Top 100 Hockey Players of All-Time - Preliminary Discussion Thread II

[quoipourquoi]

Park would be in the Ray Bourque and Denis Potvin conversation if there was no Bobby Orr (he was an 8-time runner up for the Norris Trophy... four of those times he was runner up to Bobby Orr. Oh, and he was third for the Norris once). He had offensive skill, was tough as nails, and could clean up in his own end. I have him at 45. There are 9 defensemen ahead of him.

I count 6: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978. What am I missing?

Obviously, it sounds better when framed against the existence of Bobby Orr, but mostly these finishes are saying that he’s better than JC Tremblay, Carl Brewer, and Bill White - and I do believe I am treating him as such.

 

[DannyGallivan]

I count 6: 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978. What am I missing?

Obviously, it sounds better when framed against the existence of Bobby Orr, but mostly these finishes are saying that he’s better than JC Tremblay, Carl Brewer, and Bill White - and I do believe I am treating him as such.

You didn't miss anything. I'm multi-tasking at work and I made a boo-boo. Still, it changes nothing in my opinion of Park. There were also the Guy Lapointes, and Larry Robinsons and Serge Savards and Whitey Stapletons of the world... they (and the players you named) were pretty, pretty, pretty good.

 

[Captain Bowie]

Pavel Bure. He is up there. What he did on some terrible Canucks teams... How do I rank him? It can't be stat based. Watch him play and tell me he is worse then your top 30 best hockey players of all time. Is he slower? No. Is he less creative? Nope, try again. Did he do it with HHOF linemates? Well let's compare. Did he PK? A bit. Did he undress everyone? Yes, yes he did. Your aunt Nedda is still looking for that negligee. Could he be vastly underrated? I think so. I just can't shake this one. Eye test vs a lot of players. Eventually it comes down to skill vs. team. Many don't stack up. MANY.

The real question.. has there ever been a player that can do more on their own other than the big 4? And I can show you how much on his own he did it...

While I understand the sentiment, this isn't exactly the point of the list. He would certainly factor in high on a "Pure Skill" or "Most Exciting" players list, but that's not the purpose of this project. Things like longevity, consistency, complete skillset, ect. are factors.

I'm a Canucks fan, I love Bure. But a complete player he was not, and a long productive career he did not. Unfortunate that injuries slowed him down by the age of 30, who knows how highly he would be regarded had he played 1400 games and not 700. But we can only factor what they did, not what they could have done.

 

[BenchBrawl]

That was my issue with putting Henri Richard on my list. At some point there are just too many players from one team. (although I understand the arguments in his favor)

Not having Henri Richard on your list is... crazy.

The guy was definitely the 2nd best player on the 60s dynasty, and arguably the 2nd best playoffs performer on the 50s dynasty.

He's gonna be in my Top 50 easily.

 

[The Macho King]

Not having Henri Richard on your list is... crazy.

The guy was definitely the 2nd best player on the 60s dynasty, and arguably the 2nd best playoffs performer on the 50s dynasty.

He's gonna be in my Top 50 easily.

All of this talk about H. Richard, and I look back at my list and just now realized I did put him on, and fairly high too (and over Geoffrion and Moore both). I think he's probably going to drop a bit for me though.

 

[ResilientBeast]

I've got the Pocket Rocket exactly at 50

 

[Captain Bowie]

Just amassing my first draft of my 120. At 30 right now, and Henri has about 7 or 8 forwards from his era left before him to get on the list, so top 50 will be tough. But not on the list is insane. Top 75 for sure.

 

[BenchBrawl]

@The Macho Man sorry about that, just woke up and missed it

 

[Captain Bowie]

OK, up to 50 on my first draft.

1. Duh
10. Patrick Roy
20. Jacques Plante
30. Denis Potvin
40. Bryan Trottier
50. Evgeni Malkin

 

[DannyGallivan]

I have found a space for Henri on my list, but in my opinion the top 50 is crazy high given the competition. Right now, after much internal debate, he's at 100 on the dot.

 

[quoipourquoi]

We’re hopping to the next bar: Top-100 Hockey Players of All-Time - Preliminary Discussion Thread (The Sequel)