Describe a player - Mark Recchi

[arrbez]

Some great players have an iconic style of play or set of moves that you can instantly associate with them. I have no problem conjuring up Bure, Jagr, Leetch, Stevens, Hull, Forsberg, etc in my mind's eye.

And then there's their contemporary, Mark Recchi, who scored 1,500 points while I was blinking.

I began following hockey around 1990, and therefore I watched through his entire career. I know how effective he was. I'm sure I've seen him play hundreds and hundreds of games. But the name "Mark Recchi" brings absolutely nothing to mind in terms of how he played the game.

So for those of you who saw him play night-in night-out, tell me, what made him special? Go beyond the stat sheet. What where his go-to moves? What will you remember about him stylistically?

 

[sr edler]

I'm not a Recchi fan or an expert, but I would remember his small stature and quick stick. He's like Martin St. Louis but with smaller thigh muscles.

 

[Moose Head]

At his best, Recchi looked like a pinball on the ice. Just everywhere, working hard, going all over the place, getting hit, but rolling off of them and never getting really pasted, landing on his butt a lot but getting right back into the play. I loved watching him with the Pens, Habs and Flyers. Just never stopped working. Really made the best out of not particularly the greatest tools.

 

[Cyborg LeClair]

Wrecking Ball Recchi was a lot of fun to watch. He was a short but stout man with quick feet and a great motor to be all over the ice. He could hit and take a hit, and he could make great plays. He had a great awareness on the ice and was creative with the puck. I've seen him on more than one occasion spin 360 degrees and fire the puck from near the blue line and score. He drove the net hard, and went to dirty areas. He was a good goal scorer, great passer, great forechecker, and great leader.

It's exciting watching Travis Konecny (drafted by the Flyers) because in my eyes, he plays a lot like Rex. Giroux has some slick hands but he has some Recchi in him too. Smallish guys who play the game hard.

 

[seventieslord]

At his best, Recchi looked like a pinball on the ice. Just everywhere, working hard, going all over the place, getting hit, but rolling off of them and never getting really pasted, landing on his butt a lot but getting right back into the play. I loved watching him with the Pens, Habs and Flyers. Just never stopped working. Really made the best out of not particularly the greatest tools.

that's a really good description. Circa 1994-1997 I recall descriptions of him like "he's all heart".

He was an ironman too.

 

[BLNY]

The Wrecking Ball was his nickname early in his career.

In his prime he was a great 2-way player who could create chances and score off the rush with the best.

When he became "Dr. Recchi" the best description would be cro-magnon.

 

[seventieslord]

The Wrecking Ball was his nickname early in his career.

In his prime he was a great 2-way player who could create chances and score off the rush with the best.

When he became "Dr. Recchi" the best description would be cro-magnon.

I don't think he was ever a "great" two-way player. He was responsible, maybe a tad above average defensively at his best. But by a few accounts he was pretty bad early on.

 

[Mount Suribachi]

I loved Recchi. Him and Jagr are my favourite non-Wings, always thought he would have been a great fit for them in the 90s

 

[double5son10]

So for those of you who saw him play night-in night-out, tell me, what made him special? Go beyond the stat sheet. What where his go-to moves? What will you remember about him stylistically?

Played the off-wing. His go-to was coming down the right side and releasing a quick wrist shot as he cut to the net. He was also pretty good at faking off of that move and going back-hand.

 

[Mickey Marner]

Mats Zuccarello reminds me of Recchi, except he doesn't play his off wing, nor is he an elite playmaker.

 

[brianscot]

I'm biased, but as a Boston fan I'll always remember him for his leadership, courage, and becoming the oldest player to ever score in the Stanley Cup finals in 2011.

There's a reason why players like Recchi and Jagr remain valued well past their primes and it goes quite beyond hockey ability.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Recchi had good acceleration and a very quick release of his wrist shot.That's what I remember most about him from his Montreal days.

 

[MXD]

Bridesmaid, not bride.

