Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community - View Single Post - Head to Head Comparison: Iginla vs. Sakic

powderjunkie · 05-19-2013, 11:35 PM

I always find these discussions interesting. Seems to me they fork at comparing a players entire body of work vs. players who were absolutely amazing for brief periods.

I also think its impossible to compare too far back into the past...it was a totally different game, and a lot of the mystique around some of the players may have grown from mythology over the years. I don't claim to know enough about any of the real old timers, so take any of their rankings with a grain of salt and argue where they belong (I won't even bother with the babe dyes of the world)

Tier 1 - Full Career

Bossy
Howe
Hull
Hull
Jagr
Richard

Tier 2 - Full Career

Bucyk
Kurri
Lafleur (on the bubble for 1?)
Selanne
Shanahan (on the bubble to go down for me)

Tier 2 - short span

Bure
Neely

Tier 3 - Full

Andreychuk
Gartner
Hossa?
Iginla?
Kovalchuk?
Ovechkin?
Recchi
St. Louis?

A bunch of other older guys I can't claim to know enough about (could easily bump up or down): Mahovlich, Lindsay, etc.

I wouldn't necessarily rank any of the active ? guys in this tier yet, but all have the potential/trajectory to do it. IMO Iggy, Kovy and Ovy need a cup or more hart/art Ross to fully deserve

Tier 3 - Short

Bertuzzi?
Kariya
Tim Kerr
Mogilny
Gary Roberts pre injury
Simmer?
K. Stevens

Each of these guys could probably be tier 2 at their very best...

Tier 4 - full

Alfredsson
Anderson
Bondra
Ciccarelli
Elias
Fleury
Leclair
Lanny McDonald
Mullen
Taylor
Tocchet
Verbeek
Zetterberg?

A bunch of other older guys I can't claim to know enough about (could easily bump up or down): Barber, Gainey, Goulet, Shutt, etc.

Tier 4 - Short

Heatley
Probably some others...

Tier 5 - Full

Amonte
Clark (Wendell)
Gaborik
Guerin
Hejduk
Larmer?
C Lemieux
Kovalev (maybe higher in short span...too many ghost times to be complete enough to be any higher for me)
Maclean
Marleau?
Morrow
Nolan
Gary Roberts (whole career...)
Rolston
Satan
Smyth?
Whitney

A bunch of other older guys I can't claim to know enough about: Bellows, Propp, etc.

Of course this list is far from comprehensive, but it illustrates comparables for me. There are also a bunch of centre/wingers out there (Elias, Demitra, Palffy, tkachuk, etc,)...I included Elias because I think he, Alfredsson, St Louis and Iginla are similar in terms of being iconic players for one team for a long time).

Very interested to hear where other players should be slotted in our how you would adjust this.

05-19-2013, 11:35 PM	#96
powderjunkie Franchise Player Join Date: Dec 2011 Exp:	I always find these discussions interesting. Seems to me they fork at comparing a players entire body of work vs. players who were absolutely amazing for brief periods. I also think its impossible to compare too far back into the past...it was a totally different game, and a lot of the mystique around some of the players may have grown from mythology over the years. I don't claim to know enough about any of the real old timers, so take any of their rankings with a grain of salt and argue where they belong (I won't even bother with the babe dyes of the world) Tier 1 - Full Career Bossy Howe Hull Hull Jagr Richard Tier 2 - Full Career Bucyk Kurri Lafleur (on the bubble for 1?) Selanne Shanahan (on the bubble to go down for me) Tier 2 - short span Bure Neely Tier 3 - Full Andreychuk Gartner Hossa? Iginla? Kovalchuk? Ovechkin? Recchi St. Louis? A bunch of other older guys I can't claim to know enough about (could easily bump up or down): Mahovlich, Lindsay, etc. I wouldn't necessarily rank any of the active ? guys in this tier yet, but all have the potential/trajectory to do it. IMO Iggy, Kovy and Ovy need a cup or more hart/art Ross to fully deserve Tier 3 - Short Bertuzzi? Kariya Tim Kerr Mogilny Gary Roberts pre injury Simmer? K. Stevens Each of these guys could probably be tier 2 at their very best... Tier 4 - full Alfredsson Anderson Bondra Ciccarelli Elias Fleury Leclair Lanny McDonald Mullen Taylor Tocchet Verbeek Zetterberg? A bunch of other older guys I can't claim to know enough about (could easily bump up or down): Barber, Gainey, Goulet, Shutt, etc. Tier 4 - Short Heatley Probably some others... Tier 5 - Full Amonte Clark (Wendell) Gaborik Guerin Hejduk Larmer? C Lemieux Kovalev (maybe higher in short span...too many ghost times to be complete enough to be any higher for me) Maclean Marleau? Morrow Nolan Gary Roberts (whole career...) Rolston Satan Smyth? Whitney A bunch of other older guys I can't claim to know enough about: Bellows, Propp, etc. Of course this list is far from comprehensive, but it illustrates comparables for me. There are also a bunch of centre/wingers out there (Elias, Demitra, Palffy, tkachuk, etc,)...I included Elias because I think he, Alfredsson, St Louis and Iginla are similar in terms of being iconic players for one team for a long time). Very interested to hear where other players should be slotted in our how you would adjust this. Last edited by powderjunkie; 05-19-2013 at 11:42 PM.