Lafleur all the way... 5 Stanley Cups. Art Ross trophies. Only 4 players in the 70's hit 60 gls or more. 1) Esposito, 2) Leech, 3) Lafleur, and 4) Steve Shutt.
I'd go with Ken Dryden for the 1970s. Orr vs Lafleur, kinda debatable between them, but Dryden is above them both. It's odd that no goalies were even considered. Dryden beat Orr's Bruins fair and square in 1971. His absence in 1973-74 was directly attributed as the cause the Habs didn't win that year. Has comparable personal hardware to Orr, plus 6 Stanley Cups in 8 seasons in the 1970s. His retirement ended the Habs dynasty.
Nice list. One correction at 5:26: Maurice Rocket Richard's state funeral was held on the year 2000, not 1998. Specifically on Wednesday May 31st 2000. I was there; working just beside the church (La Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal). I had never seen the place so crowded. It was packed with thousands of emotional and frenzied fans. I remember seeing people mounted on street lamps, holding placards with love messages to the deceased idol. The crowd was chanting "Rocket! Rocket!". It was an unbelievable moment. One to remember forever. The deli restaurant I was working for made a record revenue that day. Thank you for the posted video.
Ray Bourque is more than an honorable mention. He played most of his career in the Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux eras as a defenseman. Yes, that made a difference in those eras.
Jean Beliveau is much more than an honorable mention. Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier from the Islanders dynasty. Ken Dryden, Larry Robinson from the Canadiens dynasty are honorable mentions
The second best player of the 1980s would have to be Mike Bossy. From Wikipedia: Bossy is the NHL's all-time leader in average goals scored per regular season game, holds the NHL's third-highest all-time average points scored per regular season game, and is the second of five players to score 50 goals in 50 games, being the first to accomplish this feat 36 years after Maurice Richard did so. He's tied for the record for most 50-goal seasons with Wayne Gretzky and Alexander Ovechkin with nine, though his were consecutive as opposed to Gretzky's and Ovechkin's being non-consecutive; he thus is the sole record-holder for most consecutive 50-goal seasons.
What would be the numbers for Bobby Orr if he played on 2 knees for 20 yrs and had a team like early 80s Oilers? What if Mario played healthy and under same rules as 80s with a Dave Semenko to protext him?
Crosby's career winding down? He just finished the 23-24 season with 94pts, and he is 36 years old, so Id say his production did not diminish. The guy is just as a good as ever. He is not as fast on his skates as he used to be, but he makes up for it with his superior hockey IQ.
They always tend to say things like that... Some belittled even Gretzky's performance in his final (three) seasons... And I bet that 90 per cent of NHL players would be absolutely delighted to reach 97, 90, and 62 points respectively...
He also doesn’t have much help. If you look at the other top guys most have another guy not too far back. But, still, I think it’s fair to say winding down… he’ll likely finish in Pittsburgh, and we probably won’t be great for a few years at least.
@@TheScotian82 I would just LOVE to see the author lacing up the skates... Sure, Gretzky would probably have no chance in todays NHL, yet he's the Great One forever... All of us get worse with age knocking, but some courtesy should be in place...
no - Orr was simply the best defensemen of all time.. Lafleur was amazing but he did not change the position of a forward like Orr did for defense. Orr was a pivot in history - a "step up" in the game and he was that first one to take that step. Gretzky stepped up the game for forwards the next decade... although maybe he didn't - 99 was one of a kind.
Guy lafleur was actually voted the top player of the 1970’s…remember Orr was half decades like 66-75 before he basically was too banged up unfortunately……..
Well he had his swan song in 76 at the Canada Cup .. and his dominance was so complete if you had to choose it’s Orr , Lafleur was big Lafleur we know until half way through the decade and Espo outscored him in the 70’s
Based purely on statistics there is a lot of argument. Yes Gretzky was by far the best forward but you can't directly compare his stats with Bobby Orr's . I would argue that Orr's accomplishments as a defenseman were more impressive. Orr was the greatest hockey player of all time. Statistically, the only professional athlete with stats as impressive as Bobby Orr's is the Georgia Peach Ty Cobb.
Look up some of the Stan Mikita stories about when Gordie Howe clocked Stan. There are a variety of interpretations... they all spell out one thing: Mess with Gordie and you'll find he's a better boxer than hockey player.
Check out the photo of Rangers enforcer Lou Fontinato face after he fought Gordie in a game back in 1959. His nose was in the opposite direction and his jaw wad broken after taking on Gordie It's a famous photograph
@@robertmcmanus9185 There are some stories about it on RU-vid.. Looks like someone took on the wrong guy at the wrong time which happens a lot in life i guess ~ Cheers
Yet no mention of Phil Esposito and his 76 Goals & 76 Assist plus other 50 goal & 60 goal seasons, along with Mike Bossy, multi 50 plus seasons in a roll, not to mention 50 goals in 50 games!
This was a very well research video. Thank you. I wonder if you condo a best defensive players from each decade. You can even separate defensemen and forwards.
I disagree with Lidstrom... Put him in a average team, he would not be that dominant while other players like Hasek, Sakic, Hull, Selanne, Lindros, Forsberg, Jagr etc were more dominant on the ice on his era...
