Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
He's 3rd all-time in NHL points for a defensman.
Has a Conn Smythe (Bourque doesn't, Coffey doesn't)
Renowned slap shot, great at both ends of the ice.
I never gave it much thought till now but I suppose I'd go with Orr, Lidstrom, Bourque, Coffey, MacInnes.
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Conn Smythe is incredibly important but doesn't carry a whole bunch of weight for me in the greatest ever conversation. Cam Ward, JS Giguere, Bill Ranford certainly aren't in the great goalie conversations.
Macinnis is probably around 20 to 25 for greatest D men IMO. Potvin gets underrated because of his contemporaries as does Brad Park. And Doug Harvey is one of the all time greats of the game. Eddie Shore too.
Chelios, Pronger, Robinson, Lapointe, Leetch, Chara the list goes on.
NHL.com did rank him 11th in the expansion era, which I would argue is a little high and over emphasizes stats and offense. But don't really see how you could go any higher and that doesn't include previous era.
Yes his defensive game was underrated, but it also got better as he got older.
But top 5 all time?