Xspyrit
DJ Dorion
What else could it be? If it was the best at skating, then the options wouldn't make sense
Best skater 2000 to 2015
- Thread starter redwings86
- Start date
What else could it be? If it was the best at skating, then the options wouldn't make sense
tarheelhockey
Offside Review Specialist
The options don’t make sense either way. What’s Owen Nolan doing on there?
The OP's accounts are in double digits already, don't expect him to make any sense just because he registered one more.
Puckstop40
Registered User
Niedermayer is one of the best pure skaters I’ve ever seen. Crosby has the best edge work I’ve personally seen.
- May 22, 2008
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The Nuge
Some say…
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
- Aug 24, 2011
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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
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
- Feb 10, 2010
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Dubi Doo
Registered User
- Aug 27, 2008
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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
Offside Review Specialist
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.
Coffee
Take one step towards the direction you want to go
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kevsh
Registered User
- Nov 28, 2018
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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.
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.
- Feb 10, 2010
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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.
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.
- Feb 10, 2010
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- 11,206
