Star players that you never liked

[Killion]

I hated him cause there was no way to score on him.

What a Woos of a position to be taking. I didnt like, dont like him. "Hate" no, not at all....heres a Tip Son. Dont ever let anyone live in your head Rent Free. Guy was a Faker. FRAUD! Savvy?

 

[greyraven8]

First three that come to mind are:
Patrick Roy
Mark Messier
Zdeno Chara

 

[Killion]

First three that come to mind are:
Patrick Roy
Mark Messier
Zdeno Chara

Huh? Roy & messier I can sort of understand but Chara? .... Why?..... Ya'll thinkin he's a card carrying member of the Nephilim who made such a hash of things God brought on the Deluge?... You lose property or what?

 

[streitz]

Live by the sword die by the sword

 

[MS]

Messier obviously.

Patrick Roy - loved to hate his personality although obviously a great player.

Martin Brodeur - horribly overrated player, didn't like the accolades he got nor his personality much either.

Pekka Rinne - every time I watch him play, I'm left thinking he sucks. Numbers say otherwise.

 

[Asheville]

Martin Brodeur - horribly overrated player, didn't like the accolades he got nor his personality much either.

The whole cheating-on-his-wife-with-her-brother's-wife truly makes him (and the new wife) a piece of shit.

 

[varano]

What a Woos of a position to be taking. I didnt like, dont like him. "Hate" no, not at all....heres a Tip Son. Dont ever let anyone live in your head Rent Free. Guy was a Faker. FRAUD! Savvy?

I wish I understood half of what you're saying....

 

[Jacob]

Modano definitely had that jock aura and look about him. Never liked him either.

Yeah, and posing for magazine covers with airbrushed abs and the comment about not being able to afford dog food during the lockout didn't help either.

 

[The Panther]

I really respect the Islanders' dynasty team and franchise in general, but there's something off about some of those guys. Potvin seemed like a warm, chatty guy off the ice... but his train-wreck color commentating on TV has sort-of ruined him for many. Billy Smith was a few bricks short of a load at the best of times. Bossy is a really admirable guy, except for his cool, slightly smug persona and generally anti-social vibe. Trottier had a disastrous financial-life away from hockey, and the whole "I'm suddenly American!" in 1984 thing kind of turns me off.

Still respect that team, though.

 

[blood gin]

actually i always thought trevor linden had an extremely punchable face. he was just such a golden boy. felt the same way about the admiral, david robinson.

not quite the same thing as comments above re pretty boys like modano, or (not yet mentioned) lecavalier and b richards. but related.

Barnaby and Odelein had punchable faces. I remember the mini feuds they had during the 1999 playoffs. Tough to root for either clown

 

[JackSlater]

I always disliked Palffy for no reason at all. I have also disliked Patrick Kane for his whole career. He always reminded me of teammates who were desperate to check the stats sheet after the game to see how many points they scored. I remember a Blackhawks player talking about Kane actually doing that in his early years and I felt very vindicated in my dislike. I always disliked Forsberg too, but that's ultimately a sign of respect as it was due to his play against Detroit.

Regarding Stevens, he did what he did to win. He didn't cheat and I doubt that many of his teammates or new Jersey fans wish that he had done things differently. I have to respect the guy.

 

[sr edler]

I always disliked Palffy for no reason at all.

I like him just because he wore the same number and had the exact same type of haircut as Jagr for a while, and also had a somewhat similar playing style (both wingers who could both score and set up guys). It's like when the Czech Republic and Slovakia split up, they agreed to have a similar character/star forward on both national teams, for diplomatic reasons.

 

[sr edler]

The part of Stevens body that makes contact with Lindros is considered a shoulder in human anatomy

It was a shoulder

Kinda looks likes leads suspectly high with his arm actually. And even though this is just a still photo, Stevens' (towards the camera) and Lindros' (profile) positions tells something else about Stevens' way of hitting.

Again, Matt Cooke on Savard, perfectly clean hit by the rules when executed.

Live by the sword die by the sword

I don't think anyone in the thread so far has pretended Lindros was a saint himself. He had that body slam on DiMaio, for instance. Stevens hit a lot of other guys than Lindros, and Lindros got hit by other players than Stevens (most notably Kasparaits). It could be that I don't care much about those teams (Devils/Flyers), but I feel that hit (pictured above) is way overblown when it comes to the narrative of "ending someone". Not because it didn't do damage, but because Lindros had already started to decline somewhat that very season, because of all his other injuries, and you could kinda see the writing on the wall already. He was just a master at getting injured. Only full season he played prior to the Stevens hit was the shortened lockout season. The next closest he missed 9 games.

 

[streitz]

Barnaby and Odelein had punchable faces. I remember the mini feuds they had during the 1999 playoffs. Tough to root for either clown

Odelein was a movie star though. Not sure if he starred with Wahlberg or Heston though.

 

[GOilers88]

I hated Chelios so much. f***in' retire already buds!

 

[BraveCanadian]

I hated Chelios so much. ****in' retire already buds!

I remember hating his guts when he blatantly elbowed Brian Propp's head into the glass in the '89 playoffs.

I'm not even a Flyers fan..

 

[Troubadour]

Only full season he played prior to the Stevens hit was the shortened lockout season.

Not even that one actually. He missed two games.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I remember hating his guts when he blatantly elbowed Brian Propp's head into the glass in the '89 playoffs.

I'm not even a Flyers fan..

The best of Chris Chelios:

"Chelios, remember, kinda sorta implied that … actually, just read what he said during the 1994-95 lockout (aka "The First One"). At the time, Chelios was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks.

