Lecavalier, Thornton, or Datsyuk?

[warrior37 0]

we were having this debate this past weekend over a few beers and i wanted to see what fellow msh'ers think. if you had to start a franchise and you could pick one of these 3 players, who would you pick and why: V Lecavalier, J Thornton, or P Datsyuk?

[mack 44]

Right away it comes down to either Vinnie or Thornton for me. Thornton's top-notch with setting people up but Vinnie can create his own chances. Thornton's ability to disappear in the playoffs is what would probably swing my vote to Vinnie.

[warrior37 0]

level of play aside, who do you feel has better leadership qualities, Lecavalier or Jumbo?

[mack 44]

My guess/assumption is Thornton. I think Tampa retarded Vinnie's leadership by making him the captain so young and I think Thornton's probably grown into being a leader more nicely.

[Lufria 1]

I know me being a Red Wing fan, i'm biased, but i have to believe it's Datsyuk. Not for his dekes or moves either, but by the way he really uses the ice with his vision and everything. He has some of the best playmaking abilities on the team.

Thorton isn't a bad choice either though, but i'd prefer Datsyuk.

[DEATHTRON 19]

Jumbo Joe for me after seeing what he did for SJ coming in mid season 05-06.

Zach

[blueliner27 12]

J. Thornton

In my head right now

[kosydar 0]

Jumbo Joe for me after seeing what he did for SJ coming in mid season 05-06.

Zach

Exactly. Vinnie and Dats are both top notch players, neither of whom would be bad to build a franchise around. Joe Tho just seems to be at a level above those two. I don't buy that Joe disappears in the playoffs, either. Last year he had almost twice as many points as the second leading scorer on his team.

[tips09 0]

Id go with either Joe or Vinnie,definately not datsyuk. Seems like datsyuk does really have the leadership qualities that joe or vinnie have but i will have to give it to joe because it seems he has gone through more adversity then vinny and knows how to deal with it

[x11x 0]

Joe Thornton for sure. He makes everyone around him better and is a great leader.

[Smitty34 0]

I don't know much about Datsyuk's leadership skills, but based on what I've heard about the other two, Thornton is probably the better leader.

Of the three, I would pick Joe Thornton. He does the small things well and he is a great passer with good vision. He has also proven that he is a good player in both ends of the rink.

[gp3r 0]

For me it's Vinny. The guy is, IMO, the best and most talented player in the world after Crosby. The guy has shown he can win, and win big. He's got a Stanley Cup ring, he led Canada to a World Cup win via his MVP performance and he's just won the Rocket Richard Trophy. He can create his own chances as well as setting up plays. I always believed that if Vinnie had landed with a serious franchise when he got drafted, he who have twice as many career points by now. We're only starting to see the best Vinnie has to offer. He and Thornton have both been through a lot and are in my mind the ones who can offer the best leadership. My order of preference would be as follow:

1- Lecavalier

2- Thornton

3- Datsyuk

[trevor13478 1]

you can't judge joe's playoff performance based on his performance in boston, the whole team disappears in the playoffs.

[sabre09923 0]

you can't judge joe's playoff performance based on his performance in boston, the whole team disappears in the playoffs.

QFT

It seems (lately) that the whole organization's philosophy is to just get to the playoffs, and call it a year. Though they have trouble even doing that nowadays...

[Kovy_Ribs_Fedo 3]

Datsuyk

[Duder84 0]

I think Joe's "disappearing" in the playoffs has more to do with his teammates disappearing more so than Joe disappearing.

[TBLfan 25]

Thornton for building a team around.

Lecavalier if I had those three to pick from. He's probably the most talented hockey player in the world, it's just sad that it's taken him this long to show his real potential. Vinny is growing into a leader but in many ways he's still a very young player.

[SideshowRob43 0]

You can surround Thornton with semi-decent scorers like Michalek and Cheechoo... and he'll turn them into league leading contenders...

Thornton can score, he can open up situations that other players can't, hes a great leader and most of all...

he makes the players around him better...

Thornton... no doubt

[Hockeyman9621 0]

Thornton and Vinny can both use their bodies to make plays with out the puck, Datsyuk needs the puck to be effective. So narrowing it down to either Lecavalier or Thornton I'd choose Joe, he's better than Vinny at using his body to his his advantage, although they are both pretty amazing at it.

[Cavs019 708]

Depends on the wingers, but overall I'd take lecavalier.

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

Thornton and Vinny can both use their bodies to make plays with out the puck, Datsyuk needs the puck to be effective. So narrowing it down to either Lecavalier or Thornton I'd choose Joe, he's better than Vinny at using his body to his his advantage, although they are both pretty amazing at it.

You're insane, obviously Dats is 6 inches shorter then either Vinny or Joe but to say that hes worthless without the puck is ridiculous. Datsyuk's two way play is without a doubt better then Thornton or Lecavalier.

Whats with the excuses in the Jumbo Joe camp? If hes so amazing then his play should speak for itself. He has yet to have a dominate playoff year. He played well but for as highly as some of you rank him, he didn't live up the hype.

Vinny only took a decade to finally realize potential and it only took a Hart winner like St. Louis to push him over the edge..

Datsyuk is the better player overall but Joe has size factor. They are all pretty much the same age and recieve the same salary.

1. Thornton

2. Datsyuk

3. Lecavalier

Le-frog plays in a weaker conference and isn't exactly known for his two way game. 1 and 2 could be flipped depending on the individual team needs. The Sharks have alot of young scoring wingers that need a great setup man. The Wings need Datsyuk to score goals and setup up zetterberg. The rest of the team is made up of fourth liners with hands of stone.

[djinferno 2]

Vinnie All day, hes a overall better player, can deke and score like Datsuk, Can pass and dominate with his body like Jumbo but he does so much more, dude can and will fight, hes the full package...

Look at the last world cup he was in, he was dominant... Lets not forget he has a ring...

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

Vinnie All day, hes a overall better player, can deke and score like Datsuk, Can pass and dominate with his body like Jumbo but he does so much more, dude can and will fight, hes the full package...

Look at the last world cup he was in, he was dominant... Lets not forget he has a ring...

And hes nearly invisible in his own end of the rink.. Atleast Thornton attempts to play defense. How does anyone manage a +2 when they score close to 110 points?

[mack 44]

Well not that Lecavalier will be confused with a Selke candidate but Tampa seemed like a run-and-gun team plus without checking I'd be a crapload of those points came on the PP.

[wallin2199 0]

I would have to say Thornton as well. He is the most valuable player on the Sharks by far while Lecavalier has St. Louis, Richards and had Khabibulin and others during the cup run and Datsyuk has always been able to hide behind Yzerman, Federov, Lidstrom, Shanny over his years in Detroit. Yes I know Thornton has been slowed in the playoffs, but the guy still averaged a point a game this playoffs. If you are going on who's most valuable to their team, I don't see how Joe doesn't get the nod.