 

[Disengage]

Came into the league as the Wrecking Ball, left as the Balding Wreck.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

he was a left handed player who would always shoot while putting weight on his left foot, going for quickness instead of power.


He didn't look like a star , actually he didn't even look like a professsional hockey player, but it worked.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

an easy guy to cheer for. watching him was exhausting.

I'm not a Recchi fan or an expert, but I would remember his small stature and quick stick. He's like Martin St. Louis but with smaller thigh muscles.

he certainly didn't have MSL's speed, but because he was so thick and stocky he might have actually been thicker down low. very low center of gravity, kind of reminded me of a fire hydrant on skates.

In his prime he was a great 2-way player who could create chances and score off the rush with the best.

I don't think he was ever a "great" two-way player. He was responsible, maybe a tad above average defensively at his best. But by a few accounts he was pretty bad early on.

yeah i don't think he was even average defensively until he got to montreal, actually.

At his best, Recchi looked like a pinball on the ice. Just everywhere, working hard, going all over the place, getting hit, but rolling off of them and never getting really pasted, landing on his butt a lot but getting right back into the play. I loved watching him with the Pens, Habs and Flyers. Just never stopped working. Really made the best out of not particularly the greatest tools.

recchi had a world class hockey brain, which was a pretty valuable tool. but as you note he also had the drive to go with it. as a smaller guy, i think every coach i ever had probably wishes i had a little more mark recchi in me, a little more willingness to go anywhere and through anything to get to where the puck is going to be, exactly what you describe. sadly, i was more like mason raymond.

 

[Johnny Engine]

A winger playing his off side who scored 1.66 assists for every goal in his career seems pretty unusual, doesn't it?

Most wrong-wingers I can think of have been more shoot-first than the average winger.

 

[Voight]

Random thought popped in my head the other day - anyone recall why he was left of the 2002 Olympic team?

I see he had somewhat of a down year, but he made the 1998 team and still had 77 points in 2001, 91 in 2000 (18pts in the playoffs).

Gagne (different position, I now) made the team and he was no better than Recchi that year. Smythe, Nolan and Fleury in the same boat.

 

[MadLuke]

but he made the 1998

He made that team has a replacement for Kariya, they picked Corson on the Habs for that team before him.

Gagne had the future selke finalist aura and got all star vote that year:
2001-02 NHL Awards Voting | Hockey-Reference.com

Fleury had that game breaker gravita surrounding him, the type of player you potentially pick in a shootout, like they did in 98 and was playing with Lindros, Nolan/Smythe had size.

 

[The Panther]

Loved him. Just a real hard-working, likable player with a nose for the net.

It's crazy how productive he was in seasons 3, 4, 5, 6. I remember him shooting up the scoring race in 1990-91, and everybody was, like, "Who's this guy?". I think Pittsburgh made a mistake in trading him.

He was maybe the first guy to outscore Eric Lindros on the same club?

Horrible mistake by Montreal in trading him. (I recall that Dick Irvin Jr. -- who'd seen and known every Canadien from Elmer Lach to Pierre Turgeon -- was a big fan of him and sang his praises.)

Back to Philly, he was third in scoring in 2000 at the height of the Dead Puck Era. 12th in scoring in 2004, aged 35!

The Bruins acquired him, aged 40, to close out the 2009 season and he scored 10 times in his first 17 games with them. Aged 42, he was the top RW on the Bruins, put up 48 points and a +13, and then won the Cup in his last playoff with 14 points and a +7.

Amazing career.

 

[jcs0218]

Random thought popped in my head the other day - anyone recall why he was left of the 2002 Olympic team?

I see he had somewhat of a down year, but he made the 1998 team and still had 77 points in 2001, 91 in 2000 (18pts in the playoffs).

Gagne (different position, I now) made the team and he was no better than Recchi that year. Smythe, Nolan and Fleury in the same boat.

Gagne was picked for future elements. Canada had a habit back then of picking 1-2 guys they anticipated being key players in the future in order to get them experience. Brewer was also picked for the 2002 team for this reason.

