Who's the best player you've ever watched?

[_Q_]

I watched a live playoff game once between the Capitals and Penguins when I lived in DC.

The way Crosby was able to completely turn it up and absolutely dominate the play was a different kind of special. On the other hand, watching Ovechkin just have his way with the opponents, just skate across the blue line, casually flick his wrist and fire a rocket into the top corner was truly remarkable.

So I would say both those two would be the best players I have ever watched.

[Igottago]

Iggy is obvious so I'm going to stick with opposition players.

Another vote for Lemieux. I remember a game I was at where he calmly tore the Flames apart.

Honorable mention to Joe Sakic. His impact on the game was always immense.

[transplant99]

Lemieux and Gretzky both were on another level in games i attended. No one could touch them as much as they tried. Amazing to watch when they were dialed in.

I saw Guy Lafleur in i believe it was his rookie year against the Canucks in Vancouver and he also really stood out with his speed and that shot of his.

[Inglewood Jack]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

Mario
He didn’t have the durability that Gretzky did but in terms of absolute peak he was the best. I saw his last game in Calgary and I think he put up 4 points. If you built the perfect player it’s Mario.

Originally Posted by CubicleGeek

Definitely Lemieux, was at the game after he came out of retirement and they trounced us 5-3(?).

The scary part was he didn't appear particularly fast but he was always exactly where he needed to be. IIRC, he had 2G 3A that game...

Originally Posted by Igottago

Another vote for Lemieux. I remember a game I was at where he calmly tore the Flames apart.

I was at this game too, when he had the puck he was like a snake charmer and all the Flames were just standing there completely paralyzed while he did whatever he wanted. I particularly remember an insane no-look assist on one of their PP's, and then actually standing up and cheering when he iced the game with an empty netter, despite wearing my Flames jersey.

and this was the ancient ghost of Mario too. prime uninjured Lemieux, as brief as that was, stood head and shoulders above anyone that ever played. imagine his point totals if he was in Gretzky's spot in the 80's, instead of that early Pittsburgh team that was as pathetic as today's Sabres.

[BigRed]

Lemieux hands down. I grew up watching Gretzky kill the Flames game in, game out, but he was a subtle player -- I remember many nights not really even noticing him and then seeing that he had 5 points.

Lemieux was flat-out spectacular. The stuff he could do with the puck on his stick was superhuman, a one-man highlight reel. He'd do something breathtaking almost every shift.

[Ashartus]

Lemieux. I only saw a handful of games in person when I was young and never saw Gretzky live, but did see Lemieux in his prime, completely dominant.



On the Flames side Iginla, Kipper and Regehr were all phenomenal in the 2004 playoff run, Fleury was also electrifying at his peak.

[GKDarts]

Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus

Kent Nilsson *when he tried*

I remember that game!

[GioforPM]

I’ve seen Nilsson, Iginla, Fleury live but to tell the truth, the games I saw didn’t have any of their most outstanding work (except once I saw Nilsson put on a hell of a show at a Flames’ skills comp). Frankly, Gaudreau had the sweetest plays in the games I saw live.

I’ve seen Crosby here, but the most interesting part as the girl wearing a wedding dress with a sign. The best game I saw by an opposition player was by Lafleur.

I was there for the famous streaker. In fact I’ve seen two streakers at Flames games.

[Young Guns]

Forward - Gretzky
D-man - Lidstrom or Coffey
Goalie - Roy/Hasek

[Coach]

Iggy was the soul of this team, but he didn't "wow" me as often as Kipper did. I've seen better overall players live, but can't remember stand out moments outside of Kipper so he gets my vote. Gaudreau is in the conversation as well.

[dammage79]

Jagr.
Belfour
Iggy

[Johnny Makarov]

Makarov! If he played his entire career in the NHL he would have over 2000 points.

[rollie619]

Flames: Gaudreau
Non-Flamesoughty

[rustycana]

Gretzky, Lemieux, Lidstrom. I have yet to see Crosby play live.

[CroFlames]

I only got to go to the boring games in the 90s/00s so I missed the Yzerman's and Sakic's of the era.

I would say the best players I've seen live were Iggy, Ovi & Crosby. All of whom I've had the luck to see many times.

[The Yen Man]

For me, it's:

Flames:
Kipper and Iggy

Non Flames:
Ovi, Crosby, and (gross) McDavid

The most dominant I've seen any player in one game I guess would be Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin that one game where they roasted the Flames something like 9-3 or something ridiculous, and Benn and Seguin got like 5 or 6 points each. Oh and I was also at that two separate games, where Gio made Brown and Kadri his female dogs.

[Savvy27]

Kipper was truly spectacular. He's my favorite goalie to have ever watched.

As for non-Flames players I will go with Malkin. I have seen the Penguins live a few times and was always looking forward to Crosby, but Malkin was the best player on the ice more often than not.

[sekimet]

I remember being a kid and seeing ray bourque at the dome (while he was with colorado so past his prime) I was so star struck and amazed by how smooth he played. Obviously a memory that has stuck with me forever.

[MegaErtz]

Mario Lemieux. Like others have mentioned, I was also at his final game in Calgary in 2001. I was young, and very poor, but I knew this was likely my only chance to see him play, so a friend and I went down and spent $65 total for two tickets in the back of the second level. Back then that was my food budget for the month, so it was a major sacrifice, but I'm so glad I made it. The guy was clearly at the end of his career but he was in a different class to the rest of the players.

[AltaGuy]

A new one for this thread: but the best individual player I've ever seen live was Dominik Hasek playing against Montreal in the late 90s while on Buffalo. As much as I loved watching Kipper, I've never seen a goalie that athletic. The guy was all over the place in net, and saved stuff in a way that made you wonder how much meth he had taken before the game. Don't remember the score or anything - just that the guy stood out as an alien.

On the Flames - definitely Makarov. I was too young to remember Nilsson, but I do remember seeing Makarov do stuff that was very different than the other players around him.