Stable lines where the winger was the best player/center was the worst

[NyQuil]

Selanne- (mostly)Zhamanov/Steen- Whoever else they had at wing.

Wasn’t that Keith Tkachuk?

I think you could argue that both Selanne and Tkachuk were better than Zhamnov.

 

[Talisman]

Good call on Kapustin-Zhluktov-Balderis, although they didn't play that long together (about 3 years in 1976/77-1979/80).

I think Alexandrov, Zhluktov and Vikulov played together for CSKA for a while, but did they ever play together on the Soviet national team? I don't remember (the 1976 Canada Cup maybe?), and I'm not sure that Alexandrov was better than Zhluktov especially when their whole careers are being compared.

yes!!. i remember seen only that kapustin-zluktov-balderis line in soviet natinal team!!. allthough in YouTube i havent found any CSKA match where they skate full form!. mostly i have seen in 1979 challenge cup series!!. that whole line was supposed be in lake placid 1980 but Kapustin got injured or something!!.

and youre right that mainly that aleksandrov-zluktov-vikulov line played in CSKA but i have hintch that they played together in canada cup 1976?. you re right also that zluktov had better career than aleksandrov!. and aleksandrob was to my eyes better and more flashy as a individual than zluktov.

 

[streitz]

Wasn’t that Keith Tkachuk?

I think you could argue that both Selanne and Tkachuk were better than Zhamnov.

I'd personally prefer Zhamanov, but Tkachuk also centered his own line at times in WPG.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Wasn’t that Keith Tkachuk?

I think you could argue that both Selanne and Tkachuk were better than Zhamnov.

i don't know, maybe i romanticize zhamnov, but i always thought in a different league he could have really been something. for a modern comparison, i would say maybe a center version of kucherov is the closest? except that, like elias pettersson, he kept getting squished like a bug. like, i remember watching the triplets line early on and thinking, everybody's talking about johnson but palat is incredibly special as a defensive player and if this kucherov figures out how to consistently buy himself space in this league he will be something else. that's how i felt about zhamnov.

that doesn't necessarily make him as good as selanne or tkachuk, who were phenomenal players, but i think that at least gets him close enough where he's not the obvious third wheel, a la joe primeau, sean couturier, or even larionov.

 

[Troubadour]

I'd personally prefer Zhamanov, but Tkachuk also centered his own line at times in WPG.

Dear Streitz, could you please start calling him by his true surname, i.e. Zhamnov?

"Zhamanov" is eerily similar to monstrosities like "Federov". Join the mass on this one, you will still be quite special.

And while I nitpick...

selanne or tkachuk, who were phenomenal players

Was Tkachuk really... that?

 

[NyQuil]

that doesn't necessarily make him as good as selanne or tkachuk, who were phenomenal players, but i think that at least gets him close enough where he's not the obvious third wheel, a la joe primeau, sean couturier, or even larionov.

I always thought highly of Zhamnov.

It's just hard to come up with a centre who is a step below both his linemates who was also an all-star in his own right.

I agree that it's a borderline case. He had a fairly productive career with Chicago through the dead-puck era, though he always missed a pile of games every year.

Maybe he had the bad luck of coming into the league at the wrong time for his skillset.

 

[Sorry]

Jagr-Kip Miller-Whoever

In fact that has to be the biggest disparity talent wise between a first line winger and center that I can remember. Usually the LW would be Titov, Hrdina, Morozov. All superior to Kip Miller. And they were together for multiple seasons so this isn’t some one off garbage.

In fact it was such a stable line that the Caps brought in Miller when Jagr was there.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Was Tkachuk really... that?

absolutely. i mean, he's one of my least favourite players of all time and i had the pleasure of watching him choke away two 3-1 series leads to my team, 11 years apart, but in terms of guys with that size/strength/skill combination, which post-WHA wingers would you have above him in terms of raw ability when he was healthy and had his head screwed on straight? neely, kevin stevens, iginla, bertuzzi, i think that's my list. i have actually tkachuk slightly ahead of shanahan. i mean tkachuk was so good that he overcame having a ten cent head to still score 500 goals and 1,000 points and average 45 goals and almost 200 PIMs during his peak. not to say i wouldn't love seeing him on the opposition's roster in the playoffs though.

as for the winnipeg lines, i think streitz can correct me if i'm mistaken (i'm mostly remembering from the '93 playoffs and a small sample of regular season divisional games against the canucks), but what i remember is zhamnov and steen rotating off wing pairings, with shannon/selanne, tkachuk/king, and davydov/borsato being decently stable units. i think stu barnes eventually stepped in as the third line center, with king and tkachuk.

i think the olympic line played together more in 1994 and '95 ('95 being zhamnov's huge year), but even then i feel like it was like the russian 5 in that they didn't play together nearly as much as one thinks.

