Heaton
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bleedgreen
Registered User
born and raised whaler guy, ive worshipped ronnie as a kid and admired him as an adult. he's a role model and im proud of being a whaler guy because of players like him.
i would take yzerman.
ronnie is the best second center ever, and a perfect first line complimentary player to guys like jagr. one of the best faceoff guys ever. in comparison though, he never had yzermans high end skill. ronnie was never a goal scorer, and yzerman was a 60 goal scorer. i believe yzerman has the best season ever on record not counting gretzky or mario. in their primes you would never confuse these two players. yzerman was a 150 pt sniper playmaker one on one nightmare who as he grew older grew some francis like tendencies. ronnie was solid everynight, did all the little things every night. his point totals were often reflections of either his linemates (jags, pptime in pitts) or great chemistry with linemates (dineen, whaler days, oneill). ronnie was never a guy who could go end to end, even when he was young. yzerman was the most dangerous guy in the league one on one at times. ronnies biggest compliment is that he has the highest assist total in the history of the nhl, except for gretzky - and he was never a top scorer. it speaks to his consistency and smarts.
great character comparison. not so great player comparison.
i would take yzerman.
ronnie is the best second center ever, and a perfect first line complimentary player to guys like jagr. one of the best faceoff guys ever. in comparison though, he never had yzermans high end skill. ronnie was never a goal scorer, and yzerman was a 60 goal scorer. i believe yzerman has the best season ever on record not counting gretzky or mario. in their primes you would never confuse these two players. yzerman was a 150 pt sniper playmaker one on one nightmare who as he grew older grew some francis like tendencies. ronnie was solid everynight, did all the little things every night. his point totals were often reflections of either his linemates (jags, pptime in pitts) or great chemistry with linemates (dineen, whaler days, oneill). ronnie was never a guy who could go end to end, even when he was young. yzerman was the most dangerous guy in the league one on one at times. ronnies biggest compliment is that he has the highest assist total in the history of the nhl, except for gretzky - and he was never a top scorer. it speaks to his consistency and smarts.
great character comparison. not so great player comparison.
Bring Back Bucky
Registered User
I wonder how different our perspectives would be if Francis had been a career Red Wing and Yzerman played in relative anonymity in Hartford plus a stint in the shadow of Mario Lemieux??
Wouldn't be an iota different. Hell, Detroit was hardly a great hockey market in the 1980s, and didn't really turn around until Yzerman was in his 30s.
Until the mid-1990s when he had his stats inflated by Lemieux and Jagr, Francis was a 90-100 point player who was consistently on the fringes of the top-10 in league scoring. Yzerman was the most dominant offensive player in the league from 87-94 outside of Lemieux and Gretzky. Career stats look somewhat similar, but in terms of peak performance they weren't really all that close.
True, but I would still pick Yzerman. Then again, if someone was to offer a super donair, I could be swayed to change my choice.
bleedgreen
Registered User
read my previous post. there was no comparison in these players in their prime. steve yzerman was a hall of famer all star before they even won the cups. im a whaler fan and im saying yzerman was better.
John Flyers Fan
Registered User
trevchar1971
Registered User
- Jun 1, 2006
- 509
- 0
Francis is a sure fire HHOFer but Yzerman was the superior player and always played at a level Francis could never quite reach.
Greeneye
Registered User
Steve. The way he gave up the laurels of a premier scorer to be more of a team player... that alone is worthy of the deepest respect.
Jazz
Registered User
Yes!
And highest point in a season ever by someone not named Gretzky or Lemieux (155pts in 1988-89).
Sens Rule
Registered User
- Sep 22, 2005
- 21,251
- 74
Finally a positive comment on Yzerman for You!
Of course you go way to far. Yzerman was not almost traded "many times". And calling Yzerman's linemates in Detroit "minor league" is well, not true. Maybe not the most elite players in the 80's but far from "minor league" Gallant, Probert were not scoring stars but were very good NHL players. And well who would have been better in Hartford?
bfire
Registered User
As much as Ron Francis is underrated i'm going to have to go with Steve Yzerman. He was the captain so young in his career and he eventually led his team to some cups while always performing outstanding. 1st half of his career he was a total force offensively and eventually became one of the best two-way players. He's the definition of a Captain IMO.
UvBnDatsyuked
Registered User
- Apr 30, 2005
- 2,186
- 1
Eagle Eye Cherry
guitar player
Yzerman, by several miles.
Ron Francis was a very good player for a long time.
Steve Yzerman was a SUPERSTAR for a long time. BIG difference!
From 1987-88 until 1995-96, Stevie Y was the 3rd best player in the NHL. Yes, better than Jagr, even. Had it not been for the timing of his career, he would have been an All-Star at least 7 more times. But how to compete with Gretzky & Lemieux in their primes, also?
Francis ended with a few more points in his career (1798 to 1755), but in 216 more games! Again, not meant to be a knock on Francis, but Yzerman was the clearly superior player every single year they played against each other.
Ron Francis was a very good player for a long time.
Steve Yzerman was a SUPERSTAR for a long time. BIG difference!
From 1987-88 until 1995-96, Stevie Y was the 3rd best player in the NHL. Yes, better than Jagr, even. Had it not been for the timing of his career, he would have been an All-Star at least 7 more times. But how to compete with Gretzky & Lemieux in their primes, also?
Francis ended with a few more points in his career (1798 to 1755), but in 216 more games! Again, not meant to be a knock on Francis, but Yzerman was the clearly superior player every single year they played against each other.
Francis is the most overrated "underrated" player of all time.He wore that tag for the last 14 years of his career.
Vagrant
The Czech Condor
Francis is the most overrated "underrated" player of all time.He wore that tag for the last 14 years of his career.
Ask just about any fringe hockey fan who had the second most assists of all time. You'll probably get three guesses, "Lemiuex? Bobby Orr? Mark Messier?" . ... Ron Francis.
I think the body of work speaks for itself. He STILL isn't mentioned in the same breath as a lot of those guys despite putting up great numbers.
Blades of Glory
Troll Captain
Francis is one of my favorite player ever, and though he does get underrated, he never was dominating like Yzerman.
He shouldn't be mentioned with Gretzky, Messier and Orr. He wasn't good enough. He put up great numbers but numbers aren't everything. Gartner has over 700 goals scored but he isn't close to being one of the greatest players ever. Francis would probably be around the top 30-40 range of best forwards of all time.
mcphee
Registered User
I think bleedgreen's post does justice to the player and the person Ron Francis is.
Yzerman sets himself apart by being the better pure scorer, more dynamic player. Yzerman's speed allowed him to do somethings Francis couldn't. This isn't a knock on Francis, Yzerman's just a bit higher up on the all time scale,imo.
Yzerman sets himself apart by being the better pure scorer, more dynamic player. Yzerman's speed allowed him to do somethings Francis couldn't. This isn't a knock on Francis, Yzerman's just a bit higher up on the all time scale,imo.
berney fkaj
Registered User
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