What's your point? Crosby missed out on awards because he was injured, Lafleur missed out because others were better. Which year are you not agreeing with?
Was Lafleur the best player in 1975? Orr, Esposito and Dionne all got more points than him. Clarke was on the ice for 19 even strength goals against during the entire season.
Was Lafleur the best player in 1976? He scored only slightly more points than Clarke during both regular season and playoffs, while providing none of the otherworldly defence of Clarke.
Was Lafleur the best player in 1979? Both Trottier and Dionne outscored him. Considering everything Trottier added to the game besides scoring a good case can be made that Trottier had passed Lafleur at this point. I'd call it a tie for Lafleur at best.
Was Lafleur the best player in 1980? Why did Gretzky and Dionne score so much more than him then?
He was clearly an elite player throughout this stretch, but please provide any evidence to support the claim that he was the best forward for six years straight.
Abel's only three 20 plus goal seasons were with emerging Howe and Lindsay. suggesting that Abel received the greatest benefit.
Red Wings favoured the dump and chase which put a premium on the wingers corner work.
I feel like you've made the point that goals > assists quite often in this project, especially when we were comparing Maurice Richard to Jaromir Jagr. Just a quick survey of these threads using the search feature...
^ Would this not be a show of support for Bossy, who was one of the best and most consistent playoff goal scorers ever?
^ Again, this pretty closely describes Bossy, who is basically a slightly-less-rich man's Richard.
^ Including that last one for fairness, because you did say point production was primary, but then there's that elliptical qualifier at the end...
And just so there's no misunderstanding, I'm not accusing you of anything negative here. I just feel like you've made the point over and over (primarily in support of Richard) that a winger's goal scoring totals take precedence over his assist totals. If that is the case, then it makes perfect sense to look at how two players relate in goal scoring first and then adjust to account for other factors. Which is what I was doing in the post about Bossy's and Lindsay's prime.
I feel like we're taking Lindsay's point scoring completely at face value and not accounting for Howe at all, and it feels wrong.
I think Bossy is significantly better than Lindsay offensively.
Don't forget Red Kelly...for those that want to bring up Potvin, Kelly has been shown pretty clearly to be the 3rd best offensive defenseman of all time after Orr and Coffey
Vote about to be cast.
Sergei Makarov will be first. Excelled wherever he could excel for a sustained period, exceeded realistic expectations relative to players of his generation in his 30+ years (notable feat, considering how grueling Soviet training schedule was, and while seasons such as the ones he had wouldn't factor in that much, I'm totally ready to cross the line and say they should, considering his generation and the adaptation period that came with moving in NA), resume doesn’t suffer the same apparent flaws as Kharlamov (see below), stateline looks great in best-on-best situations (maybe not on year-to-year basis, but certainly on a consistent basis).
Guy Lafleur is currently second. The prime-then-nothing argument seemed more and more silly when reviewing how the players of his generation did in their first years in the league. Yes, some did better. But all of those comparables were in a situation to put up numbers that look great on surface. Lafleur was not only stuck behind a guy that was one of the best at its position -- at the moment Lafleur joined and not that much in retrospective -- but he was also on a notoriously conservative franchise. Couldn’t do what Bobby Orr did, but nobody’s being held to those standards at this point. That, added to the fact he’s really the link between Orr and Gretzky, regardless of what ones might think and say, or actually write, and he was the best player on a dynasty (something that needs to be accounted when considering longevity, at least, past the 9-games format), make him stand out here. Why not 1st? Era. It’s one thing to be the best; but being the best in an era where there was really three poles of pro hockey (no offence meant to Swedish, Finnish leagues), in a league that was expanding…you obviously end up facing competition that would be a little weaker that what it should be. Had Lafleur had two elite seasons in the 80ies, as opposed to two merely very good ones, he’d probably be first. Or, actually, fourth last round. Elite goalscorer AND playmaker.
Bill Cook is currently third. Just did too much for too long (considering era) to be put out of the first tier here. Deserves to get some « credit » for time loss due to war, even if most of it is problably useless due to how long his career was to begin with. All-around play too important to ignore. Brought quite a bit aside from scoring. Hart record looks okay considering era. It’s certainly not a flaw. Legitimately has at least two more AST berths at RW, possibly more, as he sometimes got the nod over players outproducing him. Below Lafleur due to somewhat average playoff output, never being considered at any point a Top-2 player in the game (the « 2 » is to include Makarov, as I think a solid argument can be made that he was indeed the 2nd best player of the world for a relevant period, while the first was an outlier). I guess I would have liked him to shine out a lil’ more versus Morenz, and as things are now, it’s not very close. The use of "currently" means I could switch him with Lafleur.
