The Hockey News top 50 Players

[masterpirate13 0]

4. Chris Pronger....where the hell did this come from? how did he get up there?

[PJLime 0]

Some people may not like Pronger all that much, but he is possibly the best D man and where do you put the best D man?

I don't think anyone here actually thinks he shouldn't be amoung the best two or three D men, do we?

[Eazy_b97 1]

I'm convinced Niedermayer kicked your dog or had relations with your sister.  Other than Guru's bloodlust for Lindros, I've never seen someone hung-up on one player as much as that.

The hate runs very deep in my soul for that man. Alot is the overhype here, analysts here love the man. He's a nice skater, with good hands. A glorified Gonchar. I tend to do this with D more than forwards because I watch their movements so closely.

[mack 44]

Ouch, the comparison to Gonchar was just wrong.

[Stampede 0]

Very wrong with the Gonchar comment.....

Pronger should be in the top 3 or 4 D men with out a doubt but not as high as he is on THN list.

Top 3 or 4 have got to be Niedermyer, Pronger, Chara and ..... hmmmm .... Those three should all be in the THN top 15 and we can argue all day about the order they go in.

Then come your Redden's, MCabe, Aucoin, Boyle, Rafalski, Jovo, Hannan, Foote... who, for my money, are all as good as each other. One may get a few more points but the other will play a better physical game/pass better/read the play etc etc

[Eazy_b97 1]

watch......wait....praise Eazy because he knows Nieds is a puckbag give-away machine. Gonchar comparison, obviously a stretch, but this guy is built up beyond belief. I can't wait to see him this year, because I honestly don't believe he is anywhere near as good as people believe. If I am wrong at the end of the year, I will come out and admit it.

Blake should round out your top 4.

[Stampede 0]

Fair play, so he should.

[Stampede 0]

Although I have just noticed you refered to yourself in "the rock" style 3rd person.....

So I now completely disagree with Rob Blake being top 4 .... Bryan Marchment will take his rightful place!!!!

[mack 44]

With his style of play I'm going to take the expected giveaways. He'll take risks but he'll make up for the majority of them with speed. Easily the best skater in the league and should do even better with the new rules.

[thunderhockey19 0]

Id like to know how they are comparing crosby to any of these guys never in a NHL game and now he is just under Sergei Fedorov who has had 30 goal seasons for like 12 consecutive seasons or something of the sort. now that hype is rediculous. also Lemieux being rated above Fedorov, i do realize Fedorov is out of his prime, lemieux was out of his yeaaaaaaaaarrrrssss ago. im not really sure why those few picks there bothered me so much. but other than that the list is pretty solid. there is still some changes i would make.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Id like to know how they are comparing crosby to any of these guys never in a NHL game and now he is just under Sergei Fedorov who has had 30 goal seasons for like 12 consecutive seasons or something of the sort.

4 seasons in a row.

[lee92 2]

i'd say lidstrom's the top defenseman in the league. his offensive numbers may have dropped recently, but no one does it better one on one than lidstrom.

[kosydar 0]

i'd say lidstrom's the top defenseman in the league. his offensive numbers may have dropped recently, but no one does it better one on one than lidstrom.

I'd pick Lidstrom over any other D in the league, except maybe Chara on a good day.

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Chara is WAY overated IMO.

I agree with Eazy that Niedermayer is also overated.

[forsberg91 0]

Crosby better than a guy who put up 98 points one year? (Hejduk) As Hockey News' credibility flies out the window.....

Crosby shouldn't even be on the list. He still hasn't played one regular season game. This hype is just bullshit.

I agree.

[J-Shera 0]

I think lidstrom should deffnetly be higher then Pronger, Lidstrom is one of the best players in the league, and I think the top d man.

[sherwood21 0]

Id like to know how they are comparing crosby to any of these guys never in a NHL game and now he is just under Sergei Fedorov who has had 30 goal seasons for like 12 consecutive seasons or something of the sort. now that hype is rediculous. also Lemieux being rated above Fedorov, i do realize Fedorov is out of his prime, lemieux was out of his yeaaaaaaaaarrrrssss ago. im not really sure why those few picks there bothered me so much. but other than that the list is pretty solid. there is still some changes i would make.

