Where does Marcel Dionnne rank if the Canadiens pick him instead of Laleur in the 71 draft

[sharkhawk]

The Montreal Canadiens pocked Quebecois hero Guy Lafleur first in the 1971 draft ahead of second pick quebecois hero Marcel Dionne. Both players went on HOF careers, Lafleur starring on 6 Stanley Cup Championship teams, Dionne was 2nd in points when he retired, both won Lindsay’s and rosses.

Lafleur is usually rated top 10 all time while Dionne is rated top 25, is that strictly due to cups? I saw both play and wouldn’t necessarily rate one above the other.

If Montreal had picked Dionne, do you think they still win the 5 cups? If Lafleur played on the dead things Detroit teams and the woeful kings would he still be so highly rated?

Also, does anyone know if there was discussion about Dionne going number 1 and if so how serious it was.

I was just thing about Dionne today and wondering if he got the short end of the stick

Personally I think Dionne would be a definite top 10 and Lafleur would rank in the 20s

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[Canadiens1958]

No Dionne was a predictable talent while Lafleur was an unpredictable talent.

What set them apart.

 

[The Panther]

I can't really say as I only saw Dionne play a couple of times in 1987-1989 when he was a fogey and Lafleur likewise in his 'comeback' as an old-timer when he had transferred from 'le blond demon' to 'le bald demon'. But my impression is that Lafleur's style was more subtle (passing, sudden jumps into holes ala Gretzky, distance slappers, sudden explosive speed), while Dionne's was more "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" (strong on skates, puck-control). Lafleur's style seemed to me more like Jari Kurri or Joe Sakic, while Dionne seemed more like Denis Savard on steroids.

Now, would those differences in style have greatly affected Montreal's or Detroit/L.A.'s successes in the 70s/early-80s if the players swapped teams? I have no idea.

But I'm pretty sure Dionne would be ranked higher and Lafleur would be ranked lower, just by virtue of Dionne's being in L.A. pre-cable TV/internet when no other NHL team (except Van) was in that time zone. 90% of the hockey world missed most of his stuff.

Even though Lafleur played on a stricter team with tighter defense, the fact cannot be ignored that Dionne aged a lot better, at least as a scorer. His peak season was probably 1980-81, when Lafleur was slowing down. In 1985 he scored 126 points, while Lafleur was retired.

 

[Sentinel]

One was God in playoffs. The other choked repeatedly.

 

[streitz]

He was easily a top 10 offensive talent of all time, no doubt about that.



He played on crap teams with no support, MTL would still have their dynasty with Dionne. No doubt about it.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

One was God in playoffs. The other choked repeatedly.

well that's flat out wrong

no one was making chicken salad out of the chicken s**t that was the 70s/80s Kings

20-23-43 in 43 games

 

[JackSlater]

A lot of questions that we can't really know. Does Montreal leave him at centre or convert him to wing? Does he struggle to break through as Lafleur did? How does he deal with the pressure and lifestyle? I will guess that Dionne would rank higher, though I think he ends up with fewer points playing on a more defensive oriented Montreal team that was harder to break through on in the beginning. Inevitably he wins a few Stanley Cups though (do they win in 1979 with Dionne instead of Lafleur? Is Dionne still there in 1986?) and his general fame would be higher having played on hockey's preeminent franchise

 

[FerrisRox]

The Montreal Canadiens pocked Quebecois hero Guy Lafleur first in the 1971 draft ahead of second pick quebecois hero Marcel Dionne. Both players went on HOF careers, Lafleur starring on 6 Stanley Cup Championship teams, Dionne was 2nd in points when he retired, both won Lindsay’s and rosses.

Lafleur is usually rated top 10 all time while Dionne is rated top 25, is that strictly due to cups? I saw both play and wouldn’t necessarily rate one above the other.

If Montreal had picked Dionne, do you think they still win the 5 cups? If Lafleur played on the dead things Detroit teams and the woeful kings would he still be so highly rated?

Also, does anyone know if there was discussion about Dionne going number 1 and if so how serious it was.

I was just thing about Dionne today and wondering if he got the short end of the stick

Personally I think Dionne would be a definite top 10 and Lafleur would rank in the 20s

I don't think there's any question that the right player went first overall, and that is no slight on Marcel Dionne who deserves every accolade he gets.

Lafleur was a perfect compliment to the excellent two-way play of Jacques Lemaire and he was incredibly dynamic. His bursts of speed, unpredictable nature and world class goal scoring ability made him an incredibly dangerous player.

What separates these two players on "All Time" lists (and I won't get into the dubious nature of the "top ten" "top 25" comment, because that seems rather subjective) is that Lafleur was an incredible playoff performer and a guy who had the ability to turn it up a notch in the post-season, never play intimidated when teams got physical and a refusal to lose that led to plenty of clutch performances from Lafleur. What he did after the regular season ended is what separates him from Marcel Dionne and I say that as a big fan of Dionne.

 

[tony d]

I think he would have been higher up in the all time list for sure, probably would have won a Cup had he played for Montreal.