Datsyuk - Bergeron - Hossa vs Kariya - Kopitar - Guy Lafleur

[Wee Baby Seamus]

It would be a very defensible take to say that the three best players in this poll are all on Line 2. It is bananas that this is 50/50, let alone that people are saying "Line 1 AINEC"

 

[tarheelhockey]

The fact that this poll is close tells me that people are seriously, seriously not aware of how dominant Guy Lafleur was.

Put Lafleur with a Kopitar-level defensive center and your gameplan gets really simple. Kariya’s not even necessary, he just adds an aesthetic element for how you’re going to get the puck to Lafleur and watch him score.

 

[Coffees]

WE GOT A RUN OFF!!!!!

 

[Craig Button]

The fact that this poll is close tells me that people are seriously, seriously not aware of how dominant Guy Lafleur was.

Put Lafleur with a Kopitar-level defensive center and your gameplan gets really simple. Kariya’s not even necessary, he just adds an aesthetic element for how you’re going to get the puck to Lafleur and watch him score.

Paul Kariya was a pigeon and a floater.
Guy Lafleur was dominant until he was 28.

Datsyuk can take the puck away from Lafleur easily and their line will struggle to get it back.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Paul Kariya was a pigeon and a floater.
Guy Lafleur was dominant until he was 28.

Datsyuk can take the puck away from Lafleur easily and their line will struggle to get it back.

Funny to criticize Lafleur for “only” dominating the league until he was 28, then pimp Datsyuk who did nothing at all until he was 25.

Lafleur had a 6-year run where he was top 5 for the Hart every year, won two Harts, three Pearsons/Lindsays, a Smythe, three scoring titles.

Datsyuk had a 3-year run where he won three Selkes and two Byngs.

They are not the same.

 

[I am not exposed]

It appears Lafleur is one of the most underrated hockey players of all time.

 

[Craig Button]

Funny to criticize Lafleur for “only” dominating the league until he was 28, then pimp Datsyuk who did nothing at all until he was 25.

Lafleur had a 6-year run where he was top 5 for the Hart every year, won two Harts, three Pearsons/Lindsays, a Smythe, three scoring titles.

Datsyuk had a 3-year run where he won three Selkes and two Byngs.

They are not the same.

Lol.

Datsyuk and Hossa are the best defensive wingers in the history of the NHL and are the best players to strip the puck off of people and played in the modern age were most players are FN good. Bergeron is one of the best defensive Centerman of all time.

Kariya was a Floater and a Pigeon who kept waiting for the puck at the blue line then would make a break when the puck was turned over. Guy Lafleur was a great player but wasn’t dominant when better younger players start entering the NHL . He’s a pre Modern era player. Sorry that fact may hurt your feelings but that’s true.

 

[Craig Button]

It appears Lafleur is one of the most underrated hockey players of all time.

No not at all.
Just a lot of better players entered the NHL after him

 

[tarheelhockey]

Lol.

Datsyuk and Hossa are the best defensive wingers in the history of the NHL and are the best players to strip the puck off of people and played in the modern age were most players are FN good. Bergeron is one of the best defensive Centerman of all time.

Kariya was a Floater and a Pigeon who kept waiting for the puck at the blue line then would make a break when the puck was turned over. Guy Lafleur was a great player but wasn’t dominant when better younger players start entering the NHL . He’s a pre Modern era player. Sorry that fact may hurt your feelings but that’s true.

Lafleur was a 50-goal scorer 6 consecutive seasons.

That run of dominance ended not because of young players, but because he missed a third of a season injured and was then in a near-fatal car accident and was never the same player (or person) again.

If you’re saying this is supposed to be Datsyuk vs Lafleur at age 35 or something, this becomes a silly argument. I counter with a 23 year old Lafleur (53 goal scorer) against a 23 year old Datsyuk (11 goal scorer).

Also Hossa was a good defensive player but the idea of him as the #1 defensive winger of all time is wild. He wasn’t even the best defensive winger since 2000.

 

[I am not exposed]

Lol.

Datsyuk and Hossa are the best defensive wingers in the history of the NHL and are the best players to strip the puck off of people and played in the modern age were most players are FN good. Bergeron is one of the best defensive Centerman of all time.

Kariya was a Floater and a Pigeon who kept waiting for the puck at the blue line then would make a break when the puck was turned over. Guy Lafleur was a great player but wasn’t dominant when better younger players start entering the NHL . He’s a pre Modern era player. Sorry that fact may hurt your feelings but that’s true.