"If I was Gary Bettman, I'd be worried about my family … or my well-being. Now he's gonna affect a lot of people, and some crazed fan or even a player, who knows, they might take it in their own hands and figure they get him out of the way and things might get settled. You'd hate to see something like that happen, but he took the job."

 

[sr edler]

The best of Chris Chelios:

"Chelios, remember, kinda sorta implied that … actually, just read what he said during the 1994-95 lockout (aka "The First One"). At the time, Chelios was playing for the Chicago Blackhawks.

"If I was Gary Bettman, I'd be worried about my family … or my well-being. Now he's gonna affect a lot of people, and some crazed fan or even a player, who knows, they might take it in their own hands and figure they get him out of the way and things might get settled. You'd hate to see something like that happen, but he took the job."

You don't even have to read it, it's even better seeing it/listening to it.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

I really respect the Islanders' dynasty team and franchise in general, but there's something off about some of those guys. Potvin seemed like a warm, chatty guy off the ice... but his train-wreck color commentating on TV has sort-of ruined him for many. Billy Smith was a few bricks short of a load at the best of times. Bossy is a really admirable guy, except for his cool, slightly smug persona and generally anti-social vibe. Trottier had a disastrous financial-life away from hockey, and the whole "I'm suddenly American!" in 1984 thing kind of turns me off.

Still respect that team, though.

Trottier is one of the nicest people ever. The financial woes were truly sad.

 

[Newsworthy]

Patrick Roy at times.
Todd Bertuzzi cuz of the obvious.
Doug Gilmour for some reason I can't explain.
Theo Fleury because I felt announcers overate him.
Scott Stevens and Brendan Shannahn because I disliked how much they talked about that trade.
I actually don't dislike any of these players anymore.

 

[Big Phil]

I don't think anyone in the thread so far has pretended Lindros was a saint himself. He had that body slam on DiMaio, for instance. Stevens hit a lot of other guys than Lindros, and Lindros got hit by other players than Stevens (most notably Kasparaits). It could be that I don't care much about those teams (Devils/Flyers), but I feel that hit (pictured above) is way overblown when it comes to the narrative of "ending someone". Not because it didn't do damage, but because Lindros had already started to decline somewhat that very season, because of all his other injuries, and you could kinda see the writing on the wall already. He was just a master at getting injured. Only full season he played prior to the Stevens hit was the shortened lockout season. The next closest he missed 9 games.

Lindros had 59 points in 55 games in 2000. When he was returning in the semis I remember watching Sportcenter or something like that and an analyst said "Anytime you can get a top 10 player in the game back you take it!" It just got me thinking, has Lindros slipped that far that he's just a top 10 guy now? Then the Stevens hit, and he was never even close to that again.

 

[Nick Hansen]

You don't even have to read it, it's even better seeing it/listening to it.

That's what I've always liked about hockey. It is a tight-knit community and a tough one at that. The few last years have been alarming in that direction. I fear we might lose what made hockey unique. I get it, get the psycho hits out of the game, I never liked it either (elbows to the head (Messier) or blindside hits (Cooke)), but I find we're using the magnifying glass way too liberally these days.

At this rate, it is becoming floorball on ice. What is the point? Ice hockey is to floorball what handball is to basketball, sort of.

 

[Big Phil]

So Bourque or Lidström or Niedermayer (etc.) never "did their job", because they didn't hit people like Stevens? The absolute majority of players ever didn't hit like that, so I guess there's plenty of players not doing their job then. Most, I guess, didn't do their job then.

I would say that Bourque and Lidstrom were better defensemen than Stevens, right? Better positionally, not quite as physical. Bourque of course was physical, but not the bone cruncher Stevens was. This is what Stevens did better than them, it was one trait. Big hits is a lost art. Different defensemen have different styles.

And how do you know there aren't players who want to hurt other guys? I would probably have more respect for Stevens if he actual admitted he wanted to hurt opposing players. Why would he blink at someone and say "you're next!" if he's happy if the guy's getting up next shift scoring on his team? (this is what he said afterwards about the hit in the 03 Cup finals, clip's on YT) That doesn't make a lot of sense. Then he probably hasn't carried out the intimidation game properly, ehhedler thinks.

I am going to go out on a limb and say that most players - if not all - don't want to see a player truly hurt because tomorrow it could be them as well. Stevens and Lindros had a lot of battles and I am sure ON the ice Stevens hated him, but the lines of on the ice and off the ice cross when you see a guy lying there needing to be helped off. I am guessing Stevens had a bigger heart than Philadelphia Eagles fans when they cheered loudly when the hated Michael Irvin was taken off the field on a stretcher.

The guy was intense on the ice and everyone would have wanted him on their team but he did have a family off of it, you know? He had a job to do and he always cranked it up a notch in the playoffs.

As for the whole "you're next" thing, it was directed at Dino in the 1995 Cup final. Look, I liked it. It showed passion. It was in the heat of the moment. I am sure there was chirping going on between them and players say things on the ice at those times. This was 1995, social justice warriors weren't reading lips and demanding apologies from athletes of sports they never watch. There was more passion then. I like the colour on the ice. Phil Esposito of all people doing the throat slit and challenging Mikhailov in the 1972 Summit Series. Hockey was just more fun then, now it is too PC and robotic. Everything is over-analyzed. In 1995 you knew to keep your head up on the ice, it is how you avoided getting hurt. Bobby Orr himself says that when Pat Quinn hit him he'd have been alright had he had his head up.

 

[RorschachWJK]

Bobby Clarke
Radulov
Messier
Kovalchuk
Ulf Samuelsson
Avery (if you consider him a star)
Heatley
Perry
Alfredson
Suter
Chelios
Patrick Kane
Crosby
Kiprusoff