Robitaille vs Mogilny

[Ziostilon]

Everytime Mogilny is brought up, his 76 goals consequently arises.
Robitaille's lack of success in anywhere other than L.A. is also used against him.

Who is the better player?
Aleksandr Gennadiyevich Mogilny or Luc Robitaille

Click to read more...

 

[seventieslord]

Mogilny had one season better than Luc ever had. And he was fast and Luc was slow. Other than that, Luc all the way.

Another poll where I can't fathom the other option.

What's next? Stastny vs. Brunette?

 

[tony d]

Lucky Luc Robitaille

 

[Infinite Vision*]

Alexander Mogilny was a better hockey player than Luc Robitaille, and when he was at his best, I believe he was more than a fair bit better than Robitaille ever was.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

On a per-game basis I think they're fairly close, but Robitaille was Mr. Consistency while Mogilny never played even a single season without some missed time. Luc was able to bank eleven 35+ goal seasons (nine top-10s), compared to just three for the injury-prone Mogilny (three top-10's). When both players are primarily goal-scorers, that pretty much tells you all you need to know. I think Mike Gartner might be a better comparison to Robitaille as far as careers go.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Mogilny was clearly a better hockey player when he had his head on straight. Teams gameplanned around stopping Mogilny - he was a true superstar in the league. Robitaille was never quite at that level I don't think.

Mogilny has more than 1 season better than Robitaille's best. He has 2 or 3. Even in his third best season (with the Devils in 2001), some homer reporters were pushing Mogilny for the Hart.

For career value, Robitaille still wins rather comfortably, but it isn't that outlandish a comparison.

 

[shazariahl]

Actually, I like this comparison. Its the "peak" vs "career" type of thing. Obviously Mogilny had the far better peak, but Luc was just better longer and more consistant. I'd take Luc overall; consistancy and durability both matter. Missed games don't help your team win.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i seem to be alone on this one, but my memory of the '92-'93 season was that robitaille was the more impressive player, despite the year-end totals. mogilny was certainly the better game-breaker and had miles more talent, and i won't use the "he played with lafontaine" argument because it's not true, but robitaille was phenomenal as LA's alpha dog that year with gretzky and sandstrom out for most of the year, and coffey for half the year. he and kurri (playing out of position at center) absolutely carried that very average kings team, and they made the players around them better-- e.g. granato.

given all the injuries, without robitaille, that team was ray bourque's bruins of the late 80s/early 90s, but without bourque. no way they make the playoffs.

in many ways, what robitaille did that year was a superior version of mogilny's 40 goal year in new jersey, which i thought was mogilny's most impressive year all told: a usually one-dimensional scorer taking the reins and making plays, trying to play a two-way game (though, realistically, he leaned heavily on kurri to take those duties), and being a leader.

another thing to consider is that robitaille's best offensive seasons were without gretzky, '92-'93 and his second year. i think if anything, playing on the same team as gretzky, especially because they rarely played on the same line except on the PP, held him back. he wasn't naturally a take-charge guy, as is well known, and he was more effective playing with carson in a 1a/1b situation with nicholls than as the second option behind gretzky. in his best year, he carries the team all season, then goes back to taking a backseat when gretzky returns and turns in a decent, but not great, playoffs.

all of this, plus of course the longevity and consistency, puts me firmly in the robitaille camp in this poll.

 

[Big Phil]

Actually, I like this comparison. Its the "peak" vs "career" type of thing. Obviously Mogilny had the far better peak, but Luc was just better longer and more consistant. I'd take Luc overall; consistancy and durability both matter. Missed games don't help your team win.

Well that's the thing did he really? Perhaps, but not by much if anything.

Mogilny's best season 1993: 76g-51a-127 points
Robitaille in 1993: 62g-63a-125 points

How much different is that? Also consider that Robitaille carried that Kings team that year with Gretzky hurt half the year.

Mogilny had two other years that are worth mentioning. 1996 and 2001. But he will always have the stigma on him that he performed well in a contract year and then sub-standard the next year. The common denominator is staggering. He just never had two great seasons back to back. Also in Mogilny's 2001 season Robitaille outscored him that same season.

Plus Robitaille has a string of seasons in a row where he was always good. Year after year. He has some questionable years with Pittsburgh and the Rangers but for some reason put him in a Kings uniform and he was always good.

Both players won a Cup later in their career past their prime but Robitaille overall was certainly better in the playoffs. With Luc I am neither here nor there about his postseason. With Mogilny I don't like it.

Also, another important gauge, top 10 scoring finishes:
Robitaille: 5, 5, 9, 10,
Mogilny: 7, 9

I don't agree with the fact Robitaille got into the HHOF prior to Oates or Gilmour, but there is no doubt he was better than Mogilny and the person I blame for that is..........Mogilny

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Okay, I'm convinced. I knew it was Luc, but I thought it was closer. It's actually more lopsided than I thought, despite Mogilny being more "exciting."

 

[seventieslord]

On a per-game basis I think they're fairly close, but Robitaille was Mr. Consistency while Mogilny never played even a single season without some missed time. Luc was able to bank eleven 35+ goal seasons (nine top-10s), compared to just three for the injury-prone Mogilny (three top-10's). When both players are primarily goal-scorers, that pretty much tells you all you need to know. I think Mike Gartner might be a better comparison to Robitaille as far as careers go.

Robitaille is even better than that, though.

9 top-10s in goals to 5. A 1.08 A/G ratio as opposed to Gartner's 0.88.

If the times of their careers were swapped, Robitaille would have about 735-799-1534. Gartner would have about 637-564-1201. (simple calculation based on multiplying and dividing totals by 1.1 to account for the scoring level changes in the seasons their careers did not overlap)

 

[Blades of Glory]

Okay, I'm convinced. I knew it was Luc, but I thought it was closer. It's actually more lopsided than I thought, despite Mogilny being more "exciting."

I think Robitaille's reliability is a big plus for him over Mogilny. There's no denying that Mogilny was a far more explosive and dangerous player, and was definitely "better" when he, in your words, had his head on straight.

The problem is, you never really knew what Mogilny you were getting. The guy who dominated the league in 1993, or the guy who's goal totals plummeted in the dead puck era, partially due to injuries of course.

You're a Devil fan. What is your opinion of Mogilny in the playoffs. His numbers are pretty damn under-whelming, even in 2000, when the Devils won the Cup. 4 goals and 7 points in 23 games? Robitaille was always solid in the playoffs, albeit never really putting out anything spectacular.

To me, it comes down to reliability. From 1987-2002 you knew Luc was going to give you 30-40 goals every single season, and even could hit 50 and 60 if things went right. I'll take that over Mogilny's inconsistency, whether or not we can blame Mogilny's fall from grace to injuries (which certainly was a cause).

Robitaille was certainly not a highly-skilled player. He was a horrible skater and didn't possess much of a shot. But he knew how to score goals, and you can't put a price on knowing how to score goals. He did the dirty work, he stood in front of the net and took slashes and cross-checks, because he knew that was the only way he was going to score at the rate he did. Mogilny never struck me as a player you want for a Stanley Cup run.