Top Wingers of the 80's:

[Psycho Papa Joe]

Only NHLers:

Bossy
Kurri
Middleton
Goulet
Anderson

Robitaille didn't play enough years in the 80's.

 

[ekcut]

Where is Rick Vaive? Anyone who can pot 50 on those brutal leaf teams without a decent linemate to play with has to be up tyhere

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Vaive's a little interesting. He actually had the 7th most goals of the entire decade (79-80 to 88-89), ranking fifth among wingers. Anderson, Propp, Ciccarelli and Middleton (the next four wingers after him) all enjoyed much more playoff success however. According to most, Vaive was a one-dimensional player and that's probably the reason he hasn't been mentioned. Someone who saw him play could confirm that better than myself.

 

[seventieslord]

I didn't get to see him play much, but everything I have read indicates Vaive was your standard power forward... tough, but not good defensively.

 

[Passchendaele]

Krutov was brutal in the NHL.

He shouldn't even deserve consideration.

 

[Jungosi]

Krutov was brutal in the NHL.

He shouldn't even deserve consideration.

Krutov is a difficult case. True he sucked in the NHL which was a combination of the following factors.

- Culture shock. In Soviet Russia the Burger certainly won't eat you.

- Going through the military training system. Old Soviet players usually peaked early because their bodies were done for at the age of 30. This wasn't a Russian-only syndrom in the 80's though. Players like Jari Kurri also started to decline early.

- Many claim that he took steroids. While there is no 100% safe proof most people (including me) believe this theory.

But when looking at this facts many forget that he used to be an excellent player especially in Canada Cup '87 where he placed third in overall scoring only beaten by Lemieux and Gretzky.