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ThisIsAnOutrage · 01-29-2015, 05:03 PM

Felt this warranted its own thread since tanking gets talked about a lot on these forums. If you ask me it’s not worth another thought. Here’s why:

Gretzky is 1000 career points better than the next guy (who had the benefit of playing with Gretzky while both were in their primes and went on to play almost 300 more games than Gretzky). In a contest between two excellent hockey teams, the tie-breaker is which team Gretzky plays for. That’s the Gretzky factor: the team with Gretzky wins. He was individually good enough to make that difference. That’s why Edmonton won 4 cups in 5 years with him and a great team, but only one cup without him and a great team. It’s why Calgary’s great team in the last half of the 80’s only had one cup. It takes the Gretzky factor to win a bunch. The next closest thing to it was Lemieux and Jagr in Pittsburgh in 1991 and 1992.

Does anyone, any GM, really think Connor McDavid will be as good as Gretzky? How about as good as Lemieux and Jagr? Does he have the ability to score more goals than Mats Sundin (564)? If he does, that’s a heck of career, but Mats Sundin never won a cup. Even Sidney Crosby, the best player of the day, only has one cup. There was no Sundin factor, is no Crosby factor, and in my opinion there won’t be a McDavid (or Eichel) factor either. They’re good, but not that good.

So what is any team tanking for? Nothing.

Tanking these days is just tanking. It’s getting bad with the hope that a great player can pull your bad team up enough to lose in the conference quarter- and semi-finals a handful of times. Just like Mats Sundin on the Maple Leafs. So, Edmonton, Buffalo, and whoever else you want to say is tanking can tank away. Any decent team in the NHL has got nothing to worry about. Enjoy the show.

To clarify: Unless it's Gretzky, who was a difference maker between excellent teams (crappy team plus Gretzky is still crappy), there is no player worth tanking for, and no prospect worth talking about as though he will save the franchise. We see both in the media and the fans right now. Teams that tank are punished by the tanking itself.

01-29-2015, 05:03 PM	#1
ThisIsAnOutrage Lifetime Suspension Join Date: Dec 2014 Exp:	Tanking and the Gretzky Factor Felt this warranted its own thread since tanking gets talked about a lot on these forums. If you ask me it’s not worth another thought. Here’s why: Gretzky is 1000 career points better than the next guy (who had the benefit of playing with Gretzky while both were in their primes and went on to play almost 300 more games than Gretzky). In a contest between two excellent hockey teams, the tie-breaker is which team Gretzky plays for. That’s the Gretzky factor: the team with Gretzky wins. He was individually good enough to make that difference. That’s why Edmonton won 4 cups in 5 years with him and a great team, but only one cup without him and a great team. It’s why Calgary’s great team in the last half of the 80’s only had one cup. It takes the Gretzky factor to win a bunch. The next closest thing to it was Lemieux and Jagr in Pittsburgh in 1991 and 1992. Does anyone, any GM, really think Connor McDavid will be as good as Gretzky? How about as good as Lemieux and Jagr? Does he have the ability to score more goals than Mats Sundin (564)? If he does, that’s a heck of career, but Mats Sundin never won a cup. Even Sidney Crosby, the best player of the day, only has one cup. There was no Sundin factor, is no Crosby factor, and in my opinion there won’t be a McDavid (or Eichel) factor either. They’re good, but not that good. So what is any team tanking for? Nothing. Tanking these days is just tanking. It’s getting bad with the hope that a great player can pull your bad team up enough to lose in the conference quarter- and semi-finals a handful of times. Just like Mats Sundin on the Maple Leafs. So, Edmonton, Buffalo, and whoever else you want to say is tanking can tank away. Any decent team in the NHL has got nothing to worry about. Enjoy the show. To clarify: Unless it's Gretzky, who was a difference maker between excellent teams (crappy team plus Gretzky is still crappy), there is no player worth tanking for, and no prospect worth talking about as though he will save the franchise. We see both in the media and the fans right now. Teams that tank are punished by the tanking itself. Last edited by ThisIsAnOutrage; 01-29-2015 at 07:47 PM. Reason: To clarify the point(s)