Techincally your point is correct, but thats simply because his Prime was so high.

E.g:

1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 64 44 87 131

1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 60 69 91 160

1993-94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 22 17 20 37

1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 69 92 161

1996-97 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 50 72 122

That was his prime. Years ago.

This was him a few, 4ish years ago.

2000-01 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 43 35 41 76

2001-02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 24 6 25 31

2002-03 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 67 28 63 91

pretty sure that his numbers when he is like 50billion are still unreal. And he is still one of the best.

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Id like to know how they are comparing crosby to any of these guys never in a NHL game and now he is just under Sergei Fedorov who has had 30 goal seasons for like 12 consecutive seasons or something of the sort. now that hype is rediculous. also Lemieux being rated above Fedorov, i do realize Fedorov is out of his prime, lemieux was out of his yeaaaaaaaaarrrrssss ago. im not really sure why those few picks there bothered me so much. but other than that the list is pretty solid. there is still some changes i would make.

Techincally your point is correct, but thats simply because his Prime was so high.

E.g:

1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 64 44 87 131

1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 60 69 91 160

1993-94 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 22 17 20 37

1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 70 69 92 161

1996-97 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 50 72 122

That was his prime. Years ago.

This was him a few, 4ish years ago.

2000-01 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 43 35 41 76

2001-02 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 24 6 25 31

2002-03 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 67 28 63 91

pretty sure that his numbers when he is like 50billion are still unreal. And he is still one of the best.

I think people are afraid to hit him though. Unfair advantage.

[DarkStar50 679]

I think people are afraid to hit him though. Unfair advantage.

Players like Mario and Gretz did not have players afraid to hit them. They just know how not to be hit!! Don't you think every goon from Mario's QMJHL days tried to take him out? It never happened. Mario on a bad day is still better than half the league on their best day. The guy beat the Big C for Christmas sakes!!

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

darkstar, you are right,

but I just want to remind you something. A guy(i don't know his name) hit Gretz during his career and this guy didn't played any other game in the NHL after that hit. Something sound weird.

[DarkStar50 679]

Kovy

The one and only Gretz hit was in Toronna and Semenko took care of business for 99.

I watched a lot of hockey in the 80's. 99 and 66 were beyond amazing. The all-time best is still Canada Cup 87, all three games. Pull out Game 3 video and watch 99 and 66 light it up against as strong a Russian team as any(although 79 Challenge Cup CCCP team was a monster squad). I always loved Canada Cup 87 because it was the coming out party for the pride of Kingston, Ontario: Doug Gilmour!! Killer was awesome in his role for Team Canada in that series, teamed up with Dale Hawerchuk(of all people) to play smart defensive forward hockey.

[Chadd 916]

I hate Mario as we all know. But I still find it amazing that he is a PPG player at his age (I am confident he is at least).

Potvin who was the best d-man in the 80's era and was rather confident in himself even said it was impossible to hit Gretz. Later on, I think both have gotten some preferential treatment. Which is expected.

I think Mario will be a point per game guy to start the season simply due to the number of power plays we all expect. As teams learn how to avoid penalties, expect his scoring to slump. I'm willing to bet that he scores more on the PP than he does at even strength this season.

For some reason that reminds me of some of the games I've seen in Pittsburgh. One night, Mario left the ice shortly before the end of the period and the Pens score 30 seconds later. During the intermission there was a ascoring change and Mario was given an assist. Another night he was on the bench and the fourth line guys scored, two minutes later an assist was added for number 66. They guy was fantastic in his prime but I know for a fact that they inflate his numbers.

[flaming_june 2]

that is very not right... inflation of number is something i have never herad before...

down with crosby, up with heatly, pronger should stay where he is.

[shute 4]

mario can win the scoring title is he played enough games... is more then a PPG player even at his age. mario is like yoda.. he may be old but when it comes down to it he'll kick you ass! :lol:

[$-Money9 0]

I don't see how Pronger got rated number 4 i think there are players better then him not rated that high.