Kane vs Modano vs Leech best American player since 90s till now

[Laphroaig]

I say it's Chelios but Lafontaine remains my favorite American player.

 

[JThorne]

Wouldn't be a thread without finding a way to bring up Eichel

What in the hell are you talking about? YOU brought up Matthews immediately. Nobody brought up Eichel. Stay off the drugs.

 

[Chadstudsky]

Kane GOAT
Leetch 2nd

 

[GreatGonzo]

Scoring era is irrelevant. Even in the insane 92-93 season, he was only good for 93pts and a 24th place finish.

Look at his pts finishes and how he stacks up to Kane. Not even the same tier offensively. Add Kane's Hart, Conn Smyth, Art Ross and major contribution to 3 cups, I don't even know why Modano is being brought up. Fantastic player but Kane has far surpassed him already.

Of course it’s relevant. Kane didn’t blow up offensively until 7-8 years into his career. While Modano became one of the best centers during the DPE, all on a team not built around generating offense, Kane has always benefited from a purely offensive deployment. Sure, look at Modanos ‘93 seasons, he lead his entire team At 23 and only developed from their into a two way beast. He didn’t drop off that much offensively anyway.

Sure, offensively Kane is clearly superior, while Modano is no slouch offensively either. He doesn’t have the peak play or big seasons, but has the consistency more or less. Again, their play is all within context.

Modano absolutely deserves to be in the conversation. The fact that you feel he shouldn’t proves my point that he’s under appreciated. I’m sure many on here didn’t watch him play during his prime.

 

[Section32]

I was literally coming in to tout my guy Mullen. Over 500 goals, PPG player... he was awesome!

And can you believe that he and his brother Brian grew up in Manhattan (Hell's Kitchen), playing roller hockey...

Underappreciated story.

 

[Cotton]

Phil Esposito was just a scorer also....are you saying he wasn't a great player? I mean, no one can honestly say that a player that scored 741 goals is not a great player.

And yes, I guess because Hull was born in Canada (but raised in America), you could say that he's technically not an American. I consider him an American because he represented America in all international tournaments. But I won't argue with anyone who thinks differently.

It's a confusing case.

Hull wasn't raised in America, he was born, raised and trained in Canada. He admitted himself the only reason he ever wore the US jersey was because Team Canada snubbed him, his mom being American, he was allowed another option. The rest of his family is still here, his brother used to play in the CFL. Until he was traded to St.Louis from Calgary he had spent all but something like 4 years in Canada.

On the flip side, someone like Jakob Chychrun was born, raised and trained in the US, but both his parents are Canadian and he said he always felt Canadian - so he reps us internationally.

I think Hull specifically is a weird case because he repped the US out of spite because of the snub. I think he counts, but he can't be used as an example of American hockey. To the same degree that Chychrun can't be used as an example of Canadian hockey.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

Of course it’s relevant. Kane didn’t blow up offensively until 7-8 years into his career. While Modano became one of the best centers during the DPE, all on a team not built around generating offense, Kane has always benefited from a purely offensive deployment. Sure, look at Modanos ‘93 seasons, he lead his entire team At 23 and only developed from their into a two way beast. He didn’t drop off that much offensively anyway.

Sure, offensively Kane is clearly superior, while Modano is no slouch offensively either. He doesn’t have the peak play or big seasons, but has the consistency more or less. Again, their play is all within context.

Modano absolutely deserves to be in the conversation. The fact that you feel he shouldn’t proves my point that he’s under appreciated. I’m sure many on here didn’t watch him play during his prime.

He shouldn't be in the conversation because the likes of Kane and Chelios are CLEARLY superior. There is no argument for Modano over Kane and once again, the era is irrelevant because nobody is comparing their pts total. We're comparing their finishes and Kane has him beaten handily there to the point there's not even something to argue about.

He's a great player but he's not the best American and that's very obvious.

 

[GreatGonzo]

He shouldn't be in the conversation because the likes of Kane and Chelios are CLEARLY superior. There is no argument for Modano over Kane and once again, the era is irrelevant because nobody is comparing their pts total. We're comparing their finishes and Kane has him beaten handily there to the point there's not even something to argue about.

He's a great player but he's not the best American and that's very obvious.

He’s the only American born player that sits first in goals and overall points while being second in assists EVER, but he doesn’t have any business being in the conversation? Ok bud as if Modano leading all those categories just means nothing.

You keep saying Era isn’t relevant, then what is?

 

[Montreal Shadow]

He’s the only American born player that sits first in goals and overall points while being second in assists EVER, but he doesn’t have any business being in the conversation? Ok bud as if Modano leading all those categories just means nothing.

You keep saying Era isn’t relevant, then what is?

Because he's played for much longer than Kane duh?

