HOH Top 60 Defensemen - Round 1 Voting Results

[Dennis Bonvie]

Meh, if I had that much power, Lionel Conacher would have dropped 10-15 spots

I was actually surprised to see Laperriere fall below Conacher, especially considering the gap between them in aggregate points after round 1. After Gerard shot up, I kind of expected the Laperriere, Pronovost, Conacher trio to slide down a spot each, but Pronovost and Conacher maintained their spots and Laperriere is the one who suffered.

Edit: remember that round 8 (where we added 36-40) was the round where 2 new candidates (Hod Stuart and Ching Johnson) finished 1-2. Laperriere was the highest ranked of the leftovers. Makes me wonder how high Hod and Ching would have finished if they had appeared earlier

I was shocked to see Conacher that high. I had him at 64 on my original list. I might have underestimated him originally, but not by that much.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I was shocked to see Conacher that high. I had him at 64 on my original list. I might have underestimated him originally, but not by that much.

He was 35th on the final list, 35th in the composite, and had an average placement of 38 on our top-80 lists. Far from shocking, it looks like he landed right where he belonged.

 

[overpass]

Players who didn't come up for vote who I most wish did:

Art Ross - is he really any worse than Lester Patrick? I don't know.

Lennart Svedberg - I would have liked to discuss his place among other Europeans. He's definitely below Suchy, but how does he compare to Pospisil, Ragulin, and Lutchenko?

Eric Desjardins - IMO, he was a better defenseman than Zubov or Housley, both of who we discussed. I don't think he peaked as high as Konstantinov, but he probably had a better career. I would have loved to see overpass's stats for him.

Herb Gardiner - I'm at fault as much as anyone for this - IIRC, he was a late cut from my list. I doubt he's top 60, but would have been worth discussing his unique career.

I also had Derian Hatcher fairly high (top 75 not top 60). Would have been interesting to compare his career to Zubov and possibly even Harvey Pulford. IMO, if it wasn't for Scott Stevens, Hatcher could have been the defining "dead puck" defenseman - meaning a guy who epitomizes the style of play in the era. Hatchet is pretty cut and dry though- if he wasn't on your list already, I doubt you add him.

I would have liked to give Art Ross a closer look. It's not clear to me that Patrick was better, and Ross might even have been comparable to Hod Stuart.

You can find Desjardins adjusted stats in a Google Docs spreadsheet I posted during Round 1 discussion.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

He was 35th on the final list, 35th in the composite, and had an average placement of 38 on our top-80 lists. Far from shocking, it looks like he landed right where he belonged.

You're right.

It was shocking to me because of where I saw him (which obviously was in the minority).

 

[tarheelhockey]

Looks like only 2 voters had Cyclone Taylor, but they might have felt they had a strong argument for him.

 

[MXD]

+ Cy Wentworth got a surprising amount of votes. Good thing.
+ Considering the guys that were available/were voted in, I think Herb Gardiner should CLEARLY have been available for voting. I had him in the Top-50, and would still have him (roughly) there.
+ There are some mysteries : Keith Magnussen and Craig Ludwig? Green looks like a great choice by comparison.

 

[overpass]

Looks like only 2 voters had Cyclone Taylor, but they might have felt they had a strong argument for him.

Yes. Most voters didn't consider Taylor a defenceman, but he was one of the greatest players ever so anyone who ranked him ranked him highly.

He could have been eligible for the final vote in Round 2 with just 2 or 3 more voters listing him.