Best Duo in modern NHL History?

[Trottier]

In my lifetime, Gretzky/Kurri, then Trottier/Bossy.

Then all the rest.

 

[The G Man]

That's my answer as well.

Ooo ... forgot Kariya-Selanne. Nice catch.

 

[The Panther]

As a kid, my two favorite players were Jari Kurri and that guy he played center with. So, my answer to the question is...

Hey, two guys who scored 144 goals between them in one season (Jari missed 7 games or it could have been 150) and then scored 36 in the playoffs en route to the Cup are the no-brainer winner. The two players scored 36% of Edmonton's goals.

Jari is such a soft-spoken gentleman. I love Finnish people!

Here's a nice feature on him (you can see his 1st wife, his cottage in Finland, and him preparing a sauna) from 1985:

 

[The G Man]

Telling this story simply because it's funny and should not be interpreted as a critique of Kurri in any way. In any event, I remember how BJ McDonald once scored 40 (?) goals playing with Gretzky in 80 or 81 and then tried to negotiate a salary increase. Glen Sather dismissively told him a fire hydrant could score 40 goals playing with Gretzky.

 

[PepperKeenan]

Thornton-Heatley

 

[Sentinel]

Howe-Lindsay aren't getting love?

As for the defensive pair, Draper-Maltby. Talk about "bigger than the sum of its parts"! They were even both selected for Team Canada in the WC04!

The answer to the original question is a tie between Gretzky-Kurry and Trottier-Bossy. The former had the higher peak, the latter were a little more consistent.

Oh, and outside NHL I have to mention Kharlamov-Mikhailov and Krutov-Makarov. You know, those scrubs...

 

[The G Man]

I interpreted "modern NHL history" to mean post-expansion?

 

[CpatainCanuck]

As a kid, my two favorite players were Jari Kurri and that guy he played center with. So, my answer to the question is...

Hey, two guys who scored 144 goals between them in one season (Jari missed 7 games or it could have been 150) and then scored 36 in the playoffs en route to the Cup are the no-brainer winner. The two players scored 36% of Edmonton's goals.

Jari is such a soft-spoken gentleman. I love Finnish people!

Here's a nice feature on him (you can see his 1st wife, his cottage in Finland, and him preparing a sauna) from 1985:

In 2002/03 Naslund and Bertuzzi scored 35.6% of Vancouver's goals. Their goal total was only 96 compared to Gretzky and Kurri's 144, but when you take into account it was the height of the dead puck era compared to the roaring 80s it is a very significant accomplishment. Vancouver was the 2nd highest scoring nhl team that year too.

I would be interested to see if any other duo comes close to that 36% mark.

Edit: Found Selanne and Kariya combined for 40% of Anaheim's goals in 1998/1999 with a total of 86. Very impressive, it's a shame the rest of the offence was pretty poor.

 

[The Panther]

I personally don't think Naslund and Bertuzzi are in the discussion (and yes, I watched them play a lot; in fact I lived in Van in 2001 to 2004).

They were the League's best duo for about 1.8 seasons. That's not enough to be in consideration.

 

[CpatainCanuck]

I personally don't think Naslund and Bertuzzi are in the discussion (and yes, I watched them play a lot; in fact I lived in Van in 2001 to 2004).

They were the League's best duo for about 1.8 seasons. That's not enough to be in consideration.

That depends what you mean by "in the discussion". If they don't make the cut because of a short peak together then others that have been mentioned shouldn't either, like Hull-Oates and certainly Hull-Neely.