Mickey MacKay, Vancouver's brilliant rover, Frank Foyston, Seattle flash, or Jack Walker, of hook check fame, another of Seattle's stars, which member of the trio is the nearest approach to the perfect hockey player? Or did the members of the old school when the Patricks were just breaking into the ice sport include among their number players who were regarded as the greatest the game has produced.
Fans around the coast hockey loop are once again discussing this interesting question and trying to solve the riddle of who in hockey today is the nearest approach to the perfect player. Last year a majority expressed the opinion that honors should go to Mickey MacKay, but there were hundreds who believed the crown should rest on Frank Foyston's brow. And not a few are out in favor of naming Jack Walker as the real leader. Walker's work during the past two years has been steady and at all times bordering on the sensational. Without him in the pivot position the Seattle Mets would appear like a ship without a rear paddle to direct its course.
The perfect hockey player, like the perfect woman, is a hard bird to find. But hockey folks will never be ruled out for not trying. MacKay's choice last winter failed to impress all critics, and the history of other players will have to be given the once over before the crown is finally awarded.
What should the perfect hockey player possess to be classed as such is the question that naturally arises. Should he be a goal keeper, a defenseman of a forward? As the game of hockey is won by the team that scores the majority of goals, and as forewards have this brunt of the work to do, the perfect player will, perhaps, be more readily discovered up on the firing line, hence the opinion of many that Frank Foyston should be acclaimed the leader. The player should first of all have speed. He should be a goal getter. He should be unselfish. He should be able to check back. He should have stick handling ability, hockey brains and the ability to keep his temper. He should also be able to stand the gaff and go 60 minutes without rest.
What hockey player has all these virtues? Does the history of the game show any man capable of passing a close test on these points? It is argued that Tommy Phillips, former Kenora star, who played his last hockey with Vancouver's first team in 1912, was the closest approach to the real thing that ever displayed his wares on the frozen pond. He was an all-round star.
Then there was Alf Smith, of the famous Silver Seven of Ottawa, another near perfect hockey star. Alf was a regular foxy grandpa for hockey brains. He was out this way a few years ago. He was not the fastest player in the world, but like Phillips could skate when the occasion demanded. The old Ottawa team included other great players, including Frank McGee, Rat Westwick and the Gilmour brothers. The old Ottawa team for many years holders of the coveted Stanley Cup, was the nearest approach to a perfect team ever developed. Yet, after glimpsing Ottawa's cup winning aggregation in the series here last spring, we incline to the opinion that it was probably the greatest squad ever assembled, "a super team", according to Frank Patrick.
Eastern critics point out that Lester Patrick, in the good old days before he came west, was in the perfect class. Frank Nighbor, with Vancouver in 1915, and now with Ottawa, is another star who can go both ways full speed.
However, Pacific coast fans are stringing along on MacKay, Foyston and Walker as the king pins of them all. They exhibit no weaknesses, in fact they can easily be classed as the three greatest players in the game today, east or west.
