Thats gotta be the funniest/truest statement in the history of hockey!
He was never hit hard except for Mcreary and Suter. Rememeber his "injury" on a little love tap in 87?
The guy was protected from day 1 by not only the cementheads but also the NHL; unlike Orr, etc he was the kind of guy who asked for protection (he asked for Marty Mac to be included in the LA trade).What a guy.
He was never slashed and hacked at like Mario was; remember David Shaw - when did you see anything like that against 99? Thats why Mario scored more goals on the PP - he DREW penalties unlike Mr. Defensive Liability.Wayne almost never was slashed (must be his great vision
) or tripped or hooked or boarded.
And for all the stats hounds, take 92/417 (99's best goal year /# his team scored)and you get a number thats lower than Marios best years divided by the number of goals Pittsburgh scored. What about the fact that Mario has more goals in his last 12 years than Wayne did? So what you say? Well Mario didnt play in 3 of those years! Mario had some superb years after 30 when 99 was clearly just a protected flip passer. Or did Mario get better with age and injury.
There are all sorts of stats that "prove" Mario was a better scorer - or you can close your eyes and rely on raw numbers like some of 99's fanatics.
The "chose to be a playmaker" argument is laughable! Yeah he chose to score 9 goals a year.
38 goals at the age of 33 huh? well Bobby Hull had 50 at 33; mario had 35 in 43 games after not playing for 3 years!
His job wasnt to play defense? well duh! we're not talking about defense but defensive responsibility like Yzerman, Messier, Howe, Lafleur, Mario, Rocket, Jean etc etc. These guys all came back. I never saw a guy hang out at centre like 99 did. Even when Mario was on 1 leg/hip he came back. (btw did Orr's coach ask him to play defence or offence?)
As for asking a player like Carbonneau to play offense - check his junior stats!!!; he was a terrific offensive player (almost 200 points his last year of junior! )but the Habs asked him to play defense and forgo offense. Ask and ye shall receive victory. Something 99 cared less for than endorsements.