Pat Lafontaine VS Mark Messier

[Be a Hab]

I know Mark Messier had a way better career but Witch of these 2 players would you choose in their prime.


here are their best season

Pat Lafontaine GP-84 G-54 A-95 POINTS-148

Mark Messier GP-79 G-45 A-84 POINTS-129

feel free to explain your choice!

Click to read more...

 

[kmad]

their

 

[seventieslord]

The best thing I can say for Lafontaine in this comparison is, at his absolute peak, he was a better offensive player than Mark Messier. Prime (best 3-6 seasons)? I would take Messier offensively and overall.

 

[Be a Hab]

oppps thanks

 

[BraveCanadian]

I like Pat Lafontaine. He was a really good player and a class act (proven again when he resigned from the circus in Long Island in protest).

But this one is Messier and it is not close.

Messier had offensive ability approaching Lafontaines and a much better all around game. His intimidation during his prime alone makes him better overall.

Messier was kind of like Pronger now. Tough, mean, and you never knew when he'd fly off the handle.

 

[tony d]

I liked Lafontaine but the answer is Messier here.

 

[Big Phil]

He was a dynamic talent (Lafontaine) in his prime but I have to go with Messier on this one. Hard to overlook a peak Messier (lets say 1990) with all he would bring to the table for Lafontaine and only the offense he brought to the table.

 

[Up the Irons]

well, let's see. the 2nd or 3rd most complete player ever or a top 10 offensive talent of his era. pretty hard choice. its like who's better, Gordie Howe or Dave Keon?

the Moose is your template for the hockey specimen. If you could genetically design a hockey player with both physical gifts and entangibles it would be Mark Messier.

 

[Up the Irons]

fellow MAIDEN fan, eh. up the irons, bro

 

[cupcrazyman]

Game 7 Stanley Cup Final the choice is Messier.

 

[greatgazoo]

Lafontaine's big season coincides with the Senators dismal 10 win and 24 point debut campaign. I wonder how many games the Sabres played the Sens that season and how many points Lafontaine padded to his stats thanks to those easy games.

Messier in a walk.

 

[Regal]

Lafontaine's big season coincides with the Senators dismal 10 win and 24 point debut campaign. I wonder how many games the Sabres played the Sens that season and how many points Lafontaine padded to his stats thanks to those easy games.

Messier in a walk.

14 points in 7 games. So 2 PPG, which isn't too much more than his season average of 1.76 PPG.

I think people tend to overrate the effect of San Jose and Ottawa on that season as they want a reason as to why so many players had great seasons, but I think more than not it was just the perfect storm of a bunch of great players staying healthy and having great years in their prime. I mean, if you look at the names, there's a lot of hall of fame or borderline players there.

That said, when you look at everything Messier brought along with a similar high level of scoring, it's a pretty easy choice.

 

[nik jr]

Lafontaine's big season coincides with the Senators dismal 10 win and 24 point debut campaign. I wonder how many games the Sabres played the Sens that season and how many points Lafontaine padded to his stats thanks to those easy games.

Messier in a walk.

hockey summary project now has the '93 season.


lafontaine's '93 scoring by opponent:

9 games vs hartford: 7g, 6a
7 games vs boston: 1g, 7a
7 games vs ottawa: 7g, 7a
7 games vs montreal: 6g, 5a
7 games vs quebec: 3g, 8a
4 games vs NJ: 3g, 4a
4 games vs pittsburgh: 2g, 4a
4 games vs washington: 2g, 3a
3 games vs NYI: 2g, 1a
3 games vs philadelphia: 1g, 3a
3 games vs NYR: 7a
3 games vs vancouver: 2g, 2a
2 games vs chicago: 2g, 4a
2 games vs SJ: 2g, 6a
2 games vs DRW: 3g, 3a
2 games vs TML: 1g, 4a
2 games vs minnesota: 1g, 1a
2 games vs winnipeg: 1g, 7a
2 games vs edmonton: 2g, 2a
2 games vs calgary: 3g, 1a
2 games vs STL: 4a
2 games vs LAK: 1g, 2a
2 games vs TBL: 1g, 4a

i just realized that it would have been much faster to look at split stats on hockey-reference.com.

HSP seems to have disparity with hockey-reference. i counted 7g, 7a vs hartford, but hockey-reference has 7g, 6a. i also counted 149p instead of 148.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

14 points in 7 games. So 2 PPG, which isn't too much more than his season average of 1.76 PPG.

I think people tend to overrate the effect of San Jose and Ottawa on that season as they want a reason as to why so many players had great seasons, but I think more than not it was just the perfect storm of a bunch of great players staying healthy and having great years in their prime. I mean, if you look at the names, there's a lot of hall of fame or borderline players there.

That said, when you look at everything Messier brought along with a similar high level of scoring, it's a pretty easy choice.

if you take out the ottawa games and prorate his numbers in the other 77 games to 84, lafontaine scores 50 goals, and 146 points. he would actually end up with one more assist than he had that season.

he would still have finished ahead of oates for second in the league. and of course oates played in the same division and feasted on the sens too (2 goals, 11 assists, 13 points in 7 games).

 

[Regal]

if you take out the ottawa games and prorate his numbers in the other 77 games to 84, lafontaine scores 50 goals, and 146 points. he would actually end up with one more assist than he had that season.

he would still have finished ahead of oates for second in the league. and of course oates played in the same division and feasted on the sens too (2 goals, 11 assists, 13 points in 7 games).

Yea, even if players take advantage of some of the lesser teams in the league, the amount of games is too small to make that much of a difference, and the sample size is too small to even really make any conclusions. It's just like when people claim Ovechkin benefits so much from playing in the southeast, and yet Crosby was the one who scored more points within his division (mostly because he ate up the Islanders). In the end, I don't think it matters too much.

 

[ozzie]

Messier is the clear choice, without question.

I feel we never got to see Lafontaine hit his true stride. He showed flashes around a few injuries. His time in Buffalo was really where he found himself, having and elite winger and second line center really helped. Few years earlier he may have been apart of the NYI dynasty.

His junior years were insane.

 

[kingdok]

Lafontaine's big season coincides with the Senators dismal 10 win and 24 point debut campaign. I wonder how many games the Sabres played the Sens that season and how many points Lafontaine padded to his stats thanks to those easy games.

Messier in a walk.

So you're basically saying you we're not watching hockey during that time. Ok.

 

[seventieslord]

Lol... there's also the fact that every other player would have enjoyed similar advantages, and he outscored them all except Mario.