Hockey players from the 70's vs today

[dudacek]

5 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

 

Again, college kids are not going to roll over because some guy starts swinging. They are going to get pissed and swing back. 

Just like Ned Braden did against Tim McCracken!

 

[Neo]

Next OT:

Gonzaga vs. Dave Cowens’ Celtics!

[Tondas]

Since this started with my post last night regarding Danny Gare (and by the way I don't consider myself an old timer), I thought I'd weigh in.  SDS stated, "I wish people would just go to YouTube and watch the Sabres or any other team of the 70s.  It’s a clown show. Any college team could have beaten the 75 Sabres  and certainly any Junior national team."  I read the bolded part and thought he was saying any college team of 1975 could beat the 1975 Sabres.  Being a pedant, I would have preferred that his statement was, "Any CURRENT college team could have beaten the 75 Sabres."  My mistake.  I agree that current college teams could possibly and may be probably beat the teams of old for all the posts that are listed in the thread.  (However, I think Perreault would still be a star on any current college team.)  Anyway, the logic is true for just about any profession.  Are engineers today better than engineers of yesteryear?  Yes, they have computer modeling.  Accountants today have spreadsheets.  Mechanics today have computer readouts that diagnose problems.  Pilots are better trained than in the 70's.  Dentist have 3-D printed crown replacements.

It's unfair to compare eras.  I'm not saying the 1975 Sabres are better than college teams of today, but they were exciting to watch against competition of the era.  And frankly, the 1975 teams may not be better than today's robot players, but I'd argue they were more entertaining and endearing to the fans.

 

[Sabre Dance]

For cryin' in the sink, someone please invent a time machine so we can actually see these match-ups.  Otherwise, it's all innuendo...or is that outuendo?

Edited March 8, 2019 by Sabre Dance

[PerreaultForever]

You simply cannot compare eras. As mentioned, different era, different rules, different "skills."

A perfect way to look at it would be the Philadelphia Red Army game. Ruskies were faster and way more skilled, like many of today's players, but with those rules the Flyers punished them badly. Half the kids off any team today would leave a time travel game with stitches and concussions before it was even over.  It was simply different then. 

[SDS]

1 minute ago, PerreaultForever said:

You simply cannot compare eras. As mentioned, different era, different rules, different "skills."

A perfect way to look at it would be the Philadelphia Red Army game. Ruskies were faster and way more skilled, like many of today's players, but with those rules the Flyers punished them badly. Half the kids off any team today would leave a time travel game with stitches and concussions before it was even over.  It was simply different then. 

1.  Agreed. People should stop wishing for players  from previous eras to come back and play the modern game. 

2.  The hyperbole is not supported by video evidence. 

[SwampD]

22 minutes ago, SDS said:

1.  Agreed. People should stop wishing for players  from previous eras to come back and play the modern game. 

2.  The hyperbole is not supported by video evidence. 

This is the reason I want a time machine. I truly believe that there is a psychological effect that happens while watching old video. I want to go back in time for the sole purpose of shooting those games with modern cameras and lighting and codecs.

I really don’t think that the action on ice is as different from today as we think, based on our inprressions from watching ol’ timey video.

[#freejame]

There’s a whole lot of ignorance in this thread and I suspect a serious lack of playing with players of either era. Guys these days in the off-season flip tires, what the ***** do you think they did then for actual jobs? Pull up a photo of Bobby Hall and tell me he wouldn’t hold his own. 1975 all-stars would destroy a team of college all-stars (https://www.hockey-reference.com/allstar/NHL_1975_roster.html). You know who else trained much harder than their opponents and played much more and had more resources? The 1980 USSR Olympic team. And you know who beat them? A bunch of scrubs who were out of shape and weren’t serious hockey players.

 

USA! USA! USA! 

[drnkirishone]

I feel like i am being trolled

[Sabre1974]

I remember going back to the mid 80's early 90's watching hockey here in the UK. At that time it was a team with your British players and your 3 imports from Canada or the usa. Scores back then we're unreal. Like 12-6, 15-5 and so on due to the goalies being a poor standard and the imports making the difference. Thankfully now those days are gone and the quality has improved. 

[Eleven]

18 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

What if you could create an all star team from any player in the NHL by 1989. They have to play an all star team made up of 2019 all stars using 2019 equipment. Who wins? 

 

Now THIS is going to be some fun.  I just want to make sure I do it right:  Are you talking about players who played in or before 1989, or just players from 1989?  Either way the old guys are going to win, but if I can pick from ALL players in or before 1989, it's going to be total destruction.

 

12 hours ago, SDS said:

1.  Agreed. People should stop wishing for players  from previous eras to come back and play the modern game. 

2.  The hyperbole is not supported by video evidence. 

Actually, those Sabres from 1975 don't seem to be much slower than the Sabres of 2014.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Eleven

[Stoner]

 

9 hours ago, drnkirishone said:

I feel like i am being trolled

At the very least it's an enormous strawman.

