Which player was feared more Stevens vs Kronwall

[Bouboumaster]

Stevens was a CTE-making machine. It's him.

 

[Sempiternal]

Stevens for sure

 

[TurboLemon]

Stevens. Not sure how feeding people the butt end of his stick was considered clean. People would try to hit him out of revenge and end up knocked out. Stevens has a few ways of taking out players, destroying them with his speed, destroying them with their speed, destroying them with the end of his stick. With Kronwall, if you're not too fast tailing him, he won't destroy you with your speed when he does the "Kronwall."

 

[MessierII]

Kronwall didn’t actually hit very often it’s just when he did they were devastating. He wasn’t actually a very physical player overall.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The articles talk about changing the rules in the future because it’s shortening careers. Nobody is complaining about Stevens. They point out that what he did wasn’t against the rules. That’s my point. People keep calling Stevens “Dirty” and I have to keep defending him as he was NOT by the league standards and rules of the day.

I don’t think I can give you anything more clear cut than “The rules don’t forbid it. But humanity might have.”

It’s very obvious from both living memory and contemporary comments including those of Stevens himself that these hits were viewed as problematic at the time. The fact that they were legal didn’t mean everybody was perfectly OK with them, as long as there was a fight afterward.

 

[Kaner9]

I got a headache from watching Stevens on youtube so that says enough right there. No disrespect to Kronwall.

 

[67 others]

Both similar in size and both noted for huge open ice hits. Taking offense out of the equation, who would you want?

Scott Stevens vs Niklas Kronwall

I am going to quote what i wrote in the history section a few months back

Stevens was excellent defensively, but Lidstrom and Bourque were both better in that regard in traditional sense, transitioning, stick checking and blocking shots. Even when Stevens was focused solely on defense.

Stevens career had 2 different era's. The first half was a more traditional two way defenseman, slightly below the top dogs of his time. Still highly physical. Still very good defensively and offensively. Superstar everyone would want on their team.

The second half of his career is more niche to his physical qualities and a shrewd coach built his team around it and around the capabilities of one of the greatest goalies of all time.

Stevens strength was his physicality. You always marked when Scott Stevens was on the ice. If you didn't, you would regret it. This was a man who made a second half career of bearing down on your blindside. He would be suspended regularly by today's rules, but my god it was something special back when it was legal. If Stevens was in the defensive zone heading towards you as you received the puck, your thought process was different than if another defenseman was coming at you. Your immediate reflex was "get rid of this puck like a hot potato and GTFO of the way". His approaching presence incited panic passes and made you knee jerk react in a way that scrambled your muscle memory and reaction times. instead of sailing the puck to a teammate, you were almost shooting it at him. If it was another defenseman on the devils bearing down on you, you didn't brain scramble quite like you did for Stevens.

You might try to get by another defenseman on the ice crossing center ice, but if you saw Stevens in your way to the offensive zone, you dumped the puck and skated wide. Which played right into Brodeur's strength as possibly one of the best puck playing goalies of all time.

They played the trap and always had 4 men back. It played directly into Stevens strengths in the dead puck clutch and grab era. When you could clutch and grab without drawing a penalty unless someone fell over while you had mitts on them, you could steer them without tugging hard enough to make them fall. Someone on the ice would always latch on and steer you right into that freight train if you did not dump the puck or they would create a funnel which looked like you could possibly squeeze through, but usually had Stevens bulldogging into at top speed to catch you. Everyone knew it. Everyone was afraid of it. It changed the way every forward would play vs Jersey A team was able to build their style around Stevens and Brodeur in that era.


It is hard to even quantify the kind of impact Stevens had. A lot of people on this site try to downplay physicality and say "it doesn't matter as much as skill, and thug can throw a hit", but Stevens was something special. To a player on the ice with Stevens coming your way It was like being a drunk guy who took a wrong turn carrying $2000 through the roughest area of town in Chicago at 2AM and seeing 5 guys marking you, the leader with a Machete out stalking straight towards you like Jason Voorhees in Friday the 13th.

The cops can't stop Jason. Your friends can't stop Jason. We shot him 6 times and he got back up and now looks mad. For some reason he is looking and coming right at you. Oh yeah, you have the puck. GET RID OF THE PUCK AND HIDE, ITS A HOMING BEACON.


A lot of Coaches and teammates even understood if you wimped out and panic tossed the puck back then when it came to Stevens.

 

[BudBundy]

I don’t think I can give you anything more clear cut than “The rules don’t forbid it. But humanity might have.”

It’s very obvious from both living memory and contemporary comments including those of Stevens himself that these hits were viewed as problematic at the time. The fact that they were legal didn’t mean everybody was perfectly OK with them, as long as there was a fight afterward.

