overpass
Registered User
- Jun 7, 2007
- 5,254
- 2,736
Can you prove they would have been worse without Messier?
Vancouver was 10 wins and 13 points better the year before Messier arrived and they were 6 wins and 7 points better the year after he left. And that is with team points in Messier `s final year being inflated due to the OT loss points coming into effect that season.
Who would have played centre for them if Messier wasn't there? Other centres on those teams included Dave Scatchard, Harry York, old Peter Zezel, and it gets worse. I doubt the Canucks would have been better with those guys playing Messier's 23 minutes per game.
I'm no fan of Messier's Vancouver years, but the team has to take some of the blame. They had absolutely zero depth at centre, and when Messier wasn't what they hoped, they were screwed.