Best player in the world: 2015

[SnowblindNYR]

It is an interesting question, but what if we imagine MacKinnon scores like 180 points and has a Conn Smythe performance, while McDavid gets "just" 120 with sort of usual playoff performance, wouldn't that be enough to say "Sorry, Connor"? I mean, I think even considering like the best player reputation as a bonus factor there should be some performance level when the other guy is good enough to steal the crown.

It would be in my view an outlier unless he follows up next year with a much better point total than McDavid.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

If anyone is interested here are my own votes:

Hasek 98
Hasek 99
Jagr 00
Jagr 01
Lidstrom 02
Forsberg 03
Forsberg 04
Jagr 06
Lecavalier 07
Ovechkin 08
Ovechkin 09
Ovechkin 10
Crosby 11
Malkin 12
Crosby 13
Crosby 14

I'll share my votes as well:

1998 - Hasek*
1999 - Jagr
2000 - Jagr
2001 - Lemieux
2002 - Lidstrom*
2003 - Forsberg
2004 - Forsberg
2006 - Lidstrom
2007 - Crosby
2008 - Ovechkin
2009 - Ovechkin
2010 - Ovechkin
2011 - Crosby
2012 - Malkin
2013 - Crosby
2014 - Crosby

I tried to differentiate between "best player" and "best season". Otherwise, some of these votes would have been different (2001, 2004 and 2011 at a minimum).

* I didn't vote in the poll, but this is who I would have voted for

 

[wetcoast]

Crosby had 2 points on Seguin and Voracek before December hit. Again, he wasn’t “running away” with anything.

I also have no clue why you’re lumping those totals together to compare Benn and Crosby. Crosby is a superior player to Benn, but still lost to him in the scoring race.

Once again you are misinterpreting what I said, I suggest you go back and read and not make up things.

I never said that he was running away with the scoring race in November of the 14-15 season and this is the 3rd and last time I'll repeat it.

How did SJ have the better offensive supporting cast. I would love to hear that from you.

It's really not that hard as Crosby was the first pick overall and joined the Pens in his D+1 year.

What are you talking about exactly? How does anything you say prove that Crosby was the better player? Because he was “destined for greatness?” And Thornton wasnt? Because of what Crosby went on to accomplish compared to what Thornton didn’t? Your basically using past and present years to dictate your argument and it doesn’t hold up.

First of all the e=argument was realized and I have already stated on what I thought at the time but you seem to have a problem reading.

I suggest that you go back and read instead of misrepresenting what I have posted.

 

[Bouboumaster]

The fact that Price ain't the unanimous choice here is baffling to me

Were people watching hockey at that time or what

 

[LokiDog]

Price had the best season, but I don’t think there’s anything controversial about saying Crosby was still the best player in the world. Goalies really ought not to be part of the poll anyway since they’re so separated.

 

[GreatGonzo]

Once again you are misinterpreting what I said, I suggest you go back and read and not make up things.

I never said that he was running away with the scoring race in November of the 14-15 season and this is the 3rd and last time I'll repeat it.




It's really not that hard as Crosby was the first pick overall and joined the Pens in his D+1 year.

First of all the e=argument was realized and I have already stated on what I thought at the time but you seem to have a problem reading.

I suggest that you go back and read instead of misrepresenting what I have posted.

You are right, you said he was “head and shoulders” above the rest through 2015, and then proceeded to use a bulk sum that starts in 2014. He still wasn’t head and shoulders above anyone in the scoring race before or after he got sick and missed games.

That doesn’t explain how the Sharks were a better team offensively than the pens. I don’t understand where you are getting that from and your line of reasoning was that the team was “going places” with Sid as captain. The Pens did just fine in the standings with Malkin leading the pack, you think the sharks would have if Thornton had gotten injured?

 

[wetcoast]

You are right, you said he was “head and shoulders” above the rest through 2015, and then proceeded to use a bulk sum that starts in 2014.

Yes exactly I used the time of frame of 2 years and yes he clearly stood out even with the mumps and lingering affects afterwards.

He still wasn’t head and shoulders above anyone in the scoring race before or after he got sick and missed games.

You are the only one talking about the specific 14-15 season and I'll say it again Crosby was leading the NHL scoring race after 2 months of the 14-15 season.

Notice and take note what I didn't just say.

That doesn’t explain how the Sharks were a better team offensively than the pens. I don’t understand where you are getting that from and your line of reasoning was that the team was “going places” with Sid as captain. The Pens did just fine in the standings with Malkin leading the pack, you think the sharks would have if Thornton had gotten injured?

Given your previous posts I'm not even going to waste my time explain that to you, most people here know the rosters and can quickly look them up and come to their own conclusions it's not actually even close for the 05-06 season and a little better in 06-07 but still not in the same league as San Jose.

