Geoff Sanderson vs Simon Gagne

[Paul4587]

I had no idea Sanderson had a couple of 40 goal seasons. I knew he hit 30 a few times but didn't think he put up the numbers he did when he first came into the league.

I take Gagne any day of the week.

 

[jkrx]

Did Gartner have a 'great head for the game'? Not in my books - he got to the HHOF by being a really fast guy who could fly down the wing and blow pucks past goalies. He wasn't a 'dumb' player (and neither was Sanderson) but he was definitely a guy who scored based on tools more than smarts.

Pre-1995, this style of game worked great for snipers if they had the skating and the shot. Post-1995, not so much.

Sanderson's career started just as the offensive era was ending, and he had a couple big years as a very young player ... and then the game changed and he regressed back to the pack.

Both of them were smart players who would find open spaces to get a crisp pass from a playmaker. The player you are describing is the guy Bee named, Russ Courtnall.

 

[seventieslord]

Gagne for sure.

 

[Eisen]

Sanderson in a second. If he was on better teams he would've been a household name. Great speed, playmaking abilities, sniper shot. He's on the top line of any team in the league.

I never saw Sanderson as a good playmaker.

 

[MS]

I think that sells both Gartner and Sanderson a bit short. If I'm thinking of a fast guy who could fly down the wing and blow pucks past goalies with average or worse hockey IQ, Russ Courtnall comes to mind. In the high-flying 80s and early 90s, with plenty of opportunities to excel, he scored 30 goals once and never once averaged a PPG in a season. That was while logging big minutes on playoff teams.

Sanderson had no such luxury; his teams were usually awful, and the one good team he was on buried him on the third and fourth lines.

Both of them were smart players who would find open spaces to get a crisp pass from a playmaker. The player you are describing is the guy Bee named, Russ Courtnall.

Courtnall was obviously 'even more' that type of player. Like I said, Sanderson/Gartner weren't dumb players and had some more versatility to their game than that - both were also good shooters/triggermen on the PP.

But still, they were toolsy, similar-style guys. And I don't think Sanderson's game played nearly as well in the trapping post-1995 era as it did in the free-flowing 1979-94 era.

 

[PepperKeenan]

Easy, the one being one of the purest snipers that Forsberg ever played with.