Quote:
Originally Posted by tazzy19
I think this statement is self contradictory. If Gretzky made Bernie Nicholls score at a faster pace -- albeit by taking the offensive pressure off him by taking his place on the 1st line -- this still constitutes as Gretzky making Nicholls a better scorer, does it not? With no Gretzky on his team, Nicholls does NOT score 150 points on that Kings team, not in a million years. Therefore, it's really a moot point.
Too add further, before Nicholls was traded to NY in January of the 1989-90 season, he was 3rd in NHL scoring! He finished the year with 112 points after the trade. No where near #2 and #3 (who were at 129 and and 127 points respectively). Conclusion: Wayne Gretzky did make Bernie Nicholls a better scorer (however directly or indirectly) -- and not just by a little bit, but by a substantial amount.
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Ok, I'll rephrase. Gretzky did not DIRECTLY make Nicholls a better scorer. Which is generally the implication when people say "Nicholls played with Gretzky".
Nicholls could have played those minutes behind John Cullen, and if he were against the same opposition with the same linemates at ES he'd have put up the same numbers. My point is that he didn't have Gretzky at ES. And beyond that, he still put up HHOF-worthy numbers OUTSIDE of those seasons. Make it a 90-100 point season in those two years, and he's still close to 1200 and better than PPG.
It's like the people in the Luongo threads who say "without a Cup, he's not getting into the Hall" and then the response is "one game determines the yes or no vote?"
What is it? Do 225 points over 126 games in Nicholls' career determine whether or not he's a Hall of Famer? Steve Shutt's in the Hall and never came close to what Nicholls did in goals or points. You know another guy with lower single-season career highs for goals and points, as well as career totals for assists and points? Mike Bossy.
But those guys, they didn't play with any Hart trophy winners or Art Ross winners in their career. Not once.