Conn Smythe Tournament (1977-00) Round 1: 2000 Scott Stevens vs 1994 Brian Leetch

[blundluntman]

MATCHUP #1 (Round 1): Scott Stevens (2000) vs Brian Leetch (1994)

Scott Stevens (1999-00):
23 GP 3 G 8 A 11 Points

Brian Leetch (1993-94):
23 GP 11 G 23 A 34 Points

Round 1 Matchups:
Stevens 00 vs Leetch 94
Nieuwendyk 99 vs Roy 86
Yzerman 98 vs Gainey 79
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...

 

[DitchMarner]

Leetch was in a different tier offensively. Stevens was more physical and probably better defensively, but I don't think you can overlook that much of a difference in offensive contributions.

And yes, scoring was harder in 2000, but while that benefitted Leetch offensively, it benefitted Stevens defensively.

 

[jigglysquishy]

I'm quite low on Leetch in general, but this Smythe is him at his absolute best. I really like Stevens, but his late prime is a situation of no peaks no valleys so in a trophy tournament he won't stand out.

 

[blundluntman]

Leetch was in a different tier offensively. Stevens was more physical and probably better defensively, but I don't think you can overlook that much of a difference in offensive contributions.

And yes, scoring was harder in 2000, but while that benefitted Leetch offensively, it benefitted Stevens defensively.

Agreed. Stevens was no slouch but Leetch was simply a different animal in 94. Probably a tier 2 level smythe in this tournament

 

[blundluntman]

I'm quite low on Leetch in general, but this Smythe is him at his absolute best. I really like Stevens, but his late prime is a situation of no peaks no valleys so in a trophy tournament he won't stand out.

Yeah Stevens pre 95 and post 95 are almost two different players. I wonder if it was a conscious decision to focus less on offense after losing in the ECF the year before. He went from being a fringe ppg dman to never eclipsing 31 points (partially bc of the DPE I'd assume). Still a great player afterwards but it was hard to quantify if you didn't watch him play game in and out.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Leetch no doubt whatsoever

 

[tabness]

Leetch, no disrespect to Stevens who was a very different type of player by the time he won this so it's hard to directly compare, but Leetch to me in many senses is the defenseman of the nineties and this run of his is basically the zenith of that.

There was a nice project run by @overpass on the best playoff runs by defensemen in the eighties/nineties/2000s that Leetch 1994 won. While I lobbied hard and would have gone for Coffey in 1985, Leetch was a very good choice too

 

[bobholly39]

MATCHUP #1: Scott Stevens (2000) vs Brian Leetch (1994)

Scott Stevens (1999-00):
23 GP 3 G 8 A 11 Points

Brian Leetch (1993-94):
23 GP 11 G 23 A 34 Points

Round 1 Matchups:
Stevens 00 vs Leetch 94
Nieuwendyk 99 vs Roy 86
Yzerman 98 vs Gainey 79
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

I really love your first 1 matchups. I like that you seem to be saving a lot of the favorites for later round confrontations, which is good.

At first glance - my top 3 are probably Roy in 93 and Gretzky/Lemieux (possibly both runs, but certainly one each). But a lot of other really strong ones - Sakic in 96 could surprise for example.

For this first one - this is definitely Leetch. He had 11 points in the finals - for reference, this is same # of points as McDavid in 2024 finals, and tied for #7 all-time, as the record is Gretzky (13) and then 5 players tied at 12.

Outside of the finals - Leetch was also extremely clutch throughout playoffs in important games:

Round 1 sweep - not necessarily any key important games, but 8 points in 4 games
Round 2 - Rangers up 3-0...Washington wins 1 to make it 3-1...and Leetch with a huge 4 point performance in game 5 to help win
Round 3 - NJ up 3-2 in series - Leetch with 3 points over games 6 & 7 to help Rangers complete comeback
Finals - like I said, 11 points

 

[JackSlater]

Leetch very comfortably, great playoff run. The offensive gap is too big. Looking forward to seeing people discuss the earlier runs in this series.

 

[Felidae]

I completely forget Scott Stevens has won a Smythe.

Anyways, this is Leetch. He was the clear cut Conn Smythe choice on either team. Led the entire playoffs in scoring. How many defenseman have done that?

As for Stevens. He was arguably not even the best player on his own team that postseason. Elias and Brodeur also have good arguments for the Smythe that year.

 

[blundluntman]

I really love your first 1 matchups. I like that you seem to be saving a lot of the favorites for later round confrontations, which is good.

At first glance - my top 3 are probably Roy in 93 and Gretzky/Lemieux (possibly both runs, but certainly one each). But a lot of other really strong ones - Sakic in 96 could surprise for example.

For this first one - this is definitely Leetch. He had 11 points in the finals - for reference, this is same # of points as McDavid in 2024 finals, and tied for #7 all-time, as the record is Gretzky (13) and then 5 players tied at 12.

Outside of the finals - Leetch was also extremely clutch throughout playoffs in important games:

Round 1 sweep - not necessarily any key important games, but 8 points in 4 games
Round 2 - Rangers up 3-0...Washington wins 1 to make it 3-1...and Leetch with a huge 4 point performance in game 5 to help win
Round 3 - NJ up 3-2 in series - Leetch with 3 points over games 6 & 7 to help Rangers complete comeback
Finals - like I said, 11 points

Yeah with a bit less familiarity with some of the older seasons in, I figure I might as well space things out in the earlier rounds