He started his career in Detroit, but hockey history remembers Marcel Dionne as the King of Kings. The LA Kings that is.
While Wayne Gretzky gets all the accolades, Marcel Dionne is arguably the greatest LA Kings player of all time, if you objectively compared his longer career in California. Sure he played in great anonymity, but he, not #99, is the Kings all time leading scorer. In fact he is the 5th highest scorer in NHL history and the highest scoring French player in hockey history.
But, sadly, hockey history also remembers him finishing his career out of place with the New York Rangers, who eventually demoted the Hockey Hall of Famer to the minor leagues.
So who does Marcel Dionne pick to win the 2014 Stanley Cup? LA, of course, as he tells Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star:
"They are the complete team. Four lines. Darryl Sutter really impresses me, for a guy that can barely talk. They’re very precise. They make adjustments. They’re resilient. Drew Doughty can take over games. You look at guys like Dustin Brown, everybody chips in. Marian Gaborik has been a big addition."
The Kings have invited Dionne to Los Angeles as their honoured guest, but it does not seem that Dionne will attend.
“Nobody calls me for two years, and now everybody calls me. It’s like I rose from the dead,” said Dionne, chuckling. “Even Luc Robitaille called to invite me down for the final. I don’t think they know what we do. Some of us work for a living. I’ll watch on TV. They’ve got good replays. I would like to go, I appreciated the call. But it’s very hectic.”
McGran and Dionne go on to talk about a number of topics, particularly concerning Dionne's amazing yet anonymous career:
"If I had played for the Montreal Canadiens and Guy Lafleur would have played for the Oakland Seals, what happens then? But am I going back in history? No. I’m very thankful for my career. I played a game that I loved to play. When I go to bed at night, I don’t worry about that. I’m a lucky man."
Here's the full interview
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