 

[norrisnick]

Yes exactly I used the time of frame of 2 years and yes he clearly stood out even with the mumps and lingering affects afterwards.



You are the only one talking about the specific 14-15 season and I'll say it again Crosby was leading the NHL scoring race after 2 months of the 14-15 season.

Notice and take note what I didn't just say.




Given your previous posts I'm not even going to waste my time explain that to you, most people here know the rosters and can quickly look them up and come to their own conclusions it's not actually even close for the 05-06 season and a little better in 06-07 but still not in the same league as San Jose.

I feel like I can't stress this enough, but that sort of highlights the problem of this whole exercise. Too many people are lumping random years together to try and pump someone up for a year they have no business being voted the best player of.

 

[wetcoast]

I feel like I can't stress this enough, but that sort of highlights the problem of this whole exercise. Too many people are lumping random years together to try and pump someone up for a year they have no business being voted the best player of.

Yes random years.......man no one is doing that it's all chronological and comparative something you simply don't want to do or ask.

 

[norrisnick]

Yes random years.......man no one is doing that it's all chronological and comparative something you simply don't want to do or ask.

These polls are numbered for a reason. When a poll goes up for 2015 (the '14-'15 season) shit that happened in '12-'13 or '13-'14 or '15-16 or '16-'17 is completely irrelevant.

The Oilers weren't the best team in the NHL during the '85-'86 season just because they won 2 Cups on either side of that season.

Nick Lidstrom wasn't the best defenseman in the NHL during the '03-'04 season just because he won the Norris the 3 seasons prior and 3 seasons after.

Dominik Hasek wasn't the best goalie in the NHL during the '95-'96 or '99-'00 seasons just because he won 6 Vezinas all around those seasons.

If you want to vote on players based on 3-5 year intervals start a series of polls on 3-5 year intervals.

 

[Mrb1p]

Price easy

 

[wetcoast]

These polls are numbered for a reason. When a poll goes up for 2015 (the '14-'15 season) shit that happened in '12-'13 or '13-'14 or '15-16 or '16-'17 is completely irrelevant.

The Oilers weren't the best team in the NHL during the '85-'86 season just because they won 2 Cups on either side of that season.

Nick Lidstrom wasn't the best defenseman in the NHL during the '03-'04 season just because he won the Norris the 3 seasons prior and 3 seasons after.

Dominik Hasek wasn't the best goalie in the NHL during the '95-'96 or '99-'00 seasons just because he won 6 Vezinas all around those seasons.

If you want to vote on players based on 3-5 year intervals start a series of polls on 3-5 year intervals.

The thing is that you seem to be answering best season and I'm actually reading the question and processing it.

Somebody asks me who is the best player in the world then I have a gut answer.

What I do after that gut answer is ask how long has this player been the best and who was the best before him and more importantly why did one player pass the other.

 

[norrisnick]

The thing is that you seem to be answering best season and I'm actually reading the question and processing it.

Somebody asks me who is the best player in the world then I have a gut answer.

What I do after that gut answer is ask how long has this player been the best and who was the best before him and more importantly why did one player pass the other.

If the answer isn't "he played better" then you're doing the whole "who is the best player" thing wrong.

 

[Regal]

You could say the same thing about Ovechkin in 2011 after his 3 year peak. Anything is possible - but what happened is what happened.

You could, and he probably deserves more benefit of the doubt for that year. At the same time, the following year and subsequent years showed he had started a decline. Now Crosby showed that he was starting one at this point too, so I intimately voted Price, but the OP has made clear this isn’t just about the year in question, and I’m baffled as to why so many are struggling with the idea of assessing ability at that point in their career as opposed to the particular season quality. We literally do this with off-season too 10 lists every year.

 

[Regal]

These polls are numbered for a reason. When a poll goes up for 2015 (the '14-'15 season) shit that happened in '12-'13 or '13-'14 or '15-16 or '16-'17 is completely irrelevant.

The Oilers weren't the best team in the NHL during the '85-'86 season just because they won 2 Cups on either side of that season.

Nick Lidstrom wasn't the best defenseman in the NHL during the '03-'04 season just because he won the Norris the 3 seasons prior and 3 seasons after.

Dominik Hasek wasn't the best goalie in the NHL during the '95-'96 or '99-'00 seasons just because he won 6 Vezinas all around those seasons.

If you want to vote on players based on 3-5 year intervals start a series of polls on 3-5 year intervals.

