HFNYR Top 10 Defensemen in Rangers History

[Crease]

This is the final list of the top defensemen in New York Rangers franchise history, as determined by the New York Rangers community at HFBoards:

NOTE: Please report any errors via PM to Crease

Top 10 Defensemen in Rangers History
[table="head;title=list"]Rank|No.|Player|Height|Weight|Born|Died|Tenure|Birthplace
1 | 2 | Brian Leetch | 6'0 | 190 | 3/3/1968 | | 1987-2004 | Corpus Christi, Texas
2 | 2 | Brad Park | 6'0 | 200 | 7/6/1948 | | 1968-1975 | Toronto, Ontario
3 | 3 | Ivan "Ching" Johnson | 5'11 | 210 | 12/7/1898 | 6/16/1979 | 1926-1937 | Winnepeg, Manitoba
4 | 3 | Harry Howell | 6'1 | 195 | 12/28/1932 | | 1952-1969 | Hamilton, Ontario
5 | 2 | Art Coulter | 5'11 | 185 | 5/31/1909 | 10/14/2000 | 1935-1942 | Winnepeg, Manitoba
6 | 3 | Ott Heller | 6'0 | 190 | 6/2/1910 | 6/15/1980 | 1931-1946 | Berlin, Ontario
7 | 4 | Bill Gadsby | 6'0 | 180 | 8/2/1927 | | 1954-1961 | Calgary, Alberta
8 | 2 | Earl Seibert | 6'2 | 198 | 12/7/1911 | 5/20/1990 | 1931-1936 | Berlin, Ontario
9 | 4 | Ron Greschner | 6'2 | 205 | 12/22/1954 | | 1974-1990 | Goodsoil, Saskatchewan
10 | 11 | Babe Pratt | 6'3 | 212 | 1/7/1916 | 12/16/1988 | 1935-1943 | Stony Mountain, Manitoba

[/table]
​

Links to all of the discussion threads that went into making this list:
Round 2 Voting Results
Round 2 Vote 1 Discussion
Round 2 Vote 2 Discussion


Links to the preliminary discussion threads before voters submitted their lists:
Preliminary & General Discussion


Link to the aggregate list that formed the basis of Round 2 discussion. This data will be released at the end of the project:
Round 1 Aggregate List


Listed here will be the individual voting records of the participants:
bernmeister
Chief
Crease
Greg02
mike14
ratelleitlikeitis
Richter Scale

Click to read more...

 

[Crease]

Here are the results of Vote 1. There were 7 of a possible 7 voters in this round.

[table="head;title=vote"]Player|Total|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th|10th
Brian Leetch | 69 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Brad Park | 62 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Ching Johnson | 58 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Harry Howell | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Art Coulter | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0
Bill Gadsby | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0
Ott Heller | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0
Earl Seibert | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1
Ron Greschner | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2
Babe Pratt | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4

[/table]​

Here are the results of Vote 2. There were 7 of a possible 7 voters in this round.

[table="head;title=vote"]Player|Total|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|NR
Ott Heller | 44 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Bill Gadsby | 42 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Earl Seibert | 34 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Ron Greschner | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0
Babe Pratt | 21 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0
Jim Neilson | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1
Barry Beck | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4
Rod Seiling | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3
James Patrick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6
Dave Maloney | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7
[/table]​

 

[Crease]

Nice job everyone.

The first thing that jumped out at me after compiling the results was that Greschner ended up getting in, and comfortably too.

 

[Greg02]

Seems like we started leaning more towards longevity as the project went on. Looks like six of the seven voters had Gadsby above Heller in vote one, and then Heller ended up in front of Gadsby in vote two.

 

[Crease]

Chief is a big reason why Heller improved and Gresch stuck in Round 2 Vote 2. He had some very nice arguments that centered around longevity. Another thing I found interesting was that all 10 players from Round 2 Vote 1 ended up on the final list. This means that our consensus preliminary top 10 was spot on.

 

[Greg02]

That's actually pretty stunning, considering just how little some of us (at least me ) knew about these guys going into the project, plus the fact that it's defensemen and it's much harder to judge by stats.

 

[vipernsx]

No love for Maloney, the youngest captain in Rangers history, playing almost his entire career with the team.

