Former Bruins Thank You, David Krejci: Returning To Czech Republic

[Tbaybruin]

Those Adam Oates years were unreal.

 

[finchster]

I have given it some thought, Krejci is probably 5th all time
1)Esposito
2)Schmidt
3)Cowley
4)Bergeron
5)Krejci
6)Oates
7)Weiland
8)McKenney
9)McNab

Krejci gets there on longevity over Oates. and I don't see an argument for Krejci over any of the players ahead of him. Even Cowley who did most of his damage during the war years, was a first team All-star at centre in a full strength NHL - Krejci never got close to that.

I think historically, Krejci lines up well with guys like McKenny and McNab, but I think leading the playoffs in scoring twice puts Krejci ahead of those two (who have decent playoff numbers too btw)

 

[Blowfish]

I have given it some thought, Krejci is probably 5th all time
1)Esposito
2)Schmidt
3)Cowley
4)Bergeron
5)Krejci
6)Oates
7)Weiland
8)McKenney
9)McNab

Krejci gets there on longevity over Oates. and I don't see an argument for Krejci over any of the players ahead of him. Even Cowley who did most of his damage during the war years, was a first team All-star at centre in a full strength NHL - Krejci never got close to that.

I think historically, Krejci lines up well with guys like McKenny and McNab, but I think leading the playoffs in scoring twice puts Krejci ahead of those two (who have decent playoff numbers too btw)

IMO Bergeron is #1.

 

[Bearcrap]

IMO Bergeron is #1.

Not number one....but probably #3 ahead of Cowley.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I have given it some thought, Krejci is probably 5th all time
1)Esposito
2)Schmidt
3)Cowley
4)Bergeron
5)Krejci
6)Oates
7)Weiland
8)McKenney
9)McNab

Krejci gets there on longevity over Oates. and I don't see an argument for Krejci over any of the players ahead of him. Even Cowley who did most of his damage during the war years, was a first team All-star at centre in a full strength NHL - Krejci never got close to that.

I think historically, Krejci lines up well with guys like McKenny and McNab, but I think leading the playoffs in scoring twice puts Krejci ahead of those two (who have decent playoff numbers too btw)

Cooney Weiland won a scoring title, played on 2 Cup winners and also led the playoffs in scoring twice.

Oates was certainly the better player but like you said, he wasn't here long enough.

I would add Joe Thornton, Barry Pederson and Jean Ratelle, like Oates, were also better players.

 

[KrejciMVP]

I have given it some thought, Krejci is probably 5th all time
1)Esposito
2)Schmidt
3)Cowley
4)Bergeron
5)Krejci
6)Oates
7)Weiland
8)McKenney
9)McNab

Krejci gets there on longevity over Oates. and I don't see an argument for Krejci over any of the players ahead of him. Even Cowley who did most of his damage during the war years, was a first team All-star at centre in a full strength NHL - Krejci never got close to that.

I think historically, Krejci lines up well with guys like McKenny and McNab, but I think leading the playoffs in scoring twice puts Krejci ahead of those two (who have decent playoff numbers too btw)

have you ever seen Cowley play to make this assessment, I think Bergeron and Krejci would skate circles around the players of that era

 

[BRUINS since 1995]

Difficult to rank players of different era.
Esposito was a dominant force of his time. Schmidt and Cowley never saw them play. Bergeron is top 2 way player of his era and DK ranks right there with everyone. Oates was good, very good. He would be up there somewhere but length is not there. So my heart says 37 and 46 are 1&2 .. put it the order you want!

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

have you ever seen Cowley play to make this assessment, I think Bergeron and Krejci would skate circles around the players of that era

Have you ever seen Bobby Orr play?

 

[finchster]

Cooney Weiland won a scoring title, played on 2 Cup winners and also led the playoffs in scoring twice.

Yeah, but his scoring title was that strange year where they changed the Offside rule. He was a top 4 scorer one other time, but that's it. If he had a few more high scoring seasons, I would rank it higher. Seems like he was the beneficiary of a strange year.

Oates was certainly the better player but like you said, he wasn't here long enough.

Yeah Oates was way more talented than Krejci, but his time was too short in Boston.