And yet, if anyone was asked which defenseman they’d take 1st if they had to win a game tomorrow, Lidstrom would have been a near-unanimous answer throughout that season. It’s the same thought process here, and what the OP is essentially asking for. Not to mention that production and on-ice success doesn’t always correlate to play quality. A player could be playing better than anyone in a season and still not have the stats to back that up. Now, if you’d rather just focus on the sole season at hand, go for it, but the idea that the way the other side views things is wrong is simply comical at this point.

 

[GreatGonzo]

Yes exactly I used the time of frame of 2 years and yes he clearly stood out even with the mumps and lingering affects afterwards.



You are the only one talking about the specific 14-15 season and I'll say it again Crosby was leading the NHL scoring race after 2 months of the 14-15 season.

Notice and take note what I didn't just say.




Given your previous posts I'm not even going to waste my time explain that to you, most people here know the rosters and can quickly look them up and come to their own conclusions it's not actually even close for the 05-06 season and a little better in 06-07 but still not in the same league as San Jose.

The poll is literally for the 2015 season, what happened the previous year or two doesn’t matter. But it’s the only way you can make an argument, so you use his production in 2014 to validate your opinions on Crosby in 2015. It makes no sense

I’m other words, you can’t Argue that his team was “weaker” than those sharks teams. Got it.

 

[norrisnick]

And yet, if anyone was asked which defenseman they’d take 1st if they had to win a game tomorrow, Lidstrom would have been a near-unanimous answer throughout that season. It’s the same thought process here, and what the OP is essentially asking for. Not to mention that production and on-ice success doesn’t always correlate to play quality. A player could be playing better than anyone in a season and still not have the stats to back that up. Now, if you’d rather just focus on the sole season at hand, go for it, but the idea that the way the other side views things is wrong is simply comical at this point.

It's so wholly meaningless to care about who people might have thought was the best player rather than who actually was the best player.

It's myth and legend rather than history.

 

[Albatros]

If a goalie wins the hart then you know he was the best player in the world that season.

An intriguing theory. José Théodore over Jarome Iginla, Al Rollins over Gordie Howe, Chuck Rayner over Maurice Richard, and Roy Worters over Eddie Shore. Checks out I think.

 

[Regal]

It's so wholly meaningless to care about who people might have thought was the best player rather than who actually was the best player.

It's myth and legend rather than history.

The fact that you continue to think it’s about “what people think” rather than actual ability minus the noise of variance and injury, is truly, truly baffling, but you do you

 

[norrisnick]

The fact that you continue to think it’s about “what people think” rather than actual ability minus the noise of variance and injury, is truly, truly baffling, but you do you

What you could have done doesn't matter in the face of what you did.

Otherwise you would never have a changing of the guard. Because whoever was best could have just continued without injury or variance or aging or any number of things that apparently don't factor in.

 

[Toby91ca]

The fact that Price ain't the unanimous choice here is baffling to me

Were people watching hockey at that time or what

I voted Price but I did pause a bit…I just find it incredibly hard to lump a goalie in with a skater and judge who the better hockey player is….its just not comparable really. I’m certainly biased as well…when thinking of who the best hockey player in the world is at any point in time, a goalie would never come to mind

 

[bambamcam4ever]

These polls are numbered for a reason. When a poll goes up for 2015 (the '14-'15 season) shit that happened in '12-'13 or '13-'14 or '15-16 or '16-'17 is completely irrelevant.

The Oilers weren't the best team in the NHL during the '85-'86 season just because they won 2 Cups on either side of that season.

Nick Lidstrom wasn't the best defenseman in the NHL during the '03-'04 season just because he won the Norris the 3 seasons prior and 3 seasons after.

Dominik Hasek wasn't the best goalie in the NHL during the '95-'96 or '99-'00 seasons just because he won 6 Vezinas all around those seasons.

If you want to vote on players based on 3-5 year intervals start a series of polls on 3-5 year intervals.

The Oilers were the best team in 85-86. This must be a joke account

What you could have done doesn't matter in the face of what you did.

Otherwise you would never have a changing of the guard. Because whoever was best could have just continued without injury or variance or aging or any number of things that apparently don't factor in.

Don't project your own limitations onto others. People are capable of more complex thought processes than simple results-oriented thinking.

 

[daver]

What you could have done doesn't matter in the face of what you did.

Otherwise you would never have a changing of the guard. Because whoever was best could have just continued without injury or variance or aging or any number of things that apparently don't factor in.

 

[wetcoast]

I guess with McDavid out some of the outliers here will be looking for the best player in the NHL somewhere else now eh?

 

[norrisnick]

I guess with McDavid out some of the outliers here will be looking for the best player in the NHL somewhere else now eh?

If you don't have to play like the best player, let alone play at all, what point is there in wearing the crown?

"Even though I'm not playing like it, I could be the best, and that's all that matters." - said no athlete ever.