Quote:
Originally Posted by redbull
well said. this is where I stand as well. Mess was one of the best players I've ever seen, with the career/pedigree that lives on forever...but Lindros at his (brief) best was more impressive. I'm not sure Lindros really ever reached his peak, that's the sad thing. I think in his best seasons, he still had untapped upside.
I agree with your points but still vote Lindros because of my earlier point, that I don't thikn we ever even saw the best of Lindros. From what we DID see, Eric was a bigger, stronger, meaner version of Mess, with a better scoring touch. Not by much, mind you, but he had that level of dominance in the combination of physical play and offensive skill that I'd never seen before. (If that's the way Howe played, then he must have been something special to see as well!)
|
Not sure about
meaner. Bigger and stronger sure.
Quote:
|
I hate to take injuries into account whether it's "reckless" or not. I don't fault Wendell Clark or Cam Neely or Bobby Orr or Mike Bossy or countless others....and I don't think it's fair to do so with Lindros....or Crosby (maybe!)
|
When you recklessly stylistically cause yourself dozens of injuries and miss significant time, I consider it a bit different than missing time due to targeted dirty hits. But we can agree to disagree
Quote:
|
If Lindros simply had better on-ice awareness OR toned it down just a notch, he'd still be an imposing physical presence out there and might have achieved far more on the ice than even the glimpses we'd seen.
|
If Lindros had or did both of those things, the first player I would think of is Messier
Quote:
|
As an aside, I ran into Eric in a mall a week or two ago, I can't even imagine how intimidating he was on skates, with equipment, at his playing weight & fitness levels. I'm just under 6'3" and I had to look up at him. Wow.
|
Oh yes. The guy was huge