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GMRwings1983

50 Greatest Players in Wings History

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http://bleacherreport.com/articles/648147-detroit-red-wings-50-greatest-players-in-franchise-history/

Saw an article today on bleacherreport and thought I'd get your guys' input.

I didn't think the list was bad, but some of the rankings were odd, such as Brett Hull being ranked in the top 30, and Kronwall and Franzen both being on the list, ahead of a guy like Aurie.

Oh, I know there have been many such threads on bleacherreport, but I don't remember seeing this particular topic here. Maybe my memory is failing me after a long day of work.

Edited by GMRwings1983

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Overall a decent list, but I don't see how Kronwall is ranked that high. I wouldn't put Datsyuk ahead of Shanahan just yet. I didn't see Luc Robitaille on the list at all.

Why would Robitaille be on the list?

He played for Detroit just 2 seasons, and the second one sucked.

On a side note, it seems the guy couldn't think of anymore older Wings to put on the list, so he just threw Kronwall and Franzen on the list out of the blue, as current players he could actually name. :hehe:

Edited by GMRwings1983

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Decent list. Aurie should be higher, and I don't have a problem with Kronwall and Franzen there. They both were big players in the 2007, 2008, and 2009 playoff runs. And I agree with Bring Back The Bruise Bros, Shanny should be higher than Datsyuk, but only for now.

Yzerman vs. Howe, flip a coin, you can't go wrong either way for #1. In this point in time though, "The Captain" is the sentimental favorite, so :thumbup: for making Stevie #1.

Edit: I'll add, love seeing Holmstrom at #29.

Edited by Barrie

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You'd be in the huge minority on that list.

I would argue that Lidstrom is the single greatest wing ever to play. Howe was amazing, and what can I say about Yzerman that hasn't? But Lidstrom is probably the third best player ever in his position and the best defenseman of since Orr.

Edited by Shaman464

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How is Hasek not higher? I know he wasn't a Wing for that long, but come on, even past his prime he was one of the greatest.

And Maltby over Aurie? I know older players kind of get the shaft in lists, but Maltby was an excellent agitator and role player, Aurie was a superstar who did it all.

Edited by VM1138

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That list is crap. Anyone who feels that career fourth-liner Darren McCarty is one of the 25 best Wings ever, feel free to disagree.

But I don't recall seeing any of the following names:

Marty Barry

Ebbie Goodfellow

Bill Quackenbush

Flash Hollett

Herbie Lewis

Whoever wrote this really is not that knowledgeable. Of course that is obvious from their write-up on Yzerman in the "top-10 Wings best goal scorers" list.

When talking Yzerman, one goal that comes to mind was his 60 foot blast that fooled Jim Carey in a semi final series against the St. Louis Blues in double over time.

Jim Carey? Really? Let's check the replay.

Yep.

I would argue that Lidstrom is the single greatest wing ever to play. Howe was amazing, and what can I say about Yzerman that hasn't? But Lidstrom is probably the third best player ever in his position and the best defenseman of since Orr.

You make the argument that Lidstrom should be tops because he's "probably the third best player ever in his position" but you discount the fact that Howe is the best all-time at his? Or the fact that Yzerman is the only player who was able to manage the same kind of playing level as Gretzky or Lemieux did during the 80s and early 90s? Yzerman could easily be argued as the third best center of all-time. So what'll it be then? Best RW, third best C, or third best D?

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That list is crap. Anyone who feels that career fourth-liner Darren McCarty is one of the 25 best Wings ever, feel free to disagree.

But I don't recall seeing any of the following names:

Marty Barry

Ebbie Goodfellow

Bill Quackenbush

Flash Hollett

Herbie Lewis

Whoever wrote this really is not that knowledgeable. Of course that is obvious from their write-up on Yzerman in the "top-10 Wings best goal scorers" list.

Jim Carey? Really? Let's check the replay.

Yep.

