The Hockey News Top 50 current players

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

The Hockey news has released their Top 50 current players. Neidermayer and Selanne are not included assuming retirement.

THN Top 50

Also There was a list released by Fox Sports in response to THN Top 50. I agree more with this one.

Fox Sports Top 50

When you're comparing forwards, defense and goalies together there will always be substantial controversy but I think they did decent jobs with the Fox list being more accurate.

[eva unit zero 271]

I think both lists have some pretty noticeable flaws, such as Cheechoo in the top 30 on THN, or Nash, Parise, Gonchar, or Sedin anywhere near the list.

My top twenty would probably be something like:

1. Nicklas Lidstrom, D, Detroit

2. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh

3. Martin Brodeur, G, New Jersey

4. Roberto Luongo, G, Vancouver

5. Henrik Zetterberg, C, Detroit

6. Alexander Ovechkin, LW, Washington

7. Joe Thornton, C, San Jose

8. Chris Pronger, D, Anaheim

9. Vincent Lecavalier, C, Tampa Bay

10. Marian Hossa, RW, Atlanta

11. Daniel Alfredsson, RW, Ottawa

12. Joe Sakic, C, Colorado

13. Dany Heatley, LW, Ottawa

14. Jaromir Jagr, RW, NY Rangers

15. Martin St. Louis, RW, Tampa Bay

16. Miikka Kiprusoff, G, Calgary

17. Ilya Kovalchuk, LW, Atlanta

18. Jarome Iginla, RW, Calgary

19. Sergei Zubov, D, Dallas

20. Marian Gaborik, LW, Minnesota

Edited August 27, 2007 by eva unit zero

[HockeyCrazy3033 168]

THN is off a lot on some of those rankings.

I like FSN's much better.

[kylee 727]

Luongo better than Lidstrom?

forget that list.

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

Top 20 for me:

1. Sidney Crosby

2. Joe Thornton

3. Nicklas Lidstrom

4. Roberto Luongo

5. Martin Brodeur

6. Alexander Ovechkin

7. Vincent LeCavalier

8. Dany Heatley

9. Jarome Iginla

10. Chris Pronger

11. Jaromir Jagr

12. Marian Hossa

13. Joe Sakic

14. Miika Kiprusoff

15. Zdeno Chara

16. Henrik Zetterberg

17. Pavel Datsyuk

18. Ilya Kovalchuk

19. Marian Gaborik

20. Sergei Zubov

Kovalchuk and Gaborik would be much higher if not for their defensive game.

[SweWings 45]

Lists like these are always heavily subjective. That Sidney Crosby should be first is difficult to argue against but after that it gets more difficult.

[Son of a Wing 1,644]

No Jason Spezza?

Top 20? no Top 30? yes. but its all subjective so sure

[eva unit zero 271]

So what do Staal, Nash, Cheechoo, Parise do to get on this list? None of them is particularly good defensively, none were top 50 as far as points per game is concerned. Hell, Elias was 50th in the league as far as PPG, and he's getting ranked like a superstar. I don't get the method they are using here.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

I think both lists have some pretty noticeable flaws, such as Cheechoo in the top 30 on THN, or Nash, Parise, Gonchar, or Sedin anywhere near the list.

My top twenty would probably be something like:

1. Nicklas Lidstrom, D, Detroit

2. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh

3. Martin Brodeur, G, New Jersey

4. Roberto Luongo, G, Vancouver

5. Henrik Zetterberg, C, Detroit

6. Alexander Ovechkin, LW, Washington

7. Joe Thornton, C, San Jose

8. Chris Pronger, D, Anaheim

9. Vincent Lecavalier, C, Tampa Bay

10. Marian Hossa, RW, Atlanta

11. Daniel Alfredsson, RW, Ottawa

12. Joe Sakic, C, Colorado

13. Dany Heatley, LW, Ottawa

14. Jaromir Jagr, RW, NY Rangers

15. Martin St. Louis, RW, Tampa Bay

16. Miikka Kiprusoff, G, Calgary

17. Ilya Kovalchuk, LW, Atlanta

18. Jarome Iginla, RW, Calgary

19. Sergei Zubov, D, Dallas

20. Marian Gaborik, LW, Minnesota

Lidstrom #1 over Crosby? I gotta hand it to you Eva, you're a homer but at least you are consistent about it.

[VM1138 1,921]

Lidstrom #1 over Crosby? I gotta hand it to you Eva, you're a homer but at least you are consistent about it.

I'm sorry, but why are a lot of those players ranked over Datsyuk? I understand why Zetterberg is higher, because he's better all around, but Datsyuk is...well, one of the best players in the league for his skating and scoring ability. Much better than a lot of these players (like Pronger) which seem to be included just to represent each team.

[HuntsVegas Baby 0]

Luongo over Bordeur? Sakic over Jagr? Sakic over Heatley?

These lists are a joke! I really think they just wanted to remind everyone that Crosby is the best.

Why does everyone give Luongo so much credit? For what being 160-190? Allbeit with a bad team but Bordeur, Kipper and Giggy played for bad teams too.

And where is Maltby????

