For me for the first 2/3 of his career in Detroit Fedorov was the best player I've ever seen without a retired number, and still was remarkably good until he left. Dats achieved almost as much with less and was more consistent.
If I want a player rely on for a whole season to carry things its Dats, who often made those around him a lot better and brought a certain level every game apart from his first 18 months and the last 18 months.
If I want a player for a series or a single game, its got to be Fedorov. Some nights he was just better than everyone on the ice by a distance... not as sneaky or perhaps as smart, but still super skillful with a heavy shot and the physical and skating attributes to make coaches drool. You could still see a young Dats sneak through to the 3rd or 4th round today due to size and late development. Today Fedorov would go top 3 or 4 even in the strongest drafts.
For a fan in the UK to have discovered the wings in Feds 2nd year and see basically his whole career, most of Lids, half of Stevie, the best of Shanny, the swansongs of Fetisov, Murphy, Chelios, Hasek, Rafalski, Coffey (to a degree), Lucky Luc, Brett Hull, almost all of the grind line, peak Kronner, the will of Hank, the smarts of The professor, the Vladinator, the playoff scoring of Slava Kozlov, the evolution of Homer and the whole of Dats' genius I have been so so lucky.
And more than willing to accept a bit of a downturn over the last 4 years or so and next few in all likelihood, particularly when we have the likes of Larkin, AA, Nike, Tats, Hank and a few of the kids pushing who even in the last season have provided golden moments.
If I want a player rely on for a whole season to carry things its Dats, who often made those around him a lot better and brought a certain level every game apart from his first 18 months and the last 18 months.
If I want a player for a series or a single game, its got to be Fedorov. Some nights he was just better than everyone on the ice by a distance... not as sneaky or perhaps as smart, but still super skillful with a heavy shot and the physical and skating attributes to make coaches drool. You could still see a young Dats sneak through to the 3rd or 4th round today due to size and late development. Today Fedorov would go top 3 or 4 even in the strongest drafts.
For a fan in the UK to have discovered the wings in Feds 2nd year and see basically his whole career, most of Lids, half of Stevie, the best of Shanny, the swansongs of Fetisov, Murphy, Chelios, Hasek, Rafalski, Coffey (to a degree), Lucky Luc, Brett Hull, almost all of the grind line, peak Kronner, the will of Hank, the smarts of The professor, the Vladinator, the playoff scoring of Slava Kozlov, the evolution of Homer and the whole of Dats' genius I have been so so lucky.
And more than willing to accept a bit of a downturn over the last 4 years or so and next few in all likelihood, particularly when we have the likes of Larkin, AA, Nike, Tats, Hank and a few of the kids pushing who even in the last season have provided golden moments.