[News] Local Boston Man #34 on The Athletic's Top 99

[Strange Brew]

Yzerman maybe. Not Sakic IMO. Speaking of the post expansion era.

Ranking Yzerman, Clarke, Trottier is an interesting debate for me.

[CroFlames]

They are getting into the top 10 now so it's getting really interesting.

Ray Borque was #10, Phil Esposito #9 and they just announced Lidstrom as #8.

For my money, Lidstrom is arguably the best European hockey player ever. There was nothing he couldn't do. His teammates nicknamed him the Perfect Human.

4x Cup
1x Smythe
7x Norris

It'll be fun to see how this list shakes out because I think this list is more authoritative (and meaningful) than the NHL 100 where Iggy was left off.

[Strange Brew]

So who is left? Without looking I'm guessing:

Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, Beliveau, Richard immediately come to mind. Maybe Ovechkin, Jagr, Lafleur, Hull are there.

Lots of room for debate. Hope they have the guts to put Orr #1.

[Kovaz]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

So who is left? Without looking I'm guessing:

Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, Beliveau, Richard immediately come to mind. Maybe Ovechkin, Jagr, Lafleur, Hull are there.

Lots of room for debate. Hope they have the guts to put Orr #1.

It's only since 1967, which would eliminate Howe/Beliveau/Richard. They've already said Gretzky is #1.


Orr, Lemieux, Hasek, Jagr, Crosby, Ovechkin are all missing, so those are probably the 6.

[CroFlames]

Crosby is still left.

Lafleur (#14) Malkin (#26) and McDavid (#16) were already selected.

My guess is:

1. Wayne
2. Mario
3. Orr
4. Howe
5. Crosby
6. Jagr
7. Ovechkin

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Kovaz

It's only since 1967, which would eliminate Howe/Beliveau/Richard. They've already said Gretzky is #1.


Orr, Lemieux, Hasek, Jagr, Crosby, Ovechkin are all missing, so those are probably the 6.

Yeah but Howe played until 1980. I wonder if he will be included.

[Brick]

deleted

[dustygoon]

Eric Duha would've been better option to write that than Down Goes Brown.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

They are getting into the top 10 now so it's getting really interesting.

Ray Borque was #10, Phil Esposito #9 and they just announced Lidstrom as #8.

For my money, Lidstrom is arguably the best European hockey player ever. There was nothing he couldn't do. His teammates nicknamed him the Perfect Human.

4x Cup
1x Smythe
7x Norris

It'll be fun to see how this list shakes out because I think this list is more authoritative (and meaningful) than the NHL 100 where Iggy was left off.

Lidstrom was better than Jagr or Ovechkin?

Nah.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Lidstrom was better than Jagr or Ovechkin?

Nah.

For my money, yes.

[RobotTalk]

Originally Posted by butterfly

For my money, yes.

I’d put him ahead of Crosby as well, personally. It’s very hard to quantify d-men but his defending was incredible.

I remember him being one of the few dmen that consistently shut down Iggy in his prime.

[saillias]

I assumed from the thread title this would be a vastly different subject - Hanifin as a trade target but this is cool too

[CroFlames]

Hasek was just named #7.

That makes things interesting as I think it excludes Howe, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

[rogermexico]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Hasek was just named #7.

That makes things interesting as I think it excludes Howe, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

I'm pretty sure based on the way it's going that they don't consider Howe a "post expansion" player. The only player they've had in the list that started their career before 67 has been Mikita, and they said "We're including him because the most significant part of his career came after expansion." (Whether that holds water is a whole other discussion.) So I think they'd apply that logic to Howe and say that his biggest accomplishments were prior. Not defending that logic, but it's how I imagine it went.

Because if there's only 6 left, Howe isn't going to be on there. It'll be Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux, Jagr, Crosby, Ovechkin, in something like that order.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Yeah but Howe played until 1980. I wonder if he will be included.

But only 4 seasons after 66-67 (albeit one was a monster 103 points at age 40), plus the lap in 1980.

[CroFlames]

So looks like Ovi #6 and Jagr #5.

Looks like the list will finish as

1. Wayne
2. Mario
3. Orr
4. Crosby

This is how I would list them as well.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

So looks like Ovi #6 and Jagr #5.

Looks like the list will finish as

1. Wayne
2. Mario
3. Orr
4. Crosby

This is how I would list them as well.

Orr #2

[CroFlames]

Crosby just named #4, so the only question left is if they rank Orr higher than Mario. Also, the Crosby article is fantastic if you have a sub.

I think you can't make a mistake either way. Next to Wayne, Mario is the greatest forward. Orr is the greatest defenseman.

[Kovaz]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Crosby just named #4, so the only question left is if they rank Orr higher than Mario. Also, the Crosby article is fantastic if you have a sub.

I think you can't make a mistake either way. Next to Wayne, Mario is the greatest forward. Orr is the greatest defenseman.

Yeah I think Orr/Lemieux is probably the hardest choice since they're so similar. Both insanely dominant players, both missed substantial time with injuries/other health issues. Each won 2 cups and a lot of individual hardware.

[CroFlames]

Of note, there are 3 penguins in the top 5.

Malkin is #26.

How lucky can one franchise be?