Edited August 27, 2007 by HuntsVegas Baby

[puckloo39 5,686]

Luongo over Bordeur? Sakic over Jagr?

These lists are a joke! I really think they just wanted to remind everyone that Crosby is the best.

And why does everyone give Luongo so much credit? For what being 160-190? Allbeit with a bad team but Bordeur, Kipper and Giggy played for bad teams too.

^^

What Vegas said.

[eva unit zero 271]

Lidstrom #1 over Crosby? I gotta hand it to you Eva, you're a homer but at least you are consistent about it.

Nothing homeristic about saying Nick Lidstrom is the best player in the league. Name me a player in the NHL right now that has a bigger positive impact on the game every night than Lidstrom. You can't; he doesn't exist.

[maltbymaniac 13]

i dont get it why is there no datsyuk can someone help me out here,thats mind boggling

[bringback91 2]

i dont get it why is there no datsyuk can someone help me out here,thats mind boggling

He's there. 36 on THN and 22 on Fox sports. While fox sports is way more accurate, it still has a couple flaws and also contradicts itself. Like for instance if Joe Thorton as they say has been "Over the last two years, the best player in the NHL" why isn't he ranked #1? They must have meant the best player after the best player in the leauge. But all in all seems to be to be far more accurate.

Edited August 27, 2007 by bringback91

[rick zombo 3,739]

Who put Schneider on that list?

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Nothing homeristic about saying Nick Lidstrom is the best player in the league. Name me a player in the NHL right now that has a bigger positive impact on the game every night than Lidstrom. You can't; he doesn't exist.

Yeah, his name is Sidney Crosby.

Even with Malkin the Pens are nothing without Sid. The lists put forth by THN or anybody else are typically bad, but every one of them has Sid at #1 and none of them have Lidstrom higher than what, 3 or 4? Everyone will debate #2-50 until they're blue in the face but there's a reason why all the lists have Sid at #1 and Lids NOT at #1.

In 2 years Crosby has carried the Pens from 22-46-14 to 47-24-11. That's absurd. No player has had an impact like that in years on his teams' success.

Not too mention he already own 9 NHL records.

Not too mention he contributed to over 42% of the Pens goals. Lids was 24.7%

Not too mention he just won the Hart Trophy AND The Pearson. So basically, the hockey writers and the PLAYERS THEMSEVLES, think he's the best player today.

So you're going against both recently published lists, the majority of professional hockey writers and the majority of NHL players playing today.

Show me one person who isn't a Wings fan that would put Lidstrom at #1?

You can't. Taking your team from 22 wins to 47 wins, leading the league in scoring, and winning all of the MVP awards isn't having a positive impact every single night?

I don't want to be painted as a Lidstrom hater so I'll just state for the record that I think he's in the top 5 best players in the league today. But he isn't #1. And putting him #1 is a bit homeristic of you IMO because as great as he is his impact is not on the level of Crosby's.

[RedWingedKitten 9]

Yeah man, it;s no doubt that crosby is #1. I would put Lidstrom at #2 easily though.

I feel that Pavel should be a lot higher on that list, he has his own move for cryin out loud!! (correct me if I am wrong about that )

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Yeah man, it;s no doubt that crosby is #1. I would put Lidstrom at #2 easily though.

I feel that Pavel should be a lot higher on that list, he has his own move for cryin out loud!! (correct me if I am wrong about that )

I think there are alot of valid arguments that could be made for Lids to be #2. I mean, after all how low can you rank the best defenseman in the game? Or the best goalie for that matter? I definitely don't think AO is #2. And yeah, Pavel should be in the top 25 because of his ability to make things happen almost every shift. There are alot of guys that can pass the puck or score a big goal but Pavel can do everything offensively and better than most guys. The fact that he can single-handedly beat 2 NHL defenders by himself routinely says alot about his ability.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Luongo over Bordeur? Sakic over Jagr? Sakic over Heatley?

These lists are a joke! I really think they just wanted to remind everyone that Crosby is the best.

Why does everyone give Luongo so much credit? For what being 160-190? Allbeit with a bad team but Bordeur, Kipper and Giggy played for bad teams too.

And where is Maltby????

Well, Brodeur is likely going down as the best goaltender ever when he's done. Maybe they're giving Luongo props because Marty is 35 and Luongo is only 28.

I remember when Luongo was a free agent and some people were bashing him as unproven and hadn't ever played in the playoffs and whatnot. Which was funny because they didn't seem to take into account how terrible of a team he played behind in FL. Hell, you put the guy on a playoff caliber team and he nearly wins 50 games last year. Add in a .921 save percentage and I think he proved what he could do. Although Brodeur's numbers were still ridiculous last year proving he's still the best. At least I agree with the list that he's the best but given their age differences, I think Luongo obviously has more game left in him. And as for the playoffs, he did get them to the 2nd round in his first playoffs ever so I think he showed he's got the mental toughness to only get better. Marty is still #1 in my book though.

When did Brodeur play for "bad" teams? He took over the starting job in 1993 I believe. Since then the Devils have played 13 seasons in which they made the playoffs 12 times and won 3 Stanley Cups? Where exactly did he play on a bad team?

