Marcel Or Gilbert?

[patinwoody]

These two hockey brothers, Marcel & Gilbert Dionne, have always intrigued me.

If you can believe it, there is a 19-year age difference between the brothers.

Marcel being the older brother went on to have a Hall of Fame career. Marcel played 18 seasons (1971-1989). He accomplished six 50-goal seasons. Winning awards such as the Art Ross, Lester B. Pearson Award & Lady Byng. He also played in numerous All Star games and had the honor to represent Team Canada in several big tournaments. You can argue that Marcel Dionne is considered one of the best players to play the game. Unfortunately Marcel never won the Stanley Cup. He played a major part of his career with the LA Kings. To Marcel’s credit, the LA Lings were not considered a hockey ‘hot bed’ at the time in 1970/80. (It was only when Mr. Wayne Gretzky came to town, that hockey was taken more seriously in LA with new ownership. The Kings even changed their uniforms – could you imagine Gretzky wearing bright yellow & purple?). Marcel was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992.

And now we come to Gilbert Dionne….

Gilbert Dionne roughly played 3 seasons with Montreal. He was fortunate to play on a line with Denis Savard who peppered him with beautiful passes. That year Gilbert made a splash and scored 21 goals in 39 games (1991/92). The following two seasons Gilbert scored 20 & 19 goals as a full time player. The fizzle had run out on Gilbert. (Does anyone remember that one game where Gilbert desperately pointed to himself after the Canadien’s had scored a goal. There was a scramble when the puck went in the net and Gilbert wanted to make sure the Ref knew to put his name on the score sheet.) Gilbert was traded to Philadelphia and then moved on to Florida (1994/96). In those two seasons Gilbert played a total of 27 games, scoring one goal. The next few years Gilbert was left riding the bus in the minors. He even tried his hand in Europe. With all this said and done, Gilbert Dionne was still fortunate to be a member of Montreal’s 1993 Stanley Cup Championship.

Two brothers. Two different stories.

Give it a honest thought, if you had the choice, which career would you of liked to have?

Marcel's Stats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Dionne

Gilbert's Stats: http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid=1373

[koreysecord1992]

That's a tough one. But I've got to go with Gilbert. The Stanley Cup is king...and to win it as a Canadien to boot.

[patinwoody]

I forgot to mention that today in Marcel's 57th birthday, Aug. 3, 1951

It's a tough call, as a fan i can say Stanley Cup.

As a professional player, the big picture, it's the cup but also your career(realistacally).

[Larry-Launstein-Jr]

Neither.

I remember Marcel very well in Detroit, and remember how he cried his way out - familiar? A certain goalie we had also did the same thing. And let's not forget one thing. For all his offensive output, he was a huge defensive liability. Defense was a foreign concept to him. He would not have fit in with Scotty Bowman during the late 70s at all - because he would have to play some defense to go along with his offense. Remember Pierre Larouche? Same deal with him. They were a luxury the Habs could afford, but not make full use of because of their defensive liabilities.

[FredTheStripper]

hum, tough one

i would give away all my possessions just to say that one day i won the stanley cup... but obviously, i wouldn't enjoy it if other people would win it for me and that i had to consider myself "lucky" of winning it

so my pride would chose Marcel's career

[dso67]

gilbert's, only because he won the cup with the habs, and in those three seasons with montreal... he probably made way more money than marcel. gotta make sure you're family is taken care of!

[amp73]

. (Does anyone remember that one game where Gilbert desperately pointed to himself after the Canadien’s had scored a goal. There was a scramble when the puck went in the net and Gilbert wanted to make sure the Ref knew to put his name on the score sheet.)

UNless he did it more than once, the lone time I recall was in the 1993 Playoffs

He ketp pointing to himself

[habulator]

Well let's see - one is in the Hall of Fame, the other was a marginal player who time will forget.

Easy decision for me - Marcel Dionne - one of the all-time best!

[chromedome_mtl]

Normally one would think that winning the Stanley Cup should define a career.But there is no way I could ever justify saying that Gilbert's career was better than Marcel's .Marcel was a heck of a marvel to watch.In fact,I'd probably have to say that the most impressive line I ever witnessed playing together was when Marcel Dionne,Gilbert Perreault,and Guy Lafleur played as a unit for team Canada.The concern was that all 3 were normally the "go to" guy in any given situation and people thought that they would never be able to play on the same line effectively.They sure proved that thinking wrong !Wow!! was that a sight to behold!....I'm ranting again,sorry!

[sens27]

UNless he did it more than once, the lone time I recall was in the 1993 Playoffs

He ketp pointing to himself

Lattendresse also pointed to himself in his rookie year after a goal. Ive tried to find a you tube clip of it but i had no luck.