Michael Bossy is fourth. I feel like the whole case for Trottier vs. Bossy was way closer to a wash than to a foregone conclusion in favour of Trottier, which kindsof directly impact Bossy vs. Lindsay. This said, below Lafleur due to playoffs (as good as Bossy was). Career is short, but the same comment as for Lafleur : playing on a dynasty tended to reduce longevity somewhat once the playoff format got bigger. That’s basically a season and a half of playoffs in 10 years. Extremely consistent. What puts him below is non-elite playmaking and somewhat neutral non-offensive game.
Ted Lindsay is fifth. Quite consistent output (no off years in what would be considered his prime), but goalscorer-becoming-playmaker-with-advent-of-best-winger-ever… Yeah, basically. A case of « clearly third best skater » vs. « at worst third best skater » against Bossy, and I’ve made my position clear in Bossy’s part of my explanation. Ooze of intangibles still keeps him ahead of....
Alex Ovechkin. While I vehemently disagreed that he was a bad playoff performer, well, he’s still significantly below everyone ahead but Cook (Makarov obviously doesn’t really count) AND really, didn’t look good overall in international play either (not enough for this level at the very least). Yes, he has the Harts, but we can say A LOT of things on those Harts (this kinda goes against what I said to overpass earlier, but then again, that comment wasn't about injuries, which could explain Hart support). Offensive player pushed to the extreme, and his prime could be over or not, and I prefer to err on the side the prudence with modern players.
Canyon
Conacher and Mahovlich? Not much to say. I think both became available at the right time (as in, I don’t see those players as sticking out like a sore thumb), but is obviously not their turn. Right now, I tend to favor Mahovlich slightly, and I admit to have overrated him earlier. Conacher is a case of simultaneous wow-meh (at least at this level). I figure none of them are relevant at this stage.
Kharlamov? He’s last for me this round. I don’t think he’ll be relevant either, and I’m totally opened to change my views later on. But from my perspective, his case rests a lot on eye-witnessing and accounts. Which is a good basis for a case, except two caveats : depth and firsts. From my perception, he was likely the best, and the flashiest, they’ve seen. First of all, I’m not sure whether it’s attributable to the fact the depth was getting there… progressively… and was not quite there yet. I'd like to have a clearer perspective on this issue next round; again, this is too early for Kharlamov regardless of this. Add to this that his domestic record doesn’t appear to be that impressive vs. easy comparables (3M’s) and that hockey in Soviet Russia might or might not have gotten better (depth actually) between VK, BM, AM, and then Makarov, and you have somebody I'm having a hard-time ranking anywhere else than last, for now. Key word being : for now.
Vote about to be cast.
Sergei Makarov will be first. Excelled wherever he could excel for a sustained period, exceeded realistic expectations relative to players of his generation in his 30+ years (notable feat, considering how grueling Soviet training schedule was, and while seasons such as the ones he had wouldn't factor in that much, I'm totally ready to cross the line and say they should, considering his generation and the adaptation period that came with moving in NA), resume doesn’t suffer the same apparent flaws as Kharlamov (see below), stateline looks great in best-on-best situations (maybe not on year-to-year basis, but certainly on a consistent basis).
Guy Lafleur is currently second. The prime-then-nothing argument seemed more and more silly when reviewing how the players of his generation did in their first years in the league. Yes, some did better. But all of those comparables were in a situation to put up numbers that look great on surface. Lafleur was not only stuck behind a guy that was one of the best at its position -- at the moment Lafleur joined and not that much in retrospective -- but he was also on a notoriously conservative franchise. Couldn’t do what Bobby Orr did, but nobody’s being held to those standards at this point. That, added to the fact he’s really the link between Orr and Gretzky, regardless of what ones might think and say, or actually write, and he was the best player on a dynasty (something that needs to be accounted when considering longevity, at least, past the 9-games format), make him stand out here. Why not 1st? Era. It’s one thing to be the best; but being the best in an era where there was really three poles of pro hockey (no offence meant to Swedish, Finnish leagues), in a league that was expanding…you obviously end up facing competition that would be a little weaker that what it should be. Had Lafleur had two elite seasons in the 80ies, as opposed to two merely very good ones, he’d probably be first. Or, actually, fourth last round. Elite goalscorer AND playmaker.