 

[Crease]

No love for Maloney, the youngest captain in Rangers history, playing almost his entire career with the team.

He garnered enough preliminary votes to make the Round 2 ballot. That's considerable recognition, IMO.

 

[Crease]

bernmeister

Preliminary List
[table="head;title=list"]Rank | Player
1 | Brad Park
2 | Brian Leetch
3 | Ching Johnson
4 | Art Coulter
5 | Babe Pratt
6 | Bill Gadsby
7 | Harry Howell
8 | Earl Seibert
9 | Neil Colville
10 | Marc Staal
11 | Ryan McDonagh
12 | Sergei Zubov
13 | Carol Vadnais
14 | Jim Neilson
15 | Barry Beck
16 | Jeff Beukeboom
17 | Reijo Ruotsalainen
18 | James Patrick
19 | Ron Greschner
20 | Dale Rolfe
[/table]

Round 2
[table="head;title=list"]Round | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | Rank 6 | Rank 7 | Rank 8 | Rank 9 | Rank 10
Vote 1 | Park | Leetch | Johnson | Coulter | Gadsby | Howell | Heller | Seibert | Pratt | Greschner
Vote 2 | Heller | Gadsby | Pratt | Seibert | Beck | Greschner | Neilson
[/table]
​

Players in preliminary top 10 not on the final list
Neil Colville
Marc Staal

Players in final list ranked highest by this voter
Brad Park (Vote 1)

Players in final list ranked lowest by this voter
Ron Greschner (Vote 2)

 

[Crease]

Chief

Preliminary List
[table="head;title=list"]Rank | Player
1 | Brian Leetch
2 | Brad Park
3 | Harry Howell
4 | Art Coulter
5 | Neil Colville
6 | Ching Johnson
7 | Bill Gadsby
8 | Ron Greschner
9 | Barry Beck
10 | Babe Pratt
11 | Dave Maloney
12 | Rod Seiling
13 | Jim Neilson
14 | Jeff Beukeboom
15 | James Patrick
16 | Ott Heller
17 | Sergei Zubov
18 | Clarence Abel
19 | Doug Harvey
20 | Reijo Ruotsalainen
[/table]

Round 2
[table="head;title=list"]Round | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | Rank 6 | Rank 7 | Rank 8 | Rank 9 | Rank 10
Vote 1 | Leetch | Park | Johnson | Howell | Heller | Greschner | Pratt | Coulter | Gadsby | Seibert
Vote 2 | Greschner | Heller | Seibert | Gadsby | Beck | Patrick | Pratt
[/table]
​

Players in preliminary top 10 not on the final list
Barry Beck
Neil Colville

Players in final list ranked highest by this voter
Ron Greschner (Vote 1 & 2)
Ott Heller (Vote 1)
Babe Pratt (Vote 1)

Players in final list ranked lowest by this voter
Earl Seibert (Vote 1)
Bill Gadsby (Vote 1 & 2)

 

[Crease]

Crease

Preliminary List
[table="head;title=list"]Rank | Player
1 | Brian Leetch
2 | Brad Park
3 | Ching Johnson
4 | Bill Gadsby
5 | Art Coulter
6 | Harry Howell
7 | Ott Heller
8 | Ron Greschner
9 | Jim Neilson
10 | Earl Seibert
11 | Doug Harvey
12 | Babe Pratt
13 | Dave Maloney
14 | Rod Seiling
15 | Barry Beck
16 | James Patrick
17 | Jeff Beukeboom
18 | Carol Vadnais
19 | Allan Stanley
20 | Leo Bourgeault
[/table]

Round 2
[table="head;title=list"]Round | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | Rank 6 | Rank 7 | Rank 8 | Rank 9 | Rank 10
Vote 1 | Leetch | Johnson | Park | Howell | Coulter | Gadsby | Seibert | Heller | Greschner | Pratt
Vote 2 | Heller | Gadsby | Seibert | Neilson | Greschner | Pratt | Seiling
[/table]
​

Players in preliminary top 10 not on the final list
Jim Neilson

Players in final list ranked highest by this voter
None

Players in final list ranked lowest by this voter
None

 

[Crease]

