Best skater 2000 to 2015

[Xspyrit]

It’s not a best player vote for 2000-2015.

What else could it be? If it was the best at skating, then the options wouldn't make sense

 

[tarheelhockey]

What else could it be? If it was the best at skating, then the options wouldn't make sense

The options don’t make sense either way. What’s Owen Nolan doing on there?

 

[Albatros]

The OP's accounts are in double digits already, don't expect him to make any sense just because he registered one more.

 

[Puckstop40]

Niedermayer is one of the best pure skaters I’ve ever seen. Crosby has the best edge work I’ve personally seen.

 

[Evergreen]

either way, the answer is David Koci

I remember when Chara turned his nose into a blood fountain.

 

[The Nuge]

I think it’s weird that Crosby doesn’t have much more of the votes. By nearly all accounts he is a top 10 player all time here. He was easily the best player in the world for two seasons and on pace in more.

Lidstrom is more often like a top 15 and his whole career isn’t in this time frame. Don’t think he was ever the best player in the world during this time either.

I’m more surprised Lidstrom isn’t higher. I’ve got Lidstrom and Crosby pretty much neck and neck in the top 10 (with Lidstrom barely higher), and Lidstrom won 7 Norris trophies during that timeframe. Him retiring before the end of this cutoff hurts his case a bit, but imo he was still the best

 

[x Tame Impala]

I'll make the case for Ovie here.

From the 05/06-14/15 seasons he...

-Won the Calder
-In 07/08 won the Hart, Ross, Richard, and Pearson which is a video game level of dominance in a season
-Won 3 Pearson trophies in a row, which the only other players in history to do that are Wayne Gretzky and Guy Lafleur
-Won 3 Harts and finished 2nd twice. The only players to win 3 or more Harts in hockey history are...Gretzky, Howe, Shore, Clark, Lemieux, McDavid, Morenz, and Orr
-Won the Richard 5 times which is already more than any two players in league history
-Is 7th in scoring from 2000-01 to 2014/15 despite playing 300+ less games than the people ahead of him. His PPG in that time frame is only behind Crosby and Malkin
-Is 2nd in goal scoring in that time frame behind only Iginla, and Ovie is only 23 goals behind despite having played 320 less games played.

Total Trophy Count: 13

Crosby has had the better career but in this particular time frame, before the Pens won their next two Cups and Crosby won his Smythe's, there was lot of talk about Crosby and Malkin's (relative) lack of success in the playoffs.

Aside from those two weird Dale Hunter years, Ovechkin was a force of nature in the league

 

[Midnight Judges]

I thought this thread was about skating.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Voted Niedermayer but Crosby is right there as well.

Niedermayer was the best pure skater in the game for a decent length of time.

Am I crazy for thinking Lidstrom was quite a bit better than him in his prime? I was pretty young in 2000, so I"m genuinely asking. Lidstrom is still the best defenseman I've ever seen (that I actually watched play growing up).

 

[tarheelhockey]

Am I crazy for thinking Lidstrom was quite a bit better than him in his prime? I was pretty young in 2000, so I"m genuinely asking. Lidstrom is still the best defenseman I've ever seen (that I actually watched play growing up).

I took the question to mean literal “skater”, as in skating skill. Niedermayer was one of those guys like Coffey or Bouwmeester who is just next-level perfect on his skates.

As a “skater” meaning a player who isn’t a goalie, yes Lidstrom was the better player. There was a little window where Lidstrom slipped a little and Niedermayer had his peak, and it became a conversation. But that was a short-lived argument in the scheme of things.

 

[Ben White]

Forsberg 2002-2006 (pre injury) represent the highest level of play on this list.

 

[Coffee]

Crosby.

@Empoleon8771

I think this puts an end to the "Video Nasty has it out for Crosby" narrative

 

[kevsh]

If this really is about skating then what is the definition of the "best skater" based on? Who was the fastest skater? Smoothest? Edgework? Agility? All of the above?

If it's about the best non-goalie ... Owen Nolan? Palffy?

So I'm going to assume OP is actually talking about skating, in which case probably Niedermayer. In part because quite a few choices, like Bure & Selanne and even Niedermayer now that I think about it, were past their prime by the early 2000s.

 

[Midnight Judges]

I think hockey fans have a very difficult time assessing the value of extra seasons vs the value of higher performance in fewer seasons.

Weighing 10 years of Ovechkin or Crosby vs 15 seasons of Lidstrom is interesting to me, although to certain posters that somehow becomes a deeply offensive topic for reasons that were never explained. Personally, I think Ovechkin and Crosby very clearly had much higher peaks than Lidstrom but it's not worth 50% more on a per season basis, and so you gotta go with the all-time great who has an additional 5 seasons (50% more seasons) in this window.

-Or-

You could take the literal interpretation of "best" without a care for longevity in which case the answer is obviously Ovechkin since his peak was inarguably much better than Sidney Crosby's.

 

[bobholly39]

I think hockey fans have a very difficult time assessing the value of extra seasons vs the value of higher performance in fewer seasons.

Weighing 10 years of Ovechkin or Crosby vs 15 seasons of Lidstrom is interesting to me, although to certain posters that somehow becomes a deeply offensive topic for reasons that were never explained. Personally, I think Ovechkin and Crosby very clearly had much higher peaks than Lidstrom but it's not worth 50% more on a per season basis, and so you gotta go with the all-time great who has an additional 5 seasons (50% more seasons) in this window.

-Or-

You could take the literal interpretation of "best" without a care for longevity in which case the answer is obviously Ovechkin since his peak was inarguably much better than Sidney Crosby's.

Yor logic may make sense, but the math doesn't work.

Lidstrom retired in 2012.

If you include the 2015-2016 season in the OP's comparison, that leaves 11 seasons of Ovi/Crosby vs 11 of Lidstrom. If you end it in 2014-2015, that's still 11 to 10 seasons, and enough for a higher peak (ie Crosby/Ovechkin) to be selected above Lidstrom.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Yor logic may make sense, but the math doesn't work.

Lidstrom retired in 2012.

If you include the 2015-2016 season in the OP's comparison, that leaves 11 seasons of Ovi/Crosby vs 11 of Lidstrom. If you end it in 2014-2015, that's still 11 to 10 seasons, and enough for a higher peak (ie Crosby/Ovechkin) to be selected above Lidstrom.

Ah yeah I was thinking lidstrom retired in 2015