Gretzky allstar team vs shl team in december 1994

[DDRhockey]

How did this team lose?

Goalies

• Grant Fuhr
• Kelly Hrudey

Defensemen

• Rob Blake
• Paul Coffey
• Todd Gill
• Charlie Huddy
• Al MacInnis
• Marty McSorley

Forwards

• Pat Conacher
• Russ Courtnall
• Sergei Fedorov
• Doug Gilmour
• Tony Granato
• Wayne Gretzky
• Brett Hull
• Jari Kurri
• Steve Larmer
• Mark Messier
• Kirk Muller
• Warren Rychel
• Rick Tocchet
• Steve Yzerman

Here is the game

Click to read more...

 

[Nick Hansen]

Malmö had previously shut down Forsberg and Näslund in the finals that spring so Gretzky, Yzerman and CO was obviously a piece of cake for Rydmark and his fellow teammates.

 

[The Panther]

Don't think this is a game the NHL All-Stars were taking that seriously, though I'm sure it was enjoyable.

Sure nice to see all that open ice!

 

[Eye of Ra]

yeah i remember this game. those nhl stars had no chance against my home town boys, we had grit, they had not.

 

[ChuckLefley]

The NHL players were there for fun. They played some hockey and went out on the town and had a blast every night. That wasn’t serious Hockey for them.

 

[DDRhockey]

The NHL players were there for fun. They played some hockey and went out on the town and had a blast every night. That wasn’t serious Hockey for them.

Of course it isnt serious when a north american team lose.

 

[Asheville]

Of course it isnt serious when a north american team lose.

It was a fundraising exhibition. Meant nothing to the 99's superstars and everything to a Euro team with no-name players. What did the NHLers have to gain? Dumb thread.

 

[Dingo]

nice link. i didnt know about this.

 

[steve141]

Of course Gretzky's team had better players, but it's worth noting that the team they were facing was possibly the best team in Europe at the time. Malmo IF had recently won the IIHF European Cup (European championship tournament for clubs), beating Dynamo Moscow in the finals. They had also won the SEL two times in three years, most recently beating Modo with Peter Forsberg and Marcus Naslund in the finals.

I don't know what the roster looked like for this game, but among Malmo's players were Pekka Lindmark, Mats Naslund, Tomas Sandstrom, Robert Svehla, Raimo Helminen and Peter Sundstrom, who I'm sure won't all be "no-name players" to the HOH community.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Of course it isnt serious when a north american team lose.

I'm European but if we have to use games like this to show Euro hockey competitiveness, we just make ourselves look like fools.

I file away games like this in the same category as the MLS All-Stars playing a European soccer top team...it's meant to be entertainment and doesn't say much about skill levels.

 

[ChuckLefley]

Of course it isnt serious when a north american team lose.

You should read up on the NHL players accounts of that tour. They raised some money for the NHLPA and they had a raucous good time. Whether they had won or lost, the story was the same. Sorry to spoil what was obviously the most glorious hockey moments of your life.

 

[Troubadour]

You should read up on the NHL players accounts of that tour. They raised some money for the NHLPA and they had a raucous good time. Whether they had won or lost, the story was the same. Sorry to spoil what was obviously the most glorious hockey moments of your life.

Had the Gretzky All-Star team won and someone asked "how did they win this, partying every night?", you would be first to point out that while they did party hard, the talent gap was sooo huuuge they just couldn't be beaten by some Swedish hole team, not even in an exhibition match.

What I'm trying to say is, you're not spoiling anything for anyone. Sore loser talk always makes the winning side even more cheerful.

 

[Theokritos]

Had the Gretzky All-Star team won and someone asked "how did they win this, partying every night?", you would be first to point out that while they did party hard, the talent gap was sooo huuuge they just couldn't be beaten by some Swedish hole team, not even in an exhibition match.

What I'm trying to say is, you're not spoiling anything for anyone. Sore loser talk always makes the winning side even more cheerful.

I'm not sure what your point is. The talent gap is obviously stupendous and if it wasn't a meaningless exhibition game then there is no way Malmö IF wins against an NHL all-star team. That should be obvious, no?

 

[Troubadour]

I'm not sure what your point is. The talent gap is obviously stupendous and if it wasn't a meaningless exhibition game then there is no way Malmö IF wins against an NHL all-star team. That should be obvious, no?

For the bolded:

-I see.
-No.

(It's a sport, it's a single game and it's played on the big ice. It's absolutely possible Malmö IF upsets a Disney team thrown together like that. Especially when the team has Grant Fuhr and Kelly Hrudey minding the net. That should be obvious, no?)