Era is irrelevant for the umpteenth time because it changes nothing to his placement. Nobody is comparing pts total vs pts total. Compare finishes vs finishes and have a laugh at how far behind Mondano is compared to Kane.

 

[CanadienShark]

I think Kane now has that distinction. It's close now, but he should only widen the gap.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

When I think of a player over a entire career that embodied the game as an American I think of Chelios. Kane will probably go do as the best American player but his career isn’t done yet, players become legends when they hang the skates. I think Kane will become that guy, but he is still playing, his legend hasn’t been sown yet. But he will probably go down as the best when it’s all over.

 

[GreatGonzo]

Because he's played for much longer than Kane duh?

Era is irrelevant for the umpteenth time because it changes nothing to his placement. Nobody is comparing pts total vs pts total. Compare finishes vs finishes and have a laugh at how far behind Mondano is compared to Kane.

The fact that Modano leads all those categories should in fact mean something still during the time, especially since Kane hasn’t passed him statistically yet. He still holds his status as the most productive American Born player, along with being a phenomenal two way player, and a Stanley cup champ.

I never used era against Kane though. I used to as an example of how underrated Modano is. It’s how arrogant you are to actually suggest that Modano has “no place in this discussion” which is absolute none sense. If Kane being greater than Modano is how you feel, that’s fine, but it’s closer between all these American players than maybe you would like to admit.

You quoted me, and within the quote you replied to, I didn’t once mention Kane, only that Modano doesn’t get enough credit for how dominant and impactful of a player he was. You decided to interpret that as me saying he’s better than Kane....and then it’s like you decided that Modano shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

The fact that Modano leads all those categories should in fact mean something still during the time, especially since Kane hasn’t passed him statistically yet. He still holds his status as the most productive American Born player, along with being a phenomenal two way player, and a Stanley cup champ.

I never used era against Kane though. I used to as an example of how underrated Modano is. It’s how arrogant you are to actually suggest that Modano has “no place in this discussion” which is absolute none sense. If Kane being greater than Modano is how you feel, that’s fine, but it’s closer between all these American players than maybe you would like to admit.

You quoted me, and within the quote you replied to, I didn’t once mention Kane, only that Modano doesn’t get enough credit for how dominant and impactful of a player he was. You decided to interpret that as me saying he’s better than Kane....and then it’s like you decided that Modano shouldn’t even be mentioned in the same sentence.

Modano leading these categories over Kane means as much as Messier leading them over Lemieux.

The argument I’m making isn’t that Kane is leaps and bounds better than Modano. He’s simply clearly better and there is no debate about that. Hence why I said his name shouldn’t even be brought up. There is an argument for him at number 4.

How is that him being under-appreciated? He’s simply behind Leetch, Chelios and Kane.

 

[GreatGonzo]

Modano leading these categories over Kane means as much as Messier leading them over Lemieux.

The argument I’m making isn’t that Kane is leaps and bounds better than Modano. He’s simply clearly better and there is no debate about that. Hence why I said his name shouldn’t even be brought up. There is an argument for him at number 4.

How is that him being under-appreciated? He’s simply behind Leetch, Chelios and Kane.

Your logic is rather troubling....how do those things correlate at all? If you can’t handle and just want to continue belittling how Modano is statistically the best American born player, then by all means. Keep ignoring it for another 370+ points until it doesn’t mean anything, but it doesn’t change how the stats are RIGHT NOW.

“He doesn’t belong in this conversation.” I’ll just leave that there for you to soak in, hopefully you don’t hurt yourself. And yes it’s entirely opinionated to say Modano is alone behind Leetch and Chelios. Not saying your wrong, only that you continue making it sound like it’s not even worthy of an opinion that Modano can be held higher.

you probably never watched Modano, that’s what I’m guessing. I could be wrong, but I’ve never seen anyone push aside Modano and what he has accomplished as if it holds no value.

 

[Warden of the North]

Kane

 

[PG Canuck]

Kane is the greatest American player ever and he’s not even finished yet. Even if you don’t think he’s the greatest now he will be when he’s finally ready to retire.

He’s only 31 and could easily play for another 5 years for sure. I don’t think 1500 points is unreasonable for the guy.

 

[Montreal Shadow]

Your logic is rather troubling....how do those things correlate at all? If you can’t handle and just want to continue belittling how Modano is statistically the best American born player, then by all means. Keep ignoring it for another 370+ points until it doesn’t mean anything, but it doesn’t change how the stats are RIGHT NOW.

“He doesn’t belong in this conversation.” I’ll just leave that there for you to soak in, hopefully you don’t hurt yourself. And yes it’s entirely opinionated to say Modano is alone behind Leetch and Chelios. Not saying your wrong, only that you continue making it sound like it’s not even worthy of an opinion that Modano can be held higher.

you probably never watched Modano, that’s what I’m guessing. I could be wrong, but I’ve never seen anyone push aside Modano and what he has accomplished as if it holds no value.

