Heaton
Moderator
To me it's a bit like the Roy vs Hasek debate.
Roy has the great career stats, while Hasek had the better peak.
However... Lidstrom in 01-02..at his peak, was pretty dominating too... so that's not exactly a good analogy.
The reason why I put Pronger and Robinson ahead is because these guys can do everything. Play every style you might possibly want to start a playoff run.
When your ace defensemen Robinson can beat you with end-to-end rushes, slapshots and great passes or big hits... and he can punch out Dave Schultz's lights and end the Broad Street Bullies' era...
Robinson, in many ways, was like Lidstrom offensively, but with the ability to hit like a Pronger and fight like a Shanahan (not often, but when he did... he could go toe-to-toe with anyone).
I don't care much about the stats and factoring for eras and all that BS.
Can you think of any defensemen that Pronger made look better like Lidstrom has throughout the years?