 

[KrejciMVP]

Have you ever seen Bobby Orr play?

Nope, but at least we can see footage of his games

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

ranking players historically is really difficult because people have different criteria. Are we comparing guys at their peak or are we considering longevity with the organization?

I think if you're evaluating Bruins centers based on some combination of point production, longevity, and team accomplishments then the clear 1-2-3 is:
Espo
Bergeron
Krejci

Those are the top 3 Bruins centers in franchise history ranked by total points and all 3 guys won Stanley Cups as Bruins. Everyone else either has fewer points or didn't help bring a Cup to Boston so even if some guys might have had higher individual peaks (Oates for example), nobody else has the complete body of work as a Bruin to surpass those 3 guys.

edit: for what it's worth I'd have Cowley and Schmidt after those 3 only because they had fewer total points as Bruins and played in an era where the season was less of a grind, but I recognize how accomplished both guys are. After Espo it's a very close race for the rest of the top 5 IMO.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Yeah, but his scoring title was that strange year where they changed the Offside rule. He was a top 4 scorer one other time, but that's it. If he had a few more high scoring seasons, I would rank it higher. Seems like he was the beneficiary of a strange year.

Yeah Oates was way more talented than Krejci, but his time was too short in Boston.

Correct, it was a strange season.

But it was strange for everyone and he outscored them all. Most goals also over Bill Cook, Nels Stewart and Howie Morenz.

 

[KrejciMVP]

I bet if Krejci was a hab he'd have a statue in front of the Bell Centre for his playoff heroics

 

[finchster]

Correct, it was a strange season.

But it was strange for everyone and he outscored them all. Most goals also over Bill Cook, Nels Stewart and Howie Morenz.

Maybe I rank Weiland too low, but what would your rankings be?

 

[finchster]

I bet if Krejci was a hab he'd have a statue in front of the Bell Centre for his playoff heroics

LOL

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Maybe I rank Weiland too low, but what would your rankings be?

Historically I'd probably rank him ahead of Krejci. But its certainly debatable.

Weiland is in the Hall of Fame and I don't see Krejci getting in.

I was surprised to see that Thornton & Ratelle both played more games for Boston than Oates. Loved watching Ratelle play.

1)Esposito
2)Schmidt
3)Bergeron
4)Cowley
5)Weiland
6)Oates
7) Ratelle
8)Thornton
9)Krejci
10) Sanderson

 

[KrejciMVP]

Historically I'd probably rank him ahead of Krejci. But its certainly debatable.

Weiland is in the Hall of Fame and I don't see Krejci getting in.

I was surprised to see that Thornton & Ratelle both played more games for Boston than Oates. Loved watching Ratelle play.

1)Esposito
2)Schmidt
3)Bergeron
4)Cowley
5)Weiland
6)Oates
7) Ratelle
8)Thornton
9)Krejci
10) Sanderson

consider me not shocked how far you buried Krejci on this list.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

consider me not shocked how far you buried Krejci on this list.

Why should you be shocked?

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

I bet if Krejci was a hab he'd have a statue in front of the Bell Centre for his playoff heroics

Not a good team to use in this scenario.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

Why should you be shocked?

it's absolutely asinine that you have the guy ranked 9th when he's the 8th leading scorer in franchise history, 3rd among centers, and 2nd among all Bruins in all-time playoff scoring.

What is your list even supposed to be? The discussion was about best Bruins centers, not "best centers that happened to play for the Bruins at some point". Thornton has more career points but AS A BRUIN, Krejci is unquestionably ahead of him and many of the other guys on your list.

 

[PB37]

have you ever seen Cowley play to make this assessment, I think Bergeron and Krejci would skate circles around the players of that era

The only way to really come up with a logical " Who's Better " argument from players across generations is to compare how dominant they were in their respective eras.

Cowley absolutely dominated his era. Two time Hart trophy winner. 4 time 1st AS team. Finished his career as a PPG player and retired as the NHL's all time leading point scorer. Hall of Famer.

Krejci was a solid two way consistent performer of his era for a lengthy time. Lead the playoffs in points twice. No major awards or all star finishes. Ended his NHL career at a very respectable .76 PPG. Most likely won't be in the Hall of Fame.

