Zetterberg ranked #1

[gvsurn 0]

did not see this posted, if it is sry. thought it was pretty sweet that he is getting his do!

Zetts #1

[HenrikRules40 14]

See, I've thought this for a bit but have difficulty presenting it in an objective manner. It's pretty cool to see something like this. However, I'm torn. It's a double edged sword because now he's getting due recognition (which is awesome!) but at the same time becoming a target. The best part? He's definitely up for the challenge.

This is my favorite line:

Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby both have tremendous individual skills and make those around them better, but neither does everything as well -- at least not yet -- as Zetterberg.

Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

EDIT: P.S. We've got three in the top ten! More warmth...more fuzzies.

Edited September 21, 2008 by HenrikRules40

[DatsyukownzU13 1]

It's nice and all, but it's pretty off to be honest. I just don't see how Z can be considered all-around better than Crosby, Ovechkin or even Datsyuk for that matter.

[#19=Legend 29]

We have four players in the top fifteen.

[Tane 17]

Never been more excited for a wings team as I am this year.

Zetterberg and Datsyuk are making a strong case to replace yzerman as My Favorite wing of all time. Yes I mean WING. I kept going back and forth about who I like better, then I jsut said F it....they're both My favorite player. No real Point to this....just another way to exute some Red Wing slappines.

started an NHL keeper league this year....first 2 picks - Z and dats. why do you care ? Probably don't but i'm pumped about it.

[norrisnick 1]

It's nice and all, but it's pretty off to be honest. I just don't see how Z can be considered all-around better than Crosby, Ovechkin or even Datsyuk for that matter.

All-around implies more than just offense. Makes it more than reasonable to place Z in front of AO and Sid. As for Pavel, ask him yourself about his and Z's roles when Z is playing center. Z shoulders most of the load defensively. The Selke very easily could have gone to Hank. Probably should have given the circumstances.

Now the real dilemma is Lidstrom. Z, AO, Sid, and Pavel are all forwards so they're easy to compare. Toss the best defenseman in the mix and it gets tricky.

[CrossoverThrash 0]

It's nice and all, but it's pretty off to be honest. I just don't see how Z can be considered all-around better than Crosby, Ovechkin or even Datsyuk for that matter.

Ovechkin lacks D skills, crosby lacks physicality and some defensive play, i think Datsyuk is actually the most complete player in the league due to his physicality. Pavel seems to be knocking off each skill as it comes to him. Next up is probably going ot be learning how to fight from downey, its no queastion thats the only think he lacks. Not that its necessary because it isn't but you have to think pavel will drop the gloves somewhere down the line. He was willing against roberts. Hank is Datsyuk minus the physicality although he can take as much as pavel does he has gotten injured more and he doesn't dish out the pain nearly as much as Datsyuk. I know who's best is subjective because people say crosby and ovechkin make their teams, in that case it would take zetterberg, lidstrom, and datsyuk combined to be the best player becasue they as a group make the team. But Pavel and Hank are the two most complete players in the league i don't know any way possible that could be argued, they are used in every situation. They may not be the best at all of their skills but they def have the most.

[eva unit zero 271]

Ovechkin lacks D skills, crosby lacks physicality and some defensive play, i think Datsyuk is actually the most complete player in the league due to his physicality. Pavel seems to be knocking off each skill as it comes to him. Next up is probably going ot be learning how to fight from downey, its no queastion thats the only think he lacks. Not that its necessary because it isn't but you have to think pavel will drop the gloves somewhere down the line. He was willing against roberts. Hank is Datsyuk minus the physicality although he can take as much as pavel does he has gotten injured more and he doesn't dish out the pain nearly as much as Datsyuk. I know who's best is subjective because people say crosby and ovechkin make their teams, in that case it would take zetterberg, lidstrom, and datsyuk combined to be the best player becasue they as a group make the team. But Pavel and Hank are the two most complete players in the league i don't know any way possible that could be argued, they are used in every situation. They may not be the best at all of their skills but they def have the most.

The argument 'Dats is more physical than Hank' would not exist if the Wings had lost to the Stars, and Dats had never had the opportunity to punch Gary Roberts in the Cup Finals.

In other words, it's an argument that is hugely based off one incident. Until this past playoff run, Zetterberg was considered the more physical player.

Zetterberg is the best all-around forward in the NHL. Datsyuk is probably second on the list.

[Adidarw 35]

Personally I think Lidstrom, even if he's pretty much in the top 10 of every list out there, is underrated. He does his job the best. He wins the Norris like it was an award created just to give to him every year. He almost never makes mistakes. He gets the job done extremely efficiently. In a real-life fantasy draft, I'd be sure to make him my first pick if possible. Nicklas Lidstrom is as close to perfection as a player can get. He makes the top of my list. I have nothing against any of the other players on there, I just believe Lidstrom is overlooked because he doesn't make the pretty plays that get noticed. Instead, he's out there getting the job done with the basics making every second count and constantly producing results under the radar because he doesn't have the fancy moves or super hard hits. At the end of the day it's your effectiveness, not your fancy moves, that matters.

I'd like to point out that I'm by no means saying that any of these other players are not good and only have fancy moves, not at all. My point/opinion is Lidstrom should be at the top of more of these lists.

[Tane 17]

I like both of them the same.... but I thought datsyuk should have won the selke Hands down. Zetterberg may have been a better checker or better at shadowing another player, but i've Never seen a guy strip the puck away from SO many players like I did Datsyuk last year.

here's an article i found about his takeaways

"He knows, to the tune of one hundred forty-four takeaways in 82 games last season. That's 58 more than any other skater, and 37 more than the previous single-season record, which was set by Datsyuk himself during the 2006-07 season.

