What are examples of historical revisionism that you hate the most?

[Regal]

The Sedin sisters

Come on people. These brothers were insanely talented, and took whatever beating came their way.
The Sedins were insanely hard to knock of the puck. Had work ethic and endurance second to none, and were extremely skilled and talented.

But yes, a lot of misinformed fans still call them the sisters.

2011 really did a number on their reputation for awhile too. It’s probably the only time I’ve seen them go down easily (and we’ll never know how much of that was Henrik’s back injury), but I still see a lot of people think they were regular floppers. I’m not sure it’s revisionism though, as I’m not sure if anyone who thinks that way didn’t also think that way when they were playing.

If the prime of your career overlaps with Gretzky and Lemieux and you play on a bad team you're not going to win a lot of awards.

I mean I don’t think a statue of Sundin is a big deal being a franchise center for years, but he wasn’t going to win any regular season major award regardless of the circumstances.

 

[jgatie]

If the prime of your career overlaps with Gretzky and Lemieux and you play on a bad team you're not going to win a lot of awards.

Yeah, that's what held him back.

 

[Regal]

People on this site act like Peter Forsberg is the GOAT

No, people act he’s so overrated by being compared to the top couple centres of other eras as if he wasn’t a top 5 (arguable top 2) center in the league for a decade.

 

[Regal]

I gave it as an example of what others have said, and used that example in exactly two posts. If that's "repeatedly" then okay?

Yes, the point was the two-line pass, as was very clearly stated in the original post.

Which, you proved my point with your "slow game down and decrease scoring" response. From when? It existed for over 60 years before the lockout. It wasn't a new thing.

Just because the two-line pass existed for a long time doesn’t mean other changes didn’t happen that made the two-line pass have a greater effect than it did earlier. I wouldn’t say the two-line pass was one of the main reasons for the lower scoring, but once goaltending became better with better pads and bigger goalies, and teams were better able to sit on leads, it allowed teams to play more defensively in the neutral zone to prevent rush chances, which typically have the greatest chance of going in. It was kind of all connected, along with the lack of hooking, holding and interference penalties. Bringing back the two-line pass today wouldn’t suddenly bring the dead puck era back but it would almost certainly lead to fewer rush chances, more dump and chase and lower scoring than we have today.

 

[snag]

The Sedin sisters

Come on people. These brothers were insanely talented, and took whatever beating came their way.
The Sedins were insanely hard to knock of the puck. Had work ethic and endurance second to none, and were extremely skilled and talented.

But yes, a lot of misinformed fans still call them the sisters.

...and the fact it endures makes it funnier

But I agree.....largely inapplicable. Still funny though.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

It's not particularly funny, and it's a violation of our site rules.

 

[kingsholygrail]

I mean, the rules allowed them to draft a team of 2nd/3rd liners, and second pairing (3/4) defenseman.

Never has the expansion draft allowed teams to protect so few players. The expansion fees were ridiculous compared to the last round of expansion, so bettman loosened the rules to allow vegas and Seattle to be more competitive out of the gate.

Let's just ignore all those GMs in the league that willingly handed over decent players to Vegas in exchange for peanuts.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

Let's just ignore all those GMs in the league that willingly handed over decent players to Vegas in exchange for peanuts.

Thing is, this isn't what people thought at the time. The common perception was that Vegas was intentionally tanking, that they'd be terrible, etc. etc.

This was so pervasive that many (myself included) wrote off their early success as a fluke/ the result of the "Vegas Effect"- the baseless theory that Vegas was so good because teams were more focused on partying in Vegas than playing hockey, used to avoid the more obvious conclusion that Vegas was just a decent hockey team.

It does make you wonder how many William Karlsson's and Reily Smith's there are- guys who just need extended time in the top 6 to show they belong in the NHL.

 

[Midnight Judges]

I would suggest it's MORE revisionist to go back and suggest that Crosby was average or below average defensively.

He was always responsible defensively. His offensive production just overshadowed his defensive side. I mean, yeah not top 10 in Selke voting but I have literally never seen an argument that suggests that.

