My rankings of LW by era

[LapierreSports]

Pre WW2 ?
???
A.Joliat
T.Blake

1950-72

B.Hull
T.Lindsay
F.Mahovlich
D.Moore
J.Bucyk
B.Olmstead

1970-1980

B.Gainey
R.Martin
S.Shutt
B.Barber
C.Gillies

1980-1990

M.Messier
M.Goulet
M.Naslund
J.Tonelli
C.Simmer

1990-2000+

B.Shanahan
L.Robitaille
P.Kariya
M.Naslund
K.Tkachuk
J.Leclair
K.Stevens
P.Elias
A.Graves

Now

D.Heatley (RW)
Ovechkin
Kovalchuk
Gaborik
Zetterberg
Nash
Gagne
Havlat
Smyth
Semin
Tanguay

Comments ?

Top LW of all time

By era

Lindsay
Moore
Hull
Bucyk
Mahovlich
Gainey
Messier (c)
Robitaille
Shanahan
Kovalchuk
Heatley (rw)
Ovechkin

Click to read more...

 

[CH]

Isn't Dave Andreyvhuk the highest scoring LW of all time? I would think he might be worth mentioning.

 

[LapierreSports]

Forgot about him...

 

[John Flyers Fan]

1970-1980

B.Gainey
R.Martin
S.Shutt
B.Barber
C.Gillies

1980-1990

M.Messier
M.Goulet
M.Naslund
J.Tonelli
C.Simmer

Barber was better than Gainey & Martin

You have Messier, listed as a center & left wing.

Brian Propp is at worst the 2nd best LW of the 1980's.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Barber was better than Gainey & Martin

You have Messier, listed as a center & left wing.

Brian Propp is at worst the 2nd best LW of the 1980's.

Barber may have been better diver than Gregg Lougainous(sp?), but he was not a better hockey player than Bob Gainey.

 

[Big Phil]

Isn't Dave Andreyvhuk the highest scoring LW of all time? I would think he might be worth mentioning.

Andreychuk was never a 1st or 2nd team all-star in his career at LW, which has been historicall a weak position compared to the others. He doesnt deserve to be on there.

 

[Big Phil]

Barber was better than Gainey & Martin

My list for the '70s LW are
1a) Gainey
1b) Barber
3) Shutt
4) Martin
5) Gillies

Barber in terms of being the best player that you'd want on your team was at least right there with Gainey. Put Barber in place of Shutt and the Habs still win 4 straight Cups. Put Barber in place of Gillies and the Islanders are still a dynasty.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Cy Denneny, Busher Jackson, Sweeney Schriner, Bun Cook, Ace Bailey and Syd Howe should all be on the pre-ww2 list.

Where do you place 40's wingers like Doug Bentley, Sid Abel, Woody Dumart and Roy Conacher?

Oh, and since your list makes no distinction of NHL, and the goalie list has Tretiak. Bobby Hull and Valeri Kharlamov are missing in the 70's, maybe Jiri Holik too, Alexander Firsov should be ahead of Olmstead in the 50s/60's and Krutov could be in the 80's list as well.

 

[Kyle McMahon]

I would say Andreychuk should certainly be up there; perhaps he's not because his career crossed over two decades. His prime was late 80s early 90s so he doesn't fit definitively into either decade.

IMO he had a better career so far than everyone in the 1990-2000+ list except Shanahan and Robitaille, and on the 1980-90 list I'd rank his career ahead of Naslund, Tonelli, and Simmer. Those three had slightly higher peaks, but MUCH shorter careers. Longevity has to count for something.

 

[God Bless Canada]

Andreychuk's status among the all-time scoring LWs is reflective of how long he played the game. Never a first or second team all-star. And he was an LW in the 80s and 90s, not exactly the prime time for LWs. I'd have a hard time rating an LWs in the post-WHA era as a top 10 LW. Maybe Shanahan. But that's it.

The one thing I will definitely disagree with is that you don't have Bobby Hull at No. 1. Hull was a dominant offensive LW who was pretty good all-round. (Like all players from the Original 6). Lindsay would be No. 2 and Mahovlich No. 3.

Conspicuous by his absence is Kharlamov, simply because you listed Tretiak among the goalies. I think you could make a case for Kharlamov at No. 3 all-time.

The other notable absentee is Doug Bentley, who I have among the top 10 LWs ever.

I would take Gainey ahead of Barber, but I would take Barber ahead of Shutt and Martin.

 

[Wisent]

Where is Bobby Hull?And again, if you include Tretiak in the best goalies, you have to include the easterners here as well especially in the left wing department. They were very strong there.