Cowley > Krejci by a very comfortable margin.

 

[KrejciMVP]

The only way to really come up with a logical " Who's Better " argument from players across generations is to compare how dominant they were in their respective eras.

Cowley absolutely dominated his era. Two time Hart trophy winner. 4 time 1st AS team. Finished his career as a PPG player and retired as the NHL's all time leading point scorer. Hall of Famer.

Krejci was a solid two way consistent performer of his era for a lengthy time. Lead the playoffs in points twice. No major awards or all star finishes. Ended his NHL career at a very respectable .76 PPG. Most likely won't be in the Hall of Fame.

Cowley > Krejci by a very comfortable margin.

Is Cowley a PPG player in the era? probably not, what was the goalie equipment like back then, or the quality of defensemen?? Would Bill Russell and the celtics win all the titles in the NBA in this era? Probably not

also think its hilarious how some have to reach to players they've never ever seen play generations ago, checked a hockey DB and said yep they are better than Krejci without the slightest consideration of how the game has changed lol

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

Is Cowley a PPG player in the era? probably not. Would Bill Russell and the celtics win all the titles in the NBA in this era? Probably not

also thinks its hilarious how some have to reach to players they've never ever seen play, checked a hockey DB and said yep they are better than Krejci

with access to the fitness & training and sports medicine of this era? They'd likely be just as dominant in this era as they were in their own. @PB37 makes a very good point that you need to consider the full context in which a player played. With that said, these "eras" don't have hard boundaries so it's really impossible to compare, which is why the best you can do is look at a player in the context of their time in the league and see how they stacked up against the rest of the league at that same time.

I don't know a lot about Cowley and never saw him play obviously, but I'm comfortable giving him the nod over Krejci based on him being more of an elite player in his own time than Krejci was in his. That's no knock on Krejci.

where I get annoyed is people arguing that Joe Thornton was somehow a better Bruin that David Krejci, when Krejci beats him in every meaningful metric by which you might argue that a player contributed to the success of the Boston Bruins.

 

[KrejciMVP]

[QUOTE="RussellmaniaKW, post: 179825742, member: 21712"]with access to the fitness & training and sports medicine of this era? They'd likely be just as dominant in this era as they were in their own. @PB37 makes a very good point that you need to consider the full context in which a player played. With that said, these "eras" don't have hard boundaries so it's really impossible to compare, which is why the best you can do is look at a player in the context of their time in the league and see how they stacked up against the rest of the league at that same time.

I don't know a lot about Cowley and never saw him play obviously, but I'm comfortable giving him the nod over Krejci based on him being more of an elite player in his own time than Krejci was in his. That's no knock on Krejci.

where I get annoyed is people arguing that Joe Thornton was somehow a better Bruin that David Krejci, when Krejci beats him in every meaningful metric by which you might argue that a player contributed to the success of the Boston Bruins.[/QUOTE]




I also think the talent pool was much less back then, more hockey players in the era and a much better quality brand of hockey. I don't think many of those 30's 40's players make the NHL in this era

 

[PB37]

Is Cowley a PPG player in the era? probably not, what was the goalie equipment like back then, or the quality of defensemen?? Would Bill Russell and the celtics win all the titles in the NBA in this era? Probably not

also think its hilarious how some have to reach to players they've never ever seen play generations ago, checked a hockey DB and said yep they are better than Krejci without the slightest consideration of how the game has changed lol

Taking out a player from one era and putting them into another era is an exercise in futility. You put Krejci in the 40's and he would also have to deal with the times of that generation - the wooden skates, the poor ice conditions, limited training and practice habits, virtually no technological advancements to help with improving their game. Does Krejci overcome or is he jag? Nobody can know that. Cowley in this era would have the benefits of better equipment, advanced scouting, better training habits. Does he become an even better player or does he not even make the team? Again, nobody can really say for sure.

What we do know for sure is how they performed in the generations they played in against their peers.

We get it, you love Krejci. But you should take off the shades. What real argument is there for Krejci being placed over Cowley? I can't see any.