I guess it's just 18 years of bad luck that the Pens surrender lots of goals against with Sid on the ice. Clearly he is surrounded by bums and the only reason they have a very good winning percentage without Sid, and their goals against per game goes down when Sid is out of the line up is, uh, well who cares about any of that let's just say he's great at defense.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Some people act like they didn’t forget about Dre, which is ridiculous. You forgot about him, it happens, but you pretended not to forget that you forgot. About Dre. Goddamn, worse than that time I forgot that band’s name- “don’t you.. forget about me (don’t don’t don’t)”. You know who I’m talkin bout, worse than the time I forgot them dudes.

 

[Primary Assist]

The idea that Gretzky had marginal physical skills but his incredible hockey IQ allowed him to go down as the best ever. Watch the tapes - nobody elevates a slapper like the Great One and he possessed one of the best shots of all time, certainly in the wooden stick era. It's kind of a prerequisite to being the most accomplished goal scorer ever.

Even his skating is maligned - sure, he wasn't as fast as teammate Paul Coffey, but I don't know if anyone had better edges than Gretzky. You look at a player like Marner today who is lauded for his edge control and ability to make plays with his skates to open up teammates, and Gretz could do all that and more to an exponentially greater degree.

This leads to revisionist history where people act like he wouldn't be the best player in today's game. It's just silly, and you don't need to concatenate endless spreadsheets of era adjusted stats just to see that he's truly the best to ever lace them up

 

[Khelandros]

that New Jersey only won because of the trap and boring defense first style play.

in 1994 which team scored the most goals in the eastern conference? Devils

in 2000 which team scored the most goals in the entire league? Devils

Leading the Conference/League in scoring doesn't negate the fact that the Devils style and trap were boring.

The purpose of the trap was to slow down the other team and force turnovers, leading to odd man rushes and chances.

When it is executed properly, as the Devils did, you will realistically produce a lot of scoring chances resulting in inflated goal totals.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

I don’t get why people say Neidermeyer or Brodeur weren’t that great

They pretty much created the blueprint for modern NHL defensive systems

 

[Peat]

Thing is, this isn't what people thought at the time. The common perception was that Vegas was intentionally tanking, that they'd be terrible, etc. etc.

This was so pervasive that many (myself included) wrote off their early success as a fluke/ the result of the "Vegas Effect"- the baseless theory that Vegas was so good because teams were more focused on partying in Vegas than playing hockey, used to avoid the more obvious conclusion that Vegas was just a decent hockey team.

It does make you wonder how many William Karlsson's and Reily Smith's there are- guys who just need extended time in the top 6 to show they belong in the NHL.

This is a big part of why people got Vegas so wrong. Not appreciating the breakout potential of a fair few guys - although, tbf, Reilly Smith had demonstrated the ability to be successful 5v5 in Boston and Florida before he ever reached Vegas.

Also not appreciating the power of a deep team playing tenacious hockey. Which, in hindsight, was a very stupid take given Columbus had just finished 4th with a team high of 62 points and only 5 guys over 50.



Also also, I don't get the point about it only happening because the GMs made some retrospectively wild calls. That's like saying plants only grow because of sunlight. GMs handing over great players for not much is about as ubiquitous as sunlight.

 

[Mike C]

If the prime of your career overlaps with Gretzky and Lemieux and you play on a bad team you're not going to win a lot of awards.

Us hoopsters call it the MJ pass

 

[SEALBound]

It's not particularly funny, and it's a violation of our site rules.

How many times have people called Crosby "Cyndy" or "Criesby"?

 

[Bear of Bad News]

How many times have people called Crosby "Cyndy" or "Criesby"?

Tell me where you're going with this.

"Cyndy" would be a violation for sure.

 

[Xirik]

Leading the Conference/League in scoring doesn't negate the fact that the Devils style and trap were boring.

The purpose of the trap was to slow down the other team and force turnovers, leading to odd man rushes and chances.

When it is executed properly, as the Devils did, you will realistically produce a lot of scoring chances resulting in inflated goal totals.

so it was boring cause it wasn't the team your cheering for scoring the goals.