Bill Cook is currently third. Just did too much for too long (considering era) to be put out of the first tier here. Deserves to get some « credit » for time loss due to war, even if most of it is problably useless due to how long his career was to begin with. All-around play too important to ignore. Brought quite a bit aside from scoring. Hart record looks okay considering era. It’s certainly not a flaw. Legitimately has at least two more AST berths at RW, possibly more, as he sometimes got the nod over players outproducing him. Below Lafleur due to somewhat average playoff output, never being considered at any point a Top-2 player in the game (the « 2 » is to include Makarov, as I think a solid argument can be made that he was indeed the 2nd best player of the world for a relevant period, while the first was an outlier). I guess I would have liked him to shine out a lil’ more versus Morenz, and as things are now, it’s not very close. The use of "currently" means I could switch him with Lafleur.
Michael Bossy is fourth. I feel like the whole case for Trottier vs. Bossy was way closer to a wash than to a foregone conclusion in favour of Trottier, which kindsof directly impact Bossy vs. Lindsay. This said, below Lafleur due to playoffs (as good as Bossy was). Career is short, but the same comment as for Lafleur : playing on a dynasty tended to reduce longevity somewhat once the playoff format got bigger. That’s basically a season and a half of playoffs in 10 years. Extremely consistent. What puts him below is non-elite playmaking and somewhat neutral non-offensive game.
Ted Lindsay is fifth. Quite consistent output (no off years in what would be considered his prime), but goalscorer-becoming-playmaker-with-advent-of-best-winger-ever… Yeah, basically. A case of « clearly third best skater » vs. « at worst third best skater » against Bossy, and I’ve made my position clear in Bossy’s part of my explanation. Ooze of intangibles still keeps him ahead of....
Alex Ovechkin. While I vehemently disagreed that he was a bad playoff performer, well, he’s still significantly below everyone ahead but Cook (Makarov obviously doesn’t really count) AND really, didn’t look good overall in international play either (not enough for this level at the very least). Yes, he has the Harts, but we can say A LOT of things on those Harts (this kinda goes against what I said to overpass earlier, but then again, that comment wasn't about injuries, which could explain Hart support). Offensive player pushed to the extreme, and his prime could be over or not, and I prefer to err on the side the prudence with modern players.
Canyon
Conacher and Mahovlich? Not much to say. I think both became available at the right time (as in, I don’t see those players as sticking out like a sore thumb), but is obviously not their turn. Right now, I tend to favor Mahovlich slightly, and I admit to have overrated him earlier. Conacher is a case of simultaneous wow-meh (at least at this level). I figure none of them are relevant at this stage.
Kharlamov? He’s last for me this round. I don’t think he’ll be relevant either, and I’m totally opened to change my views later on. But from my perspective, his case rests a lot on eye-witnessing and accounts. Which is a good basis for a case, except two caveats : depth and firsts. From my perception, he was likely the best, and the flashiest, they’ve seen. First of all, I’m not sure whether it’s attributable to the fact the depth was getting there… progressively… and was not quite there yet. I'd like to have a clearer perspective on this issue next round; again, this is too early for Kharlamov regardless of this. Add to this that his domestic record doesn’t appear to be that impressive vs. easy comparables (3M’s) and that hockey in Soviet Russia might or might not have gotten better (depth actually) between VK, BM, AM, and then Makarov, and you have somebody I'm having a hard-time ranking anywhere else than last, for now. Key word being : for now.
Agree about Red Kelly - frankly, I think he helped Howe's numbers too.
But note that when Lindsay won the Art Ross in 1948-49, Red Kelly only scored 16 points. He wouldn't explode until the following season:
http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/k/kellyre01.html
Lindsay is a tough player to evaluate, this is definitely true.
The toughest part is that in 48-49, which should have been Lindsay's year (winning the Art Ross by a decent clip with no elite offensive defenseman on the blueline, although Howe and Abel were his linemates and both were very good), Abel is the one who actually won the Hart Trophy.
49-50 is the year that Lindsay won the Art Ross, a year in which Kelly jumped up from 16pts the previous year to 40pts. Lindsay did have a solid year in 48-49, finishing tied for 3rd in points with Abel, but 14 off the lead.
In 49-50 (with a prime Red Kelly) Lindsay led the league in scoring by 9pts and the Hart went to goalie Chuck Rayner
without taking random quotes of mine completely out of context and twisting them ... rather than playing some cute "gotcha" game from last round. ... Anyway, your cherrypicking of quotes ...
