Tavaresmagicalplay*
Guest
Where do Crosby and Malkins 2009 playoffs rank in terms of the all time great playoff performances? Would they rank above something like Sakics 96 playoff run?
Would they rank above something like Sakics 96 playoff run?
As far as I'm concerned, no.
Sakic's run was clutch play after clutch play. 6 GWG is ridiculous. That's more than a third of the game-winners.
Malkin was in on .455 of all the Pens goals that playoff season, which puts him in the upper echelon of all-time playoff performances:
in on % of team's goals
Gretzky .494 (1988)
Howe .487 (1955)
Lemieux .463 (1991)
Malkin .455 (2009)
Sakic .425 (1996)
Crosby .392 (2009)
I give the slight edge to Malkin over Sakic despite the 6 GW goals. BTW...Malkin had 3 game winners.
GWG is the dumbest stat ever. How many of them were OT GWG or at least tie breaking GWG?
GWG is the dumbest stat ever. How many of them were OT GWG or at least tie breaking GWG?
I agree with you that GWG is a dumb stat, but it is true that Sakic scored a lot of clutch goals in 1996.
All of Sakic's game-winners were tie-breaking GWG. Five of them were the last goal of the game (2 in OT), and the sixth put Colorado up 2-1 in a game they won 4-1 (and eliminated the Red Wings in the Conference Finals).
Overall, 15 of Sakic's 18 goals came with the score tied or with his team trailing by one goal in the third period, which is very impressive. If somebody figured out a metric to value each goal scored based on how much it changed the team's chance of winning, I'm pretty sure that Sakic's '96 postseason would have the highest score ever. That doesn't necessarily mean he beats Malkin, but it is a point in Sakic's favour.
I think the order of this is a good indication of just how good those playoff years were for them. I might even place Crosby above Sakic, and possibly even Malkin as well.
Why? I saw the entirety of both those playoffs and If I'm picking best overall performance of the 3 of them, I'd pick Crosby. They don't get to the finals or even the conference finals without him, and Malkin doesn't have the performance he does in the finals if the Red Wings whole gameplan wasn't to shutdown Crosby.
While I'm not disagreeing about Crosby's performance, which was amazing, its not like Malkin was only good in the finals. They were tied for the scoring lead going IN to the finals, which means that through 3 rounds Malkin had put up just as many points as Crosby. Malkin then put up a bunch more in the finals, which was what eared him a Smythe.
The arguement that they wouldn't have even gotten there w/o a monster performance from Crosby earlier is true, but you can't really dismiss what Malkin did based on that. You have to evaluate the entire playoff run as a whole, not just set some arbitrary cut-off and say "I'm not including Malkin's last 2 playoff rounds because if it wasn't for Crosby they wouldn't have even happened." They did happen, and they were spectacular.
Crosby was the most impressive player in the league for both of Pitts runs to the finals.
I honestly don't know how any fan of hockey could have watched him during those runs and not absolutely loved everything about his game.
The kid is the best player in the world. Ovy is a superlative talent, (Malkin too), but I really don't think it is even that close.
...just my well informed opinion.
Crosby was the most impressive player in the league for both of Pitts runs to the finals.
I honestly don't know how any fan of hockey could have watched him during those runs and not absolutely loved everything about his game.
The kid is the best player in the world. Ovy is a superlative talent, (Malkin too), but I really don't think it is even that close.
...just my well informed opinion.
I agree that Zetterberg had a superior final, (on a superior team), but I just loved Crosby's game through the first three rounds. Even more so in '09.I can't see him being thought of as better than Zetterberg in 2008, but if you're talking those 2 years combined, then yes.
This despite the fact that the teams they faced focused more on shutting down Crosby. It's no coincidence that once Crosby faced by far the best shutdown role, Malkin pulled ahead in points.
Crosby was the most impressive player in the league for both of Pitts runs to the finals.
I honestly don't know how any fan of hockey could have watched him during those runs and not absolutely loved everything about his game.
The kid is the best player in the world. Ovy is a superlative talent, (Malkin too), but I really don't think it is even that close.
...just my well informed opinion.