100mph slapshot said:
Sure Neely was talented, but in a different way. He scored alot of goals because he was big and strong and he positioned himself in front of the net in a way that Janney and Oates could feed him. His skating was average at best and he didn't exactly have Lemieux-like hands. He was a great player and skills-wise he has nothing on Selänne and that's my opinion whether you like it or not. Can you see Neely setting up 68 or 60 goals/season because of his smooth stickhandling and passing? I can't. Selänne could/can finish with the best of them and also set up his linemates like an elite playmaker. He could skate and deke his way through a group of Dmen and make it look so easy.
1) You're still impossibly trying to dig yourself out of a very deep grave with that unfortunate Moran-Coffey comparison.
2) I don't see Selanne setting up "68 or 80 goals a season" either. In fact, Selanne's career high was 68 assists. 80 assists per year? You exaggerate.
3) I agree that Neely wasn't the best skater, stickhandler or playmaker we've ever seen. But there's a lot more to skating than just speed and agility. Neely was blessed with exceptional balance, and was very, very strong on the puck. Why skate around a defenceman when you can bull right over him on your way to the net? Neely had a rocket of a shot, and great deflecting abilities in front of the net. Pop in the video of him scoring his 50th in his 44th game in 1994. The goal he scored for his 50th was one of the best goals in the league that year.
4) It's not just about skill. It's what you do with that skill. And from the 1999-2000 season to 2003-04, Selanne's was not using his skill to the best of his ability. (Yes, I'm aware he had 85 points in 79 games in 1999-2000, but there were a lot of people dis-satisfied with Selanne's play that year). If it was all about skill, Jason Bonsignore and Alexander Volchkov would be all-stars by now.
5) Hockey is more than just the offensive and skill game. It's about tough, hard-nosed physical play. It's about leadership. It's about taking your play to the next level when it matters most. It's about the little things: making the smart play, winning that battle in the corner, or even taking a deliberate offside to save an odd-manned rush. Skill's important, no doubt about it, but to say it's "a skills game," as you did earlier, is erroneous. It's far more than that. With the exception of Messier, nobody has combined goal scoring and hitting like Neely over the last 30 years. Neely is fourth all-time in playoff goals per game. That's why he's deservedly in the Hall, and that's why I take him over Selanne.
6) One last thing: earlier in this thread, you said that Neely wouldn't score more than 30 goals without an elite playmaker? Well, he scored 42 goals in 69 games in 1987-88. That was Janney's rookie year, and Janney only played 15 games that year. So clearly he could get the job done without an elite playmaker, unless you're counting Ken "The Rat" Linsmen and Steve Kaspar as elite playmakers.