Greg02

Preliminary List
[table="head;title=list"]Rank | Player
1 | Brian Leetch
2 | Brad Park
3 | Ching Johnson
4 | Harry Howell
5 | Art Coulter
6 | Bill Gadsby
7 | Earl Seibert
8 | Doug Harvey
9 | Babe Pratt
10 | Ott Heller
11 | Ron Greschner
12 | Jim Neilson
13 | Neil Colville
14 | Barry Beck
15 | Jeff Beukeboom
16 | Rod Seiling
17 | Dan Girardi
18 | Dave Maloney
19 | Hy Buller
20 | Marc Staal
[/table]

Round 2
[table="head;title=list"]Round | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | Rank 6 | Rank 7 | Rank 8 | Rank 9 | Rank 10
Vote 1 | Leetch | Johnson | Park | Coulter | Howell | Gadsby | Heller | Seibert | Greschner | Pratt
Vote 2 | Gadsby | Heller | Seibert | Greschner | Pratt | Beck | Neilson
[/table]
​

Players in preliminary top 10 not on the final list
Doug Harvey

Players in final list ranked highest by this voter
None

Players in final list ranked lowest by this voter
None

 

[Chief]

The really interesting thing for me was finding out new information and gaining a greater appreciation for players I thought I knew well. Case in point, I remember Greschner as a player, but I was surprised to see that he was substantially better offensively than I remembered.

As we went through this process, longevity became more important to me. I also thought that offensive defensemen weren't getting the proper recognition. Someone mentioned Dave Maloney earlier and before I firmed up my second round list, I was looking to see if better arguments could be made for more players from the last 30 or 40 years. I just felt like I had to give players I actually saw play a fair shake.

 

[Crease]

mike14

Preliminary List
[table="head;title=list"]Rank | Player
1 | Brian Leetch
2 | Brad Park
3 | Harry Howell
4 | Ching Johnson
5 | Art Coulter
6 | Bill Gadsby
7 | Ott Heller
8 | Earl Seibert
9 | Babe Pratt
10 | Jim Neilson
11 | Ron Greschner
12 | Carol Vadnais
13 | Rod Seiling
14 | James Patrick
15 | Dave Maloney
16 | Barry Beck
17 | Marc Staal
18 | Reijo Ruotsalainen
19 | Tom Laidlaw
20 | Jeff Beukeboom
[/table]

Round 2
[table="head;title=list"]Round | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | Rank 6 | Rank 7 | Rank 8 | Rank 9 | Rank 10
Vote 1 | Leetch | Park | Johnson | Howell | Gadsby | Heller | Coulter | Greschner | Seibert | Pratt
Vote 2 | Heller | Gadsby | Pratt | Seibert | Greschner | Neilson | Seiling
[/table]
​

Players in preliminary top 10 not on the final list
Jim Neilson

Players in final list ranked highest by this voter
None

Players in final list ranked lowest by this voter
None

 

[Crease]

ratelleitlikeitis

Preliminary List
[table="head;title=list"]Rank | Player
1 | Brian Leetch
2 | Brad Park
3 | Harry Howell
4 | Ching Johnson
5 | Ron Greschner
6 | Reijo Ruotsalainen
7 | Babe Pratt
8 | James Patrick
9 | Dave Maloney
10 | Barry Beck
11 | Marc Staal
12 | Bill Gadsby
13 | Rod Seiling
14 | Sergei Zubov
15 | Jeff Beukeboom
16 | Ryan McDonagh
17 | Dan Girardi
18 | Michael Roszival
19 | Mike McEwen
20 | Arnie Brown
[/table]

Round 2
[table="head;title=list"]Round | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | Rank 6 | Rank 7 | Rank 8 | Rank 9 | Rank 10
Vote 1 | Leetch | Park | Johnson | Coulter | Howell | Gadsby | Seibert | Heller | Greschner | Pratt
Vote 2 | Gadsby | Seibert | Neilson | Heller | Greschner | Seiling | Pratt
[/table]
​

Players in preliminary top 10 not on the final list
Reijo Ruotsalainen
James Patrick
Dave Maloney
Barry Beck

Players in final list ranked highest by this voter
Earl Seibert (Vote 2)

Players in final list ranked lowest by this voter
Ott Heller (Vote 2)

 

[Crease]

