Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Head to Head Comparison: Iginla vs. Sakic

FanIn80 · 05-17-2013, 05:07 PM

Edit: For those wondering, the "inspiration" for this came from another thread, where people were comparing the two players.

I didn't have a whole lot to do this afternoon, so I put this together. People often compare one player to another, but it's a difficult thing to do while taking in the entire picture. There are many things that contribute to a player's success over the length of their careers, and I would argue that teammates are a huge part of that. It's next to impossible to win a championship single-handedly, and it's extremely difficult to put up massive stat totals when playing with lower-tiered talent. For one thing, they're not as good at putting the puck on your stick or in the net, and for another, it's much easier to shut a star player down when they're the only player that even needs to be shut down.

At any rate, whether this proves anything or not is up to each individual. All I did was compile the stats. So, here's a head-to-head breakdown of stats, championships and awards for Iginla vs. Sakic at each level they've played: WHL, NHL and International. As an added bonus, I also complied some stats for their teammates over the years (more on that below).

Player Comparison

Stats
- WHL
  - Iginla: GP: 183 G: 102 A: 134 P: 236
  - Sakic: GP: 139 G: 138 A: 155 P: 293
- NHL
  - Iginla: GP: 1232 G: 530 A: 576 P: 1106
  - Sakic: GP: 1378 G: 625 A: 1016 P: 1641
- International
  - Iginla: GP: 42 G: 19 A: 15 P: 34
  - Sakic: GP: 56 G: 25 A: 20 P: 44
Championships
- WHL
  - Iginla: WHL x 2, CHL x 2
  - Sakic: 0
- NHL
  - Iginla: WC x 1
  - Sakic: WC x 2, NHL x 2
- International
  - Iginla: WJC Gold x 1, CC Gold x 1, WC Gold x 1, OLY Gold x 2
  - Sakic: WJC Gold x 1, CC Gold x 1, WC Gold x 1, OLY Gold x 1
Awards
- WHL
  - Iginla: WHL MVP x 1
  - Sakic: WHL MVP x 2, CHL MVP x 1
- NHL
  - Iginla: Most Goals x 2, Most Points x 1, Peer MVP x 1
  - Sakic: Peer MVP x 1, League MVP x 1, Playoff MVP x 1
- International
  - Iginla: WJC MVP x 1
  - Sakic: OLY MVP x 1

Now, to really put things in perspective, I went and added up the stats for each of their top five teammates during each season of their careers. For example, in 2007-08, the top five Avs (in order) were Stastny, Brunette, Hejduk, Wolski and Sakic. Since I'm looking for Sakic's top five teammates from that season, Sakic gets dropped from that list and the next highest moves up, which was Ryan Smyth. The point of this exercise is to compare depth. It's impossible to compare lines, because lines are never constant. Taking both Iginla's and Sakic's top five teammates each season, though, is easy and it's much more reflective of the amount of talent each of these two players had to work with throughout their careers.

Teammate Comparison

Best Season
- Iginla: 126 Goals, 205 Assists, 331 Points
- Sakic: 157 Goals, 262 Assists, 419 Points
Worst Season
- Iginla: 69 Goals, 118 Assists, 187 Points
- Sakic: 82 Goals, 131 Assists, 214 Points
Totals
- Iginla: 1427 Goals, 2315 Assists, 3742 Points
- Sakic: 2311 Goals, 3567 Assists, 5878 Points
Averages
- Iginla: 89 Goals, 145 Assists, 234 Points
- Sakic: 116 Goals, 178 Assists, 294 Points

05-17-2013, 05:07 PM	#1
FanIn80 GOAT! Join Date: Jun 2006 Exp:	Head to Head Comparison: Iginla vs. Sakic Edit: For those wondering, the "inspiration" for this came from another thread, where people were comparing the two players. I didn't have a whole lot to do this afternoon, so I put this together. People often compare one player to another, but it's a difficult thing to do while taking in the entire picture. There are many things that contribute to a player's success over the length of their careers, and I would argue that teammates are a huge part of that. It's next to impossible to win a championship single-handedly, and it's extremely difficult to put up massive stat totals when playing with lower-tiered talent. For one thing, they're not as good at putting the puck on your stick or in the net, and for another, it's much easier to shut a star player down when they're the only player that even needs to be shut down. At any rate, whether this proves anything or not is up to each individual. All I did was compile the stats. So, here's a head-to-head breakdown of stats, championships and awards for Iginla vs. Sakic at each level they've played: WHL, NHL and International. As an added bonus, I also complied some stats for their teammates over the years (more on that below). Player Comparison Stats WHL Iginla: GP: 183 G: 102 A: 134 P: 236 Sakic: GP: 139 G: 138 A: 155 P: 293 NHL Iginla: GP: 1232 G: 530 A: 576 P: 1106 Sakic: GP: 1378 G: 625 A: 1016 P: 1641 International Iginla: GP: 42 G: 19 A: 15 P: 34 Sakic: GP: 56 G: 25 A: 20 P: 44 Championships WHL Iginla: WHL x 2, CHL x 2 Sakic: 0 NHL Iginla: WC x 1 Sakic: WC x 2, NHL x 2 International Iginla: WJC Gold x 1, CC Gold x 1, WC Gold x 1, OLY Gold x 2 Sakic: WJC Gold x 1, CC Gold x 1, WC Gold x 1, OLY Gold x 1 Awards WHL Iginla: WHL MVP x 1 Sakic: WHL MVP x 2, CHL MVP x 1 NHL Iginla: Most Goals x 2, Most Points x 1, Peer MVP x 1 Sakic: Peer MVP x 1, League MVP x 1, Playoff MVP x 1 International Iginla: WJC MVP x 1 Sakic: OLY MVP x 1 Now, to really put things in perspective, I went and added up the stats for each of their top five teammates during each season of their careers. For example, in 2007-08, the top five Avs (in order) were Stastny, Brunette, Hejduk, Wolski and Sakic. Since I'm looking for Sakic's top five teammates from that season, Sakic gets dropped from that list and the next highest moves up, which was Ryan Smyth. The point of this exercise is to compare depth. It's impossible to compare lines, because lines are never constant. Taking both Iginla's and Sakic's top five teammates each season, though, is easy and it's much more reflective of the amount of talent each of these two players had to work with throughout their careers. Teammate Comparison Best Season Iginla: 126 Goals, 205 Assists, 331 Points Sakic: 157 Goals, 262 Assists, 419 Points Worst Season Iginla: 69 Goals, 118 Assists, 187 Points Sakic: 82 Goals, 131 Assists, 214 Points Totals Iginla: 1427 Goals, 2315 Assists, 3742 Points Sakic: 2311 Goals, 3567 Assists, 5878 Points Averages Iginla: 89 Goals, 145 Assists, 234 Points Sakic: 116 Goals, 178 Assists, 294 Points Last edited by FanIn80; 05-17-2013 at 05:16 PM.