Eazy_b97 1 Report post Posted April 19, 2005 His skills were decent, but they weren't what made him. Even his passing was mostly due to his ice vision. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shute 4 Report post Posted April 19, 2005 yes but when mario playes he gives it everythings he's got like gretzky. perfect example would be Fedorov who only does well when his contract is up. if he played like he did every season he'd be considered one of the all time greats instead of just an all star. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eazy_b97 1 Report post Posted April 19, 2005 What you don't understand, Shute, is that talent doesn't make a player. Some of the most talented players in the world aren't in the NHL, they don't have the drive and aren't willing to sacrafice what it takes to be there. I wonder about your Federov point as well considering Mario just started a serious offseason routine at the start of his last comeback.Theo - my point was that each individual skill didn't make him what he was. He wasn't really behind in any of them, some would argue skating, but I don't think his skating was THAT bad. If he couldn't think the game as well as he did, his skills would've looked much more average. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shute 4 Report post Posted April 19, 2005 I really don't know...Gretzkys ability to beat the game mentally might have been his greatest asset, but its not fair to downgrade his passing, which was unbelievable. His skating wasn't superstar level, but he wasn't a bad skater by any means. And his shooting was underrated.And to say that you would be the Gordie Howe of hockey if you went back to the 1950s is a very bold statement to make.Also, to say Datsuk would go end to end is the 80's could be false. We simply do not know. Maybe he would have been a 120pt player tops. But you are making Dats sound like the Gretzky or Lemiuex of our era, which is very far from the truth. Those two were worlds above the competition, gretzky especially. Dats is with the pack yearly at the top bracket of scoring. Big difference. your right Datsyuk isn't the best of the best of today but that is only because times have changed. Datsyuk isn't the best but i just used him because i think he is as close to playing like gretzky as anyone of today. he is nothing super special today but put his skills to a time when goalies never went down and when a lot of players couldn't even skate backwards and you got a whole new story. it's the same as if you moved the 18 year old gretzky to today, whole new story again. he wouldn't be putting up major numbers like he did back then and he wouldn't be miles ahead of everyone else either. i do think he'd be the best in the gam, yes. would he get 200 points, no... would he get more goals then games, no... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shute 4 Report post Posted April 19, 2005 BUT and i mean a big BUT if you put someone like Gretzky with all his god given vision, his passion for the game and his smarts. Put all that into a baby and raise him like gretzky. then i think it's safe to also say that the kid would be great and well be better then the 80's version of gretzky. just different times.... like i said before he was just miles ahead of his time but i can't see his skills being that far ahead of everyone else these days if everyone else played like it was their last game every game like gretzky did.remember when Bure first broke into the league... he was miles ahead of everyone at scoring at the time too. put the same Bure back to when Gretzky first broke into the league and i'm 100% sure Bure would score more then Gretzky... however i think it would be hard for even Bure at this prime to score 60 in the nhl of today. every once in a while we see someone who is just so ahead of everyone else that it's sick but to move that person forward in time and expect them to put up the same numbers wouldn't be fair. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hipster 5 Report post Posted April 19, 2005 I think some of the changes in the game have put more emphasis on size and strength and lightning fast hand eye coordination. Those have always been great attributes to have as a player, but I think Gretzky's unbelievable vision and passing skills and anticipation have sort of been de-emphasized. Not completely, just de-emphasized a bit due to the goalies equipment, the trapping style defenses and the size of the average defenseman.On a side note, my nine year old sent a card to Gretzky in February nd it came back autographed this week. My son is on cloud nine. Thanks Wayne. You truly are the greatest. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
