Alfredsson was 4th in PPG and 3rd in points over a 10 season span.
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Federko's best 10 seasons run from 79-88. He's 11th in PPG and 5th in points because he rarely missed time due to injury and he's being compared to many more players who didn't play the full 10 seasons then in Alfredsson's sample. In Alfredsson's sample, Brad Richards at 14th in PPG stands out as an obvious comparison for Federko.
i'm not prepared to respond to everything you wrote, but this part is where i'm a little confused. now i think we all understand the arbitrariness of looking at a player's ranking in total points and points/game in a player's best x years, because that is the player's absolute best sample and it's not necessarily the best sample of everyone else he is being compared to. but that caveat aside...
Current search:
For combined seasons, from 1978-79 to 1987-88, in the regular season, playing skater, sorted by descending Points.
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Current search:
For combined seasons, from 2000-01 to 2009-10, in the regular season, playing skater, sorted by descending Points.
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Current search:
For combined seasons, from 1978-79 to 1987-88, in the regular season, playing skater, requiring Games Played >= 160, sorted by descending Points Per Game.
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Current search:
For combined seasons, from 2000-01 to 2009-10, in the regular season, playing skater, requiring Games Played >= 180, sorted by descending Points Per Game.
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I get that there's a Gretzky and /or a Lemieux exception, but that exception doesn't extend to 15 other guys who played in the 1980's. Bossy, Stastny, Trottier, Kurri, Savard, Hawerchuk, Nilsson, Goulet, Messier... these guys are all just so unassailable that we'll never see others? They were so great that any other era's stars should just imagine themselves being lucky enough to finish 11th or 15th behind them if they were competing in the same era? No, that's ridiculous!
Alfredsson was 4th in PPG and 3rd in points playing 89% of the games in his 10 best season span.
If you remove Gretzky and Lemieux from the equation, there was a player who would have been 4th in PPG and 4th in points playing 91% of the games in his 10 best season span... Denis Savard
so federko = b richards and alfredsson = d savard? i think you're either underrating federko, overrating alfredsson, or maybe both.
if you delete all the players from alfredsson's 10 year sample six or fewer seasons, okay fine he's 4th in points/game. but who is immediately below him? heatley, kovalchuk, iginla, spezza. and immediately behind them, hossa, datsyuk, savard, sundin.
who are the non-generational players ahead of federko in his 10 year sample? bossy, stastny, dionne, kurri, savard, hawerchuk, trottier, old lafleur, coffey, nilsson. behind him, goulet, dave taylor, glenn anderson, messier, ron francis.
if i'm comparing their respective competition player-by-player, ignoring everyone who didn't play 70% of possible seasons, this is how i would go:
no equivalent / gretzky + mario
thornton + sakic / bossy + stastny + dionne + kurri + savard + hawerchuk + trottier
late and post-peak jagr / late and post-peak lafleur
iginla / messier
spezza / francis
datsyuk with pre-breakout years / young yzerman up to '88
hossa, savard, sundin / goulet, taylor, anderson