Which group of Czech players would you take?

[Ducks in a row]

Group 1
Forwards
Ondrej Palat
Bobby Holik
Milan Hejduk

Defenseman
Pavel Kubina
Roman Hamrlik

Goalie
Dominik Hasek

Group 2
Forwards
Patrik Elias
David Krejci
Jaromir Jagr

Defenseman
Jaroslav Spacek
Tomas Kaberle

Goalie
Tomas Vokoun

Click to read more...

 

[Xspyrit]

common this is group 2 AINEC

 

[MasterofGrond]

Clearly 2. Hasek the GOAT, of course, but it's impossible to make up for those forwards,.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

I went looking for Jagr, found him in group 2. Voted group 2.

 

[wetcoast]

Took group 1, Hasek at his peak then a well rounded 5 in front of him even if Jagr is the best offensive player and Elias probably the second best.

But that's just a WAG. (wild ass guess) that group A might gel better.

 

[KeydGV21]

Clearly 2. Hasek the GOAT, of course, but it's impossible to make up for those forwards,.

Have you seen the forwards on the team he dragged to the SCF? I hate him for how he left, but Team 1 wins this easy because if him…

 

[Stephen]

The entertainment value of Group 2 would be a lot better. Watching a GOAT goalie under siege isn't that appealing.

 

[norrisnick]

Have you seen the forwards on the team he dragged to the SCF? I hate him for how he left, but Team 1 wins this easy because if him…

It is more important for your goalie to not be bad than it is for your goalie to be dominant. Vokoun can handle that. Especially with that team in front of him.

 

[MasterofGrond]

Have you seen the forwards on the team he dragged to the SCF? I hate him for how he left, but Team 1 wins this easy because if him…

Vokoun isn’t some schmuck, he had some pretty good seasons. It’s not like hasek v. Jon gillies

 

[Elvs]

Over the 20 years I've been watching hockey, Vokoun might be the most underrated player I ever saw. Team B clearly has the better team here, and even Vokoun is not Hasek, they have a teriffic goalie still. One of the most consistant goaltenders season to season in the last couple of decades, if not ever.

 

[Paul4587]

Hasek made me think about it for a second but it’s still easily group 2.

 

[Czechboy]

Group 2 for me. Smart move to split up Hasek and Jagr!

 

[Golden_Jet]

Group 2 assuming they can score on Hasek

 

[DrDangles]

If that's 97-99 Hasek I'd have to seriously think about it

 

[biturbo19]

Basically just a question of how heavily you weight Hasek > Vokoun. Because the rest of it is a slam dunk for Group 2.


Not an easy poll to balance though. I think it's balanced pretty much the only way you could hope to try to offset that goaltending disparity that you cannot ignore.

Probably would've been a more compelling poll if it'd just forgone Hasek altogether and subbed in the next best Czech goalie. Then balanced the actual teams of skaters a bit more.

 

[Howe Elbows 9]

Not an easy poll to balance though. I think it's balanced pretty much the only way you could hope to try to offset that goaltending disparity that you cannot ignore.

Probably would've been a more compelling poll if it'd just forgone Hasek altogether and subbed in the next best Czech goalie. Then balanced the actual teams of skaters a bit more.

Who's the third best Czech goalie (that has played in the NHL)? Roman Turek?

 

[biturbo19]

Who's the third best Czech goalie (that has played in the NHL)? Roman Turek?

Good question. Turek? Pavelec? Mrazek or Neuvirth?

It's not exactly stars, but i think the gap from there to Vokoun is probably less of a skew to a poll than Hasek vs Vokoun. That's not a sleight on Vokoun either. He's not just some useless sieve. It's just that peak Hasek is so head and shoulders above even a host of other HoF caliber "star" goalies in terms of impact.

 

[Xspyrit]

Over the 20 years I've been watching hockey, Vokoun might be the most underrated player I ever saw. Team B clearly has the better team here, and even Vokoun is not Hasek, they have a teriffic goalie still. One of the most consistant goaltenders season to season in the last couple of decades, if not ever.

Goaltending is a position that is hard to understand for people who haven't played it. I think everybody knows Hasek is the GOAT but as good as he was, his team would get wrecked against a much more powerful opponent

My first season in College, my team was clearly the best and I cleared all trophies with ridiculous stats like ~0.960 SV% and a 21-1-2 record or something. The following year, all the best players were gone and we were suddenly the worst team in the league and I couldn't get a SV% over 0.900, not even close.

Stats are very contextual, also for goalies. That being said, Hasek's career SV% was 0.922 and Vokoun was 0.917

Hasek might have been in a class of his own but Vokoun was consistently very damn good

Basically just a question of how heavily you weight Hasek > Vokoun. Because the rest of it is a slam dunk for Group 2.

Not an easy poll to balance though. I think it's balanced pretty much the only way you could hope to try to offset that goaltending disparity that you cannot ignore

Read above

The disparity between Jagr/Elias and Hejduk/Palat is a LOT bigger than Hasek and Vokoun, like AINEC.

 

[biturbo19]

Goaltending is a position that is hard to understand for people who haven't played it. I think everybody knows Hasek is the GOAT but as good as he was, his team would get wrecked against a much more powerful opponent

My first season in College, my team was clearly the best and I cleared all trophies with ridiculous stats like ~0.960 SV% and a 21-1-2 record or something. The following year, all the best players were gone and we were suddenly the worst team in the league and I couldn't get a SV% over 0.900, not even close.

Stats are very contextual, also for goalies. That being said, Hasek's career SV% was 0.922 and Vokoun was 0.917

Hasek might have been in a class of his own but Vokoun was consistently very damn good



Read above

The disparity between Jagr/Elias and Hejduk/Palat is a LOT bigger than Hasek and Vokoun, like AINEC.

Goaltending is also a unique position to have that clearly better player though. Where the margin can be absolutely magnified. It's the one position that can singlehandedly tip games on their head - and Hasek used to do just that, all the time. That's what makes it tricky.

I mean, i still voted Group 2. The difference in the Forwards is just too much to overcome. Like, i think you could possibly even argue that Krejci as the 3rd best F in that group is as good as the best forward on Group 1. But on any given day, that game could easily go to Hasek.

I also think Hejduk is being kinda underrated here a bit. Maybe it's just because he was a total Canucks-killer, but he was pretty darn good in his prime. Hitting that 50 goal plateau is pretty rarified air.

 

[norrisnick]

Goaltending is also a unique position to have that clearly better player though. Where the margin can be absolutely magnified. It's the one position that can singlehandedly tip games on their head - and Hasek used to do just that, all the time. That's what makes it tricky.

I mean, i still voted Group 2. The difference in the Forwards is just too much to overcome. Like, i think you could possibly even argue that Krejci as the 3rd best F in that group is as good as the best forward on Group 1. But on any given day, that game could easily go to Hasek.

I also think Hejduk is being kinda underrated here a bit. Maybe it's just because he was a total Canucks-killer, but he was pretty darn good in his prime. Hitting that 50 goal plateau is pretty rarified air.

Hejduk's 50 is right up there with Cheechoo's. Spoonfed.