Richter Scale

Preliminary List
[table="head;title=list"]Rank | Player
1 | Brian Leetch
2 | Brad Park
3 | Ching Johnson
4 | Art Coulter
5 | Harry Howell
6 | Bill Gadsby
7 | Earl Seibert
8 | Ott Heller
9 | Babe Pratt
10 | Rod Seiling
11 | Ron Greschner
12 | Jim Neilson
13 | Barry Beck
14 | Doug Harvey
15 | Hy Buller
16 | Dave Maloney
17 | James Patrick
18 | Jeff Beukeboom
19 | Kevin Lowe
20 | Clarence Abel
[/table]

Round 2
[table="head;title=list"]Round | Rank 1 | Rank 2 | Rank 3 | Rank 4 | Rank 5 | Rank 6 | Rank 7 | Rank 8 | Rank 9 | Rank 10
Vote 1 | Leetch | Park | Johnson | Coulter | Howell | Gadsby | Seibert | Heller | Pratt | Greschner
Vote 2 | Heller | Gadsby | Seibert | Pratt | Greschner | Seiling | Neilson
[/table]
​

Players in preliminary top 10 not on the final list
Rod Seiling

Players in final list ranked highest by this voter
None

Players in final list ranked lowest by this voter
None

 

[Crease]

This list was the result from Round 1 of voting. In Round 1, each participant submitted a preliminary top 20 list that was aggregated then used to generate a list of players eligible for the Round 2 ballots. It is not the final result. The final result is in post #1 of this thread.

Round 1 Voting Results (Aggregate List)
[table="head;title=list"]Rank | Player | # of Lists | Voting Points | Average Ranking | Change
1 | Brian Leetch | 7 | 139 | 1.1 |
2 | Brad Park | 7 | 134 | 1.9 |
3 | Ching Johnson | 7 | 121 | 3.7 |
4 | Harry Howell | 7 | 116 | 4.4 |
5 | Bill Gadsby | 7 | 100 | 6.7 | -2
6 | Art Coulter | 6 | 99 | 4.5 | +1
7 | Babe Pratt | 7 | 86 | 8.7 | -3
8 | Ron Greschner | 7 | 74 | 10.4 | -1
9 | Earl Seibert | 5 | 65 | 8 | +1
10 | Ott Heller | 5 | 57 | 9.6 | +4
11 | Jim Neilson | 6 | 56 | 11.7 |
12 | Barry Beck | 7 | 55 | 13.1 |
13 | Rod Seiling | 6 | 48 | 13 |
14 | Dave Maloney | 6 | 44 | 13.7 |
15 | James Patrick | 6 | 38 | 14.7 |
16 | Neil Colville | 3 | 36 | 9 |
17 | Doug Harvey | 4 | 32 | 13 |
18 | Jeff Beukeboom | 7 | 32 | 16.4 |
19 | Marc Staal | 4 | 26 | 14.5 |
20 | Reijo Ruotsalainen | 4 | 23 | 15.3 |
21 | Carol Vadnais | 3 | 20 | 14.3 |
22 | Sergei Zubov | 3 | 20 | 14.3 |
23 | Ryan McDonagh | 2 | 15 | 13.5 |
24 | Dan Girardi | 2 | 8 | 17 |
25 | Hy Buller | 2 | 8 | 17 |
26 | Clarence Abel | 2 | 4 | 19 |
27 | Michael Roszival | 1 | 3 | 18 |
28 | Allan Stanley | 1 | 2 | 19 |
29 | Kevin Lowe | 1 | 2 | 19 |
30 | Mike McEwen | 1 | 2 | 19 |
31 | Tom Laidlaw | 1 | 2 | 19 |
32 | Arnie Brown | 1 | 1 | 20 |
33 | Dale Rolfe | 1 | 1 | 20 |
34 | Leo Bourgeault | 1 | 1 | 20 |
[/table]
​

Definitions
# of Lists: The number of preliminary top 20 lists (out of 7 total lists) on which the player was listed.
Voting Points: The number of voting points the player received. 20 points for 1st, 19 points for 2nd, and so on down to 1 point for 20th.
Average Ranking: The average placement of a player on the lists on which he appeared only. For example, Michael Roszival was ranked on one list only, at spot #18. His average ranking is 18.
Change: The change in rank from the end of Round 1 to end of Round 2.