Each franchise's top five players historically?

[lucscaps]

New Jersey

Brodeur
Stevens
Niedermayer
Elias
MacLean

HM: Daneyko

For the Future: Parise and Kovalchuk could each find they're way in the 4 and 5 slots.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Agree with Billy Smith but might take Lafontaine over Gillies but gillies was a big part of the 4 cup run.

Loungo over Linden is misplaced IMO.

Canuck fans love Linden who would have been a lifetime Canuck if it wasn't for the Messier-Keenan- ownership fiasco.

While Lou might have some hardware and better stats Linden was a class act throughout his career with Vancouver while Lou has had his moments.

I guess it might depend on how one defines the top 5 players historically

Yeah, no Linden just seems so wrong to me as well. Above both Lou and Naslund in my books.

like i hinted in my post, i don't agree with lou over linden-- and yes, naslund over linden seems wrong to me as well. but i saw the words "top" and "historically" in the title of the thread and thought we were talking about those silly objective all-time rankings that HOH loves, and by those criteria, it's hard to justify linden over guys who were hart nominees, post-season all-stars, captained the team to multiple 100 point seasons and division championships, etc. (all stuff that looks better on paper than in real life, mind you.)

now if we're talking about players that meant the most to a franchise and its fanbase, linden remains #1 in my books, or at the very lowest 1a with bure.


on the other hand, what is interesting is if games 3-7 of the finals had gone differently, the all-time canucks top five might well be sedin, sedin, kesler, luongo, and bure. what a difference a week makes, am i right?

 

[livewell68]

New Jersey

Brodeur
Stevens
Niedermayer
Elias
MacLean

HM: Daneyko

For the Future: Parise and Kovalchuk could each find they're way in the 4 and 5 slots.

What about Kirk Muller? I think he deserves to be on the list instead of Elias.

 

[rocketxav9]

The Ducks top 4 are easy. Number 5 is where it gets tricky. An argument could be made for Kariya but I think Getzlaf's substantially superior playoff resume and Perry's Hart trophy put either one ahead of him.

Selanne
Niedermayer
Pronger
Giguere
Perry/Getzlaf

kariya should be #2 on the list after Selanne

 

[tony d]

Ottawa:

1) Alfredsson
2) Yashin
3) Spezza
4) Hossa
5) Phillips

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

What about Kirk Muller? I think he deserves to be on the list instead of Elias.

maclean, maybe. elias, no way.

 

[5lidyzer19]

Yzerman was a really good player, but he barely makes the list of top 10 players who have played for Detroit:

1. Howe
2. Hasek
3. Harvey
4. Lidstrom
5. Kelly
6. Sawchuk
7. Hall
8. Lindsay
9. Fetisov
10. Yzerman

That last group with Lindsay, Fetisov, Yzerman and Chelios is really hard to rank though.

I hope you aren't serious. Several of those players didn't have their best years in Detroit and/or didn't spent a significant amount of time with the franchise.

Hasek, Harvey, Hall, Fetisov don't and will never have their numbers retired by Detroit. I've heard that Red Kelly deserves it, but it won't happen with current ownership. Yzerman does, as does Sawchuk, Lindsay, and Howe--and soon Lidstrom.

I don't think there is much reasonable arguement to have Steve Yzerman outside of the top 3 for the Detroit Red Wings. He's largely considered a top 20 forward of all-time who is credited with being the savior of a franchise.

 

[DaveG]

Hartford/Carolina:
Ron Francis
Kevin Dineen
Gordie Howe
Eric Staal
Cam Ward

Carolina:
Eric Staal
Cam Ward
Ron Francis
Arturs Irbe
Rod Brind'Amour

 

[livewell68]

I hope you aren't serious. Several of those players didn't have their best years in Detroit and/or didn't spent a significant amount of time with the franchise.

I don't think there is much reasonable arguement to have Steve Yzerman outside of the top 3 for the Detroit Red Wings.

I agree with what you said except for the bold part.

Howe, Sawchuk, Lidstrom and Lindsay can easily go ahead of Yzerman.

All those guys I named were at one point or another considered the best players at their position in the NHL. Yzerman has never had that distinction.

 

[lucscaps]

What about Kirk Muller? I think he deserves to be on the list instead of Elias.

elias holds or will hold all the offensive records by the end of this coming season. Capitan Kirk was great but over a career span Elias has been more important for the Devils. I'd agree that case for Muller over MacLean could be made, but I give the edge to MacLean because of tenure and overall accomplishment

 

[5lidyzer19]

I agree with what you said except for the bold part.

