Bob Gainey - Help a young'n out.

[SidGenoMario]

How good do you guys think he is? From what I've read, his offensive numbers weren't much, but he was one of the best defensive forwards ever. Seems about right, he won 4 Selkes, but on his Wikipedia page, they say the Soviets used to think he was the best player of alltime.


Was he that good? He won 4 Selkes, not 12.

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[Dr Pepper]

A far better player than a GM, though he did have many golden moments in Dallas.

 

[seventieslord]

Bob Gainey seems to have an "automatic" reputation as the best defensive forward of all-time. I disagree with this very strongly; however, there is no doubt he is among the very best of all-time.

His offense was nothing to write home about, as you mentioned. But he was big, fast, and physical.

 

[Canadiens Fan]

Bob Gainey was one of the greatest defensive forwards of all-time. In addition, he was a great captain who led by example, both off and on the ice. He played the game hard, fast and smart, and was rarely out of position. A player that every organization would have loved to have.

 

[Fish on The Sand]

How good do you guys think he is? From what I've read, his offensive numbers weren't much, but he was one of the best defensive forwards ever. Seems about right, he won 4 Selkes, but on his Wikipedia page, they say the Soviets used to think he was the best player of alltime.


Was he that good? He won 4 Selkes, not 12.

Gainey would have several more selkes if the award was around earlier. They invented the award because of him, and his 4 selkes were the first 4 times it was given out.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Prototype

Bob Gainey seems to have an "automatic" reputation as the best defensive forward of all-time. I disagree with this very strongly; however, there is no doubt he is among the very best of all-time.

His offense was nothing to write home about, as you mentioned. But he was big, fast, and physical.

Bob Gainey was the prototype. He was drafted in the first round as a defensive forward - left winger,with no expectations of offensive contribution and went on to show that the choice was justified.The choice was position specific - left wing due to the overabundance of elite right wingers on other teams and the desire by the Canadiens to have a big physical left winger play against these players AND play against Bobby Orr who required a left wing presence for optimum defense against the Bruins.

Previously sound defensive forwards learned the trade over a period of years like Claude Provost who was an offensive forward in junior or Henri Richard and Dave Keon who were solid all around junior players who adapted very quickly to the defensive demands of the NHL.

Since Bob Gainey was drafted in the first round and produced as expected he has been used as a template for others and as a measure. As the game has evolved others have performed similar roles but none was the first or prototype.

 

[Big Phil]

He was the inspiration for the invention of an award, nuff said...........