Fleury and Smyth. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me. And it appears that Hockey Reference wants me to become a subscriber to obtain the stats. * the stats I am looking for are league leaders as of date (I would pick December 15th 2001, since that was when the team was picked) *

But I recall that both of them had hot starts to the season.

As of December 15th 2001, per Hockey Reference:

Fleury was: 35 GP - 13 G - 23 A - 37 PTS
Smyth was: 20 GP - 8 G - 15 A - 23 PTS

These were good paces for the 2001-02 season.

As for Nolan? The IIHF had a rule in the 2002 Olympics that said each team had to name 8 preliminary players in March 2001 and then the rest of the 15 players in December 2001.

Nolan had terrific seasons in 1999-20 and 2000-01, so he was one of the first 8 players picked in March 2001. He did start to regress a little in 2001-02, and might not have made the team if he hadn't been selected already.

The other 8 players picked were: Lemieux, Sakic, Yzerman, Kariya, Pronger, Blake, and Niedermayer.

It has been said that not being named one of these 8 was the main catalyst towards Roy not agreeing to participate. He felt he should have been main the unquestioned #1 starter for the tournament.

 

[Perennial]

Gagne was picked for future elements. Canada had a habit back then of picking 1-2 guys they anticipated being key players in the future in order to get them experience. Brewer was also picked for the 2002 team for this reason.

Fleury and Smyth. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me. And it appears that Hockey Reference wants me to become a subscriber to obtain the stats. * the stats I am looking for are league leaders as of date (I would pick December 15th 2001, since that was when the team was picked) *

But I recall that both of them had hot starts to the season.

As of December 15th 2001, per Hockey Reference:

Fleury was: 35 GP - 13 G - 23 A - 37 PTS
Smythe was: 20 GP - 8 G - 15 A - 23 PTS

These were good paces for the 2001-02 season.

As for Nolan? The IIHF had a rule in the 2002 Olympics that said each team had to name 8 preliminary players in March 2001 and then the rest of the 15 players in December 2001.

Nolan had terrific seasons in 1999-20 and 2000-01, so he was one of the first 8 players picked in March 2001. He did start to regress a little in 2001-02, and might not have made the team if he hadn't been selected already.

The other 8 players picked were: Lemieux, Sakic, Yzerman, Kariya, Pronger, Blake, and Niedermayer.

It has been said that not being named one of these 8 was the main catalyst towards Roy not agreeing to participate. He felt he should have been main the unquestioned #1 starter for the tournament.

I heard it was because they wouldn't guarantee him the starting job...

 

[jcs0218]

I heard it was because they wouldn't guarantee him the starting job...

Yes. Which stemmed from him not getting picked to the original 8.

If he had gotten picked there, he would have went into the tournament under the idea of it was his job to lose.

Instead, they planned on playing all goalies in the round-robin and then making the decision.

It is too bad that he declined to go. Because if he had have won the Gold Medal as the starting goaltender, then that may have put him ahead of Hasek on the all-time list.

One of the things people hold against Roy is losing against Hasek in the 1998 shootout. A win in 2002 would have helped redeem that blemish.

 

[Boxscore]

he was a right handed player who would always shoot while putting weight on his left foot, going for quickness instead of power.

Rex was a lefty. His signature was chugging down the right side and snapping a "kicker" wrist shot. Recchi had a dart and he was thick--in his young years he reminded me of Vladimir Krutov. Rex was a bull who hustled his butt off and he was an underrated fighter. Excellent passer--deadly on 2-on-1's and super on the PP.

 

[MakeTheGoalsLarger]

Rex was a lefty. His signature was chugging down the right side and snapping a "kicker" wrist shot. Recchi had a dart and he was thick--in his young years he reminded me of Vladimir Krutov. Rex was a bull who hustled his butt off and he was an underrated fighter. Excellent passer--deadly on 2-on-1's and super on the PP.

Yeah I meant left handed player. My post didn't make much sense.thanks for correcting me 5 years later. haha