Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community
Old 05-17-2013, 05:07 PM   #1
FanIn80
GOAT!
 
FanIn80's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Exp:
Default 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.
FanIn80 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 4 Users Say Thank You to FanIn80 For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 05:17 PM   #2
dissentowner
Franchise Player
 
dissentowner's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SW Ontario
Exp:
Default

As much as I like Iginla he is no Joe Sakic.
dissentowner is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 9 Users Say Thank You to dissentowner For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 05:21 PM   #3
Hockey_Ninja
 
Hockey_Ninja's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Cleveland, OH (Grew up in Calgary)
Exp:
Default

I honestly don't see the point in comparing these two guys. They both play completely different styles of games. Yes Sakic is the better player but unlike Iginla he had the luxury of playing his prime with a great supporting cast. Iginla wasted his prime playing on a much worse team. If he played in his prime on a line with Forsberg he would have for sure put up at least one 100+ point, 55-60 goal season.
__________________
Just trying to do my best
Hockey_Ninja is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 11 Users Say Thank You to Hockey_Ninja For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 05:23 PM   #4
trackercowe
Franchise Player
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Exp:
Default

Wasn't Sakic on a separate line from Forsberg for the most part of his career (except on the Power Play)?

Heck Sakic put up 100 points in 2006-07 when he would have been 38 years old. This was a team who's best players were a rookie Paul Stastny, old man Andrew Brunette, and Tyler Arnason. Even Iginla had letter linemates then those for most of his career.

Last edited by trackercowe; 05-17-2013 at 05:26 PM.
trackercowe is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 05:23 PM   #5
Resolute 14
In the Sin Bin
 
Resolute 14's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by dissentowner View Post
As much as I like Iginla he is no Joe Sakic.
It's a bit like the Vernon vs. Fuhr comparison though. Vernon was the better goalie of the two, but Fuhr's reputation was enhanced by the team that played in front of him.

Is Iginla no Sakic? Impossible to say given Iggy didn't get to play his first six seasons before the onset of the dead puck era, nor did he play with the overall talent that Sakic did. That isn't to argue Iginla was the better player, merely that direct statistical comparisons are relatively meaningless.
Resolute 14 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Resolute 14 For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 05:24 PM   #6
Yamer
Franchise Player
 
Yamer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Red Deer
Exp:
Default

Thanks for doing the work, FanIn80. Interesting if nothing else.

In my mind, as much as Iggy means to me, he will remain a few notches below Joe Sakic on several hockey related levels.
__________________
"It's a great day for hockey."
-'Badger' Bob Johnson (1931-1991)

"I see as much misery out of them moving to justify theirselves as them that set out to do harm."
-Dr. Amos "Doc" Cochran
Yamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 05:26 PM   #7
ricosuave
Threadkiller
 
ricosuave's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: 51.0544° N, 114.0669° W
Exp:
Default

Probably more fair to compare Iginla to Alfredsson...

http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/05/16...ld-stanley-cup
__________________
https://www.reddit.com/r/CalgaryFlames/
I’m always amazed these sportscasters and announcers can call the game with McDavid’s **** in their mouths all the time.
ricosuave is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to ricosuave For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 05:26 PM   #8
FanIn80
GOAT!
 
FanIn80's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by dissentowner View Post
As much as I like Iginla he is no Joe Sakic.
That's the point behind all of this. Is Joe Sakic even a "Joe Sakic," or is he just the product of being surrounded by Hall of Fame teammates his entire career?

Sakic's top five teammates averaged 60 more points per season that Iginla's. When you consider Iginla averaged only 13 less points per season than Sakic did, is it not plausible to also consider he might have had a shot at those 13 points, if opponents had to defend against another 60 points coming from his teammates each season?

Edit: I guess another way to look at it is, if you've got Iginla and Conroy on a 2 on 1, what do you do? You cover Iginla, take away the pass and force Conroy to shoot. What about when it's Sakic and Hejduk? One's a 50 goal scorer, and the other is Joe Sakic. What are you going to do with that?

Last edited by FanIn80; 05-17-2013 at 05:32 PM.
FanIn80 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to FanIn80 For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 05:33 PM   #9
CaptainCrunch
Norm!
 
CaptainCrunch's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Exp:
Default

I don't think that Sakic would have been able to will the 2004 Flames to the finals.

But Iggy probably would have had far higher career numbers and cups if he played with the Avs instead of the Flames.
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
CaptainCrunch is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 05:39 PM   #10
trackercowe
Franchise Player
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Exp:
Default

You could argue Joe Sakic is a top 20 player of all-time, perhaps even top 10. In terms of players from his era (post Lemieux and Gretzky) I'd say Sakic would be 1-2-3 with Yzerman and Jagr. It's difficult to rank those three, but in terms of accomplishments Sakic would probably be first.

Jagr hasn't even been to the finals since his second year, and was never able to achieve much success without Mario. He has better statistics than the other two, but also has played more games.

Then with Yzerman his numbers sort of slid in the last ten years of his career, when he came more of a reliable defensive center. At a certain point he became more of a secondary scorer in Detroit, whereas guys like Shanahan, Hull, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Fedorov became better point producers. No one can match Yzerman's leadership and tutorship during his years in Detroit though. Sakic and Jagr were known for being quiet, calm influences in the locker-room, and weren't known for being outspoken.

Sakic has essentially won all there is in hockey. He's been the best player in the regular season, post-season, and the Olympics. The guy is just a straight up winner, who's accolades probably can't be matched by anyone in hockey. A lot of all-time greats are missing one, or two things on their resume (like Iginla with Cups), but you can't say the same thing about Burnaby Joe. Its' going to be interesting to see how successful he will be in an executive role though, as winning as a player does not often translate to success in a front office position (see Brett Hull, Joe Nieuwendyk, Gretzky, and even Yzerman). Although on the other hand former players often have great success running junior teams for some reason (Hunter, Hawerchuk, Patrick Roy, the Sutter's).

