Who is the best d-man in Nordiques' history ?

[penaltykiller]

Hello guys ! I don't post much on this board but I read you a lot.

I could not think of better people to help me with this.


Of course , anyone with a little bit of hockey knowledge will tell you that Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet were the Nordiques' best forwards ever.

I don't remember them. I got told stories. My generation is the Sakic , Forsberg , Nolan one.

One might also say that Daniel Bouchard was the best goalie.


However , I don't remember anyone talking about the defense. My father kept telling me that Bryan Forgarty was an unreal talent but that he could not overcome his problems.

Then I ask you , who was the best defenseman ?

Thanks for the insight

Click to read more...

 

[JT Dutch*]

Hello guys ! I don't post much on this board but I read you a lot.

I could not think of better people to help me with this.


Of course , anyone with a little bit of hockey knowledge will tell you that Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet were the Nordiques' best forwards ever.

I don't remember them. I got told stories. My generation is the Sakic , Forsberg , Nolan one.

One might also say that Daniel Bouchard was the best goalie.


However , I don't remember anyone talking about the defense. My father kept telling me that Bryan Forgarty was an unreal talent but that he could not overcome his problems.

Then I ask you , who was the best defenseman ?

... If we're talking about combined Nordiques and Avalanche, it's likely Adam Foote.

If we're talking about just the Nordiques, I'd say it's Mario Marois.

 

[penaltykiller]

Yeah it was about the Nordiques only.

 

[Scott1980]

Someone else with Mario Marios? ALRIGHT!

 

[Hardyvan123]

Probably Marios

here is a list of all Nord Dmen with over 50 career points

http://www.hockey-reference.com/pla...val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=points

 

[penaltykiller]

I think that pretty much ends the debate. I was thinking of Marois as well but I could not believe that I did not find anyone else.

 

[Scott1980]

What a world this is where you favourite Nords D Man was the best D man in their history!

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

normand rochefort?

 

[penaltykiller]

Sorry for the confusion , I never saw Marois play...
I just know his name.

I really thought there would be more debate for no 1. Everyone seemed unanimous on him so I did not see the point of more discussion.

I did not mean to be a troll , it was a legitimate question.

 

[BM67]

J.C. Tremblay

 

[tony d]

Mario Marois easily.

 

[JoeMalone]

Pure talent? Your father is right. Bryan Fogarty had everything he needed to be a star in the NHL, except the ability to overcome his addictions.

Guys like Sundin will tell you there were things Fogarty could do with the puck while he was drunk that Sundin wouldn't try when he was sober.

But for actual results, I might lean towards Norm Rochefort. Adam Foote hadn't really become the premier shutdown d-man he would be by the time the team left Quebec.

 

[overpass]

J.C. Tremblay

This. Tremblay was by far the best Nordiques d-man.

 

[Ola]

Tommy Sjödin

 

[Hardyvan123]

J.C. Tremblay

Of course even an older JC Tremblay was a better Nord than Marios but from the original post it seemed that the guy was referring to NHL and not the entire history otherwise Buddy Cloutier and Marc Tardif would have been mentioned IMO.

 

[penaltykiller]

My bad, I forgot to mention the WHA years.

Can someone tell me more about Tremblay ?

According to hockey reference , he made the jump in the WHA in 1972.He had over a PPG in 3 seasons and his highest total was 89 pts. (He did it twice)

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Randy Moller

 

[Hardyvan123]

C1958 will have more 1st hand knowledge of him but he was still a very good Dman in his last 2 seasons with the Habs and the premier Dman in the existence of the WHA, not that that in itself means a ton but he still would have been a top paring Dman on some or maybe up to half the teams in the NHL for maybe half of his WHA career.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i mostly remember normand rochefort for being the guy i'd never heard of on the '87 canada cup team, but here are a few quotes about him:

He played his junior hockey with the Trois-Rivieres Draveurs and the Quebec Ramparts of the QMJHL from 1977 to 1980. He was then drafted by the Nordiques and, at age 19, made the jump directly to the NHL.

But obscurity continued to follow Rochefort, in part because of his stay-at-home style of play and in part because the Nordiques had a long-standing reputation for being weak on defense. If such was the case, it was thought, then perhaps Rochefort wasn't really all that good. However, he was the kind of defender who was noticed only when he made a mistake--and he didn't make many of those.

He anchored the Nordiques' blueline, which had a strong offensive orientation, for seven seasons until his little secret got out. He was invited to play at Rendez-vous '87 and the Canada Cup later that year. He surprised everyone as the steadiest defender at the tournament. From then on, Rochefort was on the NHL map.

http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=10326

Hockey fans love statistics. But do statistics tell the story of just how good a player was?

If you knew nothing of Normand Rochefort and looked at his career statistics, you'd assume he was a defensive #5 or #6 d-man. You'd see very few points and not a whole lot of penalty minutes. You'd notice he missed a lot of games and finished his career in the minor leagues.

The stats don't give Normand Rochefort his due.

Rochefort was one of the top defensemen in the National Hockey League for a time during the mid 1980s. Don't believe it? Well he played in the 1987 Rendez Vous tournament against the Soviet Union, and later that year was a nice part of Team Canada in the 1987 Canada Cup.

Rochefort was a bone crunching bodychecker. Though he took few penalties, he was one of the most feared physical players of his time. He loved to rattle a player along the boards and at times would go out of his way for an open ice hit. He was also a menace in front of his own net, punishing any opposition forward who dared to enter the slot. He was also a premier shot blocker.

...

Though his skating wasn't impressive, his puck skills were. He rarely jumped up into an offensive attack, but he had this knack of always clearing his zone with a perfect pass to a breaking forward.

http://quebecnordiques.blogspot.com/2007/10/normand-rochefort.html


EDIT:

among NHL guys, another name is jeff brown. he wasn't great at too many other things that defencemen are supposed to do, but he knew his way around a breakout pass and he was a wizard on the PP.

 

[penaltykiller]

Interesting read on Rochefort. Considering the praise that Team Canada '87 got as one of the greatest squads ever, the fact he was on that team says a lot.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

normand rochefort?

Yeah, this is the guy.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

I think Duchesne had the best single season but IMO Rochefort was the best. I mean, he was picked for Rendezvous LOL

 

[JT Dutch*]

I think Duchesne had the best single season but IMO Rochefort was the best. I mean, he was picked for Rendezvous LOL

... I don't believe for a second that Rochefort was better than Marois because he was a pity pick in an All-Star series and a Canada Cup series. When the two of them were on the Nordiques together, Marois was the number one defenseman - and after Marois left, Randy Moller was. Rochefort was a 2nd/3rd defenseman on his best days.

 

[Steve Kournianos]

... I don't believe for a second that Rochefort was better than Marois because he was a pity pick in an All-Star series and a Canada Cup series. When the two of them were on the Nordiques together, Marois was the number one defenseman - and after Marois left, Randy Moller was. Rochefort was a 2nd/3rd defenseman on his best days.

I was kidding.

 

[Canadiens1958]

J.C.Tremblay

My bad, I forgot to mention the WHA years.

Can someone tell me more about Tremblay ?

According to hockey reference , he made the jump in the WHA in 1972.He had over a PPG in 3 seasons and his highest total was 89 pts. (He did it twice)

Some claim he is the best dman not in the HHOF. Cases can be made for both positions pro and con.

Finesse dman, lacked consistency,played forward into junior.

Inc WHA best Nordiques dman.