egroen 384 Report post Posted September 9, 2010 I'm often a big fan of players who are underrated. That's a major reason Steve Chiasson is my favorite all-time Wings defenseman. He was very good defensively, and played a physical game, but was also capable of contributing offensively when put in an offensive role. As in 1992-93, when he was an All-Star and placing 14th in voting among postseason All-Stars. Norris voting was much tighter then than now due to the 3 vote ballot vs 5 vote ballot, and only a handful of defensemen showed up each year. The biggest proof of how underrated Chiasson was throughout his career was the fact that he consistently produced just below or above Blake's level of offense, generally on worse teams. The only exception to this was 1993-94, the last year Gretzky won the Art Ross, and Luc Robitaille's last 40+ goal season; although he produced 30+ a few more times. While I'm on this rambling rant, Chiasson missed part of the 97-98 season. If you pro-rate his stats to 82 games, they come out to 9-34-43, -2. Blake's, pro-rated to 82, come out to 23-27-50, -4. Can someone tell me why again Blake won the Norris that year, over Lidstrom, or even Scott Niedermayer, Kevin Hatcher, Sergei Zubov, Larry Murphy, Teppo Numminen, Steve Duchesne, Al MacInnis, Ray Bourque, Chris Chelios, Chris Pronger, or Chiasson? Or any of the number of guys I didn't mention who were better than him that year. Yeah, Chiasson is definitely underrated. Blake went on a tear at the end of the 1998 season, scoring big goals and fitting the mold of the hard-hitting, productive defensemen that the voters loved (see Phaneuf's runner-up for the norris). That said, Lidstrom was absolutely robbed of the Norris that year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SouthernWingsFan 854 Report post Posted September 9, 2010 I always thought he played with Fischer -- The Towers of Power!!! Nah, I don't think. Might be confusing the two that specific year b/c Fischer switched to #8 for Hatcher that one season. Just me guessing/speculating though and not trying to insult your intelligence obviously. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
redwingcapt 52 Report post Posted September 9, 2010 im pretty sure in 04-05 there was no season... hahhaha. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Datsyerberger 279 Report post Posted September 9, 2010 (edited) An interesting testament to Lidstrom's defensive abilities that he's almost always been paired with offense-first d-men, yet he's consistently been at or among the top in defensive statistics (not talking about +/-, but real defensive benchmarks). ...And then, despite being the first man back, he's still at or among the top of scoring for d-men for an extended period of time. That's what makes a great, folks. Edited September 9, 2010 by Datsyerberger Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Stolberg Report post Posted September 10, 2010 Nah, I don't think. Might be confusing the two that specific year b/c Fischer switched to #8 for Hatcher that one season. Just me guessing/speculating though and not trying to insult your intelligence obviously. i think Fischer played with Chelios Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eva unit zero 271 Report post Posted September 10, 2010 i think Fischer played with Chelios Fischer didn't play regularly with Chelios until 01-02, and they played most of the time together after that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
