Greatest Defenceman of All Time #8

[canucksfan]

Kelly won with 18 votes and MacInnis will be added next. I am voting for the 2nd best offensive defenceman ever Paul Coffey and add Dit Clapper next.

#1.Orr(89.26%)
#2.Shore(37.00%)
#3.Harvey(52.33%)
#4.Bourque(54.84%)
#5.Potvin(61.84%)
#6.Robinson(31.71%)
#7.Kelly(27.69%)

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[El_Scoobo]

Voted for Lidstrom. Add Clapper

 

[God Bless Canada]

I think you could make a case for any of about seven defencemen right now. (Fetisov, Coffey, Lidstrom, Chelios, Park, Pilote and even Horton). I'll withhold my vote and play "king maker" at the end.

Add 10-time all-star defenceman Earl Seibert.

 

[hockeyfan125]

Chelios.

 

[kovy1335]

voted coffey, add seibert

 

[TOPGUN]

Voted Lidstrom

and I agree with the rest, add Seibert

 

[pappyline]

add earl siebert

 

[Leaf Lander]

Tim Horton add salming

 

[Wisent]

Fetisov

 

[norrisnick]

Lidstrom

Seibert

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

Lidstrom. A bit of a vote against Coffey though. It made a tough decision between Lidstrom and a few others alot easier

Add Pronger.

 

[Heaton]

Lidstrom

 

[Nifty=HHOF]

Brad Park, he played in the shadows of legends but was a great defenseman!

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Fetisov.

Lidstrom is going to end up way too high on this list.

 

[norrisnick]

Lidstrom is going to end up way too high on this list.

How so? Fetisov's oft-overlooked internat'l accolades aside (it has already been mentioned that the absence of internat'l forwards in that set of rankings is going to confound Fetisov's presence here) what has anyone left on the board accomplished that Lidstrom hasn't? And Nick is the only guy left that is adding to his legacy in a meaningful way (3rd pairing PKer at 44 is great and all, but in the grand scheme of things won't affect Chelios' all-time standing).

 

[John Flyers Fan]

How so? Fetisov's oft-overlooked internat'l accolades aside (it has already been mentioned that the absence of internat'l forwards in that set of rankings is going to confound Fetisov's presence here) what has anyone left on the board accomplished that Lidstrom hasn't? And Nick is the only guy left that is adding to his legacy in a meaningful way (3rd pairing PKer at 44 is great and all, but in the grand scheme of things won't affect Chelios' all-time standing).

Chelios was arguably better than Lidstrom vs. Edmonton. Lidstrom is considered the Red Wings best player and they've been dimal failures 3 of the last four springs.

Give me Fetisov, Chelios, Coffey and Park over Lidstrom

 

[Bluesfan1981]

Paul Coffey. I know he wasn't great defensively, but he was still a great, dominate hockey player whose position was defence; too great a player to be voted much lower. Add Seibert.

 

[norrisnick]

Chelios was arguably better than Lidstrom vs. Edmonton. Lidstrom is considered the Red Wings best player and they've been dimal failures 3 of the last four springs.

Give me Fetisov, Chelios, Coffey and Park over Lidstrom

You can argue, but you won't be correct. He's their best player, but not their only player. Offense died vs the Ducks and Flames (he was the 2nd leading scorer both years) and against the Oil it was bad mistakes and bad goaltending all mixed into one (plus you can't just dismiss that many of the Oil players are having the run of their lives this spring. It takes two to tango.). And to top it all off, the year before those three dismal failures he was awarded the Conn Smythe.

You can have those four and I'll take Nick.

 

[kruezer]

Since it seems we are including non-NHLers in this one, I have to vote Fetisov here, its tough to figure where he would have been had he played in the NHL, and I think I may underrate him.

Add Seibert.

 

[canucksfan]

Give me Fetisov, Chelios, Coffey and Park over Lidstrom

I agree. I think it's too early for Lidstrom to go but I thought he would go early.

 

[Psycho Papa Joe]

Give me Fetisov, Chelios, Coffey and Park over Lidstrom

After this season, Lidstrom will likely have 4 Norris Trophies and counting and a Conn Smythe. The guys you mention have 5 combined and zero Conn Smythes. Those guys are all great and it's a arguable who was the best of them, but it's kind of hard to overlook those facts.

 

[norrisnick]

After this season, Lidstrom will likely have 4 Norris Trophies and counting and a Conn Smythe. The guys you mention have 5 combined and zero Conn Smythes. Those guys are all great and it's a arguable who was the best of them, but it's kind of hard to overlook those facts.

6, Cheli and Coffey both have 3 Norris Trophies.

 

[canucksfan]

After this season, Lidstrom will likely have 4 Norris Trophies and counting and a Conn Smythe. The guys you mention have 5 combined and zero Conn Smythes. Those guys are all great and it's a arguable who was the best of them, but it's kind of hard to overlook those facts.

Brad Park would probably have about three Norris trophies if Bobby Orr didn't play hockey. Furthermore, Fetisov's best years were when he was playing in the Soviet Union. Also Lidstrom has played with a weak group of defencemen compared to other generations.

 

[Know Your Enemy]

Add Langway

 

[God Bless Canada]

I'm not as concerned about awards as how they actually played the game. The problem with awards is that it punishes those who played in stronger eras. Tim Horton was a first team all-star defenceman with Bobby Orr twice. Park was a first team all-star five times. In three of those years, Orr was the other defenceman. In the other two, Potvin was the best defenceman.

When you look at Lidstrom's three Norris seasons, the runners-up were Bourque, Chelios and MacInnis. Stevens finished third in balloting. Reality is that the depth on the blue line is the weakest its been in decades.

Lidstrom is a sure-fire top 15 defenceman who deserves consideration for the top 10. I think eight is a little early for him, but it's not as bad as say, Stevens, MacInnis or Leetch for the top 10. We should only be discussing the addition of those players now. MacInnis added before Earl Seibert? No bloody way.

I don't think Lidstrom is the best defenceman remaining on this list. I don't think Coffey is, either. If given the choice, I'd take Coffey, but it's by no means a slam dunk. I think a lot of Lidstrom's support is from people voting against Coffey, and vice versa.

My preferred pick right now? Chelios. Outside of the top five, and it's a consensus top five, I can't think of a defenceman who dominated all aspects of the game like Chelios, and did it for such a long period of time. He's still a strong defensive defenceman. In 2001-02, at age 40, he nearly beat Lidstrom in a close race for the Norris. He's capable of carrying a team on his back for extended periods of time. As good as Lidstrom is defensively, Chelios was better, and much more physical.

My other pick at this point? Fetisov. Those of us in North America never saw the best of Slava Fetisov. Except in the Canada Cup. He was always one of the top two defencemen in any tournament he played in during his prime. Wonderfully skilled. Many will tell you he was the second best defenceman to play in the 1980s, after Bourque. And vicious, too. Don't let those low PIM totals in Russia fool you. He could use the stick for much more than great outlet passes and quarterbacking the power play.