You remember things and interpret things as you wish and I shall do the same.

 

[Hunter368]

Stevens.......by far.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

For those that don't remember. Stevens top 10. I swear I thought he killed Kozlov with that hit. The Lindros hit hurts watching, the pain is obvious, but Lindros was never the same again.

the Kariya hit is the most vicious thing I’ve ever seen in team sports. Kronwall was not capable of anything like it.

 

[mattihp]

Stevens. Not sure how feeding people the butt end of his stick was considered clean. People would try to hit him out of revenge and end up knocked out. Stevens has a few ways of taking out players, destroying them with his speed, destroying them with their speed, destroying them with the end of his stick. With Kronwall, if you're not too fast tailing him, he won't destroy you with your speed when he does the "Kronwall."

Was his speed so extreme that you had to list it twice?

 

[Kimota]

Who feared Kronwall?

Kronwall was sort of like the kid at school that woud do something unexpected to the bully then run away fast before he was caught.

 

[mattihp]

Who feared Kronwall?

Players feared him for sure/sore. Being Kronwalled was even used by players! But not at all on the same level as people feared Stevens.

 

[Kimota]

Players feared him for sure/sore. Being Kronwalled was even used by players! But not at all on the same level as people feared Stevens.

I would advance that the reason he managed to hit people so frequently was that they didn't fear him. Just an hypothesis.

 

[mattihp]

I would advance that the reason he managed to hit people so frequently was that they didn't fear him. Just an hypothesis.

Your reason is flawed. How did Stevens manage to hit people so frequently? Because he wasn't feared? Hockey is a hard-hitting, fast-paced contact sport. You can't escape being hit.

 

[Kimota]

Your reason is flawed. How did Stevens manage to hit people so frequently? Because he wasn't feared? Hockey is a hard-hitting, fast-paced contact sport. You can't escape being hit.

Just looking the differences of their style of hits. You could not see Stevens coming cause most of his hits were open ice. So even if you wanted to protect yourself from him, you could not. Whereas most of Kronwall hits should be easier to see, they are along the boards in straight line. So you if you fear the guy, all you have to do is look ahead, basically. I'm sure for instance that along the boards when Stevens was there, the guys had more of a radar sense cause he was near and they crapped their pants. It's just a theory, mind you. Cause what Kronwall did was actually a skill that not everybody could do.

 

[romba]

Stevens would destroy you and proceed to rape and pillage your childhood village as well for good measure

 

[armani]

Scott Stevens, not even close. He was feared as a headhunter who forced NHL to change it's ruling on headshots. Stevens had utter disregard for his opposition and have ended many careers. CTE antagonist.

And he did all that playing in the goon era of hockey, which never stopped him.

Kronwall was a big hitter, Stevens was a killer on ice.

 

[Jerzey Devil]

Stevens. People on here are still scared of him.

 

[Unspecified]

Stevens light years more than Kronwall

 

[mattihp]

Stevens would destroy you and proceed to rape and pillage your childhood village as well for good measure

Pöh. Kronwall's ancestors were so intimidating when paying a visit to Scott's ancestors in England so that they were still scared 700 years later and buggered off to the new world.

 

[titaniumexpose]

Gotta go with Stevens.
Even growing up a Pens fan I wanted a Stevens jersey bad.
I always picture him on ice just radiating intensity. Keeping your head up was a no brainer...

 

[mattihp]

Gotta go with Stevens.
Even growing up a Pens fan I wanted a Stevens jersey bad.
I always picture him on ice just radiating intensity. Keeping your head up was a no brainer...

Did you get a Kevin Stevens jersey?

 

[yeaher]

I would advance that the reason he managed to hit people so frequently was that they didn't fear him. Just an hypothesis.

Stevens was a D1, the guy was always on the ice and also going against top players. He is a hypocrite but the guy could hit and he was playing against lines that wanted to score so he had the opportunity.

 

[kevsh]

I'm sure you posted these to try and help the comparison of the two. But watch the first hit in both highlight reels. Kronwalls guy almost stays on his feet. Stevens' guy looks dead. Watch the 1st minute of each and tell me Kronwall's hits are as hard and damaging as Stevens'. They aren't. Stevens is hands down more intimidating than Kronwall. A better question would've been Stevens vs Pronger or vs Chara if we're going by intimidation.

Easily it's Stevens but just to point out, of the first dozen or so hits in the Stevens video, at least 2 submarines, 2 blindside hits and add another couple with high elbows.

He hit like a bulldozer and I get players could get away with a lot more back then, but he had his share of cheap shots and dangerously illegal hits.

Still ... a freight train.