Patty Marleau close to becoming all-time leader in games played

[Textcritic]

Marleau is for sure a Hall of Famer, but is there a more vanilla player of his stature in the League? It feels like he has been very quietly composing his impressive resume for the last decade. I find that I have no strong feelings about him one way or another.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I don’t really get the reason why people want to include WHA stats in an NHL record. They were competing leagues. Howe started in the NHL, went to the WHA and then back to the NHL. Should we include Jagr’s KHL stats?

Yes.

The thing is, when you're talking about these historical stats is that its brutally subjective. You've got various leagues, eras, rule changes, equipment changes, goaltenders, sticks, training and nutrition, forecasting due to injuries and lockouts.....it goes on and on.

None of the stats are purely comparable to anything else which makes them effectively meaningless, but a bit of fun.

Frankly you just have to find what you're comfortable with and go from there. For instance, all else aside I would pose that the best Pure Goal Scorer the NHL has ever seen is likely Ovechkin regardless of what all the historical stats might indicate.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yes.

The thing is, when you're talking about these historical stats is that its brutally subjective. You've got various leagues, eras, rule changes, equipment changes, goaltenders, sticks, training and nutrition, forecasting due to injuries and lockouts.....it goes on and on.

None of the stats are purely comparable to anything else which makes them effectively meaningless, but a bit of fun.

Frankly you just have to find what you're comfortable with and go from there. For instance, all else aside I would pose that the best Pure Goal Scorer the NHL has ever seen is likely Ovechkin regardless of what all the historical stats might indicate.

Yes, this.

Besides, it’s the HOCKEY HALL OF FAME, not the NHL HALL OF FAME.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Yes, this.

Besides, it’s the HOCKEY HALL OF FAME, not the NHL HALL OF FAME.

OK, but the all-time games played record is an NHL RECORD, not a hockey record.

Why should games played in another league factor into who’s played the most NHL games in their career?

[Enoch Root]

And where do you draw the line? Should the AHL count? It's professional hockey too. Or the Swedish league? Finland? Switzerland then?

There is only one possible line, and it is where it should be.

[FlamingHabs Fan]

Originally Posted by Jacks

As with most Gordie Howe records they don't include the 419 games he played in the WHA. Still a huge amount of games though, Marleau has been amazingly durable throughout his career.

Yeah GP is one of those records I personally like to combine the NHL and WHA.
A great feat nonetheless.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Cory Sarich.

I became a fan of Marleau that day.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I don’t really get the reason why people want to include WHA stats in an NHL record. They were competing leagues. Howe started in the NHL, went to the WHA and then back to the NHL. Should we include Jagr’s KHL stats?

It’s not about including his WHA stats. It’s simply recognizing what was going on at the time. The WHA was a rival league, attracted a few great players and eventually merged with the NHL. I don’t see that as comparable to the KHL.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Marleau is for sure a Hall of Famer, but is there a more vanilla player of his stature in the League? It feels like he has been very quietly composing his impressive resume for the last decade. I find that I have no strong feelings about him one way or another.

You just described his appeal. Very Giordano like in his approach.

The guy would be an all time Flames legend and absolutely revered if he had played for Calgary.

The way he took the Sarich hit and quietly bounced back is what toughness is all about. I mean, just ask Rocky Balboa.

“It’s not how hard you hit...”

[Oil Stain]

It really surprised me to see Marleau with more games than a guy like Chelios that played until he was 46 or 47 or whatever.

It kind of seems like a shame somehow if Marleau were to end up number one in games played, because the guys currently ahead of him Howe, Messier, Jagr, and Francis had way more memorable careers.

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by Locke

Yes.

The thing is, when you're talking about these historical stats is that its brutally subjective. You've got various leagues, eras, rule changes, equipment changes, goaltenders, sticks, training and nutrition, forecasting due to injuries and lockouts.....it goes on and on.

None of the stats are purely comparable to anything else which makes them effectively meaningless, but a bit of fun.

Frankly you just have to find what you're comfortable with and go from there. For instance, all else aside I would pose that the best Pure Goal Scorer the NHL has ever seen is likely Ovechkin regardless of what all the historical stats might indicate.

Ovechkin goals per season: 46
Gretzky goals per season: 42


Mike Bossy goals per season: 57

I might put Bossy up as the greatest goal scorer in the game.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

Ovechkin goals per season: 46
Gretzky goals per season: 42


Mike Bossy goals per season: 57

I might put Bossy up as the greatest goal scorer in the game.

Ovie would have obliterated the goalies of Bossy's era.

[Beatle17]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Ovie would have obliterated the goalies of Bossy's era.

And with training, nutrition, equipment etc., Bossy would be much better. This argument gets pulled out every time you try to compare era's.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

I became a fan of Marleau that day.

He gave an interview a few minutes after that hit, where he was still bleeding from the forehead, and chatting calmly cool as a cucumber.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

And with training, nutrition, equipment etc., Bossy would be much better. This argument gets pulled out every time you try to compare era's.

You need to look at scoring vs. their peers IMO. Bossy led the league twice, Ovechkin at 8 and counting.

[powderjunkie]

It's not so much about including years away in stats, but at least being aware of them.

Who were the guys at their apex during the full season lockout? One could argue that the year off may have helped extend some careers

Iginla, Nash, Kovalchuk, Sakic, St. Louis, Hossa, Elias, Naslund (leaders in '04 season) could have all added another 40+G or 80+P to their totals (or more if the rule changes came in)

[bobbylouie]

After bashing Gordie for what I feel tainted his legacy with that 1979-80 farce season of 80 games, now I'm forced to go the other way and stick up for him based on the "games missed by current players because of lockouts" post.

From 1947 thru 1967, Gordie's first season, the schedule only consisted of 70 games compared to the 82 of today, so that's a potential of 220 additional games that Gordie "could have" played if you start down the comparing eras path, which I think is a pointless pursuit in almost every case.

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by Beatle17

Ovechkin goals per season: 46
Gretzky goals per season: 42


Mike Bossy goals per season: 57

I might put Bossy up as the greatest goal scorer in the game.

Gretzky and Bossy’s primes basically overlapped. And Gretzky outscored Bossy by a wide margin. It wasn’t even close.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Marleau is for sure a Hall of Famer, but is there a more vanilla player of his stature in the League? It feels like he has been very quietly composing his impressive resume for the last decade. I find that I have no strong feelings about him one way or another.

I personally don't think Marleau belongs in the HHOF. In fact I'm surprised at just how many people here think he's a lock. He belongs in the Hall of Very Good, but not in the elite company of the HHOF.

He has scored 80+ points twice.

Never had any major trophy nominations (other then a couple Byng nomination).

His only major trophy top 10 voting finishes are Hart (9) and Selke (8, 9).

No 1st or 2nd team all-star selections...ever. Sure he has 3 all-star game appearances. But those don't really count .


While he will likely soon break Howe's all-time NHL games played record, that record alone should be what's in the hall. Not Marleau himself for being among the best. Never once was he ever considered to be the best among his peers. And after all, that is what the hall is reserved for; the players deemed to be judged the best among their peers.

I've always liked Marleau and enjoyed watching him play. Fast as hell and exciting at times. But he was never ever among the best players in the league during his career, let alone all time in NHL history.

He's the definition of a compiler and deserves credit for the amount of games he's played. But he belongs in the HOVG and not the HHOF.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

And where do you draw the line? Should the AHL count? It's professional hockey too. Or the Swedish league? Finland? Switzerland then?

There is only one possible line, and it is where it should be.

It's a travesty that Tony Hand and his 3572 points didn't qualify him for the HHOF!