I'm only bringing it up to defend myself against what is basically slander) ... : seriously, nice spin job. ... Just felt the need to defend myself after... that thing of a post.
completely omits any kind of playoff analysis (where Lindsay was much closer to Bossy than Jagr was to Richard). Completely omits any kind of talk about non-offensive ability.
Annoyed because of the obvious "call out" nature of the post, and the selective use of quotes.
That wasn't what I was trying to do, so I apologize for coming off that way.
How "extremely pro-modern" of you.Annoyed because of the obvious "call out" nature of the post, and the selective use of quotes.
Anyway, back to the players, I think that just looking at Lindsay's hockey reference profile combined with what we know about his leadership, he's a very good playoff performer - only Richard, Howe, and Geoffrion seem better of his generation. But it's probably not as good as Bossy.
Anyway, all this back and forth between Lindsay and Bossy has convinced me to rank Ovechkin above both of them.
How "extremely pro-modern" of you.
This made me think about how many all-star selections Makarov would have had if Jari Kurri had stayed in Europe for his entire career. Well we know that Makarov made the all-star team in the 1982 and the 1989 World Championships while competing with Kurri. But what about the time in between? Does prime Kurri steal any of prime Makarovs all-star selections during that time? Well considering that Makarovs scoring finishes during those four tournaments (83, 85, 86 and 87) was 1st, 1st, 1st and 2nd, Kurri would really have had to play at the very top of his ability to have a chance of stealing even one or two of Makarovs all-star selections. So even if Makarov would have had to compete with a prime Kurri throughout most of his own prime he would still most likely have ended up with between 6 and 8 all-star selections. My bet would probably be that he still would have 8. We can never know for sure of course.
Makarov still had pretty tough competition at RW some years as it was. Between 79-83 for example.
79: Boris Mikhailov, Helmuts Balderis, Vladimir Martinec, Marian Stastny
81: Guy Lafleur, Lanny McDonald, Mike Gartner, Jiri Lala, Vladimir Martinec, Viktor Shalimov, Nikolai Drozdetsky
82: Jiri Lala, Jari Kurri, Dino Ciccarelli, Mike Gartner, Viktor Shalimov, Nikolai Drozdetsky,
83: Jiri Lala, Dave Taylor, Mike Gartner, Helmuts Balderis
I agree however that Kharlamov had tougher competition from regular WHC-players (players who played pretty much every tournament).
Ovechkin:
Strengths: Good regular season offense
Weaknesses: Poor defense, poor clutch playoff scoring (not playoff ppg), poor playoff leadership, has never taken a team to the Conference Finals.
Conclusion: There's no way he should go top 18 in this project.
Not sure why he would be considered a poor playoff performer by some.
Ovechkin stands 9th in goals per game in the playoffs. Everyone ahead of him (except Richard) played in the 80s & 90s. And he's a +9 in the playoffs on teams that didn't win.
Ovechkin:
Strengths: Good regular season offense
Weaknesses: Poor defense, poor clutch playoff scoring (not playoff ppg), poor playoff leadership, has never taken a team to the Conference Finals.
Conclusion: There's no way he should go top 18 in this project.
Ovechkin:
Strengths: Good regular season offense
Weaknesses: Poor defense, poor clutch playoff scoring (not playoff ppg), poor playoff leadership, has never taken a team to the Conference Finals.
Conclusion: There's no way he should go top 18 in this project.
I love how some people think it only take ONE player to "carry" a team to the Cup, especially in today's 30-team parity ridden league. Hockey is probably the most team oriented sport out there. This isnt the NBA where you play more 95% of the game.
Even then 31G 61 pts in 58GP is over PPG if my math is correct, and pretty damn good considering this is a DPE. Cant blame Ovie for how his team was built (poor D and goaltending).
Ill take him and his 3 Harts over Bossy (who was considered the 3rd best on his team!). Had Ovie played on a dynasty in the 70s/80s he wouldve/would be scoring MORE than Bossy and won 4+ Cups, no question.
Ranking players on their merits as opposed to just based on when they played, isn't being "pro modern".
Rather than send a silly little snipe in his direction, the honorable thing to do would be to respond to the points made last night. Based on the evidence presented, are you convinced about the wchl? If not, why?
Your bias is cute.
He is also tied for 4th all time - all positions combined - for most hart trophies in nhl history.