Conn Smythe Tournament (1977-00) Round 1: 1985 Gretzky vs 1984 Messier

[blundluntman]

MATCHUP #11 (Round 1): Wayne Gretzky (1985) vs Mark Messier (1984)

Wayne Gretzky (1984-85):
18 GP 17 G 30 A 47 Points

Mark Messier (1983-84):
19 GP 8 G 18 A 26 Points

Round 1 Matchups:
Stevens 00 vs Leetch 94 Thread
Nieuwendyk 99 vs Roy 86 Thread
Yzerman 98 vs Gainey 79 Thread
Vernon 97 vs Gretzky 88 Thread
Sakic 96 vs Bossy 82 Thread
C Lemeiux 95 vs Lemieux 92 Thread
Roy 93 vs Smith 83 Thread
Lemieux 91 vs Goring 81 Thread
Ranford 90 vs Hextall 87 (Still Active) Thread
MacInnis 89 vs Robinson 78 Thread
Gretzky 85 vs Messier 84
Trottier 80 vs Lafleur 77

Click to read more...

 

[bobholly39]

Gretzky 84 over Messier 84 too.

 

[JackSlater]

Call me crazy but I have to go with Gretzky here.

 

[Video Nasty]

Gretzky with ease here.

 

[tabness]

Gretzky for this one, although Messier's 1984 is still one of those chirped ones that seem to get underrated after the fact where people just look at the statline superficially.

Gretzky got basically no support for the Conn Smythe in 1984, it was Fuhr who seemed to be the slight favorite over Messier and Lowe entering the finals, but then Fuhr got hurt. Not even a hater thing because the Edmonton writers themselves voted for Messier, Fuhr, Lowe, even McSorley, over Gretzky, just more blowout points in the games where the series was already all but decided that people weren't as impressed with back then.

1985 though was a much better performance from Gretzky than 1984. Gretzky started off a bit slower than expected, or more like the great Paul Coffey was the Oilers best player down the final stretch of the season and into the playoffs, but like after the Jets and Black Hawks really focused all over Coffey primarily and just went after him with cheapshots, Gretzky killed them. Still would go with Coffey as the 1985 MVP, but Gretzky's year itself is one of the strongest, though I think it's behind 1988 which is in the running for the absolute best as far as I'm concerned.

 

[ijuka]

messier in 84 was the 5th best player on his team