Big Phil
Registered User
- Nov 2, 2003
- 31,703
- 4,146
Between Mario Lemieux and Hasek who was more intimidating on breakaways or penalty shots? With either of them the opposing player always had a mental disadvantage regardless because they knew who was coming down on them or vice versa.
Lemieux - For all the marbles I dont think anyone would bet on anyone but Mario in a do or die situation on a penalty shot. Mario had a knack for making a goalie make the first move. Why? Well he had so many weapons. He had his long reach to deke guys out. Or if the goalie flinched just an inch Mario would just roof it top corner over the goalies shoulder and put it off the post and in. All the time! He always seemed to give the goalie a deer-in-the-headlights look. Its almost as if he had them at his mercy, and almost as if it was a game to him just to see them flinch before he burned them. Mario intimidated goalies more than anyone in the history of the game. He's 6/8 on penalty shots? I wonder who stopped him?
Hasek - He always gave shooters a brain freeze before they came down on him. As if they had to be perfect just to beat him. And basically they did. Hasek never went on the fake and his mask set him apart for the rest. You look at his unique mask and you KNEW it was Hasek you had to beat. That gave the shooters a disadvantage right off the bat. Hasek was so flexible and even when he was out of position he had the knack for making a save with his arm while his back was turned. You knew this was by far the best goalie in the league and one of the best ever so players often screwed up even before they got to the net. Or just froze and got confused when they got close to him. Look at the '98 Olympics vs. Canada, stopping all 5 shooters. At the '98 All-star skills competition he stopped 6 in a row!
In conclusion both are very intimidating and are the best ever for breakaways. I can remember both players making the other look foolish at least once. For Hasek it was in the '92 Cup finals. He stopped Lemieux on two breakaways in Game 4. For Lemieux it was in the '01 All-star game in the skills competition. He went in on Hasek and made him flinch and Lemieux roofed it top corner making Hasek seem human. The funny thing is Lemieux did it with such ease as if he knew what he was doing with such confidence. So who was more intimidating?
Lemieux - For all the marbles I dont think anyone would bet on anyone but Mario in a do or die situation on a penalty shot. Mario had a knack for making a goalie make the first move. Why? Well he had so many weapons. He had his long reach to deke guys out. Or if the goalie flinched just an inch Mario would just roof it top corner over the goalies shoulder and put it off the post and in. All the time! He always seemed to give the goalie a deer-in-the-headlights look. Its almost as if he had them at his mercy, and almost as if it was a game to him just to see them flinch before he burned them. Mario intimidated goalies more than anyone in the history of the game. He's 6/8 on penalty shots? I wonder who stopped him?
Hasek - He always gave shooters a brain freeze before they came down on him. As if they had to be perfect just to beat him. And basically they did. Hasek never went on the fake and his mask set him apart for the rest. You look at his unique mask and you KNEW it was Hasek you had to beat. That gave the shooters a disadvantage right off the bat. Hasek was so flexible and even when he was out of position he had the knack for making a save with his arm while his back was turned. You knew this was by far the best goalie in the league and one of the best ever so players often screwed up even before they got to the net. Or just froze and got confused when they got close to him. Look at the '98 Olympics vs. Canada, stopping all 5 shooters. At the '98 All-star skills competition he stopped 6 in a row!
In conclusion both are very intimidating and are the best ever for breakaways. I can remember both players making the other look foolish at least once. For Hasek it was in the '92 Cup finals. He stopped Lemieux on two breakaways in Game 4. For Lemieux it was in the '01 All-star game in the skills competition. He went in on Hasek and made him flinch and Lemieux roofed it top corner making Hasek seem human. The funny thing is Lemieux did it with such ease as if he knew what he was doing with such confidence. So who was more intimidating?
