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Best Defending Defensemen All Time

Winged Wheel Willy

Winged Wheel Willy

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Dec 2, 2021
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I'm bored rn and this is kinda born out of the pet peeve of mine that nobody voting for the norris seems to care about defensive play anymore. Maybe I'm just stuck in a time long past, but I like my defenders being able to shut down top opponents - and not by just by way of having the puck. So who were the best when the opponent had the puck/when their team was in the d-zone? So basically exclude offensive play (passing, shooting etc.)

80s onward, cuz I don't know many players before that. Just of the top of my head, so order is subject to change:

1. Pronger
2. Bourque
3. Lidström
4. Chelios
5. Langway
in the discussion: Potvin, Stevens, Hatcher, Chara, .........
 
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Winged Wheel Willy said:
I'm bored rn and this is kinda born out of the pet peeve of mine that nobody voting for the norris seems to care about defensive play anymore. Maybe I'm just stuck in a time long past, but I like my defenders being able to shut down top opponents - and not by just by way of having the puck. So who were the best when the opponent had the puck/when their team was in the d-zone? So basically exclude offensive play (passing, shooting etc.)

80s onward, cuz I don't know many players before that. Just of the top of my head, so order is subject to change:

1. Pronger
2. Bourque
3. Lidström
4. Chelios
5. Langway
in the discussion: Potvin, Stevens, Hatcher, Chara, .........
Click to expand...
If we're talking purely defense, and using your list, it's Langway. He won his first on the back of a three goal season in 1982-83. Before Langway, you could go back to Pierre Pilotte who had similar numbers when he won three in a row with the Hawks from 63-65.
 
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A quick (and completely subjective) top ten list:
  1. Doug Harvey
  2. Tim Horton
  3. Larry Robinson
  4. Denis Potvin
  5. Ray Bourque
  6. Scott Stevens
  7. Chris Chelios
  8. Nicklas Lidstrom
  9. Chris Pronger
  10. Zdeno Chara
Each of those defensemen was excellent defensively, and also good to great offensively.

If the question is the best "pure" defensive defensemen (ie their focus was almost entirely on defensive play) - Rod Langway would be a good choice. Other candidates - Valeri Vasiliev, Serge Savard, Rod Langway, Craig Ludwig, Vladimir Konstantinov, Derian Hatcher, Adam Foote.
 
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ESH said:
Chris Tanev is the best defenseman at defending I’ve seen on the Flames in my lifetime
Click to expand...

Chris Tanev is the best defenseman at defending I've seen on the Canucks in my lifetime

Also, I recall him being a step above in the World Championships. I feel pretty strongly that he is one of the most underrated players of his Era.

That may not put him in the all-time conversation but he should be in the same category as Vlasic IMO for their era. Currently Slavin is the best from what I see.
 
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McCrimmon needs to be up there. So does Larry Robinson and late career Mark Howe.

Derian Hatcher was terrific in the DPE but probably not top 5, but maybe top 10 or near it. Vlad Konstantinov from 1991 to 1997 was phenomenal.

Bourque was a great all around defenseman but I wouldn't put him in the top 10 defensively all time. It just wasn't his game. He was very much a possession guy and could own the puck when on the ice but wasn't that shutdown kind of guy, IMO. Very good defensively but guys like Chelios, Pronger, Konstantinov, Hatcher and Lidstrom were for sure better defenders on the rush, in the corners and around the net. Where Bourque really shined was turning a dump in attempt into a rush going the other direction.
 
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OgeeOgelthorpe said:
McCrimmon needs to be up there. So does Larry Robinson and late career Mark Howe.

Derian Hatcher was terrific in the DPE but probably not top 5, but maybe top 10 or near it. Vlad Konstantinov from 1991 to 1997 was phenomenal.

Bourque was a great all around defenseman but I wouldn't put him in the top 10 defensively all time. It just wasn't his game. He was very much a possession guy and could own the puck when on the ice but wasn't that shutdown kind of guy, IMO. Very good defensively but guys like Chelios, Pronger, Konstantinov, Hatcher and Lidstrom were for sure better defenders on the rush, in the corners and around the net. Where Bourque really shined was turning a dump in attempt into a rush going the other direction.
Click to expand...

In coaches polls, I recall Bourque winning best defensive dman at least once or twice in the late 80’s/early 90’s, so he was really damned good defensively at his peak.
 
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Moose Head said:
In coaches polls, I recall Bourque winning best defensive dman at least once or twice in the late 80’s/early 90’s, so he was really damned good defensively at his peak.
Click to expand...

And that's what I have trouble reconciling. I watched a lot of 80s and 90s hockey. Bourque was terrific and no doubt one of the best defensemen of all time but I never thought, "Wow, Bourque really shut down that guy!"

I remember a lot of Bourque leading a rush up ice after retrieving the puck on a dump in. Or someone finding him in the slot for a shot, or Bourque ragging the puck in the opposition zone, or when a forechecker was coming after him in his own zone. I remember Sweeney and Wesley as the shutdown guys on those 90s Bruins teams.
 
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It takes a lot of viewings to evaluate a player's defensive acumen, so I will stick to guys who I've seen extensively in their primes. For that, there are two guys that stand out - Nicklas Lidstrom and Jaccob Slavin.

Honorable mention to guys like Chara, McDonagh, Tanev, Pronger, and Larsson.
 
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