Those three stand above the rest of the players post-Lemieux imo.

Last edited by trackercowe; 05-17-2013 at 05:44 PM.
trackercowe is online now   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to trackercowe For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 05:53 PM   #11
FanIn80
GOAT!
 
FanIn80's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by trackercowe View Post
Heck Sakic put up 100 points in 2006-07 when he would have been 38 years old. This was a team who's best players were a rookie Paul Stastny, old man Andrew Brunette, and Tyler Arnason. Even Iginla had letter linemates then those for most of his career.
Well, let's look at that season then.

Players
  • Iginla: 39 Goals, 55 Assists, 94 Points
  • Sakic: 36 Goals, 64 Assists, 100 Points

Teammates
  • Iginla: 126 Goals, 205 Assists, 331 Points
  • Sakic: 128 Goals, 202 Assists, 330 Points

That's actually a pretty good season to look at, as the teammate numbers are pretty similar. The big difference that season was Iginla only playing 70 games. That season was also the best "teammate season" of Iginla's entire career.
FanIn80 is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to FanIn80 For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 05:56 PM   #12
mikephoen
#1 Goaltender
 
mikephoen's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Exp:
Default

Iginla would win in a fight, I know that!

Also, Iginla has never injured himself by putting his hand in a snow blower, so Iggy is at least a bit smarter as well.
mikephoen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 06:08 PM   #13
Sakari
Powerplay Quarterback
 
Sakari's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Exp:
Default

Sakic is a better player in most respects.
__________________

"I think it’s safe to say that half the general managers in the National Hockey League would trade their roster for our roster right now" -Kevin Lowe, Edmonton Oilers President of Hockey Ops
Sakari is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 06:21 PM   #14
d_phaneuf
Franchise Player
 
d_phaneuf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Exp:
Default

I like Iginla but Sakic is in that level right below the Gretzky/Mario/Orr type guys

I think Iggy is another level or two below that
d_phaneuf is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to d_phaneuf For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 06:26 PM   #15
d_phaneuf
Franchise Player
 
d_phaneuf's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by FanIn80 View Post
Well, let's look at that season then.

Players
  • Iginla: 39 Goals, 55 Assists, 94 Points
  • Sakic: 36 Goals, 64 Assists, 100 Points

Teammates
  • Iginla: 126 Goals, 205 Assists, 331 Points
  • Sakic: 128 Goals, 202 Assists, 330 Points

That's actually a pretty good season to look at, as the teammate numbers are pretty similar. The big difference that season was Iginla only playing 70 games. That season was also the best "teammate season" of Iginla's entire career.
Iginla is also 29 in that season which iwould be right in the middle of what people consider to be a players prime, where as Sakic is 38

the better comparison (if thing's like goals per game are similar) is to compare it to Iginla's age 38 season
d_phaneuf is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to d_phaneuf For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 07:32 PM   #16
Bourque's Twin
First Line Centre
 
Bourque's Twin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Section 120
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by diane_phaneuf View Post
I like Iginla but Sakic is in that level right below the Gretzky/Mario/Orr type guys

I think Iggy is another level or two below that
Tier 1: Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr
Tier 2: Jagr, Sakic, Selanne
Tier 3: Iginla, Shanahan, Alfredsson

However, most of those guys had better career teammates than Iginla; and, many played more games during times when it was much easier to score and put up points.

Even a 34 year old Iginla has put up 21 points in 20 games with Pittsburgh so far.
Bourque's Twin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 07:36 PM   #17
Yamer
Franchise Player
 
Yamer's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Red Deer
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bourque's Twin View Post

Even a 34 year old Iginla has put up 21 points in 20 games with Pittsburgh so far.
I swear, no player in the history of the game has a more confusing birth date than Jarome Iginla.
__________________
"It's a great day for hockey."
-'Badger' Bob Johnson (1931-1991)

"I see as much misery out of them moving to justify theirselves as them that set out to do harm."
-Dr. Amos "Doc" Cochran
Yamer is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 8 Users Say Thank You to Yamer For This Useful Post:
Old 05-17-2013, 07:40 PM   #18
Regulator75
Franchise Player
 
Regulator75's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Behind Nikkor Glass
Exp:
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bourque's Twin View Post
Tier 1: Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr
Tier 2: Jagr, Sakic, Selanne
Tier 3: Iginla, Shanahan, Alfredsson
Plus Iginla could beat the crap out of those guys too.
Though Shanny and Iginla did have a one or two decent scraps.
__________________

More photos on Flickr
Regulator75 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 07:49 PM   #19
Da_Chief
Franchise Player
 
Join Date: May 2007
Exp:
Default

This is not even close, iginla is good but sakic was better.
Da_Chief is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-17-2013, 07:51 PM   #20
Kaine
#1 Goaltender
 
Kaine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Exp:
Default

I'll admit to putting Iggy on the same level as Sakic for quite some time now, however I think it's safe to say a large portion of that was due to the fact that I have huge homer goggles for most players that play for the Flames. Since he's moved on and thus as have I, I have been able to take a more objective look at his career and where he stands as a player.

Don't get me wrong he's still an amazing player, one that comes along very rarely but he's still not in the same league as a guy like Sakic. Bourque's Twin did a good tier comparison a couple post up that I think is fairly accurate.
Kaine is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:29 PM.

Calgary Flames
2023-24




Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright Calgarypuck 2021