The Best Defensemen in NHL History
Continuing in our The Best of the NHL theme over at Pro Hockey Fans, NHL expert Kevin Chaves has identified his list of the best defensemen in NHL history. There have been numerous defensemen who were perennial all-stars, but where does Chris Chelios, Ray Borque or Nicklas Lidstrom rank on the all-time list? Find out today at ProHockey-fans.com!
Tags: best nhl defensemen, best nhl players, nhl's all-time best, top nhl defensemen
November 4th, 2008 at 8:18 am
This is ridiculous. Bourque was twice the d-man Lidstrom will ever be. Bourque’s +/- is only second to Orr’s at +528, and Lidstrom is WAY down (200 points) below that marker. So your telling me, that with Lidstrom playing on teams that featured at one point 11 HOF’ers, that his defense was more effective than Ray’s? Ray passed, hit, and shot 10 times better than Nick. His one ice responsibility is reflected in his +/- rating, and didnt play with nearly the caliber level players that Nick has had around him. Ray’s +51 season came during a time in the 80’s when goals were actually scored. Not this pathetic trapping time, and with the Wings excellent D, why isnt Nicks all time +/- better? Like 200 points better? Because while he is great, one of the best all time, he is not as good as you would like to think. Thats why. Of COURSE Nick has won the Norris a good number of times and might pass Ray in that dept. Sorry, just becuase Nick has no competition and is riding a stellar teams coattails, does not mean he is half the d-man Ray was. Doug Harvey won it 7 times, where does that leave him? Number 3. Thats where. All those comments about Lemieux beating Ray, gee, I wonder how many times Lemiuex would have WORKED Lidstrom had he actually played against him. Ask Mario who the best d-man is, “Ray Bourque, hands down”. He has lamented that for years. So take your silly arguement and feed those who want to be fed crap. The rest of the world will be happy to remind themselves that Nick if anything is 4th or 5th on the all time list. Besides Orr beating Lidstroms face into a pulp, Ray’s stats blowing his away, lets not forget that Potvin and Harvey would have taken his head off. Like a lamb with his Lady Byng. Interesting arguement about Cups, I thought that was a team accomplishment. But if thats how your going to rate Lidstrom against others, I guess Paul Coffey is even better than Nick. I cant wait for to read from people like this, how Crosby is the best ever; the new Great One, and is SOOO much better than Wayne.
November 4th, 2008 at 8:32 am
And that last argument was obviously pointing out how Lidstrom is not half the D man Ray was. He may be one of the top 5, but let me know when he comes close to any of Ray’s personal statistical accomplishments.
The real insult here is that you ACTUALLY had the audacity to rate him higher than Orr.
Look, i understand that you feel you need to bring yourself some attention as a hockey writer by clashing with “popular” belief, but lets not insult the fans intelligence.
So why dont you let me know when Lidstrom comes near getting HALF of Orr’s +/- rating of a +124 rated season.
Lidstrom’s ioverall +/- rating of ~380 is roughly only half of Orr’s +597, and how many more seasons has Lidstrom played than Orr? 8 more seasons.
And how many more points does he have over Orr in those 8 seasons? Only 25 points more?
Where do his points leave him all time for D men? 10th?
Sweet.