Big name stars, who were bad playoff performers
- Thread starter Pierre Gotye
- Start date
Sergei Makarov
Registered User
Eisen
Registered User
ck26
Alcoholab User
There was a study / thread started by BM67 sometime between mid 2008 and late 2009 to investigate this cliched statement. Bottom line: Dionne's Kings teams never got anywhere in the playoffs, but the Triple Crown line is hardly to blame. Anyone who wants to believe that Marcel Dionne was a "bad playoff performer" should read it; BM67 is one of the best members on these boards and he will probably change your mind.
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
I read a study by Hockey Outsider that concluded the exact opposite - Dionne's production decreased sharply in the playoffs, and most of the points that he did get were when games or series were already decided.
Uh oh - study fight!
seventieslord
Student Of The Game
Kent Nilsson, Teemu Selanne, Marcel Dionne, Alexei Yashin and Joe Thornton, off the top of my head, suffer some of the most precipitous drops in points per game from the regular season to the playoffs.
(LOL, study fight)
(LOL, study fight)
Psycho Papa Joe
Porkchop Hoser
In comparison to his regular season play, Dionne was a bad playoff performer. Was he a bad player in the playoffs, no. But in comparison to his regular season exploits, he was a far lesser player. A good more modern comparision would be Joe Thornton.
In his prime years from 1992-2000, Selanne scored 13 goals in those 21 games, which is a 50+ goal pace. What brings down his career playoff totals is 2000-04, where he went through a downturn in his career. He then picked up his play after the lockout and was Anaheim's best forward in the '06 playoffs and later in '07 put up a respectable 15 points at age 37 during the Cup run.
reckoning
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- Jan 4, 2005
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Pnep posted a chart which showed the players with the best and worst changes in their scoring rates in the playoffs as compared to their regular season stats here http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=334791
Dionne, Thornton and Selanne were all on the worst side.
Dionne, Thornton and Selanne were all on the worst side.
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
Selanne's offense decreased in the 2006 playoffs too! Luckily for Anaheim, that is when the Getzlaf line emerged as the offensive leader of the team.
Your point about the stages of Selanne's career skewing his average down even further than it should be is good, though. He did play a disproportunately high number of playoff games during all those years he wasn't at 100%.
Pierre Turgeon
Keith Tkachuk
Pavol Demitra
Pronger pre-Oilers
All are guys I thought should've been much better in the playoffs than they were. Pronger turned it around of course, but guys like Tkachuk and Demitra have continued to disappoint in the playoffs after that Blues team got broken up.
As for Selanne, I think Andy MacDonald, Pahlsson, and Getzlaf were all more crucial than him. But for a guy in his late 30's being the fourth most important forward on a cup winner is hardly a disgrace.
Keith Tkachuk
Pavol Demitra
Pronger pre-Oilers
All are guys I thought should've been much better in the playoffs than they were. Pronger turned it around of course, but guys like Tkachuk and Demitra have continued to disappoint in the playoffs after that Blues team got broken up.
As for Selanne, I think Andy MacDonald, Pahlsson, and Getzlaf were all more crucial than him. But for a guy in his late 30's being the fourth most important forward on a cup winner is hardly a disgrace.
wpgyotes
Bye Bryz
- Jul 6, 2006
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I just remember Selanne scoring a hat-trick in a playoff game against the Canucks while with the Jets. He doesn't belong in this thread, IMO. Naturally when you produce like he did in the regular season, it's bound to go down on a PPG pace when things tighten up in the playoffs. Other moderate regular-season performers ala Claude Lemieux see a boost in playoff scoring, but the difference is more dramatic.
Sergei Makarov
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MXD
Original #4
- Oct 27, 2005
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I wonder how somebody can be considered a bad playoff performer after so few seasons.
That's kind of exactly this for Dionne. You don't expect Dionne to have similar career stats to, let's say, Thomas Gradin in playoffs. Or even Darryl Sittler, actually.
Even though it Gradin can be considered to have somewhat overachieved in playoffs.
Super Fadio Bro
MAMA MIA!!!
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
Good one. It's amazing how a career of lackluster playoffs can be forgiven by 1 or 2 good runs.
Another one - Chris Pronger before the lockout.
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
I still can't understand why teams continued to trade the farm to get Tkatchoke in later years. Atlanta traded the farm to bring in a noted playoff choker for their only playoff run. He proceeded to play just as poorly as the rest of the team.
Foy
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- Jun 6, 2006
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The stats say the exact opposite about Mike Green.
.59 PPG in the regular season in his career
.76 PPG in the post season.
He was amazing against Philly in 08, great the first half of the Rangers series in 09, injured his shoulder, and was mediocre after that the rest of that season, but I guess it's easier to say "zOMG! He was teh sux0r!" than to actually put any rational thought into your opinion.
Sergei Makarov
Registered User
Super Fadio Bro
MAMA MIA!!!
Yeah, he didn't even went 42 games but rather 28 games (he ended that streak against Calgary in Game 1 (I think))
TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
42 games without a goal sounds like something Keith Primeau did.
Keith Primeau - one of the biggest playoff chokers in history until he was transformed into a playoff hero very late in his career.
Keith Primeau - one of the biggest playoff chokers in history until he was transformed into a playoff hero very late in his career.
seventieslord
Student Of The Game
Yeah, primeau, with the help of Bryan McCabe, doubled his career goal output in 2004.
The big ot goal in 2000 probably helped his cause too.
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The big ot goal in 2000 probably helped his cause too.
Posted via Mobile Device
mja
Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt
I've never seen a player turn around his play in the post-season as much as Primeau did in 2004. He struggled in the playoffs until that 2004 season, where he put on one of the most dominant playoff campaigns that have ever been seen. He actually scored two more goals in the 18 playoff games that season than he did in the 54 regular season games he played in that year. He also scored the same number of playoff goals (9) in those 18 games as he did in the other 110 playoff games combined that he played in. He was literally trying to will his way to a cup, and if it wasn't for an injury depleted defense, he may have pulled it off.
It's a shame he only played in 9 more regular season and 0 playoff games after that 2004 run.