You make the argument that Lidstrom should be tops because he's "probably the third best player ever in his position" but you discount the fact that Howe is the best all-time at his? Or the fact that Yzerman is the only player who was able to manage the same kind of playing level as Gretzky or Lemieux did during the 80s and early 90s? Yzerman could easily be argued as the third best center of all-time. So what'll it be then? Best RW, third best C, or third best D?

Lets see, third best Center? (and not even close on forwards) Lemieux, Gretzky, Howe, Dionne, Esposito and Jagr would be ahead of Yzerman (bold are centres)(And Sakic is just behind him). Whereas with Lidstrom on defense I would argue the only two better than him all time are Harvey and Orr and with another Norris Trophy this year he could pass Harvey on that list. Yzerman was an amazing player, but even he says that Lidstrom was the best player on the team since he was drafted.

Edited by Shaman464

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Lets see, third best Center? (and not even close on forwards) Lemieux, Gretzky, Howe, Dionne, Esposito and Jagr would be ahead of Yzerman (bold are centres)(And Sakic is just behind him). Whereas with Lidstrom on defense I would argue the only two better than him all time are Harvey and Orr and with another Norris Trophy this year he could pass Harvey on that list. Yzerman was an amazing player, but even he says that Lidstrom was the best player on the team since he was drafted.

Wait...

So if Lidstrom wins the Norris he could be better than Harvey, but if he doesn't he's not? WTF? Winning an award doesn't make you a great player.

And I said Yzerman could be argued as the third best center ever; he was the only one to dominate the league at a level close to Lemieux or Gretzky during their primes.

Everybody pretty much agrees that Lemieux and Gretzky are the 1-2 when it comes to centers and forwards. So take them away, now how does Yzerman stack up comparing his performance in his era to others in theirs? Yzerman is as strong an argument for that spot as Dionne or Esposito. The real question is...where did you come up with Jagr? Jagr was never more than a scoring forward who is a defensive liability. Although he won awards for scoring, he was less dominant on the ice in his prime than Yzerman was. Playing with Mario Lemieux AND Ron Francis on his line Jagr managed a career high of 149 points. Yzerman reached 155 with Gallant and Probert.

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Why would Robitaille be on the list?

He played for Detroit just 2 seasons, and the second one sucked.

On a side note, it seems the guy couldn't think of anymore older Wings to put on the list, so he just threw Kronwall and Franzen on the list out of the blue, as current players he could actually name. :hehe:

Fair enough. Disappointed not to see Aaron Downey on the list! :lol:

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No Pertr Klima either huge goal scorer in the late 80's

others like Lapointe and Glen Hanlon too could have been in the 40-50 range

Overall they got it right the captain had to be first

Hanlon was a veteran goaltender who played his last couple years in Detroit. Hardly noteworthy. In just the last thirty years he would fall behind Osgood, Vernon, Hasek, Cheveldae, Joseph, Legace, Howard, and probably Stefan if you only include starters. You could argue Ty Conklin, Vincent Riendeau, and possibly even Kevin Hodson from the backups. That would rank Hanlon anywhere from 8th to 12th in THIRTY YEARS. Not worth noting.

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Hanlon was a veteran goaltender who played his last couple years in Detroit. Hardly noteworthy. In just the last thirty years he would fall behind Osgood, Vernon, Hasek, Cheveldae, Joseph, Legace, Howard, and probably Stefan if you only include starters. You could argue Ty Conklin, Vincent Riendeau, and possibly even Kevin Hodson from the backups. That would rank Hanlon anywhere from 8th to 12th in THIRTY YEARS. Not worth noting.

Hanlon actually got Detroit to the conference finals in the late 80's.... That automatically puts him over Joseph, Legace, Cheveldae, Hodson, Conklin,Riendeau....

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No Reed Larson either? As far as the Yzerman/Howe thing goes...as much as I like Stevie Y, only one of those guys would be on the Mt.Rushmore of hockey.

Larson was on the list, unless I'm imagining things.

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