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Friday, December 27, 2002

Compiled by Dan Gigler

Maybe chalk it up to a little too much bourbon-spiked eggnog, but our friends over at Sports By Brooks may have lost their minds. The Southern California-based Web site, made famous by their ultra-foxy SBB Girls, have posited that a couple of hockey players you may have heard of named Gretzky and Lemieux (Wayne and Mario, not Brent and Claude) are overrated.

Specifically, SBB says that while the Great One and Le Manifique's skills are tremendous, their scoring feats have been aided by mechanical advantage in the form of the curved hockey stick.

Haven't we heard this argument a million times over in baseball regarding the tree limbs Babe Ruth used to swing as opposed to the light lumber Bonds and McGwire use? Anyway, here's SBB's side of the argument:

"Super Mario and The Great One put up their astonishing offensive numbers with a hockey stick that featured a curved blade -- while Ol' Timey super-skilled stars like Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion and Jean Beliveau toiled their entire careers with a flat-bladed stick.

The NHL was a very different place before the curved blade was introduced. With a flat-bladed hockey stick, most goals were puny, well-placed wrist shots snapped off near the goal crease. That put a premium on physical play and absolute precision -- and also was the reason goalies didn't have to wear masks.

Everything changed in 1963, when Chicago Blackhawks legend Stan Mikita accidentally stumbled upon a curved blade during a morning skate. Thanks to mistakenly playing with a broken blade that had a slight curve, Mikita noted that the puck was much easier to control on the blade. Thus, he could unleash powerful blasts and not worry about the puck skittering off the blade.

Previous to his discovery, Mikita had never led the league in scoring. After his "Eureka" he went on to top the scoring charts four times. Now all NHL players use curved hockey stick-blades.

Geoffrion, Richard and Beliveau, played their entire careers with a flat blade and never came close to notching 100 points in a season. Howe also played the majority of his 25-year NHL career with the unaltered lumber and managed only a single 100-point season. Considering his longevity, one wonders the numbers Howe would've achieved if he'd played with the doctored blade.

Gretzky scored 212 points and Lemieux 199 in single seasons while utilizing a curved blade. None of these comparisons is designed to diminish the greatness of Gretzky and Lemieux. Both players were/are supremely skilled and deserving of the accompanying accolades."