Conn Smythe Tournament (1977-00) Round 2: 1994 Leetch vs 1989 MacInnis

[blundluntman]

MATCHUP #3 (Round 2): Brian Leetch (1994) vs Al MacInnis (1989)

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

Al MacInnis (1988-89):
22 GP 7 G 24 A 31 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
Roy 93 vs Lemieux 92
Lemieux 91 vs Gretzky 88
Gretzky 85 vs Lafleur 77

Round 1 Results

Click to read more...

 

[tabness]

Gotta go with Brian Leetch here, great candidate for defenseman of the nineties with the defenseman playoff run of the nineties, probably only eclipsed by Paul Coffey in 1985 in terms of defenseman runs.

 

[bobholly39]

Both were tremendous - and both were tremendous in the finals too.

I'm leaning Leetch

 

[wetcoast]

Gotta go with Brian Leetch here, great candidate for defenseman of the nineties with the defenseman playoff run of the nineties, probably only eclipsed by Paul Coffey in 1985 in terms of defenseman runs.

Agree here and al had a great run too but I would probably take Leetch's performance over Coffey in 85 as well.

 

[Staniowski]

Both were great, close to their best for each of them.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

These are two great playoff runs. I'm surprised the voting is so one-sided (currently 9-2 for Leetch).

Their offense is comparable, but Leetch was on the ice for 22 ES goals against, compared to only 11 for MacInnis. There's a lot of context that goes into a number like that, but at a high level, both teams allowed roughly the same number of goals against in the regular season (226 vs 231). And even though Leetch was on the ice for significantly more goals against, the 1994 Rangers got much better goaltending (92.2% save percentage) than the 1989 Flames (90.3%). Plus, Leetch played most of that playoff run with a rock-solid partner who was focused solely on defense (Beukeboom).

It seems like MacInnis produced nearly the same output (1.48 vs 1.41 PPG) but was on the ice for half as many goals against (while playing in front of weaker goaltending). This seems to suggest that MacInnis was better.

 

[tabness]

These are two great playoff runs. I'm surprised the voting is so one-sided (currently 9-2 for Leetch).

Their offense is comparable, but Leetch was on the ice for 22 ES goals against, compared to only 11 for MacInnis. There's a lot of context that goes into a number like that, but at a high level, both teams allowed roughly the same number of goals against in the regular season (226 vs 231). And even though Leetch was on the ice for significantly more goals against, the 1994 Rangers got much better goaltending (92.2% save percentage) than the 1989 Flames (90.3%). Plus, Leetch played most of that playoff run with a rock-solid partner who was focused solely on defense (Beukeboom).

It seems like MacInnis produced nearly the same output (1.48 vs 1.41 PPG) but was on the ice for half as many goals against (while playing in front of weaker goaltending). This seems to suggest that MacInnis was better.

I think the main thing explaining the goals against is simply deployment. Leetch was obviously Keenan's go to guy in all situations including defensively as the video I posted called out. MacInnis did not seem to be the defensive matchup guy on his team then, where you had a couple other guys usually taking that role.

Goals for/against is much harder to isolate than scoring though, and while MacInnis had 8 even strength points (2 goals) Leetch had 20 (7 goals). I feel more comfortable to say that the double up difference in even strength scoring was due more directly to Leetch's abilities vis a vis MacInnis, as compared to the double down goals against being due directly due to MacInnis defensive abilities vis a vis Leetch.

Although I will note that Calgary's other star defensemen Suter went down early in the playoffs and MacInnis really picked up the load from him which is a definite point in favor, and it was this event which probably led to Calgary use MacInnis more going forward and cut Suter loose.

Side note, is there any place the old goals for/against stats are available for the playoffs online that you are getting them from, or did you have the data handy from before? I know the NHL site used to have them like over ten years ago but removed it when they redid their boxscores and updated the stats a bit (had some changes to the historic plus/minus).

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I think the main thing explaining the goals against is simply deployment. Leetch was obviously Keenan's go to guy in all situations including defensively as the video I posted called out. MacInnis did not seem to be the defensive matchup guy on his team then, where you had a couple other guys usually taking that role.

Goals for/against is much harder to isolate than scoring though, and while MacInnis had 8 even strength points (2 goals) Leetch had 20 (7 goals). I feel more comfortable to say that the double up difference in even strength scoring was due more directly to Leetch's abilities vis a vis MacInnis, as compared to the double down goals against being due directly due to MacInnis defensive abilities vis a vis Leetch.

Although I will note that Calgary's other star defensemen Suter went down early in the playoffs and MacInnis really picked up the load from him which is a definite point in favor, and it was this event which probably led to Calgary use MacInnis more going forward and cut Suter loose.

This is a good reply. It looks like MacInnis did most of his damage on the powerplay, whereas Leetch produced more at ES. The numbers support the notion that Leetch was the go-to in all situations while MacInnis may have gotten (comparatively) fewer minutes at ES, which makes sense given that the Flames were a deeper team. Overall it appears accurate to say that Leetch produced significantly more offense at ES, and was on the ice for significantly more goals against (probably partially due to ice time, and at least partly due to Leetch taking more risks - though early career MacInnis wasn't nearly as strong defensively as he'd later become).

Side note, is there any place the old goals for/against stats are available for the playoffs online that you are getting them from, or did you have the data handy from before? I know the NHL site used to have them like over ten years ago but removed it when they redid their boxscores and updated the stats a bit (had some changes to the historic plus/minus).

I can share the spreadsheet with you. It's now several years out of date (but still useful for stuff like this).

 

[tabness]

I can share the spreadsheet with you. It's now several years out of date (but still useful for stuff like this).

Would be much appreciated, thank you!

 

[JackSlater]

I like Leetch here. New York wasn't as deep as Calgary, neither player was great defensively, and I think that Leetch at that point was a bit better offensively and a better transition player than MacInnis was.

These are two great playoff runs. I'm surprised the voting is so one-sided (currently 9-2 for Leetch).

Their offense is comparable, but Leetch was on the ice for 22 ES goals against, compared to only 11 for MacInnis. There's a lot of context that goes into a number like that, but at a high level, both teams allowed roughly the same number of goals against in the regular season (226 vs 231). And even though Leetch was on the ice for significantly more goals against, the 1994 Rangers got much better goaltending (92.2% save percentage) than the 1989 Flames (90.3%). Plus, Leetch played most of that playoff run with a rock-solid partner who was focused solely on defense (Beukeboom).

It seems like MacInnis produced nearly the same output (1.48 vs 1.41 PPG) but was on the ice for half as many goals against (while playing in front of weaker goaltending). This seems to suggest that MacInnis was better.

I was not expecting that, interesting to consider. I'll still go with Leetch, though for New York reasons his run is far more remembered than MacInnis' is even though they are basically in the same tier.