Eric Desjardins vs Mathieu Schneider

[Stephen]

One guy wore 27, the other 28, both were good two way defensemen who were drafted by the Canadiens in 1987. Both helped lead the Canadiens to their last cup in 1993, and both were traded away to shortly after for offensive help, and both went on to have long careers, with Schneider lasting longer than Desjardins. Schneider had a career high of 59 points, Desjardins had 55 in his best year.

Anyway, who was the better defenseman?

Click to read more...

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Schneider was a good two-way defenseman? The guy had a reputation for being pretty mediocre in his own zone.

Desjardins was easily better. He spent a long time as the #1 defenseman on a very good Flyers team, picking up 2 2nd Team All Stars along the way.

Whenever I watched the Flyers of the era, Desjardins was a real difference maker back there - the only one they had on the blueline during this era.

 

[mco543]

I realize that I probably overrate Desjardins a lot but I view him as a borderline HOFer whereas all I can say about Schneider is that he was maybe a lesser version of Phil Housley.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

in his prime, desjardins was a top five d-man in the league, at least for a couple of seasons in the late 90s.

at the time, you would say that of his generation, lidstrom, pronger, and blake were ahead of him, but he'd be the fourth guy, ahead of niedermayer, zubov, gonchar, hatcher, and all the others. times change obviously, and it was a very weak era for high end d-men, but schneider was never that good and not nearly as complete a player.

schneider's longer career and higher offensive numbers don't make up the difference in peak, as schneider was pretty one-dimensional except for a couple of years in detroit. and was schneider really that much better in those years, or were they a system and lidstrom-aided mirage?

also, in '93 desjardins was awesome. i feel like his game 2 heroics get overshadowed by the mcsorley illegal stick call, roy's OT record, and leclair's two straight OT winners in games 3 and 4. but desjardins scored all three montreal goals-- including the winner in OT-- in the game that really swung the momentum of the series. they would not lose another game that spring. desjardins was easily the habs' best and most important d-man while schneider was injured during the first two rounds (the habs' toughest two rounds, in my opinion) and not really a huge factor that year, which was his only cup run.

there's also the fact that the wings finally broke through and made the finals in back to back years, and won the cup immediately after replacing schneider with rafalski.

 

[jkrx]

Always liked Schneider but Desjardins overcomes his marginally lack offense compared to him with much better defense and leadership.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Always liked Schneider but Desjardins overcomes his marginally lack offense compared to him with much better defense and leadership.

jkrx, you've seen the wings a lot more than i have-- do you think schneider was really that good of a two-way d-man in detroit or did the system and being partnered with lidstrom make him look better than he really was?

 

[Johnny 5]

Lidstrom-PlayerB pairings have most often been constructed in such a way that Lidstrom is the defensive conscience of a more aggressive, offensive blue liner. Schneider was one of those and was a dangerous weapon on the power play as he has been for a long time, but it would be a stretch to call him a two-way defenseman.

Rafalski has been better than Schneider was and is at best a very good number 2 on the top of his game. On the other hand, Desjardins was a number 1 defenseman and one of the better blue liners in the league for a stretch, so this comparison doesn't seem to get very far.

 

[Never]

Overall? Desjardins, easily.

 

[seventieslord]

Definitely Desjardins. Schneider was not what I would call a "two-way" defenseman. Amazing slapshot, though.

Fun fact: Mathieu Schneider has played the most games with the Red Wings since 1994, without winning the cup with them.

 

[jkrx]

jkrx, you've seen the wings a lot more than i have-- do you think schneider was really that good of a two-way d-man in detroit or did the system and being partnered with lidstrom make him look better than he really was?

I think he was a good two-way defenseman who fitted in Detroits system. He wasn't bad at anything really but he wasn't as good a Desjardins by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

Always thought of Desjardins as a poor man's Ray Bourque. Just super steady at both ends of the ice.

While I believe Schneider had an underrated physical game, he wasn't as well rounded as Desjardins who was just so much steadier in his own end.

Desjardins.

 

[Regal]

I think he was a good two-way defenseman who fitted in Detroits system. He wasn't bad at anything really but he wasn't as good a Desjardins by any stretch of the imagination.

Yea, I'm surprised to see so much criticism of his defensive game in this thread. I always thought of him as solid defensively, not the greatest, but, combined with his offense, capable enough of playing big minutes. He also brought a bit of a physical game as well.