[woods-racer]

9 hours ago, IrwinNelson said:

There’s a whole lot of ignorance in this thread and I suspect a serious lack of playing with players of either era. Guys these days in the off-season flip tires, what the ***** do you think they did then for actual jobs? Pull up a photo of Bobby Hall and tell me he wouldn’t hold his own. 1975 all-stars would destroy a team of college all-stars (https://www.hockey-reference.com/allstar/NHL_1975_roster.html). You know who else trained much harder than their opponents and played much more and had more resources? The 1980 USSR Olympic team. And you know who beat them? A bunch of scrubs who were out of shape and weren’t serious hockey players.

 

USA! USA! USA! 

 

Their *other job* back in the day was usually some form of manual labor and was very demanding. These guys thought skating around the rink and playing a game was they easier of the 2 jobs. 

Heck, I bet they could all do a pull up. 

[Eleven]

Here's my 20-man  roster of JUST players who played in 1989:

C Gretzky, Messier, Lemieux, Yzerman (or LaFontaine or Nieuwndyk but I'm going Yzerman).

RW Hull, Neely, Kurri, Ciccarelli (or Mullen, but I'm going Ciccarelli)

LW  Robitaille, the other Mullen, Gallant, Linden

D:  Chelios, Coffey, Borque, Stevens, Lowe, and one of Leetch, Housley, Suter, or Robinson.

G:  Roy and  one of Vernon/Hextall/Fuhr/Hrudey/Barasso

This team would beat a team of 2019 All-Stars or any 2019 20-man roster you can put together.  

The only spot that is even arguably weaker is LW (NOT a good year for LW!), and I'd argue that by putting some guys on their off side, I could make a better LW group than 2019.

Edited March 9, 2019 by Eleven

[Pimlach]

The great players in the 70’s (Orr, Perreault, Parent, Dionne,  LaFluer, etc.) would still be great players today.  They would get the same training, ice time, coaching, conditioning, etc.  The talent is there to harvest.  The talent would prevail.  Gil and Orr were fast then and they would be faster today.  

Assuming the same conditioning and coaching as today,  most all of the the players from the old 6, 12, 14, and 16 team NHL would have a great chance at making the NHL today.  The marginal  talent and the lazy would not make it.  Back then 98% of the league was Canadian,  now it is about 50%.  Today there are 31 teams and the additional  players come from Europe and the USA, making the number of Canadian players about the same as it was in the 14-16 team league.  

The biggest difference is the goalies.  Today’s goalies are way bigger and the equipment is bigger, safer, lighter,  and better   So today 5hey are fearless and they take up much more space   

 

The 1975 Sabres and Flyers would beat todays D1 College and Junior National teams using 1975 equipment, refs, and rules   Men versus boys, albeit fast boys, the old era guys would have slowed them down and scared the hell out of them.    If the fictional game was played in current time with current rules and equipment I would be less sure the old timers could win, but I would not be  surprised if they did.    

 

The game is different now.   Physical intimidation is not prevelant today but hitting is still a big part of it.  The year round training and the knowledge of developing and maintaining speed and strength was not known in the 70’s.   Coaching, Scouting, video, analytics, etc  all help today’s team reach a higher level.  

 

 

 

[Eleven]

Hey @LGR4GM; I know you've been on.  Conceding?

[Jacque Richard]

Could you imagine Rico shooting with the sticks today. Cripe nobody on this roster shoots like him

[woods-racer]

One question nobody's asked or answered.

 

What about the ice?

 

Today's ice has to be (at every level) way better managed than the ice from years back, right?

[calti]

Oh dear lord the 75 Sabres would crush the 2019 sabres.Not even close. Whoever suggested otherwise must be having a laugh/troll.

Luce,Ramsay,Korab,Scoenfeld,Gare,Perrault,Martin,hajt,McNabb,Robert,Stanfield...

vs Eichel,dahlin,SkinnerRasmus.................and a lot of weak untalented nothing

[Kruppstahl]

On 3/8/2019 at 11:29 AM, SDS said:

In response to the old-timers here continually harkening back to yesteryear, longing for the stars of their youth to reincarnate and step onto the ice again to show these bums how hockey is played - I asserted in last night's game thread that the modern hockey player today would crush those players. D1 college, World Junior teams, etc... would annihilate these guys. 

If you need any visual proof, please watch the first minute of this Sabres/Flyers game from 1975. Three minutes is you have the time. 

They were awesome back in the day, but compared to today's players - they are COMICALLY bad.

 

 

How old are you?

22?  Something like that?

 

 

[calti]

15 hours ago, Jacque Richard said:

Could you imagine Rico shooting with the sticks today. Cripe nobody on this roster shoots like him

true. not even close.and when people compare weights its a ridiculous premise. luce lived near me --saw him all the time.he was about 6'2'' and 178--but you would never mess with him he was like solid steel.-And who was the toughest guy on the sabres 1990s/early 2000s? Skinny Mike peca.

[calti]

On 3/8/2019 at 11:31 AM, Neo said:

Next OT:

Gonzaga vs. Dave Cowens’ Celtics!

hehe