Conn Smythe Tournament (1977-00) Round 1: 1997 Vernon vs 1988 Gretzky

[blundluntman]

MATCHUP #4 (Round 1): Mike Vernon (1997) vs Wayne Gretzky (1988)

Mike Vernon (1996-97):
20 GP 16 W 1.76 GAA .927 Sv% 1 Shutout

Wayne Gretzky (1987-88):
19 GP 12 G 31 A 43 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
Sakic 96 vs Bossy 82
C Lemeiux 95 vs Lemieux 92
Roy 93 vs Smith 83
Lemieux 91 vs Goring 81
Ranford 90 vs Hextall 87
MacInnis 89 vs Robinson 78
Gretzky 85 vs Messier 84
Trottier 80 vs Lafleur 77

Click to read more...

 

[tabness]

I have noticed that Vernon's 1997 performance gets chirped so much nowadays, and while yes there was many Wings who you could say also deserved it then, I wanted to set the record straight of why Vernon's 1997 performance was so important for the Wings and why he was very deserving (and of course why within the Wings organization they were mostly behind him as the MVP in 1997).

Unfortunately this Gretzky year along with Lemieux in 1991 are the crowning jewels of Conn Smythe's lol so it's a wasted effort here, maybe in the next topic that brings Vernie up as one of the "worst" Conn Smythes or whatever

I think this Gretzky year is better than 1985 for reasons I'll get into when that season is up.

I hope like some guy who got a really nice autograph from Vernon as a kid gives him a pity vote lol (that's not me though I never went for autographs from the goalies lol)

 

[blundluntman]

I have noticed that Vernon's 1997 performance gets chirped so much nowadays, and while yes there was many Wings who you could say also deserved it then, I wanted to set the record straight of why Vernon's 1997 performance was so important for the Wings and why he was very deserving (and of course why within the Wings organization they were mostly behind him as the MVP in 1997).

Unfortunately this Gretzky year along with Lemieux in 1991 are the crowning jewels of Conn Smythe's lol so it's a wasted effort here, maybe in the next topic that brings Vernie up as one of the "worst" Conn Smythes or whatever

I think this Gretzky year is better than 1985 for reasons I'll get into when that season is up.

I hope like some guy who got a really nice autograph from Vernon as a kid gives him a pity vote lol (that's not me though I never went for autographs from the goalies lol)

Yeah when I was younger I always thought very lowly of Vernon's smythe win but it really isn't quite as weak as people make it out to be. He kinda reminds me of Cory Crawford with the Hawks, sure any goalie would've played well, but it doesn't mean he was completely disposable just bc they had a strong team (and also had Osgood). Both were very capable. It's not a terrible smythe, just not an exciting/memorable one.

With that being said, this is very easily Gretzky lol

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Gretzky. Only lemieux 91 can give his 88 or 85 a challenge

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

You should be ashamed of even asking this.

 

[WaitingForThatCab]

I thought about voting for Vernon, because a Conn Smythe performance should get a little bit of recognition, even under these circumstances.

But no, it's Gretzky.

 

[JackSlater]

Vernon's trophy is one of those generic goalie Conn Smythe wins where they just give it to the goaltender on a deep team, but yeah it's difficult to go against Gretzky when he's around his best.

 

[blundluntman]

You should be ashamed of even asking this.

This is part of a conn smythe tournament, not just a one off question.

 

[Voight]

Yeah when I was younger I always thought very lowly of Vernon's smythe win but it really isn't quite as weak as people make it out to be. He kinda reminds me of Cory Crawford with the Hawks, sure any goalie would've played well, but it doesn't mean he was completely disposable just bc they had a strong team (and also had Osgood). Both were very capable. It's not a terrible smythe, just not an exciting/memorable one.

With that being said, this is very easily Gretzky lol

1.76GAA and .927 SV% are pretty noteworthy, it just gets forgotten about because of what team he played on.

 

[Albatros]

Though Crawford was an above average goalie playing for a very good team, Vernon was a backup or a below average starter most of his career. Squeezed everything out of a couple of hot runs.

 

[Johnny Tomala]

Gretzky

 

[Hockey Outsider]

This is the tournament's "sacrificial lamb" match-up.

 

[Steven Toast]

Arguably the best playoff run of all time vs a pretty good goaltending performance.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Surprised this hasn’t been locked yet