My copy of Hockey Scouting Report from 2000 describes him as "a good two-way defenseman with the offensive skills to get involved in the attack", someone who "gets the puck out of the corner quickly. He makes good defensive decisions" and is "often matched against the other teams' top scoring lines", and has a physical game that is like "a poor man's version of Chris Chelios".

I think Desjardins was clearly the better player, but Schneider was no slouch.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i think there is a big difference between the schneider from new york and toronto that some people remember, and the guy in LA and detroit. he was decent defensively and very good offensively in LA, not a top-flight two-way guy, but a legit plays-in-all-situations number one d-man. i suspect detroit made him look better defensively than he really was, but he certainly wasn't the one-dimensional defensive nightmare that he was in toronto his entire career.

but yeah, pre-LA he was terrible defensively and a turnover machine.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Always thought of Desjardins as a poor man's Ray Bourque. Just super steady at both ends of the ice.

While I believe Schneider had an underrated physical game, he wasn't as well rounded as Desjardins who was just so much steadier in his own end.

Desjardins.

I don't remember desjardins being nearly as physical as bourque. Would poor man's lidstrom make more sense?

 

[Tom Brady]

Desjardins

 

[Big Phil]

Desjardins for sure. There are a minority of posters on here (really remote) who would enshrine him into the HHOF. I stop short of that, but he did have a good career and was a better and more valuable defenseman than Schneider

 

[mrhockey193195]

Desjardins for sure. There are a minority of posters on here (really remote) who would enshrine him into the HHOF. I stop short of that, but he did have a good career and was a better and more valuable defenseman than Schneider

ditto, word for word. Desjardins was incredibly steady his whole career.

 

[MS]

Desjardins for sure. There are a minority of posters on here (really remote) who would enshrine him into the HHOF. I stop short of that, but he did have a good career and was a better and more valuable defenseman than Schneider

Yeah, Desjardins is a 'Hall of Very Good' player who needed that one elite season where he was in Norris contention to really have a case for the HHOF. Or if he could have maintained his level of play into his late 30s instead of having injuries drag him down after age 32.

I will be in the extreme minority here, but I'd take Desjardins in his prime over Blake in his prime, as I always felt Blake's defensive game was *extremely* over-rated.

Schneider was not bad defensively (comparisons to Housley are ridiculous), but more of a solid #2-3 guy with excellent PP skills and a great, accurate point shot.

In comparing Desjardins and Schneider, it's worth noting that the offensive gap is much less than you might expect - Schneider had 7 seasons of 45 points or more, Desjardins had 6. And at one point it was 6-3 in favour of Desjardins until Schneider finally capitalized on his offensive potential on a consistent basis late in his career in Detroit.

 

[Rhiessan71]

Desjardins easily, Schneider might of had a slight edge offensively, mostly on the PP.

Also, to nitpick, Schneider wore #8 for most of his time with the Habs.
He only switched to #27 the year before he was traded to the Isles, after he won the Cup.
He also wore #18 as a rookie.

 

[tony d]

Eric Desjardins for me as well.

 

[BraveCanadian]

I don't remember desjardins being nearly as physical as bourque. Would poor man's lidstrom make more sense?

A homeless man's Lidstrom maybe

 

[RabbinsDuck]

Agree with Desjardins --
I would say Schneider was "average" defensively. He was no Housley, but he was also not as good as he looked playing with Lidstrom. A lot of defensemen (or more specifically - their agents) have inflated their value after playing with Lidstrom.

Rafalski is far from great defensively, but he is better than Schneider in that department.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

I don't remember desjardins being nearly as physical as bourque. Would poor man's lidstrom make more sense?

That description might be more apt, but I always use the term "A poor man's" to compare a lesser player with an existing player who already has a significant resume.

Basically, the poor man is the younger player who likely will never be as good as the older guy. So when Desjardins came into the league in the late 80's, the star he reminded me most of was Bourque.

A current guy I would say fit's the term "A poor man's Lidstrom", would be Andrei Markov. Younger, similar in style, really good in his own right, but will never be the star Lidstrom's been.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I'd support the characterization of Desjardins as a "poor man's Bourque". Their styles of play always seemed quite similar to me.

 

[Fleuryoutside29]

Desjardins is my pick. He was solid throughout his whol career. rarely made any mistakes.