Hockey History Forum flips out over Brian Leetch All-Time ranking

[CasusBelli]

I dont need numbers. I saw with my own eyes. Brian was our best defender. Often the best guys will have bad numbers plus/minus if the goaltending is horrible. That is because they will play they most minutes. Our coaches always had him out killing penalties and protecting 1 goal leads. They would not do that with a bad defender.


I agree with you. I'm not bashing Lidstrom. He just did not make my jaw drop going wow.

Oh, your post just said that you never watched him play, but I think you were just never blown away when you watched him play. My mistake.

I always say Lidstrom is rated way too high. He was really good, for a really long time. And that was enough to rack up Norris wins in a very weak era. But he was never "elite" the way guys like Leetch, Coffey and Bourque were.

He also wasn’t an offensive defenseman. He was a two-way, non-physical defenseman, which doesn’t attract as much attention (and admittedly isn’t as entertaining) as the guys you mentioned, or Pronger or even Blake for that matter. Hell, I’d even argue that McCabe was more fun to watch than Lidstrom was.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Oh, your post just said that you never watched him play, but I think you were just never blown away when you watched him play. My mistake.


He also wasn’t an offensive defenseman. He was a two-way, non-physical defenseman, which doesn’t attract as much attention (and admittedly isn’t as entertaining) as the guys you mentioned, or Pronger or even Blake for that matter. Hell, I’d even argue that McCabe was more fun to watch than Lidstrom was.

He played till he was over 40 so it would be hard to never watch him play even though the Rangers did not play Detroit that often. I watched those Detroit teams but in his earlier years it was Yzermen, Fedorov, and Hull that caught my eye more and then later it was Datsyuk who is one of the biggest "wow" type players ever. Obviously different positions but he just didn't make me go wow. Doesnt mean he was not very good at his own style of play.

 

[Heritage Hockey]

He played till he was over 40 so it would be hard to never watch him play even though the Rangers did not play Detroit that often. I watched those Detroit teams but in his earlier years it was Yzermen, Fedorov, and Hull that caught my eye more and then later it was Datsyuk who is one of the biggest "wow" type players ever. Obviously different positions but he just didn't make me go wow. Doesnt mean he was not very good at his own style of play.

I asked a Lidstrom supporter once to show me a highlight reel of how great he was. The response was "oh...well, he's a hard guy to make a reel of".

I'm sorry, but if you're going to argue a guy is a Top 3 player, you should have that reel ready to go. Whether it be passing, skating, shooting or whatever. It should be easy to show why he was so great.

 

[CasusBelli]

He played till he was over 40 so it would be hard to never watch him play even though the Rangers did not play Detroit that often. I watched those Detroit teams but in his earlier years it was Yzermen, Fedorov, and Hull that caught my eye more and then later it was Datsyuk who is one of the biggest "wow" type players ever. Obviously different positions but he just didn't make me go wow. Doesnt mean he was not very good at his own style of play.

Agree with everything here

 

[UnSandvich]

That site now has Leetch ranked 2nd, ahead of everyone except Orr, so...yeah

 

[HFsNumber1Heel]

We basically wasted a good chunk of Leetch's career. Always bothered me and still does. If they rebuilt right away they could have been decent to good again with a few years, but they were mismanaged horribly.

All Smith had to do was leave the team alone after 94 and hire a good coach. Everything was in place for sustained success.

 

[NYR94]

I wouldn't get too bent out of shape about what the history of hockey board says about Leetch or anything else related to the Rangers. There are some really good discussions to be had there but in my experience there's a tendency to rate Canadian players from Canadian teams higher than other players. Lots of romanticizing about the good old days if you know what I mean and it kind of creates an echo chamber of the same tired opinions about players. And there's a bit of anti-Rangers bias there too that works against Leetch. Rangers fans know how good he was and that should be enough.

 

[Heritage Hockey]

I wouldn't get too bent out of shape about what the history of hockey board says about Leetch or anything else related to the Rangers. There are some really good discussions to be had there but in my experience there's a tendency to rate Canadian players from Canadian teams higher than other players. Lots of romanticizing about the good old days if you know what I mean and it kind of creates an echo chamber of the same tired opinions about players. And there's a bit of anti-Rangers bias there too that works against Leetch. Rangers fans know how good he was and that should be enough.

One guy on there just said Leetch was the 6th best Defenseman of his generation. LMAO I'd love to know 5 Defenseman who were better during Leetch's heyday.

 

[Henry Gill]

One guy on there just said Leetch was the 6th best Defenseman of his generation. LMAO I'd love to know 5 Defenseman who were better during Leetch's heyday.

Try zero. Leetch throughout the 90s was the best in the league. Put Lidstrom on the 98-04 Ranger teams and lets see how much of a "perfect human" he is. He'd be chasing his own tail.

As I said on the History forum, if Leetch was traded to the Wings in 98, Stevens and Chelios wouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Leetch.

EDIT: They just locked the Leetch thread on the main board. Crybaby Mod couldn't handle an opinion that goes against "the narrative". Pathetic.

 

[eco's bones]

Try zero. Leetch throughout the 90s was the best in the league. Put Lidstrom on the 98-04 Ranger teams and lets see how much of a "perfect human" he is. He'd be chasing his own tail.

As I said on the History forum, if Leetch was traded to the Wings in 98, Stevens and Chelios wouldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Leetch.

EDIT: They just locked the Leetch thread on the main board. Crybaby Mod couldn't handle an opinion that goes against "the narrative". Pathetic.

Yeah I looked at the final interjection by that mod and it seemed really odd.….as he/she wasn’t even a part of a discussion until then……a discussion that had its disagreements but wasn’t really that heated IMO. The mod‘s comment closing the thread was easily the angriest of all. Strange.

 

[Heritage Hockey]

Yeah I looked at the final interjection by that mod and it seemed really odd.….as he/she wasn’t even a part of a discussion until then……a discussion that had its disagreements but wasn’t really that heated IMO. The mod‘s comment closing the thread was easily the angriest of all. Strange.

They were babbling about how no one thinks Leetch is better than Coffey and then a link to a Reddit poll showed Leetch destroying Coffey, along with the comments saying Leetch was better. I think that ticked them off.

Now they can go back to worshiping "the perfect human" Lidstrom. AKA Mr. Overrated Bore.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Brian wasn't better than Coffey but both are underrated on many lists imo. Brian is top 10 and Coffey may be top 5. I'd rather have both at their peaks than Lidstrom at his peak personally.

 

[eco's bones]

They were babbling about how no one thinks Leetch is better than Coffey and then a link to a Reddit poll showed Leetch destroying Coffey, along with the comments saying Leetch was better. I think that ticked them off.

Now they can go back to worshiping "the perfect human" Lidstrom. AKA Mr. Overrated Bore.

Lidstrom IMO was a fantastic player…the guy who Adam Fox’s dad told him to watch. A master at how to play positional defense without knocking people over.…in an era when hockey was pretty damn vicious and he was very good offensively. Great shot if I remember rightly.

 

[mrmovies779]

Lidstrom IMO was a fantastic player…the guy who Adam Fox’s dad told him to watch. A master at how to play positional defense without knocking people over.…in an era when hockey was pretty damn vicious and he was very good offensively. Great shot if I remember rightly.

Agreed 100%.The Lidstrom hate in here is crazy.

 

[NickyFotiu]

Agreed 100%.The Lidstrom hate in here is crazy.

I do not hate the guy. I just prefer Leetch or Coffey at their peaks.