Either way, they lost. And that's all we know.

 

[Tmu84]

Of course Gretzky's team had better players, but it's worth noting that the team they were facing was possibly the best team in Europe at the time. Malmo IF had recently won the IIHF European Cup (European championship tournament for clubs), beating Dynamo Moscow in the finals. They had also won the SEL two times in three years, most recently beating Modo with Peter Forsberg and Marcus Naslund in the finals.

I don't know what the roster looked like for this game, but among Malmo's players were Pekka Lindmark, Mats Naslund, Tomas Sandstrom, Robert Svehla, Raimo Helminen and Peter Sundstrom, who I'm sure won't all be "no-name players" to the HOH community.

Well, I would say the 1990's were the golden ages of not just SHL but also for the Finnish league. So it was actually a Finnish team which won IIHF European Cup in 1993-1994 (TPS) and the following two ones (Jokerit; 94-95, 96-97). So yes, those Finnish teams were right up there with Malmo and other SHL teams. For example TPS first line consisted of: Saku Koivu Jere Lehtinen and Raimo Summanen, defence pairs Timonen and Aki Berg, and Kiprusoff (G) that year. In addition, just two weeks before that Malmo IF game, Tampere Ilves managed to beat Ninety Nine All Stars Tour 4-3 in overtime. And yes, I was in that game. I was only 10 at the time, but i Do have some fond memories of that game. At least I was glad to see Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Yzerman etc. one time in my life in the same team. But that said, it was obvious the NHL stars only took it half seriously. After all, it was a fund raising event. No shame in that, it was still damn good entertainment.

Edit: Too bad I couldn't find the game in YouTube, but at least I found the deciding game winning goal in that game:

 

[PurpleMouse]

Had the Gretzky All-Star team won and someone asked "how did they win this, partying every night?", you would be first to point out that while they did party hard, the talent gap was sooo huuuge they just couldn't be beaten by some Swedish hole team, not even in an exhibition match.

What I'm trying to say is, you're not spoiling anything for anyone. Sore loser talk always makes the winning side even more cheerful.

During that same tour the 99 all-stars also lost to the Detroit Vipers of the IHL.

Should we read into that that the Vipers, who part of a league that directly feeds into the NHL, were better than a team of NHL stars?

Tells you all you need to know about this tour...

 

[JackSlater]

During that same tour the 99 all-stars also lost to the Detroit Vipers of the IHL.

Should we read into that that the Vipers, who part of a league that directly feeds into the NHL, were better than a team of NHL stars?

Tells you all you need to know about this tour...

Either we should read into it the very obvious - that flukes happen, especially when one team has nothing to play for. Or we should consider these results as serious (and ignore sample size) and conclude that the IHL's Detroit Vipers, the only team to defeat Gretzky's team in regulation, was a stronger team than the best that Swedish hockey could offer.

 

[sr edler]

Malmö had previously shut down Forsberg and Näslund in the finals that spring

Markus Näslund had already left for the NHL and was not on that team. Mats Näslund was on the Malmö team though.

 

[GMR]

What the hell was Warren Rychel doing on that team? Wasn't Lyle Odelein available?

 

[The Panther]

What the hell was Warren Rychel doing on that team?

Gretzky loved Warren Rychel.

In autumn '94, the Quebecois press asked Robitaille why he wasn't a member of this team, and Luc -- who at that moment was upset about having been traded to Pittsburgh -- responded that you'd have to be "crazy" (in Quebecois slang) to join that team.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The tour was really "Gretzky and pals go on a vacation."

Those who read anything more into it sure are clinging a lot onto a meaningless series of exhibitions. This was happening during the lockout, and a lot of these guys hadn't stepped foot on an ice surface in quite some time and weren't going to get hurt in any charity event.

 

[Troubadour]

During that same tour the 99 all-stars also lost to the Detroit Vipers of the IHL.

Should we read into that that the Vipers, who part of a league that directly feeds into the NHL, were better than a team of NHL stars?

Tells you all you need to know about this tour...

At that point, pretty much. The Vipers were still pros, and they actually played that year, used to playing together. On the other end, you have a fantasy team of complacent out-of-shape stars randomly thrown together.

Even if it's competitive, while every other condition remains the same, I put my money on the guys who are sharp and toughened from playing competitive hockey rather than rusty stars on prolonged vacation.

 

[quoipourquoi]

The Detroit Vipers enter the ice through a giant snake head, so there’s an intimidation factor there.