5 most exciting hockey players ever!

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Jag68Sid87

Sullivan gots to go!
Oct 1, 2003
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I'll only list five players I've seen play. The most exciting for me were:

1) Denis Savard -- insane moves, the epitome of slick stickhandling and as much creativity and imagination as anyone I've ever seen. Didn't produce as much as some of the all-time greats, but his points were almost ALL fun and exciting.

2) Guy Lafleur -- the hair flying through the breeze, the wicked slap shot from the blue line, the way he could dance around defensemen and those oh so smooth passes. It's rare when Flower would be on the ice and you would NOT be on the edge of your seat.

3) Paul Coffey -- he didn't invent going coast-to-coast when leading a rush, but he perfected it. In fact, he did it with so little effort it was both astonishing and breath-taking at the same time. He was also exciting for all the wrong reasons if you're a coach, because he provided a ton of scoring chances at both ends of the ice.

4) Wayne Gretzky -- what can you say. He wasn't nearly as exciting later on in his career, but while with Edmonton he made moves that just look silly nowadays. There was that "2-minute drill" against the Colorado Rockies, when he danced around everybody, straddled the blueline and held onto the puck for what seemed like an entire shift, then fed a streaking Kurri. Or, there's the wicked slap shot against Calgary, his one-man show against Toronto, his behind-the-back passes, his curl-and-wait move at the blueline. He excited your brain as much as your heart.

5) Al Iafrate -- Don't laugh. When healthy and early on with the Leafs, Iafrate could go coast-to-coast, blow a super slapper by the goalie and even knock the snot out of a forward while crossing the blue line. Something ALWAYS happened when "Wild Thing" was on the ice. He was part of one of the most exciting teams of all time IMHO, the Doug Carpenter-led Leafs, with Peter Ing in goal and lots of kids up front (Clark, Damphousse, Daniel Marois, Gary Leeman). They couldn't play D at all, so they didn't bother. It was fun to watch.
 

pei fan

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Jan 3, 2004
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Jag68Vlady27 said:
The most exciting for me were:

Al Iafrate -- Don't laugh.

Okay I'll try to contain myself, but........it's really hard............darn it I just can't...
:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol
 

deathbear

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Jul 8, 2003
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pei fan said:
Look Buddy,I don't know who this Richard character is but I've done some research and he certainly hasn't played in the NHL in the last 20 years.Why did you have to go and ruin a perfectly good "all-time" list.By naming such a nobody you insult
the legend of such greats as Kovalchuk and Pavel"the Russian Rocket"Bure.
Don't you know on this board "all-time" generally means the last 20 years with
extra weighting given to last week(with an exception for Bobby Orr and
only because Don Cherry talks about him so much). :dunno: You must be
new to here.Anyway next time don't post something so ridiculous. ;)

so what you're trying to say here is that people are stupid for naming bure and kovalchuk?

i've seen old games, and to me most of the "great" players of years past were indeed deserving of being called "great", but weren't half as exciting as some of todays players. the game today is much, much faster, the goalies are better, teams play better defence etc.

this is gonna piss a lot of people off.
 

pei fan

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Jan 3, 2004
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deathbear said:
so what you're trying to say here is that people are stupid for naming bure and kovalchuk?

i've seen old games, and to me most of the "great" players of years past were indeed deserving of being called "great", but weren't half as exciting as some of todays players. the game today is much, much faster, the goalies are better, teams play better defence etc.

this is gonna piss a lot of people off.
No,I'm not saying people are stupid for naming modern players as exciting I'm
just saying call it that "the most exciting modern players" and not "all-time".
If people were going by all-time than "THE ROCKET" would have to be on
everybody's list.Excitement was his trademark.He lifted them out of their seats.
He caused a riot once for crying out loud.By the way Bure got his nickname
from reminding people of Richard.There were other exciting older players as well.

And just to show you I'm not just stuck in the past ,let me say something that
will piss alotof people off. Sidney Crosby is the most exciting player I've seen
in a long time and the most exciting I've seen live and I've seen Lafleur.Forsberg
is a guy I saw live that was exciting to watch.
 

Heat McManus

Registered User
Nov 27, 2003
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Alexandria, VA
pei fan said:
No,I'm not saying people are stupid for naming modern players as exciting I'm
just saying call it that "the most exciting modern players" and not "all-time".
If people were going by all-time than "THE ROCKET" would have to be on
everybody's list.Excitement was his trademark.He lifted them out of their seats.
He caused a riot once for crying out loud.By the way Bure got his nickname
from reminding people of Richard.There were other exciting older players as well.

And just to show you I'm not just stuck in the past ,let me say something that
will piss alotof people off. Sidney Crosby is the most exciting player I've seen
in a long time and the most exciting I've seen live and I've seen Lafleur.Forsberg
is a guy I saw live that was exciting to watch.


Sorry, I'm not gonna b.s. and say names to impress people when I've haven't seen them play enough to talk about them. I've seen a few videos clips of a lot of older players, Richard, Kharlamov, etc and they did look exciting. However, I grew up watching the guys I named on a nightly basis and were consistently amazed by their skill.

Next time, I will try to lie in order to sound more authentic. Thank you for showing me the error in my ways.
 

Nab77

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Aug 29, 2004
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In no order:
Pavel Bure
Teemu Selanne
Mario Lemieux
Cam Neely

In their prime of course, these guys used make my pulse fasten and get my hand sweaty, just bring that adrenaline rush, great feeling, great entertainment.
 

