So once upon a young Hobgoblin's life he had an uncle he loved very much. This uncle was a huge NY Islanders fan because he really loved Trio Grande and their "barking crazy" goalie Billy Smith. He had a huge satellite with, er, certain enhancements that allowed him to watch all kinds of channels.
I loved those Islanders teams because of him but I migrated into more of a Blackhawks fan. Still cheer for them both but anyway I am now that beloved hockey uncle. My uncle sadly passed on about a decade ago. He would no doubt have been able to help me with this quandry.
I have a 20 year old nephew that loves hockey. Good kid, right? Well, he is but he is trying to learn an appreciation of hockey before he was 10 years old. So when I talk about Trio Grande, especially Mike Bossy who I consider the greatest pure goal scorer in the history of hockey he says compare them to guys now.
I don't think there is a direct comparison to some of the older players for a few reasons. One of those being the game has changed so much. Guys who were enforcers are simply gone. Guys who were hitters and pests...mostly gone. Guys who were really good defensive forwards because they could clutch and grab...mostly gone.
So we will leave this at skill players. I realized how old I have gotten when I was telling my nephew "Well, Pat Lafontaine was a lot like Marc Savard." "Who is Marc Savard?" he responds. Ugh.
I'm going to list some players from ye olden days that this Hobgoblin got to see play and who in the last ten years including current players would you say MOST plays like them. I know this can't be a one for one comparison. Just curious what you guys and gals would list.
Trio Grande (the fact my nephew thought this was a Taco Bell combo item crushed me)
Pat Lafontaine
Alexander Mogilny
Jeremy Roenick
Marc Savard
Chris Pronger
Billy Smith
Sergei Gonchar
Ryan Smyth
