Huge apology...forgot Gretzky and Mario are tied with Conn Smythes. Unforgivable.
However, your point about "coulda shoulda woulda" when it comes to how many CS's you think Wayne should have proves just how subjective the award (like the Hart, maybe even more so) is.
I mean hart and smythe are certainly subjective. But just saying that doesn't equate Gretzky's playoffs to Lemieux's.
Gretzky has arguably 6 smythe worthy runs. Roy was better in 93 so no issues there. But Gretzky i believe was the best performer the other 5x - and certainly with the 4 cup wins - and i think he should have more.
The hart is subjective. For example i 100% think Lemieux should have won in 89. Just as Gretzky should have won the Pearson in 86 (215 points to 141 for Lemieux). So yeah - you sometimes get weird results on awards which are voted on.
But it's still 6 significant cup final runs for Gretzky where he could have been the MVP in all of them vs 2 for Lemieux. And even outside of those cup runs (6-2) - Gretzky still has arguably the better playoff record. And even with Lemieux's best 2 runs - Gretzky arguably has 2 (or even 3?) individual runs who may be better. I love Lemieux and think he's awesome but Gretzky simply has the much better playoff record.
Well I think Mario could of won anywhere from 1-4 more cups in 93-94-95-96 if he had been at 100% any of those years. 96 is the least likely.
There has never been a player as Dominant as Mario during the 92 playoffs, and that's a fact.
I mean anything is possible but:
1994 Rangers
1995 Devils
1996 Avs
They're all very strong cup winners. I just don't see it.
in 1996 Lemieux was fully healthy and they lost fair and square to Florida in round 3.
In 1993 Lemieux and pens got beaten by an underdog NYI. I'm sure Lemieux wasn't 100% due to lingering issues that year - but it's also the year he scored 160 points in 60 games, so it's not like he wasn't near the top of his ability. The pens lost fair and square, and it's not attributable to Lemieux's health.
1994 - Lemieux played in the playoffs that year and they still lost in round 1.
It's one thing to argue that with better health Lemieux individually would have done a lot better. But i'm not ready to make the leap to say it would have led to more team success (ie cups). I think that's a big jump.