Ryan Smyth vs. Trevor Linden

Sort-of-recently, a fellow hockey connoisseur and I were talking about Trevor Linden and how he's probably the greatest Vancouver Canuck of all-time. He's not the best PLAYER to play for Vancouver, you'd have to say either Pavel Bure, Mark Messier, or Roberto Luongo were that. His career does comprise the best numbers and accomplishments of any player wearing a Canucks jersey, and I think it's easy to see that difference. It's also a distinction that probably matters more to fans, since trades and free-agency move players around the league so much that for a fan, the only thing that matters, when evaluating a player, is how well they played for THEIR team. We're also talking about right now; it's certainly possible that Luongo or Henrik Sedin take over and become the player most successful and most identifiable with the Canucks. Today though, it's Linden.

To be fair, the conversation came up when we were making fun of the Canucks, and were making the point that the best player in franchise history wasn't even close to Hall of Fame consideration. It's no knock on Linden of course, I always liked him, and should certainly not affect how Canucks fans' feel about him. I assume that it doesn't matter anyway; rarely do you find fans whose favorite player is or was the best player on their team or in the league. Sure, some people will tell you that Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin is their favorite player. Those people, unless they live in Pittsburgh or Washington, are a) bandwagoners, b) not hockey fans, or c) both, but those are the same thinga anyway. Most fans, at least in my little world, hold the grinders a little closer to heart, perhaps because we can better associate with and can better understand a player who looks like everything takes a world of effort. At his career peak (probably 1993-1997), Linden was among the upper echelon of that kind of physical, hard-working, fan-favorite, team-drafted and developed players that fans are always drawn to. What it says about the Canucks that Linden is the franchise's greatest player isn't something I want to get in here, but more about a comparison that I wonder whether or not is fair. At work this same conversation came up and I suggested that Trevor Linden was to Vancouver what Ryan Smyth was to Edmonton: both drafted in the first round, both became huge parts of their team's identity, both represented Canada internationally and, of course, both lost heartbreaking seventh games in the Stanley Cup Finals. So intuitively, at least to me, they seem like an excellent comparison. But what do the facts say?

Fans are irrational, emotional, and often their intuition of what seems right is totally wrong. The Smyth-Linden comparison seems pretty apt but let's break it down a little further (all numbers from Hockey Reference) to see how close they are:

Regular Season Stats:

Smyth is still playing obviously so this will be incomplete, but he's not likely to play as many seasons as Linden. Linden played 19 NHL seasons, starting at 18 years old, Smyth has played 14 complete seasons and started in what would be his first full season at 19 years old. Linden finished with 1382 games played, 375 goals, 492 assists for 867 points with a -64 plus/minus (0.63 points per game). Smyth finished last season with 920 games played, 310 goals, 350 assists for 660 points and a -27 plus/minus (0.72 points per game). So Smyth is the better point producer, but Linden played more games and in a physical sport that's more to his credit than if this was baseball. Smyth played almost all of his career as a first or second line player; Linden was a third liner for most of his last 5 years. Edge: Smyth, but slightly.

Peak years:

Comparing both players' peak seasons means playing around a little bit. I wanted to look at each player's five best seasons, but on a points-per-game basis as one of Linden's best came during the strike-shortened 1994-1995 season. I'm going to include that but take his numbers over an 82 game season, then reduce both players' stats to a points-per-game number. I think you have to do it that way because while Smyth's peak seasons all occurred in 82 game seasons; Linden had one in a 48 game season (1994-1995), two in 80 game seasons (1990-1991, 1991-1992), and one in an 84 game season (1992-1993). Yeah. What a jerk.

Linden's best five seasons (the four listed above, plus 1995-1996 which was certainly his best overall) totaled 374 games played, 148 goals, 189 assists for 337 points, which works out to 0.90 points per game. Smyth's best five seasons (2000-2001, 2006-2007, 2005-2006, 2002-2003, 2008-2009) totaled 371 games, 156 goals, 168 assists for 324 points, averaging out to 0.87 points per game. Good samples sizes as both players played an almost identical number of games. Smyth had more goals but Linden had many more assists (a product of playing in a more offensive era) so edge, in another close one, goes to Linden.

International Play:

Why count international play? Well, don't you love it when your favorite player plays for Canada (or, um, another country)? I think international experience, by virtue of raising that player's profile nationally and internationally, serves to strengthen a fan's relationship with that player. Plus, international hockey is always a big deal not just in Canada but in any hockey-playing nation, and is considered as part of a player's Hall of Fame credentials. Both players have impressive international resumes, but you might already know where this one's going.

Linden's international experience is all over the map (har!). One World Junior Championship (1987-1988, 7 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 1 point), one World Cup Hockey (1996, 8 games, 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points), one Olympics (1998, 6 games, 1 goal, 0 assists, 1 point), and two World Championships (1991, 1998, 16 games, 2 goals, 8 assists, 10 points). Scored the tying goal against the Czech Republic in the 1998 Olympic semi-final, also played in the World Championships that year. Kudos to him for putting in extra time in what must have been a very long year.

Smyth's international experience is well-known, carrying the nickname Captain Canada for his willingness to play for Canada year after year in the World Championships. His overall international experience includes one World Junior Championship (1994-1995, 7 games, 2 goals, 5 assists), seven World Championships (60 games, 15 goals, 17 assists, 32 points), one World Cup of Hockey (2005, 6 games, 3 goals, 1 assist), and two Olympic teams (2002, 2006, 12 games, 0 goals, 2 assists, 2 points). Edge: Smyth.

Association with city:

I'm not even sure I need to break this down. Linden played 16 seasons with Vancouver, had his number retired, was heavily involved in many B.C. charities such BC Children's Hospital, Canuck Place, and his own Trevor Linden Foundation and was named to the Order of British Columbia. He even ran in the 2010 Olympic torch relay (source). On the ice, he's best known for leading the Canucks on their 1994 Stanley Cup run, his captaincy from 1991-1997, putting Jeff Norton through the glass, and really looking like Bradley Cooper.

Smyth was involved in the Edmonton community, donated time to charity but is certainly most associated with his on-ice play. He was never captain, served as assistant captain and captained Canada's World Championship teams from 2001-2005. Captain captain captain. He created his own version of the Gretzky office in front of the net and for a time was among the league's best at tipping pucks and creating screens. The peak of Edmonton career, much like Linden's, was in his team's 2006 Stanley Cup run. In game 3 against San Jose, Chris Pronger's clearing attempt hit Smyth in the mouth, knocking out several teeth and leaving blood everywhere. Smyth returned and set up Shawn Horcoff's double-overtime goal, paving the way for four straight victories in that series. A fan favorite, he cried when traded and almost cost Kevin Lowe his job (I have to find the source on that, it was a long story by David Staples who writes for the Edmonton Journal and has a great Oiler blog, The Cult of Hockey) and was "famous" for that "hairstyle." Edge: Linden, and it's not really close.

So that means we need some sort of tiebreaker, some sort of artificial measurement to break the deadlock. Suggestions...?