Ovechkin v Gretzky

[pood]

Ovechkin is 5 goals short at this point. He should do it, and Wayne Gretzky is doing everything in his power to have Canada be cool with it.

As Gretzky is a Trump supporter, he is now invisible to me. Of course, Ovechkin is a Putin supporter, so …

Fucking Orr too... what the fuck man?! The best player ever in Bobby Orr falling for that piece of shit Trump?

Orr is a Trump supporter???

 

[pood]

Also, the best player ever was Howe, and, he was … a Republican.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Ovechkin is 5 goals short at this point. He should do it, and Wayne Gretzky is doing everything in his power to have Canada be cool with it.

As Gretzky is a Trump supporter, he is now invisible to me. Of course, Ovechkin is a Putin supporter, so …

Fucking Orr too... what the fuck man?! The best player ever in Bobby Orr falling for that piece of shit Trump?

Orr is a Trump supporter???

Apparently this has been known for a while. I hadn't known until much more recently when Orr came to Gretzky's defense. I'm glad my Dad didn't live long enough to learn of it.

Orr won the Art Ross and Norris trophy in the same season... twice. The absurdity of that makes him #1 period. Howe was one of the best, but not that good.

 

[pood]

Apparently Phil Esposito is, or at least was as of 2016, a Trump supporter. I’ve noticed that a great many Canadian hockey players tend to be Republicans, and probably straightforwardly for reasons Esposito gave: Taxes are lower in the U.S.

 

[pood]

FWIW, Orr, Esposito, Gretzky, and Lemieux all say Howe was the GOAT.

 

[pood]

Gretzky’s kowtowing to Trump is particularly galling though because the Orange Goon wants to annex Canada.

 

[bilby]

I’ve noticed that a great many Canadian hockey players tend to be Republicans, and probably straightforwardly...

...because their sport leads to repeated blows to the head.

 

[pood]

I’ve noticed that a great many Canadian hockey players tend to be Republicans, and probably straightforwardly...

...because their sport leads to repeated blows to the head.

Yeah, well, Gordie Howe nearly died in hockey game in the early fifties, very early in his long career, when he went charging into the boards to flatten an opponent, only he missed and hit his head on the boards and fractured his skull (no helmets back then). He nearly died on the operating table. He retained lifelong spasmodic blinking fron the incident. The next year he came back, missed no ice time, and won the scoring title.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I’ve noticed that a great many Canadian hockey players tend to be Republicans, and probably straightforwardly...

...because their sport leads to repeated blows to the head.

In their days... yeah. I can't get how people who busted their asses so hard, can fall for such a fraud.

I’ve noticed that a great many Canadian hockey players tend to be Republicans, and probably straightforwardly...

...because their sport leads to repeated blows to the head.

Yeah, well, Gordie Howe nearly died in hockey game in the early fifties, very early in his long career, when he went charging into the boards to flatten an opponent, only he missed and hit his head on the boards and fractured his skull (no helmets back then). He nearly died on the operating table. He retained lifelong spasmodic blinking fron the incident. The next year he came back, missed no ice time, and won the scoring title.

That is the type of resolve I'd expect from someone that was the second best player in NHL history.

 

[pood]

Esposito also is, or at least was, pals with Putin, and has visited him in the Kremlin. Putin remembered Espo from watching hin the Summit Series of 1972. He asked Phil why Canadian hockey players never wore helmets back in the day. Espo replied that he could pay someone to think for him. Putin then asked him if he wore a cup. When Esposito assured him that he did, Putin congratulated him on having his priorities straight.

 

[pood]

That is the type of resolve I'd expect from someone that was the second best player in NHL history.

Unlike the second best player in NHL history, Orr, who wussed out and packed it in early after some knee injuries.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

FWIW, Orr, Esposito, Gretzky, and Lemieux all say Howe was the GOAT.

Lemieux, to me is arguably the best over Orr. The stats he put up, on the teams he played for. No Kurri, Messier, Coffey until the 90s. And like Orr, he had injury issues, and also got and recovered from Cancer. He probably was the best player to not have a full career while playing a full career.