Howe, Sawchuk, Lidstrom and Lindsay can easily go ahead of Yzerman.

All those guys I named were at one point or another considered the best players at their position in the NHL. Yzerman has never had that distinction.

None of those players played at the time of #99 and #66. I don't think that can be held against Yzerman.

Howe-Top 4 player of all-time-sure
Sawchuck one of the top 5 greatest goaltenders ever-sure
Lidstrom-again-same story-one of the top 5 greatest defenders ever.
Lindsay made an impact on the game with the player's union

However, Yzerman is also an all-time great in addition to what he meant to the franchise-he could EASILY be placed second. Although I COULD see him as low as 4th. I wouldn't put Lindsay ahead of him....

There just isn't any possible way that guys like Fetisov or Hasek are ahead of Steve Yzerman. 3 or 4 years at the end of their careers, while they were past there primes do not vault them that high. 10th in franchise history?

 

[livewell68]

None of those players played at the time of #99 and #66. I don't think that can be held against Yzerman.

Howe-Top 4 player of all-time-sure
Sawchuck one of the top 5 greatest goaltenders ever-sure
Lidstrom-again-same story-one of the top 5 greatest defenders ever.
Lindsay made an impact on the game with the player's union

However, Yzerman is also an all-time great in addition to what he meant to the franchise-he could EASILY be placed second. Although I COULD see him as low as 4th. I wouldn't put Lindsay ahead of him....

There just isn't any possible way that guys like Fetisov or Hasek are ahead of Steve Yzerman. 3 or 4 years at the end of their careers, while they were past there primes do not vault them that high. 10th in franchise history?

Did you not see where I said best "at their position"?

Outside of his Pearson 155 Pts season, Yzerman has never even been considered a top 5 forward.

Howe was considered a top 5 forward for almost 20 years. Howe btw can easily be considered the best player of all-time depending on how you look at it.

Lidstrom has been the best defenseman in hockey for the last 10 years or so. He's won 4 Cups and has a Conn Smythe.

Lindsay is a pioneer of the game and was one of the most fierce competitors in the game.

Sawchuk owned numerous records for a very long time.

 

[5lidyzer19]

Did you not see where I said best "at their position"?

Outside of his Pearson 155 Pts season, Yzerman has never even been considered a top 5 forward.

Howe was considered a top 5 forward for almost 20 years. Howe btw can easily be considered the best player of all-time depending on how you look at it.

Lidstrom has been the best defenseman in hockey for the last 10 years or so. He's won 4 Cups and has a Conn Smythe.

Lindsay is a pioneer of the game and was one of the most fierce competitors in the game.

Sawchuk owned numerous records for a very long time.

All that I'm saying is he's argueably top 3, and DEFINATELY top 5 in Detroit Red Wings history. Can we at least agree that having guys like Hasek, Hall, Fetisov above him is absurd based on their times in Detroit of course?

Yzerman switched from being an offensive machine, which places him at 6th all-time in scoring, to being a Selke winner. Captained the Detroit Red Wings for nearly 2 decades and WAS the franchise. 3 Stanley cups and a Conn Smythe. Feirce competitor? Take a look at the 2002 playoffs.

He did it all. Shot blocking. Face-offs Defense. Goal scoring. Leadership. Both on and off the ice.

 

[livewell68]

All that I'm saying is he's argueably top 3, and DEFINATELY top 5 in Detroit Red Wings history. Can we at least agree that having guys like Hasek, Hall, Fetisov above him is absurd based on their times in Detroit of course?

Yzerman switched from being an offensive machine, which places him at 6th all-time in scoring, to being a Selke winner. Captained the Detroit Red Wings for nearly 2 decades and WAS the franchise. 3 Stanley cups and a Conn Smythe. Feirce competitor? Take a look at the 2002 playoffs.

He did it all. Shot blocking. Face-offs Defense. Goal scoring. Leadership. Both on and off the ice.

I do agree with that and yes I do agree that Yzerman can be top 5.

I personally with rank them Howe, Lindsay, Lidstrom, Yzerman and then Sawchuk.

I guess though that in terms of how important they were to the team, Yzerman could arguably be the second best. He was the image of the franchise for 20 years and was their longest serving captain.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

What about Kirk Muller? I think he deserves to be on the list instead of Elias.

No, his list was perfect. The only question is MacLean or Daneyko for spot 5.