Kipper has only been the started for about 2 1/2 seasons in Calgary in which they've made the playoffs all 3 years including the Cup finals in 04 when he took over the starting job. When did he play on a bad team? Was it in San Jose where he was the backup for 2 years? The Sharks were a playoff team during his time there but had an abysmal 03 campaign, afterwhich they've never missed the playoffs.

As for Giggy, he's been the started for about 5 years now. I wouldn't call the Ducks teams he has been on bad. The 02 team wasn't great. But they went to the Cup finals the year after that. They then missed the playoffs inexplicably the next season, following that up with a trip to the Conference Finals and then winning the Cup last year.

None of these guys has played on teams as piss poor as Florida has been. How bad has Florida been? They Panthers have been to the playoffs only 2 times in the past 10 years and both of those were before Luongo's time. Oh yeah, and before that he played a year for the Islanders who were also terrible.

slam and dunk!

Edited August 27, 2007 by GordieSid&Ted

[Rice 42]

Yeah, his name is Sidney Crosby.

In 2 years Crosby has carried the Pens from 22-46-14 to 47-24-11. That's absurd. No player has had an impact like that in years on his teams' success.

Show me one person who isn't a Wings fan that would put Lidstrom at #1?

You can't. Taking your team from 22 wins to 47 wins, leading the league in scoring, and winning all of the MVP awards isn't having a positive impact every single night?

I suppose Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Gonchar, Whitney, etc. had nothing to do with the Pens' turnaround.

Lidstrom is the reason the Wings are still an elite team. The HOF talent is gone and the Wings are still contenders year in and year out.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

I suppose Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Gonchar, Whitney, etc. had nothing to do with the Pens' turnaround.

Lidstrom is the reason the Wings are still an elite team. The HOF talent is gone and the Wings are still contenders year in and year out.

I love the name dropping argument. Okay, so you run off a bunch of names. Now my turn:

Schneider

Chelios

Datsyuk

Zetterberg

Hasek

Now ask yourself this, do you think the Pens are a better team than the Redwings? I sure don't. Now given that the Wings are so obviously a better team and have been a better team, Lidstrom's impact by nature cannot be as great to the Wings as Crosby's is to the Pens. The Wings lost alot of HOFers but remained a strong team because of a deep core of talent, including time tested veterans and good coaching. Not too mention raw talent. The Pens were awful in the years leading up to Sid's arrival. The Pens fortunes have turned on a dime. And the addition of guys like Malkin and Staal got them to the next level. Subtracting Lidstrom from the Wings wouldn't destroy us. Subtracting Crosby from the Pens would leave them with a bunch of young, but talented kids with no direction and no clear and definitive leader to anchor that team.

Of the Pens you named, Malkin is like 19, Staal is 18 I think and Fleury, Whitney are both young guys too and the latter 2 guys played on terrible Pens teams prior to Sid's arrival. Crosby drove a team of kids, 1st year players and some no names to a 100 point season after only 22 wins the year before. Lidstrom has done what he always does, be the best dman in the league playing for arguably the best team year in and year out. There's a huge difference in what Sid accomplished last year versus what Nick did last year.

[skacore 2]

I suppose Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Gonchar, Whitney, etc. had nothing to do with the Pens' turnaround.

Lidstrom is the reason the Wings are still an elite team. The HOF talent is gone and the Wings are still contenders year in and year out.

You can play that both ways, saying Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Gonchar, Whitney played big roles with the Pens but you can't play it off like Lidstrom doesn't have Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Hasek, Schneider, Chelios, etc.

IMO it goes

1. Sidney Crosby

2. Joe Thornton

3. Nicklas Lidstrom

after that can be debated forever

[Opie 308]

I would make the argument that Thornton is better than Sid, what was Cheecho before Joe Thornton.

Sid is great and will be the best in the league shortly and will hold that title for a long time, but Joe is great leader and a tremendous talent. Crosby will one day be a great captain/leader as well as a statistical machine.

For my money

Thornton

Crosby

Lids

And like many have said before me, it is all debatable. You have criteria that makes so and so better and I have mine. This list is all about preferences and if it was compiled by Defenseman it would look different than if compiled by forwards or Goalies and even more different if done by owners or coaches or reporters.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

I would make the argument that Thornton is better than Sid, what was Cheecho before Joe Thornton.

Sid is great and will be the best in the league shortly and will hold that title for a long time, but Joe is great leader and a tremendous talent. Crosby will one day be a great captain/leader as well as a statistical machine.

For my money

Thornton

Crosby

Lids

And like many have said before me, it is all debatable. You have criteria that makes so and so better and I have mine. This list is all about preferences and if it was compiled by Defenseman it would look different than if compiled by forwards or Goalies and even more different if done by owners or coaches or reporters.

Very true. Its hard to say the best overall when guys play different positions. An argument could be made that the most important position is goaltender and therefore wouldn't the best goalie in the league also be its best player or most valuable player? I don't know.

Having to be pinned down my list would be:

1. Crosby

2. Thornton

3. Brodeur

4. Lidstrom

5. Lecavalier

6. Heatley

7. Luongo

8. Sakic

9. Pronger

10. Jagr