Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
Because it's so difficult to compare eras
Crosby is to his peers, roughly just as ahead as Lemieux was to his, although I
agree that could be a little too generous.
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Is it? We're talking about 1996, that was less than 20 years ago.
Here's how I see it. Lemieux post-prime>>>>>In his prime Sakic. Crosby pre-prime>In his twilight Sakic. Pick any of the many players that overlapped both careers and it's the same story. Sure Lemieux and Crosby didn't play their primes at the same time (arguable if Crosby has even reached his) but it's not like we don't have a ton of benchmarks to compare the two with.
Sakic was getting 100 points as a 37 year old when Crosby was hitting his so far peak 120. Has the game changed that much in 5 years? I don't think so. Has Crosby separated himself from the pack to anywhere near the degree Lemieux has? If so you would think he would have more than 1 Hart (even with how stupid the voters are because there would be no other choice). He doesn't, in fact Ovechkin with his 3 Harts, 3 Lester B. Pearsons, 3 Rocket Richards, and an Art Ross has filled up his individual trophy case quite a bit more than Crosby. Concussions hurt, and it sucks for Crosby and us, but he's far from the first player to have his career derailed due to injuries.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vilzeh
The athleticism this generation is so much better than it was back in the days, that's why you can't have HUGE gaps on players anymore, they are all professional athletes, nothing away from Gretzky though, but its like that in every sport these days.
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Okay fine, if you want to say that about Gretzky and 1980. What about Lemieux and 1996? Take a look at those rosters, the players weren't significant worst, that excuse simply doesn't work.
You have a 27 year old Lidstrom playing, he seemed to be able to keep up in today's NHL half decently. Sakic, Yzerman, Selanne, etc. etc. etc. If the game changed half as much as people believe it has from 1996 to now there's no way Selanne would be able to play in it at his age. There's no way that Sakic would be a star after the lockout. There's no way Lidstrom would have won 7 Norris trophies since 2001. They are and they did.