goals in a Flyers sweater in 30-something games. And zero in the first round exit to Ottawa in 02, with two games decided in OT.

 

[Hobnobs]

Gaborik by a small but clear margin.

 

[sr edler]

Gaborik early on with grave-digging Minny was something nice, he had such speed and quick hands too.

I'm not as impressed with him afterwards with NYR and LA as he became much less dynamic (injuries?) and way more Brett Hull-ish, as a complementary player in say 2014, but he still wins this over Amonte quite comfortably.

 

[tony d]

Both were solid players but give me Gaborik here.