Sampe

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
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According to entire games I've seen (or rather, watched on TV/tape), in no particular order:

Mario Lemieux
Wayne Gretzky
Jaromir Jagr
Valeri Kharlamov
Gilbert Perreault

According to highlights only:

Bobby Orr
Denis Savard
 

FLYLine27*

BUCH
Nov 9, 2004
42,410
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Jacques Plante said:
Bure - Could anyone stop him on a break away?
.


Mike Richter...94 Finals on a penalty shot. Great save.. Sorry had to throw it in.

But the second i saw the title of this thread the first name that came to my head was none other then PAVEL BURE.
 

s7ark

RIP
Jul 3, 2003
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The G Man said:
"Good"?? The best shot ... EVER.


Well, Bossy or Goulet. tough call

That I have seen

Gretz
Mario
Bure
Coffey
Forsberg ( God he destroys my Oilers)

Honorable mention to Modano..

And I never saw Orr play live, just highlights.

from highlights I'd have to add Orr and Lafleur.
 

PanthersRule96

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Jun 15, 2003
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In order:
Bure
Gretzky
Lemieux
Kovalchuk (I'll take heat for this but IMO is one of the most exciting players ever)
Paul Coffey/Cam Neely

IMO I bet in 20 years, Alex Ovechkin will be on the list of the top 5 most exciting players ever. I'm not going to start with Crosby cuz I have no idea how he'll do in the NHL, but IMO Ovechkin will really be awesome and an absolute joy to watch. Of course I bet 13 years ago, people said that about Eric Lindros ;)
 

Rocky Saginuts

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Jul 21, 2004
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Hamildump, Ontario
Good topic

Everybody on my list has already been mentioned (Bure, Lafleur, D Savard, Orr).

I would actually put Gilbert Perrault on top of my list - I'm probably a bit older than most of you guys. He was unreal. If he wasn't banished to Buffalo, he would have been a legend. He would be sitting with the puck behind his own net, and the whole arena would be holding their breath waiting for an end to end rush. Awesome.

Some honourable mentions (I wouldn't put them near the top of my list, but they were fun to watch): Stephane Richer, Russ Courtnall, Anders Hedberg, Helmut Balderis, Kharlamov, Glenn Anderson, Dougie Gilmour, Peter Klima. There are a lot of players with speed and skill, but these guys stood out.
 

FlyerFire

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Feb 16, 2003
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while I am not

old enough to have seen the older generation greats, I have seen the Great One,Mario, and Lindros.and while I may be in the minority in saying Lindros,I know that he could TURN a game AROUND by himself and that was always exciting to look for. :handclap:
 

FLYLine27*

BUCH
Nov 9, 2004
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rebellionhellion2002 said:
old enough to have seen the older generation greats, I have seen the Great One,Mario, and Lindros.and while I may be in the minority in saying Lindros,I know that he could TURN a game AROUND by himself and that was always exciting to look for. :handclap:
Hell Yea Big E should be up there.
 

Crosbyfan

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Nov 27, 2003
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I was a Montreal fan (still am) back in Orr's day and I absolutely hated when he got the puck against Montreal... even when it was behind his own net.
 

VirginiaMtlExpat

Second most interesting man in the world.
Aug 20, 2003
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Can't argue with 1a. Lemieux and 1b.Gretzky, to start the list.

I've always had a weakness for the end-to-end play, and I've definitely seen 3. Lafleur and 4. Coffey do it.

In an era of trapping, hooking hockey and mobile defenders, players who can still pull you out of your seat should get extra marks, so 5th place is a tie between Jagr and Datsyuk, in my mind.
 

KOVALEV10*

Guest
Jean Beliveau
Both Richards (Rocket and Pocket Rocket)
Bobby Orr
Guy Lafleur
Mike Bossy
Mario Lemieux
Pavel Bure
Peter Stastny
Alex Kovalev
Ilya Kovalchuk
 

Russian_fanatic

Registered User
Jan 19, 2004
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Bruins4Ever said:
One's I've seen (in no order)


Peter Forsberg
Sergei Samsonov
David Legwand
Dany Heatley
Ilya Kovalchuk
Marian Gaborik
Jay Bouwmeester
Markus Naslund
Jarome Iginla
Eric Lindros
Joe Thornton
Teemu Selanne
Vincent Lecavalier
Brad Richards
Brendan Morrow
Miroslav Satan
Simon Gagne

It's a huge list, I know. :)

New to hockey? You got to have Lemieux in there :)
 

FlyersFan10*

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My top 5 would be, and in no particular order:

1) Jeremy Roenick, the Chicago years. People can say what they want, but Mike Keenan got the best out of Roenick. He's never been the same player since he was traded.

2) Pavel Bure. What a fun hockey player to watch. Speed, skill and could change the course of a game with a couple of moves. It's a shame bad knees and the league turning into a beer league killed his career

3) Sergei Fedorov. Not quite as fast as Bure, but makes everything look so easy. The one player I wouldn't have minded if Philadelphia would have signed when he was a free agent. Contrary to popular belief, the man is worth the $40 million over five years he's getting

4) Peter Forsberg. What is not to like about this guy. For years, we've heard nothing but European players have no heart, no guts, etc......Along comes Peter and completely decimates that theory. Played bigger than his size and was one of the true greats. Enjoy Sweden Peter. We're gonna miss you over here.

5) Pat Lafontaine. Just something about the little guys who always play big. Pat Lafontaine was a superstar who never acted like one. He made Alexander Mogilny and when he suffered the concussion in Buffalo, the organization crapped all over him and discarded him like he was yesterday's trash. A classy player who never took pot shots at the Sabres. Too bad they couldn't have used some of his class. Of course, I'd expect as much from an organization run by John Muckler, one of the trashiest people in hockey today.......
 
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