I find it rather hilarious you’re the one who says Modano hasn’t got the flashy numbers like some others but then hypocritically uses them for your argument when the entire reason for them being higher than Kane is the length of time he played.

Chelios and Leetch were each the best defensemen in the league at one point in time or even more or they were at least top 3.

Kane has consistently been a top 5 if not top 3 forward for years and has individual accolades that blow Modano out of the water.

Where is this discussion supposed to begin exactly? I’d list their top pts finishes but do I even need to bother? You know Modano doesn’t come close to Kane there.

But points because that’s all you have.

Edit: I mean look at this:

Kane: Calder, Art Ross, Ted Lindsay, Hart, Conn Smythe, 3x First All-Star Team, 1x Second All-Star Team, 3x Stanley Cup Champion, 5x top 10 in pts

Modano: 1x Second All-Star Team, 1x Stanley Cup Champion, 1x top 10 in pts

Why are we having this conversation exactly? Kane already surpasses Modano in terms of individual accolades. You may argue points all you want but this is heavily due to the fact Modano's career has ended and he played 50% more games than Kane.

I'm not arguing that Kane is a far greater player than Modano, I'm arguing he's clearly better. It's like discussing the tallest man in the world and bring up Shaquille O'Neal who is very tall but clearly not the tallest guy around. Modano is still great, just obviously not as great as Kane.

 

[BlueBaron]

1.Kane, 2. Hull, 3.Chelios, 4. Modano, 5. Leetch

Lafontaine and Roenick in the top 10.

Matthews to be in the conversation soon.

Not just him. Eichel and more to come. The future is bright for team USA.

I guess I'll go with Kane but I think it's closer than people are making it out to be.

 

[LouJersey]

Best American player ever Brian Leetch

Best American forward ever Pat Lafontaine.

 

[Tofveve]

Not just him. Eichel and more to come. The future is bright for team USA.

I guess I'll go with Kane but I think it's closer than people are making it out to be.

I agree on all counts.

 

[Tofveve]

Funny, no one's even mentioned Keith Tkachuk who certainly should be in the running for a top 10 player. Was one of the games premier power forwards in the day.

 

[GreatGonzo]

I find it rather hilarious you’re the one who says Modano hasn’t got the flashy numbers like some others but then hypocritically uses them for your argument when the entire reason for them being higher than Kane is the length of time he played.

Chelios and Leetch were each the best defensemen in the league at one point in time or even more or they were at least top 3.

Kane has consistently been a top 5 if not top 3 forward for years and has individual accolades that blow Modano out of the water.

Where is this discussion supposed to begin exactly? I’d list their top pts finishes but do I even need to bother? You know Modano doesn’t come close to Kane there.

But points because that’s all you have.

Edit: I mean look at this:

Kane: Calder, Art Ross, Ted Lindsay, Hart, Conn Smythe, 3x First All-Star Team, 1x Second All-Star Team, 3x Stanley Cup Champion, 5x top 10 in pts

Modano: 1x Second All-Star Team, 1x Stanley Cup Champion, 1x top 10 in pts

Why are we having this conversation exactly? Kane already surpasses Modano in terms of individual accolades. You may argue points all you want but this is heavily due to the fact Modano's career has ended and he played 50% more games than Kane.

I'm not arguing that Kane is a far greater player than Modano, I'm arguing he's clearly better. It's like discussing the tallest man in the world and bring up Shaquille O'Neal who is very tall but clearly not the tallest guy around. Modano is still great, just obviously not as great as Kane.

I think you fail to understand the definition of hypocrisy, while also being intentionally obtuse regarding his numbers. I used his stats to show that as an American born player, he’s at the top. His stats/numbers aren’t sexy at all given he has no big or stand out seasons, just consistent ones at a high level(being a PPG player for YEARS On a team with a defensive mentality during the DPE is impressive believe it or not).

By the way, Modano has 3 top 10 finishes in points and a second team CENTER AS honor along with being one of the best players during the DPE. I’m not arguing that Kane has had the better seasons or accolades, only that Modano deserves to be mentioned regardless.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

Probably Chelios but Kane will likely end up 1st. Leetch is 3rd. Hull is Canadian.

 

[Crede777]

Didn't Gretzky become an American citizen in the late 80's?

 

[Stephen]

Patrick Kane is the greatest American player of all-time and is only 31.

Let's put this into perspective. Patrick Kane is to the Chicago Blackhawks what Steve Yzerman was to the Detroit Red Wings. And Steve Yzerman didn't win his 3 Stanley Cups until he was the age of 32. He's a very special player.