There is a debate on the red wings board about who was considered better at the time. I was just wondering what you guys thought. I didnt watch either of them back then and would like some outsider input on the subject matter.
Lidstrom was better in Konstantinov's last two seasons though.
Don't know if I'm remembering it correctly, but even Lidstrom at the time thought Konstantinov was ahead of him as a defenseman.
Yeah, but Lidström is a super humble soft spoken Swedish guy so of course he would say something like that. It doesn't mean he couldn't have meant it, but you have to take that into consideration.
Incredible draft year for the Wings, some of the guys they drafted in '89: Sillinger, Boughner, Lidstrom, Fedorov, Drake, and Konstantinov.
That Russian Five was something special, and definitely sways my opinion in Vlad's favor. He brought much needed toughness to the Wings blueline. Wings scout Neil Smith saw Konstantinov at the World Juniors in '87, and when a brawl broke out in a game vs Canada, Smith noted that Konstantinov was the only one of the Russian who fought back. I'd rather skate against Lidstrom than Vlad the Impaler.
True, got me. But watching the video, alot of standing around and turtling by the soviet players, only a few actually throwing punches, the rest being outmuscled and thrown to the ice. Fighting clearly wasn't a part of their game.lol why are youy lying, that fight is on youtube, many soviets fought the canadians, the fight was even.
There is a debate on the red wings board about who was considered better at the time. I was just wondering what you guys thought. I didnt watch either of them back then and would like some outsider input on the subject matter.
Team GA (Total/PK)
51/17 - Konstantinov, 1996
59/20 - Konstantinov, 1997
87/29 - Lidstrom, 1996
75/19 - Lidstrom, 1997
I don't know that anyone would say Konstantinov was playing sheltered minutes, and they stopped being competitive for Jennings Trophies after he left.
Place | Player | Age | Tm | Votes | Vote% | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | PTS | +/- |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | Vladimir Konstantinov | 28 | DET | 131 | 24.26 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 34 | 60 |
5 | Paul Coffey | 34 | DET | 83 | 15.37 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 74 | 19 |
6 | Nicklas Lidstrom | 25 | DET | 54 | 10.00 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 67 | 29 |
Lidstrom gave alot of credit his rookie season to his defensive partner and mentor, the late Brad McCrimmon, who Lidstrom said covered for his mistakes and allowed his game to grow. And the more I've read up on this 'debate', one thing I found interesting is that in the '97 Finals vs the Flyers, Bowman chose not the Konstantinov-Fetisov pairing, but the Lidstrom-Murphy pairing against the Legion of Doom, so there was definitely confidence at how Lidstrom was at that point.i think the three year age gap made the difference here. iirc, people still projected lidstrom to be more important longterm.
i think also konstantinov, who by the way was my favourite of those red wings, looked a little better because his partner was an older HHOFer who had aged a little more and he was better than him. fetisov, of course. whereas up to the shanahan trade, lidstrom was partnered with coffey, who was still in norris form so he both deferred a bit and unfairly there was the perception that lidstrom was being carried a bit.
i would also say, though, that in 1996, it was pretty close. the norris voting--
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
Place Player Age Tm Votes Vote% 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th PTS +/- 4 Vladimir Konstantinov 28 DET 131 24.26 2 6 7 10 4 34 60 5 Paul Coffey 34 DET 83 15.37 0 4 2 12 9 74 19 6 Nicklas Lidstrom 25 DET 54 10.00 0 1 3 7 11 67 29
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
Same height and physicality as Kasparaitis, and another tank, Andrei kovalenko.Hard to believe Konstantinov was only 5'11 with his style of play.
He didn't play sheltered minutes but he did get to play a lot of ES time with the Russian 5.