Got it!

 

[HugeInTheShire]

I don’t get why people say Neidermeyer or Brodeur weren’t that great

They pretty much created the blueprint for modern NHL defensive systems

People constantly say Bordeur wasn't that good, not even top 10 goalies. He was just carried by having great players like Stevens and Niedermayer there to shut everyone down.

Ironically, I also see a lot of people saying Niedermayer/Stevens weren't that good, just a product of having Brodeur for most of their careers.

In reality, they were the perfect combination of elite defending and goaltending.


Another one that always bothers me as a Devil fan is people saying Stevens was a cheap shot artist or a dirty player, when he in fact played by the rules of the day and wasn't seen as anywhere near dirty at the time.

 

[mattihp]

When people say that Montreal only won their cups because the had exclusive access to every French player in the league

I thought they've only had Huet?

 

[WarriorofTime]

Mario only missed time due to cancer.

That was actually not very much missed time in the grand scheme of his career. His biggest issue in this respect is that his conditioning was terrible, never stretched, followed the 80s pro athlete diet of "I eat whatever I want" and in general he just struggled to make it through the grind of a long 80-game season.

 

[Gruyeriev]

How many times have people called Crosby "Cyndy" or "Criesby"?

I prefer Slash!

As for the Sedin twins. I prefer Shooty and Passy.

 

[WarriorofTime]

When people say that Montreal only won their cups because the had exclusive access to every French player in the league

This is actually a good one for the reasons you didn't intend, people refer to "territorial rights" which was really just like a 2 NHL Draft rule before getting quickly axed, and was a way to compensate for the real thing that was going on which was that back in the day, NHL teams sponsored Junior Hockey. The Sponsorship System - The Pre-Expansion NHL's Monopsony on Players

So there's often a misconceived back and forth that goes something like:

1) Montreal had access to all the best French Canadian players (true), they had territorial rights! (only true for 1968 and 1969 NHL Drafts)

2) That is so overstated, they didn't have access to them, the only decent player they got from territorial rights is Rejean Houle! (true)

Montreal did have access to the best french canadian players from Quebec, but that's because all minor and junior hockey was essentially part of a pyramid structure that flowed up to Montreal. From that same article.

Take the Montreal Canadiens as an example. In the 1965-66 season they sponsored the Montreal Junior Canadiens and Peterborough TPT Petes of the OHA Jr. A league. The Canadiens also had affiliation agreements with the AHL's Cleveland Barons, Providence Reds and Quebec Aces, and the WHL's Seattle Totems and CPHL's Houston Apollos. The Barons sponsored Jr. A teams in Kirkland and Verdun, the Reds sponsored its own pair of Jr. A teams, the Aces sponsored the Regina Pats, the Totems sponsored another pair of Junior teams, and the Apollos sponsored a couple Junior B teams. Several of these Junior A and B teams in turn sponsored other Junior B, Juvenile and Midget clubs. All in all the Montreal Canadiens had 21 Junior A, Junior B, Juvenile and Midget clubs under its control. The Canadiens could place up to 18 players from each of its sponsored clubs on a list of sponsored players, a list of players which no other professional team in North America (since the NHL exercised control over the other leagues) could touch. In effect the Canadiens could direct the careers of over 300 young players.

 

[SEALBound]

Tell me where you're going with this.

"Cyndy" would be a violation for sure.

Not going anywhere with it. Just pointing out that we've had people here call multiple players by "nicknames".

Part of the game and part of the fun of being fan, I guess. Lockerroom talk with the boys are some of my most cherished memories in a variety of teams. It's not always malicious.

 

[Drumman44]

Weirdly specific but Auston Matthews at the time of his draft was mainly compared to Toews and Kopitar in terms of style of play. Now he’s basically second only to McDavid in terms of goal scoring centers.

With Bedard coming into the league, he has been called the best prospect since Matthews. However, the Matthews that we have in the league is much more of a goal scoring center than he was thought of as a prospect. I don’t think it’s a fair comparison at the moment