Mikita inadvertently invented the curved blade. I remember players bending their blades to outrageous angles until new regulations limited the bend on hockey sticks
Couple points: 1. Good List overall 2. Didnt realize Morenz died so young. Crazy 3. Idolized Lafleur (my #1) but honestly cannot argue the Orr pick (I hate the Bruins) 4. Glad to see some peeps who put their personals aside and comment on other great players b/c love of hockey - Mike Bossy comes to my mind (Billy Smith is an idiot) 5. McDavid deserves to be here - definitely a cut above many today 6. Nobody is going to argue about Mr Hockey - stupid if you tried. 7. Roy > Brodeur (my allegiance is showing)
I would've split the 70's with Orr and Lafleur, or at least give Lafleur a special mention. I also would've gone with Datsyuk over Lidstrom, although it's hard to argue against Lindstrom
Solid video, but I think Martin Brodeur should have been named the best player of the 2000s. I know how hard it is to compare goalies and skaters, but unless you're going to make a separate video like this dedicated to goalies, picking Lidstrom feels like a snub
gretzky and mcdavid should do little skits each time mcdavid beats a gretzky record maybe something like theyre having a drink and a chat and mcdavid goes ''oh btw im gonna need the record for most assists in a playoff run'' then Gtrezky goes ''oh right right'', reaches for his wallet and pulls out a bunch of cards where his records are officially written and handles them like playing cards going ''most goals....assists.....most assists in a playoff run here you go'' and gives it to Mcdavid with a face that is semi proud and semi sad to see his records go slowly 😂
@@Beezer1742 it most likely will happen. Ovi's like 40 goals away so he needs like 20/year and he still has 2 years on his contract. Unless he gets injured or magically falls off, he'll break the record.
Funny how someone who contended with three of those "decaders" is avoided in this. While Gretzky was great, Jágr was great, while Lemieux was great, Jágr was great, while Lidstrom was great, Jágr was great. The GREATEST Player Of Quarter Century: Jaromír Jágr. P.S.: While Crosby was great, Jágr was still freaking good... ;-)
Given that Bobby Orr's career was split between the 60's and the 70's trying to define things by the artificial marker of a decade sort of falls apart. Lafleur was definitely lighting up the 2nd half of the 70's, but, he was no Bobby Orr. Then again, who is??? Orr is my vote for the best player in my lifetime. Never saw Rocket and only saw the very tail end of Howe. That said, even in the final stages you could see Gordie should NEVER have retired as early as he did. Wow, Howe.
Bobby Hull won the stanley cup with Chicago (1960-61). Winipeg never win the cup. The ring of champion (7:44 min) was probably the Avco cup, in the AWH.
No great medical treatment of players either though they would freeze an injury so you could continue playing. Summer jobs were common for most players as well.
McJ is a completely wrong statement. Conner is a great player but still no cup. Your choice is tarnished. He still has 6 years to go…. Where’s he going?
@@696969640 lol this is just not reality. Chara had the hardest shot ever with modern equipment, he's 6'9" I think it was 108mph. U think Bobby Hull shot 122mph with a wooden stick? 😂
Howe had 5 scoring titles, 4 MVPs and 4 cups in the 1950's. He didn't really accomplish anything in the 40's as his first season as a full-time regular was 1947-48.
Are you kidding me? Sure, Sydney Crosby is a good hockey player but he’s also a cheap shot artist and a bit of a dirty player. Somehow you skipped Alexander Ovechkin, he’s number two and scoring and catching quickly up to Wayne Gretzky, he’s an electric player, incredibly gifted and the size of a middle linebacker, WTF is wrong with the people that made this video ?
Crosby is a winner... He scores and make average players producing goals. Ovi is more unidimentional player. Like Hull with Oates... But still a great player...
@@ScottD768 T'en fumes du bon toé ou quoi ? Regarde quelques videos, regarde comment Mario est "facile" devant les adversaires. Des tasses de café à Bourque, en veux-tu en v'là...
For the life of me, I just don’t see how Connor McDavid qualifies to be on this list. Football players and NBA players can be regarded as the greatest of their time even without winning anything as a team, but not hockey players. McDavid stats do not come, even close to exceeding his fellow players stats as those of Gretzky, or, Crosby, Lemieux, etc.. And he certainly didn’t rise to the occasion in critical playoff games this year. He’s the most overrated hi player since BJ whatsoever, who had 150 goal scoring year while on Wayne Gretzky‘s line.
You should think before you post. McDavid starting from 2020/21 season until now has 513 points in 294 game, and 99 points in 57 playoff games, he ranks first in both and by a large margin in points per game as well.. He beat Wayne's assists record in the finals, had 11 points in the finals. They would have been golfing after game 4 or 5 if not for his 2 4 point games.
No one is better than lemieux in 90s Mario Lemieux won the Art Ross in 97 after being the leading scorer in the NHL league leader, Lemieux retired, Jagr took over from Lemieux and won the Art Ross the next 3 seasons in 98- 99 and 2000, After 44 month without playing at the professional hockey Lemieux returned to the game and finished with a better average points per game than Jagr, and jagr will get his 4th art ross in 4 years this same jagr who dominated the league in the absence of Lemieux dominate more than gretzky and lemieux after 44 month with playing ,Lemieux able to do better than jagr now if lemieux was able to average 1.77 pts per game after 44 months 43 games 35 goald 76 pts that means that lemieux would have made 2 pts per game during 90s without missing half the decade, lemieux would have made around 1500 points maybe 1600 points from 1990 to 1999 gretzky 640 games with 878 pts has an average of points per game of 1.37 points per games and Lemieux 318 games with 656 pts and an average of points per game 2.06
@@williamhager855 Patrick Roy is the only player in history to win 3 Conn Smythe Trophy's (Playoff MVP) - In 1993 he did the mathematically impossible and won 10 straight OT games in the playoffs including 3 in the finals against Gretzky and The Kings. You got a bowling pin for a brain you chump - Hasek couldn't carry Roy's jock strap