 

[pappyline]

You probably mean pre 1950 for the first group which should also include Jackson, Doug Bentley, Paul Thompson, Sweeny schriner, Roy Conacher. IMO, Busher Jackson is the best of that era.

Bobby Hull was still around in the 70's & should also be #1 among that less than stellar group. Also, IMO, Barber & Martin rate ahead of Gainey as I prefer 2 way players over defensive specialists.

Assume that the order of your last group (all-time) is meaningless as you have Lindsay & moore ahead of Hull.

 

[toastman344*]

Some of the Russians were quoted claiming that Gainey was The Best Player in the World...He wasn't of course ...But they couldn't be convinced of this...

He Would make a lot of people's all time ...Team Canada lineups...Probably not many ex coaches , or ex team mates...wouldn't put him there...

 

[pappyline]

Some of the Russians were quoted claiming that Gainey was The Best Player in the World...He wasn't of course ...But they couldn't be convinced of this...

He Would make a lot of people's all time ...Team Canada lineups...Probably not many ex coaches , or ex team mates...wouldn't put him there...

Gainey, The best p;ayer in the world. Can not believe they said this. Gainey was a good checker who happened to play on a strong team. As like most Habs players they tend to get over rated because they are role p;ayers in a strong team. I do trmenber the soviets saying Bobby Hull was the best they played aginst back on 74

 

[S.S. Giggy]

No body added St. Louis?

 

[arrbez]

No body added St. Louis?

left wingers dear, not cities

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Gainey vs Barber.

It really depends on if you view Gainey's defensive play as game breaking.

 

[toastman344*]

Papi-lion aka Henri Charriere wrote:

Gainey, The best p;ayer in the world. Can not believe they said this. Gainey was a good checker who happened to play on a strong team. As like most Habs players they tend to get over rated because they are role p;ayers in a strong team. I do trmenber the soviets saying Bobby Hull was the best they played aginst back on 74

I clearly recall the Soviets calling Gainey the Best Player in The World...and I'm sure there are some other old timers here...who do too...His impact on their top offensive players was oft times devastating...and this was something which unnerved them...and something they had never experienced before...at least not to that degree...

He wasn't merely a good checker...He was a GREAT Checker !...the best Defensive Forward Ever...And a Great Skater Too !...I dont think he's been Overrated in the Least...and I'm not even a Habs Fan...

CHEERS PAPPY ! Great Book Btw !

 

[John Flyers Fan]

Gainey vs Barber.

It really depends on if you view Gainey's defensive play as game breaking.

One of them played in all situations, the other did not.

Barber, while not the defensive player Gainey was, also was an excellent defensively and an outstanding penalty killer.

Bareber is also going to score you 35 goals or more .. and play the point on the power play.

 

[toastman344*]

I'm paraphrasing here...But Ken Dryden was once quoted as saying that: ‘ his Fantasy Team...would be made up Entirely of Bob Gainey's' ...Does anyone else recall that quote ?

 

[John Flyers Fan]

I'm paraphrasing here...But Ken Dryden was once quoted as saying that: ‘ his Fantasy Team...would be made up Entirely of Bob Gainey's' ...Does anyone else recall that quote ?

He can have 18 Gainey's .... I'll take 18 Barber's and Bernie Parent and be very very happy.

 

[pappyline]

I'm paraphrasing here...But Ken Dryden was once quoted as saying that: ‘ his Fantasy Team...would be made up Entirely of Bob Gainey's' ...Does anyone else recall that quote ?

That would be boring to watch. Best result they could have would be a scoreless tie.

 

[toastman344*]

Well I'm sure that Dryden's fantasy included himself in goal...So they'd probably win just about every game 1-0...or thereabouts

Gainey did score ...smfing like...over 250 NHL goals + over 500 pts ...did he not ?

 

[pappyline]

Well I'm sure that Dryden's fantasy included himself in goal...So they'd probably win just about every game 1-0...or thereabouts

Gainey did score ...smfing like...over 250 NHL goals + over 500 pts ...did he not ?

I don't think dryden's shot is hard enough to score a goal a game. BTW, 239 goals & 500 points over 16 years in Gainey's era is pretty mediocre. Gainey was lucky to play on very good teams. IMO, he is very over-rated. Give me someone who can score as well as check,

 

[toastman344*]

Pappy:

I don't think dryden's shot is hard enough to score a goal a game.

PRICELESS !!!!

But seriously ( as if fantasies can be serious ??? ) ...u've got 18 Gainey's ...who r also gonna share pp time...all they need to do is ea. score, on average...once every 18 games ( which they could do very easily )...= 1-0 Bob Gainey's !!! assist Bob Gainey, after a nice defensive play by Bob Gainey etc...