MacInnis vs Pilote

[Ziostilon]

I believe they are pretty close on the all-time list of defenceman.

Way different eras... Pilote has a couple more Norris trophies on his side, but does that have something to do with the level of competition...

Who is the better player?
Allan MacInnis or Joseph Albert Pierre Paul Pilote

Click to read more...

 

[revolverjgw]

MacInnis had better competition and still had a very comparable all-star record. His one Norris would have multiplied in an era that wasn't so stacked. He finished 2nd to Bourque twice and once to Lidstrom, and frankly Pilote would have lost to them, too.

Pilote won his 3 Norris' in a transitional period between the Harvey and Orr eras.... Brewer, Horton, Laperriere, Stapleton, Tremblay and Vasko are great but d-men factoring into the Norris race during MacInnis' insanely long period of elite play include Pronger, Bourque, Leetch, Stevens, Coffey, Blake, Murphy, and Chelios... not to mention an influx of Euros like Lidstrom, Zubov and Konstantionov.

MacInnis had an incredibly long run in an incredibly deep era where he was elite almost the whole way... literally until the day he was forced to retire. Have to go with him.

 

[seventieslord]

Definitely Pilote.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Pierre Pilote

Pierre Pilote. Until his last few seasons with Chicago when Pat Stapleton joined the Hawks, Pierre Pilote never had much support from the 2 - 5 d-men on the roster like MacInnis did or like his contemporaries did with Montreal, Toronto and Detroit.

 

[Big Phil]

Surprised it's 9-1 in favour of Pilote though. I have no problem with Pilote being ahead but I thought MacInnis would get a little more support. He kills him in longevity and their all-star teams are relatively the same. MacInnis always added that dimension with his shot. I don't think anyone outside of Hull has ever been feared for their wind-up than MacInnis. His shot was hard, accurate and timely. Let's not forget that he was a very good well rounded defenseman as well.

Pilote is also an all-time great. There might be about 10% of the people on here that would fit him on a top 10 d-man list and to be honest I don't think MacInnis would be on anyone's list. Call that a clear advantage for Pilote, MacInnis isn't quite top 10 material. Call me crazy but is it possible that MacInnis can be underrated in his career on these boards? I've always felt he is quietly forgotten about at times and with his booming shot you'd think he'd be the last to be forgotten but I think that's the case sometimes

 

[JackSlater]

I would vote for MacInnis in this one. They have similar all star placements, although Pilote picked up his all star positions during a particularly weak period for defencemen as Harvey was fading, Kelly had converted to forward and Orr wasn't yet in the league. Pilote's competition was primarily Laperriere, Brewer and Horton, while MacInnis had to fight for spots over the likes of Bourque, Chelios, Leetch, Coffey and Lidstrom. MacInnis also has Pilote beat in longevity, having been an all star in 1987 and again in 2003. From what I've read Pilote would have the defensive edge, but MacInnis would have the edge offensively in my eyes. I would also give MacInnis the edge in playoff performance, putting him over the top in the comparison.

 

[Ziostilon]

i didn't get to watch any of Pilote's career

can someone describe how his game was like both offensively and defensively.

was he a PPQB, a puck moving d-man, great first pass? effortless skating? deadly shot, accuracy?

how would he adapt to today's game speed, both physically and mentally

 

[pvr]

You can watch Pilote play particularly well vs Toronto in this thread http://hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=593861 .

 

[tony d]

Pierre Pilote

 

[Reds4Life]

MacInnis for me, he's just better overall player.

 

[raleh]

Pilote by a fairly wide margin. I don't think MacInnis was better than Horton, who was clearly worse than Pilote in the same era.