Generational players - Why not Gil?

[krt88]

Taken from an article on TSN:

"He is regarded as the seventh in a line of Canadian prodigies over the past half-century, following Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros and Crosby. "

He being Connor McDavid

So exactly why wasn't Gilbert Perreault not considered a generational player? He was universally the best player in the 1970 draft and in the end his numbers are virtually identical to Guy LaFleur's. However, numbers are always hindsight. Was LaFleur that superior to Gilbert in juniors?

I was one when Buffalo draft Gilbert and I remember him becoming the greater Sabres of all time but I don't get him not being viewed as a generational talent.

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[dugman]

Taken from an article on TSN:

"He is regarded as the seventh in a line of Canadian prodigies over the past half-century, following Bobby Orr, Guy Lafleur, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros and Crosby. "

He being Connor McDavid

So exactly why wasn't Gilbert Perreault not considered a generational player? He was universally the best player in the 1970 draft and in the end his numbers are virtually identical to Guy LaFleur's. However, numbers are always hindsight. Was LaFleur that superior to Gilbert in juniors?

I was one when Buffalo draft Gilbert and I remember him becoming the greater Sabres of all time but I don't get him not being viewed as a generational talent.

It's a lot harder to find pictures of Perreault carrying the Stanley Cup. I know that's not all on him, but I think that is part of it.

 

[hizzoner]

I watched Gil in junior and had season tickets from the inception of the Sabres franchise. He was a breath taking, magical skater and stickhandler with superb lateral movement. He played in a wide open league and was given the green light to go whenever he wanted. Was he a generational player--for excitement absolutely. The knock on him I suppose is that he did not lead his team to a Stanley Cup win and did not have a few scoring championships to go with his unquestionable outstanding skills.

 

[reckoning]

I don't know if by "generational" you mean as a prospect or as a pro, but either way Perreault, as much as I loved him as a kid, was a clear notch below Lafleur.

They were both consensus #1 picks, but Lafleur did it in a year with a stronger draft class (Dionne would've been a #1 in almost any other season). They both won their junior leagues MVP award and led their team to a Memorial Cup, but Lafleur's performance was much more dominant as he was setting records that wouldn't be broken until Mario Lemieux came around.

As pros, the difference was that in their primes Lafleur was considered the best player in the game, while Perreault was considered near the top of the list, but not at the top. And Lafleur's playoff record is clearly superior. Not saying it was all Perreault's fault that Buffalo never won, but it always seemed against the Flyers or the Islanders that he couldn't outperform Clarke or Trottier.

But Gilbert Perreault was a great player in his own right. The second best player to ever wear the Sabres jersey after Hasek.

 

[Disengage]

Because he only finished in the top 5 in scoring 3 times, only finished 5th in Hart voting in his best year, never was an end of season 1st team all-star, and only awards were the Calder and a Lady Byng. He was a superstar but isn't in the same breath as Gretzky, Lemieux, or Orr. More along the lines of Patrick Kane.

 

[haseoke39]

Because he only finished in the top 5 in scoring 3 times, only finished 5th in Hart voting in his best year, never was an end of season 1st team all-star, and only awards were the Calder and a Lady Byng. He was a superstar but isn't in the same breath as Gretzky, Lemieux, or Orr. More along the lines of Patrick Kane.

This. Great player, heavily overvalued around buffalo due to being the face of the franchise.

I think objective fans tend to put him on the outside of the top ten players of the 1970s.

 

[Ron C.]

He was the most exciting player in open ice I have ever seen. As a teenager playing street hockey in the 70's I used to switch to a left handed shot and pretend to be him.

 

[brian_griffin]

I watched Gil in junior and had season tickets from the inception of the Sabres franchise. He was a breath taking, magical skater and stickhandler with superb lateral movement. He played in a wide open league and was given the green light to go whenever he wanted. Was he a generational player--for excitement absolutely. The knock on him I suppose is that he did not lead his team to a Stanley Cup win and did not have a few scoring championships to go with his unquestionable outstanding skills.

I didn't start following the Sabres or NHL until during their cup final season, his 5th season, and a couple years after he'd broken his leg (which healed).
IMO, Perreault is on a very short list of players all-time who could stick handle at full speed and make opponents look amateurish.

Lafleur was an effortless skater, and my favorite non-Sabre, but as you note above Perreault had far better lateral movement and was a way more gifted stick handler.

I remember reading some (non-Sabre) hockey authority comment that the most feared 1 vs 5 player in the NHL was Perreault. The comment was made ca. 1980, even after Gretzky had a season or two in the NHL after the WHA merger.

 

[krt88]

It's a lot harder to find pictures of Perreault carrying the Stanley Cup. I know that's not all on him, but I think that is part of it.

Because he only finished in the top 5 in scoring 3 times, only finished 5th in Hart voting in his best year, never was an end of season 1st team all-star, and only awards were the Calder and a Lady Byng. He was a superstar but isn't in the same breath as Gretzky, Lemieux, or Orr. More along the lines of Patrick Kane.

you don't declare a generational talent post career? I don't recall McDavid carrying a cup either or winning league MVP or winning a scoring title.

What I'm hearing is that LaFleur was simply was far more dominating player. When you look at career stats, Gilbert and Guy are ever so close. Obviously Guy played on the better teams but the idea of generational talent comes pre pro career.

So in other words, LaFleur is like McDavid but Gilbert was Stamkos, dominate in his draft year, looks to be a great NHL player.

OK, makes sense

 

[oldgoalie]

one of the most exciting players to watch when he got the puck and wound up for a rush up the ice.
of course, the ice surface was much bigger then.