Mario in the DPE

[Sentinel]

In another topic there was a video of Gretzky beating Hasek with a slapshot.

Here is Mario:

 

[VanIslander]

In another topic there was a video of Gretzky beating Hasek with a slapshot.

Here is Mario:

A slspshot from 10 feet! Wow.

 

[VanIslander]

A slspshot from 10 feet! Wow.

I recall this apt moment (against the long-time goalie with the highest career total save percentage in NHL history):



(Then coach Crawford didn't pick Gretzky to be even one of the five in the Olympic shootout... the 1st EVER BEST ON BEST Olympic tourney. It was the wrong decision from the second it was uttered. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Even if Canada had won... it was wrong.)

 

[JianYang]

We pretty saw what Jagr, Crosby and McDavid could do in seasons when scoring was high and when scoring was low and, IMIO, conclude they were as effective in both levels.

What about Mario though? Did we truly see how a drop in scoring would have affected his peak numbers?

In 96/97, he plays his most complete season since 88/89 and wins the Art Ross in a clear but not dominating fashion. The PPG gap between him and his competition has taken a significant drop from 95/96 as the DPE really kicked in for good. It was a similar level of dominance to peak Crosby, peak Jagr and peak McDavid. His PP points took a huge drop; more so than the league drop in PPO (from 5 to 4) would explain.

How much relevance do we place on this? He was 31 years, battling injuries for years and was contemplating retiring.

At age 35, In 00/01 and dominates as much, perhaps more so than in 96/97 , and not just on the PP.

How much relevance do we place on this? He plays a ton with a peak Jagr.

When you hear the coaches and training staff talk about how much pain Mario was in for the 90s, it just cements how much this game was simply child's play for him.

He would get the trainers to tie his skates because he couldn't bend down to do it himself, yet he goes on the ice and has a multi point game like clockwork.

I mentioned in another thread how the cream of the crop elite players of this game are not era dependant to assert their dominance, and I think lemieux exemplified it better than anyone when he came back in his mid 30s in a different game, which he still dominated.

 

[daver]

When you hear the coaches and training staff talk about how much pain Mario was in for the 90s, it just cements how much this game was simply child's play for him.

He would get the trainers to tie his skates because he couldn't bend down to do it himself, yet he goes on the ice and has a multi point game like clockwork.

I mentioned in another thread how the cream of the crop elite players of this game are not era dependant to assert their dominance, and I think lemieux exemplified it better than anyone when he came back in his mid 30s in a different game, which he still dominated.

I have had that issue. It is not as debilitating as it sounds.

 

[Zirakzigil]

Mario was impossible to stop in the dead puck era, opposing teams literally waterskied off him and he still scored. Health was the only reason Gretzky holds all the records and wasnt fighting Mario for them. Mario was better than most players in the game while dealing with Hodgkin's lymphoma, thats how good he was.

 

[Crosby2010]

The gap was closing in 1997. He was still the best player in the NHL when he retired, but you had Kariya close by, Lindros for sure close by, Jagr close by. Others like Selanne and Forsberg were pretty good too. I don't think he wins the scoring title in 1998, 1999 and 2000 if he plays those years. He might win one or two, but there has to be a time when Jagr still takes at least one of them. By the time Lemieux came back in 2001 he and Jagr were basically equals, so it goes with reason that he loses an Art Ross somewhere along the way.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Ranking Penguins players, would be
Mario
Jaromir
Sid