Messier's Rangers missed the playoffs as much as they made it with him as Captain...Messier didn't play a single playoff game in the final 7 seasons of his career....Winner lol
Don’t you dare slander Mess for the Vancouver years. The team was a joke, ownership were clowns, the fan base was beyond petty. They expected a 38 year old legend with 1,000,000 miles on his body to turn them around after he had slapped their team around for a decade. Then they bitched when Nucks owners gave him #11 and they hadn’t asked Wayne Maki’s family if it was ok, and precious Trevor Linden wasn’t the Captain. He did what he could there and when the team finally turned around, Markus Naslund mentioned that a big reason for it was the culture that Messier created. Canucks fans who aren’t idiots respect the man. The donkeys hate him. So don’t. Just don’t.
I very much appreciate the response. I don't have any quibble with what you write and particularly sympathize with the first bolded statement. The second statement is perfectly reasonable even if I might see it differently.
For me the 1990 season would be the closest to last season as far as the Oilers playoffs are concerned. It was somewhat of a transitional year with no team that you could point to and say they will be very very tough to beat. Talent wise, the Oilers current top six and the 1990's top six would both be amongst the best in the League. But that 1990's team had much more depth and a solid defense that knew how to win. In the end though Ranford was the big difference maker. Give the 2023 Oilers goaltending like the 1990's team got from Ranford and I think there is another banner flying in Edmonton this year.
Wtf dude. In those last 7 years he would’ve been 37 through 43 years old!!!! If Sidney Crosby was 40 years old and the Penguins missed the playoffs this year, does that mean Sid isn’t still a great leader? The man is one of the best ever to lace ‘em up and he single handedly crushed opponents. You don’t know what you’re talking about.
and? so his legendary "leadership skills" evaporated after 36 year old?
That’s exactly what was said of Gretzky before he turned pro. He did okay, and if there’s one player who can match Gretzky’s elusiveness, it’s McDavid.
His vision would certainly help in this regard. Unlike a guy like Hall McDavid always seems to know where everyone is when he is skating at top speed. McDavid is also not shy of physical contact. In fact he seems to thrive when he is involved physically. He's also slightly bigger than an average player from back then and would probably be in the top 30 percentile for forwards in terms of size.
Has McDavid been rocked more than twice in his entire career? That Virtanen hit wasn't even an NHL game.
If you look at the big stars of the game back then I don't see any greater danger for them than McDavid faces today. Lafleur flourished in a period that was probably the most violent during my lifetime. His game was built on speed and he was never really punished physically. Now he would have had to put up with more clutching and grabbing than he does now, even though for a 2024 league he deals with a lot of this. But I actually think he thrives on that sort of physical challenge.
Such very different players, it's really hard to compare. But there are things that both players have in their DNA. The intense desire to win and drag their teams with them. As you said, Mess had by far the better supporting cast with a batch of HOFers. And he was 2nd fiddle to Gretz for 10 years and actually learned a lot of the intensity and will to win from #99. McDavid is THE man on the team, and how he goes will inevitably carry them. I think a more apt comparison would be Draisaitl, both in style, relationship on the team, and skill sets.
I don't think it is either. McDavid is clearly the better player, Messier was clearly the better leader at least IMO.
Gretzky some how survived but McDavid might of died playing in that league?