 

[Troubadour]

absolutely. i mean, he's one of my least favourite players of all time and i had the pleasure of watching him choke away two 3-1 series leads to my team, 11 years apart, but in terms of guys with that size/strength/skill combination, which post-WHA wingers would you have above him in terms of raw ability when he was healthy and had his head screwed on straight? neely, kevin stevens, iginla, bertuzzi, i think that's my list. i have actually tkachuk slightly ahead of shanahan. i mean tkachuk was so good that he overcame having a ten cent head to still score 500 goals and 1,000 points and average 45 goals and almost 200 PIMs during his peak. not to say i wouldn't love seeing him on the opposition's roster in the playoffs though.

He was good, no doubt about it (although I would never take him over Shanahan). I was just struck by labeling him as "phenomenal". If I was twelve, he gave me a signed stick and a game-worn jersey and took a pic with me and hooked me up with VIP tickets, maybe, maybe I would consider calling him phenomenal too.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I would never take him over Shanahan

me either. shanahan had courage, heart, and a brain.

 

[sr edler]

Dear Streitz, could you please start calling him by his true surname, i.e. Zhamnov?

He also calls Forsberg Foresberg. Perhaps it's on purpose, perhaps it isn't. streitz only knows.

 

[Troubadour]

me either. shanahan had courage, heart, and a brain.

Yeah, he seemed to have quite a horsepower up there, on Tkachuk especially. And he looked better

He also calls Forsberg Foresberg. Perhaps it's on purpose, perhaps it isn't. streitz only knows.

I wonder if he would call Kozlov Kozelov too, and if it could go both ways. The way it unfolds, he could call Berezin Berzin just for kicks. As you say though, only Streitz knows.

 

[streitz]

i don't know, maybe i romanticize zhamnov, but i always thought in a different league he could have really been something. for a modern comparison, i would say maybe a center version of kucherov is the closest? except that, like elias pettersson, he kept getting squished like a bug. like, i remember watching the triplets line early on and thinking, everybody's talking about johnson but palat is incredibly special as a defensive player and if this kucherov figures out how to consistently buy himself space in this league he will be something else. that's how i felt about zhamnov.

that doesn't necessarily make him as good as selanne or tkachuk, who were phenomenal players, but i think that at least gets him close enough where he's not the obvious third wheel, a la joe primeau, sean couturier, or even larionov.

I think I misread your OP in the first place because I listed lines where the center could of been 2nd best.


Zhamanov was better then Tkachuk, maybe not long term but for the Jets he was. He had injury problems that fairly quickly in his career turned him into a solid 2nd line center type with the hawks, although I couldn't follow him much there since Dollar Bill and the Hawks were trash at the time.


I don't know a comparable to Zhamanov, maybe a smaller, worse Fedorov. Thing is with him he didn't do anything bad. Zhamanov could score, pass, solid D, he wasn't a banger but he didn't shy away from Traffic either. The only criticism I have over his game was he didn't use his shot(which was good) enough.


Just a real solid center, only Russian I liked on the jets aside from Bulin who was a goalie.

 

[streitz]

He also calls Forsberg Foresberg. Perhaps it's on purpose, perhaps it isn't. streitz only knows.

Na with Zamanov it's a nickname I had for him as a teen because as the WINNIPEG jet who came closest to an art ross he was ZA MAN.


I probably shouldn't of held on to that for 24 years.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Panarin - Anisimov - Kane is a good example. Yeah, the line existed for 2 years only, but it were remarkable 2 years.

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Brian Propp - Dave Poulin - Tim Kerr

 

[streitz]

Moore-Richard-Richard?

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

How about Ted Lindsay - Sid Abel - Gordie Howe? Or Frank Mahovlich - Alex Delvecchio - Howe?