But Orr, Howe, Gretzky... Howe and Gretzky were phenoms at their position... Orr owned the entire rink. Orr holds the +/- record, not Gretzky, and Robinson had to play with a series of HoF'ers to get as close as he did to it.

 

[pood]

FWIW, Orr, Esposito, Gretzky, and Lemieux all say Howe was the GOAT.

Lemieux, to me is arguably the best over Orr. The stats he put up, on the teams he played for. No Kurri, Messier, Coffey until the 90s. And like Orr, he had injury issues, and also got and recovered from Cancer. He probably was the best player to not have a full career while playing a full career.

But Orr, Howe, Gretzky... Howe and Gretzky were phenoms at their position... Orr owned the entire rink. Orr holds the +/- record, not Gretzky, and Robinson had to play with a series of HoF'ers to get as close as he did to it.

Actually Robinson has the plus/minus record. Orr is No. 2 and Gretzky 4. Not sure how much plus/minus really counts, anyway. You can be a great two-way player yet still play on a team with lousy defense and goaltending and your plus/minus will suffer accordingly.

FWIW, Ovi, who scored no. 891 last night, has a plus/minus of 62, light years away form the leaders.

Lemieux also retired early (before coming out of retirement several years later) because he didn’t like. being picked on by meanie players on other teams. When Howe was picked on by meanie players he performed impromptu plastic surgery on their faces with his hockey stick and fists. Enforcer goon Lou Fontanato found that out in 1957 when his nose was transformed into a small, jagged mountain range by Howe’s fists.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

+/- for a season. Robinson indeed has the best for a career.

Lemieux was a softy, but he'd sometimes give something back. He was much like Gretzky, with goons to help protect them and that was how the roles worked. The players were definitely tougher back in the day, when the game was notably rougher.

 

[pood]

+/- for a season. Robinson indeed has the best for a career.

Lemieux was a softy, but he'd sometimes give something back. He was much like Gretzky, with goons to help protect them and that was how the roles worked. The players were definitely tougher back in the day, when the game was notably rougher.

Lemieux was a really big guy, even bigger than Howe. He had the ability to defend himself, but instead whined about the refs and abruptly retired. That’s not to say he wasn’t a great player. I’d put him No. 4 on my all-time list.

 

[pood]

Howe didn’t have goons. He was his own goon.

 

[laughing dog]

During most of Orr's and Howe's career, the seasons and playoffs were shorter. Both were brilliant players. Orr almost singlehandly revolutionized the role of the defense man.

Gretzky was amazing to watch and he made his linemates look even better. And he married a gorgeous woman.

 

[pood]

During most of Orr's and Howe's career, the seasons and playoffs were shorter. Both were brilliant players. Orr almost singlehandly revolutionized the role of the defense man.

Gretzky was amazing to watch and he made his linemates look even better. And he married a gorgeous woman.

It’s not just that they were shorter. In Howe’s case, there were fewer teams and games were contested like wars. Average scoring was way down. Average scoring ballooned in the 70s and 80s after the league ballooned from six to 32 teams, without sufficiently good players to stock all those teams. This was before the huge influx of European talent and especially Russian players. Back then games could have ridiculous scores like 11-9. Not just Gretzky and Lemieux but plenty of others padded their stats by feasting on non-competitive teams.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

Howe didn’t have goons. He was his own goon.

You've heard the term "Howe hat trick"? A goal, an assist, and a fight.

Anyway, Ovi tied the record with two last night, and had multiple chance for a third. Fans got really worked up when the opponent pulled their goalie, but the empty-netter was scored by a kid from Boston University who just joined the team a few days ago. He can tell his grandkids that he got his first NHL goal in the same game that Ovi caught up with Gretzky.

 

[pood]

Howe didn’t have goons. He was his own goon.

You've heard the term "Howe hat trick"? A goal, an assist, and a fight.

Anyway, Ovi tied the record with two last night, and had multiple chance for a third. Fans got really worked up when the opponent pulled their goalie, but the empty-netter was scored by a kid from Boston University who just joined the team a few days ago. He can tell his grandkids that he got his first NHL goal in the same game that Ovi caught up with Gretzky.

Ovi didn’t go on the ice for the empty-netter because he said he didn’t want to break the record that way.