Players beloved locally... less so elsewhere

[VanIslander]

Trevor Linden in Vancouver.
Wendel Clark in Toronto.
Patrick Marleau in San Jose.
Adam Graves in New York.
...

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[koyvoo]

Brad Marchand

 

[93LEAFS]

I generally think pests and physical guys. I think guys like Marleau and Linden are quite respected league-wide, with no-one hating them. The first guys who comes to my mind for Toronto are Darcy Tucker and Tie Domi. There's also a long list of guys who are despised in rival markets but beloved in their own. For example, Daniel Alfredsson is hated in Toronto for some of his antics but a god in Ottawa.

 

[BenchBrawl]

Kovalev is way more beloved in Montreal than elsewhere except maybe NY and Pittsburgh. Funny how the markets in which he played all seem to love him, but elsewhere all you hear is that he was overrated and heartless.

 

[Jets4Life]

Teemu Selanne is a God in Winnipeg, and has been ever since joining the Jets in 1992.

 

[crobro]

Stan Smyl and Harold Snepsts in Vancouver

 

[Big Phil]

In baseball, Barry Bonds in San Francisco.

I couldn't think of anyone remotely close to that level in hockey. Not even Brad Marchand. Okay, maybe him on a smaller scale.

 

[Albatros]

Perry.

 

[Hobnobs]

Teemu Selanne is a God in Winnipeg, and has been ever since joining the Jets in 1992.

Yes but Selänne is generally liked elsewhere as well.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Ken Daneyko - beloved in NJ, more or less neutral elsewhere

Claude Lemieux - beloved in NJ (not as much as Daneyko. Elsewhere?

 

[seventieslord]

Trevor Linden in Vancouver.
Wendel Clark in Toronto.
Patrick Marleau in San Jose.
Adam Graves in New York.
...

Would have answered Clark, Linden, Graves and Smyth.

 

[VanIslander]

Every year the season ticket holders in the Shark Tank are asked to name their favorite player and 8 times they have chosen Marleau, with no one else ever having been picked even 4 times.

 

[Jets4Life]

Yes but Selänne is generally liked elsewhere as well.

In Winnipeg, he is huge though. He may be popular in Anaheim, but he cut run for Mayor and win easily.

 

[Tarantula]

Jim Schoenfeld, Buffalo
Terry O Reilly, John Wensink, Stan Jonahaton, Boston
Clear the track, here comes Shack, Toronto

 

[The Panther]

Mark Messier -- loved in Edmonton & New York, mixed opinions in other cities, considered the source of war, pestilence, and global hunger in Vancouver.

Ted Lindsay -- hero in Detroit, enemy #1 to all NHL owners/GMs, and public enemy #1 in Montreal

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Ken Daneyko - beloved in NJ, more or less neutral elsewhere

Claude Lemieux - beloved in NJ (not as much as Daneyko. Elsewhere?

Lemieux is loved in Colorado and still hated in Detroit. I’m sure a majority of Montreal fans still appreciate Lemieux’s huge contributions in the 1986 Cup victory.

 

[Normand Lacombe]

Philadelphia:
Dave Schultz-Hated by every other team, the Hammer was viewed as the poster boy for all that was wrong with hockey in the 1970’s. In Philadelphia, Schultz is still beloved to this day.

Dave Brown-Some opposing fanbases saw Brown as a cheap shooting goon who didn’t belong in the NHL. Ranger fans still remember Brown breaking Tomas Sandstrom’s jaw with a vicious cross check to Sandstrom’s face. Flyer fans give Brown one of the loudest ovations when introduced in alumni games.

Keith Primeau-Was considered an underachiever in Detroit and a quitter in Carolina. Yet, Primeau is popular in Philly for mainly his 2004 playoff.

 

[JianYang]

Denis savard loved in Chicago, but not Montreal?

I was really young when he went to Montreal, and he had some highlight plays, but his best years were behind him.

I'm not saying he was hated in montreal, but I'm guessing hawks fans adored him.

 

[njdevils1982]

Stan Smyl and Harold Snepsts in Vancouver

not here…...my 2 favorite all time canucks.

 

[VanIslander]

not here…...my 2 favorite all time canucks.

Dollar for donuts you're in B.C.

 

[wetcoast]

Trevor Linden in Vancouver.
Wendel Clark in Toronto.
Patrick Marleau in San Jose.
Adam Graves in New York.
...

These are the first 2 that come to mind in my 40+ years of watching hockey.

They are icons in their cities, are Marleau and Graves icons in San Jose and New York?

 

[sr edler]

Linden's probably not disliked outside of Van, people are probably just indifferent. Same with Marleau, same with Clark too most likely. Graves I have no idea, people in Pittsburgh dislike him because of the slash?

Just because people are skeptical about putting Marleau in the HHOF doesn't mean they dislike him. I don't care about him one way or the other. He's just a hockey player. He's like Bert Robertsson or Roger Åkerström or Sergei Brylin or to me.

 

[sr edler]

It makes no sense whatsoever why Linden and Marleau should be "beloved" anywhere else but Vancouver and San Jose. Linden had very short and forgettable stints with NYI, Montreal and Washington and Marleau's stint in Toronto was pretty forgettable too.

Why would NYI, Montreal and WSH fans love Linden when they have millions of other players who played for way longer and contributed way more to those teams?

 

[VanIslander]

Irbe in Carolina and San Jose.

Erat in Nashville.

Miller in Buffalo.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

actually, the sedins probably fit this category. endlessly ridiculed for being soft or pacifists or inseparable or reliant on one another or weird or whatever that strange insinuation of twincest by jamie benn and tyler seguin was.

but they are, rightfully, beloved in vancouver as totally unique players who in their primes were an incredible joy to watch and as wonderful members of the community and excellent human beings.