Elias is the leading scorer in Devils history, good two-ways, and one of the best playoff scorers in NHL history.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

I'll do a few:



Calgary:
Al MacInnis
Theoren Fleury
Jarome Iginla
Miikka Kiprusoff
Mike Vernon

Iginla is about two spots too low.

 

[ShootIt]

Florida:
Mellanby
Bure
Luongo
Vanbiesbrouck
Jokinen

 

[zeus3007*]

Edmonton:

Gretzky
Messier
Fuhr
Kurri
Lowe (as a player)

People will argue my Lowe inclusion over Coffey, and I'll agree that Coffey was better when both players were in Edmonton, but Lowe contributed to more cups than Coffey did, and did so as the best or 2nd best d-man for every one.

 

[DrVanntastic]

St. Louis

Hull
MacInnis
Federko

You can go a few different directions from here. If you go by stats I would end it with Unger and Berenson. If you go by who was more important to the team I would end it with Brian Sutter and Barclay Plager (with Bob Plager getting an HM).

 

[Breakfast of Champs]

Yzerman was a really good player, but he barely makes the list of top 10 players who have played for Detroit:

1. Howe
2. Hasek
3. Harvey
4. Lidstrom
5. Kelly
6. Sawchuk
7. Hall
8. Lindsay
9. Fetisov
10. Yzerman

That last group with Lindsay, Fetisov, Yzerman and Chelios is really hard to rank though.

ummmm... hasek 2nd and yzerman 10th? I cant be the only person who thinks that is one of the most ridiculous things ive ever read on hf. Yzerman is the teams 2nd top scorer of all time and the longest serving captain not only in franchise history, but nhl history. Add 3 cups, a conn smythe, pearson, 6 straight 100 point seasons, and the highest scoring season by a player not named mario or wayne and you have.... someone 8 spots lower than a goaltender who only played 176 regular season games with the franchise?

 

[CloneHakanPlease*]

Yzerman was a really good player, but he barely makes the list of top 10 players who have played for Detroit:

1. Howe
2. Hasek
3. Harvey
4. Lidstrom
5. Kelly
6. Sawchuk
7. Hall
8. Lindsay
9. Fetisov
10. Yzerman

That last group with Lindsay, Fetisov, Yzerman and Chelios is really hard to rank though.

You're one of those guys who pretends that players you never saw play are a lot better then they really are, right?

 

[steve141]

I'm one of the biggest supporters of Hasek but how do you put Hasek on this list is beyond me. Hasek played for Detroit very briefly and this was past his prime where he was no longer the dominant force he once was.

Hasek deserves to be no. 1 for Buffalo but shouldn't make the list for the Red Wings. You should put Lindsay higher and you should substitute Hasek for Fedorov.

Now if you're making a list of the best players in terms of all-time and then including them in that order but to add that they played for the Red Wings then I can understand but this list should be of how good they were for the team.

It's what I said, a list of the top players who have played for the Wings. The original poster didn't specify how long you needed to play with the team. Obviously Steve Yzerman was more important to the organization than Doug Harvey, but Harvey had the better overall career.

If we are talking about only what they did with the team I don't even know where to start. You need to specify what criteria we are going by. How do I compare Paul Coffey's four year stint in Detroit which included winning the Norris Trophy to Kris Draper's 1100+ games? Coffey had a much higher peak for the team but played less than 200 games.

 

[Rhiessan71]

Yzerman was a really good player, but he barely makes the list of top 10 players who have played for Detroit:

1. Howe
2. Hasek
3. Harvey
4. Lidstrom
5. Kelly
6. Sawchuk
7. Hall
8. Lindsay
9. Fetisov
10. Yzerman

That last group with Lindsay, Fetisov, Yzerman and Chelios is really hard to rank though.

Too silly to even attempt to deal with

 

[livewell68]

ummmm... hasek 2nd and yzerman 10th? I cant be the only person who thinks that is one of the most ridiculous things ive ever read on hf. Yzerman is the teams 2nd top scorer of all time and the longest serving captain not only in franchise history, but nhl history. Add 3 cups, a conn smythe, pearson, 6 straight 100 point seasons, and the highest scoring season by a player not named mario or wayne and you have.... someone 8 spots lower than a goaltender who only played 176 regular season games with the franchise?

Correction. Esposito had higher regular season numbers.

Yzerman though is one of 5 players to ever get 149 Pts or more in a season.

 

[Gootie]

Hawks

Hull
Mikita
Hall
Pilote
Esposito