Statistically, Datsyuk's level of dominance was so complete, that to rival it, Washington Capitals' forward Alexander Ovechkin would've needed to score 87 goals and 177 points in order to maintain the same level of separation between his totals and those of his closest runners-up. San Jose's Joe Thornton would've needed 110 assists, 43 more than his league-leading total of 67, in the same number of games."

That's unbelievable. And it was his ability to take the puck away from the other guy that i thought made him a better defensive player.

many experts agreed.

Here's the final Vote total for the Selke

Datsyuk 537 points (43-9-7-3-0)

Madden 447 points (18-18-16-17-10)

Zetterberg 425 points (22-20-6-10-5)

Datsyuk pretty much won it in a landslide. If I had to pick to keep only one of them, I'd pick Zetterberg, but I mean, It would really be like deciding which one of your legs you want chopped off.

[Doc Holiday 0]

The argument 'Dats is more physical than Hank' would not exist if the Wings had lost to the Stars, and Dats had never had the opportunity to punch Gary Roberts in the Cup Finals.

In other words, it's an argument that is hugely based off one incident. Until this past playoff run, Zetterberg was considered the more physical player.

Zetterberg is the best all-around forward in the NHL. Datsyuk is probably second on the list.

Perhaps you missed Datsyuk lay the body on the Penguins? I believe there was a specific incident in game 3.

[DatsyukownzU13 1]

The argument 'Dats is more physical than Hank' would not exist if the Wings had lost to the Stars, and Dats had never had the opportunity to punch Gary Roberts in the Cup Finals.

In other words, it's an argument that is hugely based off one incident. Until this past playoff run, Zetterberg was considered the more physical player.

Zetterberg is the best all-around forward in the NHL. Datsyuk is probably second on the list.

Malone begs to differ.

Edit: Not to mention all of his suprise hits when he has the puck.

Edited September 21, 2008 by DatsyukownzU13

[norrisnick 1]

I remember Z trainwrecking Sid in either game 1 or 2...

[T.Low 1,011]

WOW. What a great dilema to have: which of our three players in the top ten should be the highest ranked? Listenning to Vancouver sports radio, they are worried that they won't make the playoffs again and the poll question is are they better than last year? They complain that no one wants to came to Vancouver and here we are with players taking discounts to play in Detroit.

Build it (a winner, that is) and they will come.

Go Wings.

[DatsyukownzU13 1]

I remember Z trainwrecking Sid in either game 1 or 2...

For the sake of trying to be impartial... here:

(I still think Datsyuk has shown a little more physicality though)

[Seraph 240]

The argument 'Dats is more physical than Hank' would not exist if the Wings had lost to the Stars, and Dats had never had the opportunity to punch Gary Roberts in the Cup Finals.

In other words, it's an argument that is hugely based off one incident. Until this past playoff run, Zetterberg was considered the more physical player.

Zetterberg is the best all-around forward in the NHL. Datsyuk is probably second on the list.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Dats lead our team in hits for several games in the second half of the playoffs? The punch was just icing on the cake. I was continually impressed by Dats' physicality up until the end. Hopefully he'll keep it going because it had me riled up. That and the whole fist pumping and smiling after scoring goals. Usually he just skates awkwardly off the ice. I was loving it.

The announcers were talking about how he picked up his physical game from working with Drake.

EDIT: I didn't go through the individual games, but went to nhl.com and Dats was second in hits on the team for the entire playoffs with 56 (Stuart had 59). Zetterberg was 16th with 15 hits.

Edited September 21, 2008 by The Nephilim

[T.Low 1,011]

For the sake of trying to be impartial... here:

(I still think Datsyuk has shown a little more physicality though)

Thanks for showing me yet again why I love this forum.

[Seraph 240]

Well, as long as we're having a good time:

Edited September 21, 2008 by The Nephilim

[Dabura 12,232]

Zetts #1

Damn straight.

[eva unit zero 271]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Dats lead our team in hits for several games in the second half of the playoffs? The punch was just icing on the cake. I was continually impressed by Dats' physicality up until the end. Hopefully he'll keep it going because it had me riled up. That and the whole fist pumping and smiling after scoring goals. Usually he just skates awkwardly off the ice. I was loving it.

The announcers were talking about how he picked up his physical game from working with Drake.

EDIT: I didn't go through the individual games, but went to nhl.com and Dats was second in hits on the team for the entire playoffs with 56 (Stuart had 59). Zetterberg was 16th with 15 hits.

My point is that Dats as a physical player, regardless of the hits stat, was a sudden change in recognition that was recognized during the Cup finals; but it was a gradual change in his play.

Zetterberg has typically been the one considered the more physical player. If not for the Roberts incident, it would likely still be the case because wouldn't have that defining moment that many people looked to where Dats 'said to Hell with the Lady Byng' and fought back. I think the two of them are basically even when it comes to physical play. Zetterberg was typically given the edge as a matter of bias against Russians more than anything else.

[BeeRYCE 2]

Am I really the first to mention Rafalski's undeserving absence? Nice to see Wing players ranked so high, but to see so much of these players in it aside from B-Raf really makes me cringe.

[Earthhuman 8]

Well, as long as we're having a good time:

Datsyuk is the best in the league at hitting without making contact.

[Earthhuman 8]

Zetterberg was typically given the edge as a matter of bias against Russians more than anything else.

Bias against Russians... Swedes? All Swedes are soft, everyone knows that.

I don't think it matters too much, physicality is among the most overrated of abilities.

I think the list had some glaring mistakes, all of which are highlighted in the comments below the list. The top 10 was pretty decent, though.

[Doggy 130]

I just can't believe Gaborik was so high. Look at some of the players behind him. Yuck!

[CrossoverThrash 0]

hah i love how all of my vids are manifesting themselves in this thread