Appropriate Commentary
I think the argument for Nighbor over Lalonde is easier to make than Nighbor over Taylor. Basically, both men spend most of their careers in the NHA/NHL, and their careers overlapped so most of the same people saw both of them play. And as far as I can tell, it was more or less a consensus among people who saw them at the time that Nighbor was better.
The MacLean's "All-Time All-Star Team" is one example:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showpost.php?p=55675987&postcount=307
Edit: Stuminator had good commentary on that list when it was posted during ATD2011, but without knowing the names of the heavyweights who voted on it (which is available in the link I posted):
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Originally Posted by Sturminator View Post
This document is quite revealing of how contemporary players were viewed relative to one another, at least in the eastern leagues. The cross-generational comparisons, however, are vastly more questionable. Let's be honest: the old-timers are pretty well overrepresented here. For example, does anyone really believe that Scotty Davidson had a better career than Cyclone Taylor or Cy Denneny? Don't get ahead of yourself throwing a parade for Hod Stuart.
This document does allow us, however, to break the contemporaries fairly well into tiers. Of the old generation, we have Stuart, Bowie and Phillips at the top, though we cannot differentiate one from another. Frank McGee's absence is rather telling, but probably means nothing more than that he was the second best center of his generation and there was no room for him with Nighbor, Bowie and Lalonde already on the list. Same goes for the exclusion of Joe Malone, in all likelihood. Percy Lesueur seems to be regarded as the greatest old-time goalie.
Among the more recent generation, we have more reinforcement of Frank Nighbor's supremacy, and of Cleghorn's status as the greatest defenseman of his generation. Boucher, Gerard, Dye and Lalonde fall into the second tier.
The placement of the three contemporary goalies (Vezina, Benedict and Lehman) relative to one another is much more problematic due to Vezina's illness, Benedict's shame and Lehman's distance from the hockey centers in the east. It is somewhat telling, however, that Lehman appears on the list and Holmes does not.
At any rate, like all historical documents, it must be looked upon critically and within the context of the time, and is limited in the scope of its usefulness. I wish we had information on exactly how the vote was conducted and exactly who voted.
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Interesting commentary but how accurate is it? The bolded analysis of the goalies is particularly questionable. The list was published March 15, 1925, at the start of the 1925 playoffs right after the end of the 1924-25 season. So the list had to be compiled during the 1924-25 season. Georges Vezina was healthy by all accounts. In fact he had his NHL career best GAA - see below.Vezina's health issues surfaced in the opening game of the 1925-26 season, months after the list was published. Vezina's illness could not have been a factor in the vote.
Origins of the MacLean's "All-Time All-Star Team" March 15, 1925 issue:
http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/hockhist/conversations/topics/20402
Georges Vezina:
http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/v/vezinge01.html
The other issue touches the generational questions. Scotty Davidson Babe Dye and George Richardson are the three RWs. Early days of hockey saw a dirth at RW because of the handedness issue:
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sS0rAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EZkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6918,87411
lack of RHS RWs. described in 1934 but recognized long before as evidenced by the voters and D.A.L. MacDonald.
The defensemen. Who else? Sprague Cleghorn dominates throughout. Beyond that you have post WWI players to consider - Joe Simpson and others like Herb Gardiner, Merv Dutton whose entry into pro hockey was delayed by by WWI. Lester Patrick and Hod Stuart are responsible choices.
The east - west issue. The Patrick's raided the east for their players and the east managed to survive and prosper. The eastern voters had seen all the players who went west. Lehman had to go west to establish himself. Holmes was a bit of a mercenary. True western players that qualified as top three at a position were hard to find.
Very reasonable list put together by the leading hockey observers of the day using the standards of the era.
