Conn Smythe Tournament (1977-00) Round 2: 1991 Lemieux vs 1988 Gretzky

[blundluntman]

MATCHUP #5 (Round 2): Mario Lemieux (1991) vs Wayne Gretzky (1988)

Mario Lemieux (1990-91):
23 GP 16 G 28 A 44 Points

Wayne Gretzky (1987-88):
19 GP 12 G 31 A 43 Points

Round 2 Matchups:
Yzerman 98 vs Ranford 90 (Still Active) Thread
Sakic 96 vs Roy 86 (Still Active) Thread
Leetch 94 vs MacInnis 89 Thread
Roy 93 vs Lemieux 92 Thread
Lemieux 91 vs Gretzky 88
Gretzky 85 vs Lafleur 77

Round 1 Results

Click to read more...

 

[Bouboumaster]

Lemieux for sure

Lemieux did almost as good with way, way less help

 

[Video Nasty]

Lemieux for sure

Lemieux did almost as good with way, way less help

You talking about the kind of help that sustained Mario missing the first 50 games of the regular season (54 overall), finished 6th in Wins, won a division title thanks in large part to their good record through 50 games (26-21-3; they would finish 15-12-3 during their final 30), scored 215 goals during those first 50 games he missed (4.30 GPG or what was actually a teensy bit higher than after he returned to the lineup)?

I repeat. They scored 215 goals in their first 50 games without Lemieux. They scored between 6 and 9 goals 14 times in their first 50. How is that something that can be qualified as “way way less” anything?

I have no issue picking Lemieux here (I did), since it’s not Gretzky’s signature run, but let’s not pretend Lemieux was in no man’s land. They don’t win the Cup in back to back years without Mario, but they also don’t handle him missing 70 regular season games and 7 playoff games without a very good squad to support him.

 

[amnesiac]

Mario by a bit

Both teams were absolutely elite.

Jagr was only a rookie that year (had only 13P)... best scorers after Mario was Recchi (34), Kevin Stevens (33), and Larry Murphy (23)... team also had the likes of Coffey, Francis, and Mullen

88 Oilers had Messier (34), Kurri (31), Tikkanen (27), Anderson (25)..... and they won in 5 less games than PIT

Lemieux for sure

Lemieux did almost as good with way, way less help

Not true at all….

Recchi, Stevens, Mullen, Francis, Jagr, Coffey, Murphy

Vs

Messier, Kurri, Anderson, Tikkanen, Simpson (no Coffey)

 

[SEALBound]

I think Lemieux takes this one but honestly, it's close. What stinks is that Mario's 92 playoffs was better than his 91 playoffs. But his 92 just got beat by Roy's 93.

 

[tabness]

This one is for all the marbles for me, I don't think Gretzky's 1985 is at the level of these two (or Lemieux 1992 per game)

I will go with Gretzky here, close, but every series he came with it (Lemieux sorta took a bit to really get in stride there was a bit of inconsistency from what I saw in the first round) and there was an especially huge difference against Detroit from the previous year (although Detroit itself played Gretzky differently this year, Wings started to think they were all offensive stars and tried to run and gun with the Oilers, also no/hurt Yzerman, Goose Loonies and the beginning of the end of the Demers era).

Also the road to the cup was tougher for Gretzky 1988 I think.

 

[centipede2233]

I voted Lemieux. Looking at Rex hi and stevens playoff numbers, I can’t help feel those got inflated quite a bit from Lemieux.

 

[Video Nasty]

I voted Lemieux. Looking at Rex hi and stevens playoff numbers, I can’t help feel those got inflated quite a bit from Lemieux.

Recchi has 75 points in 49 games through the first 50 games that Lemieux missed that season. Stevens had 54 during the same stretch. He had 29 in his first 19 (12 goals), had a 6 point game to open the year, and just 2 scoreless games during that stretch. Safe to say that wasn’t the case.

 

[centipede2233]

Recchi has 75 points in 49 games through the first 50 games that Lemieux missed that season. Stevens had 54 during the same stretch. He had 29 in his first 19 (12 goals), had a 6 point game to open the year, and just 2 scoreless games during that stretch. Safe to say that wasn’t the case.

How dare you find statistics and logic to dispute my claim! This is hfboards, now think about your behaviour and come back with generalities And opinions without actual facts!

 

[Felidae]

Recchi has 75 points in 49 games through the first 50 games that Lemieux missed that season. Stevens had 54 during the same stretch. He had 29 in his first 19 (12 goals), had a 6 point game to open the year, and just 2 scoreless games during that stretch. Safe to say that wasn’t the case.

Yeah Recchi is actually pretty damn underrated I find. Most think of him as a complier/complimentary player but he proved himself capable of leading a team offensively more than once (and on different teams). 4 seasons finishing top 10 in points and 3 in the top 5 is no accident.