?

Datsyuk was a centre.

 

[nowhereman]

Lol.

Datsyuk and Hossa are the best defensive wingers in the history of the NHL and are the best players to strip the puck off of people and played in the modern age were most players are FN good. Bergeron is one of the best defensive Centerman of all time.

Kariya was a Floater and a Pigeon who kept waiting for the puck at the blue line then would make a break when the puck was turned over. Guy Lafleur was a great player but wasn’t dominant when better younger players start entering the NHL . He’s a pre Modern era player. Sorry that fact may hurt your feelings but that’s true.

Lol, indeed.

You're batting .000 with this post.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Paul Kariya was a pigeon and a floater.
Guy Lafleur was dominant until he was 28.

Datsyuk can take the puck away from Lafleur easily and their line will struggle to get it back.

Lafleur is a top 15 players ever, Datsyuk don't take the puck from him + he wouldn't be able to even catch him in the first place

 

[Felidae]

Felidae one of the best hockey minds on these boards

Far from it, i have the HOH board and hockey reference to thank for what i know about past players lol, but thanks anyways.

 

[Dog]

Option 2 has Lafleur who was better overall then Hossa. That's 1-0 for option 2. Kariya has no other winger to compare to and Flames lack centers so 1-1. Kopitar is equal to Bergeron so 1.5-1.5 . I went with option 2 but it could be option 1 as well. The major reason is Lafleur sure he would not put up his crazy numbers in MTL but still be close to or about 100 points season. As for playoffs Lafleur was dominate as well.

 

[Coffees]

Far from it, i have the HOH board and hockey reference to thank for what i know about past players lol, but thanks anyways.

Well I guess I should say most exquisite minds. I think your curiosity to learn and fun way of looking at things is cool

cheers, man

 

[authentic]

Because I think if you had a lineup of 3 Kopitar-caliber possession players, the answer would be different, or at least closer.

Like if this is Datsyuk - Bergeron - Hossa vs Barkov - Kopitar - Toews, you got yourself a war.

Datsyuk - Bergeron - Hossa would still win. Forsberg - Kopitar - Sakic would be a good one and probably win.

 

[authentic]

It would be a very defensible take to say that the three best players in this poll are all on Line 2. It is bananas that this is 50/50, let alone that people are saying "Line 1 AINEC"

Line 1 would be a cheat code for puck possession and matching up against the best offensive players. I think it’s close either way but not outlandish that some would choose the first line.

 

[authentic]

Actually the more I think about it the more I think Line 1 would win. I don’t think people realize how effective of a shutdown pair Datsyuk and Bergeron could potentially be, let alone throwing Hossa onto the wing. That would be a smothering line to play against with more than enough scoring ability.

 

[Bouboumaster]

One of Them (Guy Lafleur) was the best player on Planet Earth for a couple of years, and was only dethroned when Gretzky arrives

Nobody else came close in this thread

Datsyuk was never going to dethroned Ovechkin, let alone Crosby


Crosby > Lafleur > Ovechkin

 

[bambamcam4ever]

It would be a very defensible take to say that the three best players in this poll are all on Line 2. It is bananas that this is 50/50, let alone that people are saying "Line 1 AINEC"

Yeah, this is a really bad look for this website.

 

[BraveCanadian]

It appears Lafleur is one of the most underrated hockey players of all time.

It's just because of a changing of the guard in terms of demographics here on the board

 

[JackSlater]

Lafleur is the best player listed quite easily, and Kariya is the second best offensive player listed. I'd still slightly learn toward the first line though, though with Bergeron on the wing and Datsyuk at centre. Kopitar is excellent defensively but Kariya and Lafleur played roughly 0 defence, and against a line as talented as the defensive line that is an issue. The offensive line is too good not to score, but they aren't against a bunch of defensive specialists. Datsyuk and Hossa each managed to be top ten in NHL scoring multiple times, even top five, and Bergeron at least paced for it once. I had a little pause because Datsyuk and Hossa didn't really have good chemistry, even though it seemed like they should.

Gun to my head I think that it would go seven but the defensive line would mildly outscore the other line if they went head to head.

 

[GoldenKnight]

Lafleur is the best player in this poll, I am a little surprised his line is behind in the voting. Maybe some here have never seen him play.

 

[x Tame Impala]

First option to 100 votes wins? I need this late summer thread to end in my favor to satisfy my ego and boredom.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

There’s gonna be a lot of recency bias here. Not a lot of us have seen Lafleur in his prime.